On an earlier thread, it was said that some Brickboarders have replaced their OEM 240 radiator with a Nissens 3 Row Heavy Duty Radiator. I am wondering if such an upgrade would be worthwhile for my car.

Now that I'm not so much of an idiot (teenage) driver, I haven't had as many serious overheating problems. However, out of maybe the last ten times I've driven it (all trips included; I don't drive it a whole bunch at college), I've had two instances where overheating was a real possibility.

The first was on the interstate, while stopped for an accident. I had been cruising fine (temp mid-range) around 80mph or so when everyone came to a stop for a crashed truck. I immediately turned down the A/C, since that usually doesn't help to keep the engine bay cool, and sat there idling for a little while. After about ten or fifteen minutes, I noticed the temp gauge begin creeping up. I turned on the heater full blast, which relieved some of the heat. Once the gauge went down, I turned down the heater as we drove forward a little ways, but once I stopped the same thing happened. Eventually we were stopped for long enough for me to turn off the car and park, and once we got to driving again, everything was fine.

The second time was yesterday, while driving around in moderately summer weather (80-90 degrees F). I was in stoplight-and-go traffic, and at a couple of lights the temp began going up after being stopped for a minute and a half or so. Again, I cut on the heater, and everything did fine once I got moving, but I know that if I had left on the A/C and not done anything to avoid overheating in either of these instances, the car would have shut off in traffic. It has happened before, when I didn't know what to do in that situation.

So, am I a candidate for a Nissens radiator replacement? I've read in a few threads that people in desert weather have had no problems, even with the A/C on, after doing this "upgrade," so it sounds like a good idea to me.

What are the alternatives? I know that cleaning the radiator isn't a bad idea, so I've sprayed it out (from the front; done before yesterday, so it wasn't dirty or I didn't clean it well). I could get a pressure washer or a powerful hose and try to blast the radiator out from the back, but that seems like only a temporary fix. I'd like to do something that permanently keeps the car cool.

I'm also reasonably confident that the fans and other things are in good working order; I think I've tried to spin the fan (didn't move easily, so clutch is good) and the car is cooled fine under most situations. However, stopping in traffic is always agonizing to me--I automatically cut down the A/C and hold my breath while watching the temp gauge, just waiting for it to move. I'd like to make my city driving a little less stressful, and so putting in a Nissens radiator seems like a good idea.
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'89 244 GL--25/22 ipd sways, Volvo truck amber turn signal lenses