Radiator Blues

I have a 1998 Chevrolet 2DR Tahoe 5.7L Vortech 4WD Z-71. I am trying to determine the best place to get a replacement for my leaky AC Delco radiator. It appears that one of the plastic tanks has cracked. I called GM and they want $650 for the part. I usually go with Delco because their quality is always consistently good. Would I be at a loss if I went with NAPA and their $229 radiator that they claim is better than OEM spec? Another problem that I have is that I am not sure if I have an upgraded radiator option on this vehicle. If so, it would have come like that from the factory. My VIN is 3GNEK18r3WG138426. Is there anyway that someone can gleam information from my VIN and tell me if I have some sort of upgraded HD radiator? My other question is if anyone has any tips on replacing this hunk of metal. I haven't replaced a radiator before, however it looks fairly straight forward. I just need to remove the fan shroud, cooler lines, upper hose, lower hose, and unbolt the radiator from the frame. Is there anything else that I should be looking at here? Do I need to buy any additional gaskets for my cooler lines or the radiator itself? I did replace the upper and lower oil cooler lines about 6 months ago but I can’t remember if they had any special gaskets on them. Thanks for the advice and help ahead of time.

Most parts places have good aftermarket rads.
Some even throw in a liftime warranty.
Always check around.
I am not even sure GM rads are made by GM.

Check rad hoses and fan belt and thermo stat and rad cap and also a good time to flush all old coolant .
Good Luck

I have a 1998 Chevrolet 2DR Tahoe 5.7L Vortech 4WD Z-71. I am trying to determine the best place to get a replacement for my leaky AC Delco radiator. It appears that one of the plastic tanks has cracked. I called GM and they want $650 for the part. I usually go with Delco because their quality is always consistently good. Would I be at a loss if I went with NAPA and their $229 radiator that they claim is better than OEM spec? Another problem that I have is that I am not sure if I have an upgraded radiator option on this vehicle. If so, it would have come like that from the factory. My VIN is 3GNEK18r3WG138426. Is there anyway that someone can gleam information from my VIN and tell me if I have some sort of upgraded HD radiator? My other question is if anyone has any tips on replacing this hunk of metal. I haven't replaced a radiator before, however it looks fairly straight forward. I just need to remove the fan shroud, cooler lines, upper hose, lower hose, and unbolt the radiator from the frame. Is there anything else that I should be looking at here? Do I need to buy any additional gaskets for my cooler lines or the radiator itself? I did replace the upper and lower oil cooler lines about 6 months ago but I can’t remember if they had any special gaskets on them. Thanks for the advice and help ahead of time.


because of the problems of compatibility you must take great care to inspect the replacement to be exactly the same as the old...especially the fittings for the lines and retainer hardware for lines..this is important..also recently a vehicle owner had problems with NAPA radiator...so make sure any part you buy also has a warrantee....