ALUMINUM BLACKWORKS RADIATOR REVIEW

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About Blackworks Radiators:
Blackworks Racing Radiators are essential to keep your engine cool in even the most extreme conditions. A big improvement over the stock radiator, Blackworks Aluminum radiators are a direct replacement for your stock radiator, and require no modification to fit. Blackworks radiators feature beautifully polished end tanks, and a lightweight dual core to increase the overall performance of the cooling system, and lifetime of your engine.

Each Blackworks radiator comes with a high pressure 1.3 bar radiator cap, and a lifetime warranty against any manufacture defects.

Information obtained from manufacturer's website.

Warranty:
• Lifetime warranty against any manufacturer’s defects.

Average Price: $250

Date Established: 2009

Video:

Radiator Review is not associated with the brands reviewed on the site.

ALUMINUM BLACKWORKS RADIATOR REVIEW

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While searching, I found this company selling a radiator on eBay. It was a Blackworks Racing aluminum radiator. I received it from the eBay seller in a decent amount of time and figured this would be an easy install. I took out the radiator, and all the packaging. (By the way, it was packaged in Styrofoam which needed to be picked out of the fins prior to install), and began searching for any type of pamphlet or guide, or anything. Zilch. Nada. Zero. I set it down once out of the box and immediately realized that the bottom of the radiator was bowed down. Additionally, the fan clips were basically bent in way to far and one almost broke as I was bending it back out to fit the fans in. So armed with my knowledge and my Haynes manual, I attempted the install.

The install endeavor was more than tedious. Nothing lined up properly, the fans sat farther from the radiator on one side than the other, and the drain plug leaked until I applied some Teflon tape. I eventually said this isn’t worth it and removed the “upgraded” radiator. Once I realized that this Blackworks Racing set-up wasn’t going to work out for me, I went ahead and spent some extra money (some of which was borrowed from my rents) and purchased a Mishimoto Radiator.

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I wish I could say I don’t have one of these but I do. It is really cheap. Not just price, but quality too. But this is one of those situations where “you get what you pay for” and to be honest, I did. I’m not a big brand name fan or anything but in this case that is true. There’s no other reason for it to leak so soon after getting it. I don’t have any pictures but it was just clear that it was not a quality build, even before the leaks. I will give it an extra point for being cheaper than the others but they need to improve their radiators a lot.

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So, about a year ago I purchased a radiator (Blackworks) and got a pretty good price for it. The shipping was expensive but it arrived very quickly. The packaging was not as good but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. The radiator itself, however, arrived with bent fins and looked slightly warped. There was no point in even trying to install it so I just took it back and swapped it for something else. Now I’m seeing that mine was not an exception to the rule but more common than I knew. I guess you can’t buy something that cheap and expect it to be good. It’s like this one I saw on a civic forum once, the person bought it off ebay really cheap and it was completely warped too. http://www.ek9.org/forum/engine/17720-aluminum-radiator-review.html#post184085 If it’s sounds too good to be true it probably is. A major disappointment.  

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By far my least favorite company and last on my list of suggested radiators. I got myself a blackworks radiator for my ’96 nissan sentra sr20 and the core collapsed. There’s not really much more to say about that. I ended up having to buy another one obviously. I’d rather buy a no name radiator off of ebay than buy one of these again. I don’t trust them at all now. 

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I bought one of these radiators before and I can’t say I loved it. The install was really difficult, the inlet and outlets were too small, and that’s just the beginning of the fitment issues. Once I got it in it worked fine but I only had the car for a few months before I sold it so I don’t know what became of it after that. This was just the most difficulty I ever had with a radiator install. 

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Here is my review of Blackworks radiators: awful. Well, if you can get it in your car I’m sure it would work but getting there is not fun. When I got mine, the packaging was really skimpy and the box was all beat up. It looked like it fell off a truck somewhere. Inside wasn’t much better because the radiator itself was constructed really poorly. The filler neck was not machined correctly so the radiator cap didn’t seal.  On top of that, it had plastic drain plugs. I know this just seems like a rant because I’m mad about mine but its just a cautionary tale. If you do get one and you have to go through their customer service and try to return it I have two words for you: good luck.

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I bought a Blackworks radiator because it was all I could afford. The drain valve leaks. It was a piece of crap from day one. Do NOT buy these radiators just look for deals online or try to fine one from a friend if you can’t afford one. These aren’t worth anything.

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I don’t think Blackworks manufactures their own products or does their own research or testing, so I don’t think I’d ever actually buy from them. I did look into them when I was shopping around and tried to find out more about them, and there is this video online where someone bought one, took it home, and opened it up to find that the radiator was bowed. The entire bottom bar was not straight at all and you can tell just by looking at it that you’d have fitment issues! Check it out, here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qjDJ0tURco I would steer clear.

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What’s the deal with this brand? I’ve tried to deal with them before but they seem really shady. I don’t know if anyone else has had a similar experience but when I was considering purchasing a radiator I looked into them and ran into so many red flags. Their customer service is terrible and unprofessional. I know that sometimes people have a bad day, but the image and the representation of their company that I’ve seen really turned me away. On top of that, I don’t think they manufacture their own products or do their own research/testing, which is enough to seal the deal for me. I can’t attest to their performance because I never made it far enough to actually buy one. However, I did look them up when I was trying to find out more about them and there is this video online where someone bought one, took it home, and opened it up to find that the radiator was bowed. The entire bottom bar was not straight at all and you can tell just by looking at it that you’d have fitment issues. I would steer clear.

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Don’t waste your money on a blackworks radiator. I bought one a little over a year ago, and just recently found coolant spilling from the engine bay.  I am on a budget and I know these things get pricey, but this was a big mistake. It was a pain in the butt install, too, so I’m really mad that it didn’t last after all that trouble. Go with something else!! I know I will this time.

 

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Blackworks rads feel really cheap. If you have one you’ll know what I’m talking about. You can just tell that it’s not a quality build and its kinda weak. I made a rookie mistake of buying one a while back and got a leak in the radiator. I wasn’t surprised.  And this was after only about 6 months. It should be built to last but it doesn’t. Definitely one to avoid.