My 67 4.2 aluminum radiator leaks like a sieve after only 6000 miles, has lots of crud buildup and is corroded inside so much as to be nonrepairable. My research here and on line concludes that aluminum requires a lot of care that the liquid is proper ph, that there is no voltage grounding thru it, frequenting needs flushing and is not readily repairable. Soooo like George recommended I am leaning toward copper perhaps from SNG for this car and my 64 3.8. Hopefully I can still have a show car?

Submitted by bonnettoboot@e… on Thu, 11/17/2011 - 00:13

I have never seen the advantage of Aluminium radiators for the reasons Stephan lists, The radiators built in the 50's through 70's were well made and many of them are still in use. Michael, I think most radiators of the last two decades are PLASTIC.

Submitted by mfrank@westnet.com on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 22:17

You would probably do well to contact the supplier of this radiator. You do need to maintain a 50/50 mix and change coolant at normal intervals. Otherwise, there's no reason why your radiator would fail like this. It's possible that you have a problem with your electrical system, something like a faulty engine ground can cause problems like this. Radiators should never be grounded (contrary to what you may read here and there), although it's nearly impossible to electrically isolate some versions of the E-Type radiator. If your electrolyte is in poor condition, your engine grounds sloppy, and your radiator grounded, the radiator can become the grounding path for the engine, which would puncture any radiator like a cutting torch.

If the cooling system is in good shape and there are no electrical faults, there's no reason why an aluminum radiator can't go 100K miles. Nearly every car built since 1990 has an aluminum radiator.

Submitted by SC98-43723CJ on Mon, 11/14/2011 - 18:59

Stephen,

You might look into having an "E" core put in a standard Jaguar radiator. The "E" in "E" core stands for Emergency and not XK"E". These are the cores that are used in police vehicles and other emergency vehicles that can sit and idle for hours with the A/C on and not overheat. I am told the "E" core has double the cooling passages as a standard radiator core. I had my old core replaced with a "E" core and it never gets above 70 degrees C and I live is Texas where our summers are killers. The nice part is, to look at it, it looks like a standard XKE radiator.