[Bob Lincoln]

I had a pinhole in the radiator of my 93 Daytona 2.5L TBI, was losing several ounces of coolant a day. No puddles, but pinhead-sized droplets found on the engine. No siphoning of coolant back from the jug was happening, so there was a hole or air leak somewhere.

I ordered a new Mopar radiator from my dealer, took 4 days from WI to MA. Amazingly, they had 38 of them in stock. They quoted part number 4401968 as superseding the 4401969 listed in the parts book. 1992 is a -968, 1993 shows a -969. It was $200 and I did it through them because I have found that the aftermarket ones don't fit - the flanges don't line up, or the speed nut clips don't fit over the 'too-fat' plastic flanges.

So I got the radiator Saturday, it all looked fine. Removed the old one. I had to break the bolts holding the top of the radiator to the bulkhead, despite using lots of penetrating oil in advance. Bought new bolts and clips at Autozone.

The condenser is in great shape and the A/C holds a charge. I tried to fit the new radiator in, and the bolt holds would NOT line up with those on the condenser. I tried for over an hour. The radiator flanges were set at the wrong height. The condenser has rubber bumpers on the bottom which fit into horizontal flanges on the radiator. Those flanges in turn have bumpers that fit in the radiator bulkhead at the bottom. What I found after MUCH grief is that the condenser had to have its bumpers placed against the radiator panel directly, instead of the holes in the radiator flanges. Then the radiator was positioned normally, and I could get the bolt holes lined up. Not the best way to dampen vibration, but neither unit would move when shaken.

I also noticed that, comparing the old 1992 radiator and condenser to what I found in the 1993, the (original) 92 condenser is serpentine flow and 1 1/4" thick. The condenser I found in the 93 is parallel flow and only 1" thick, with dual rows of smaller tubes. I know this is better for my R134a conversion, but the surprising thing is the part number references:

1992:

condenser 4638126
radiator 4401968

1993:

condenser 4638126
radiator 4401969

Same PN for the condensers, but they were physically different. Did someone put a newer condenser in the 93?

So, is the dealer correct? The 1992 radiator also would not line up exactly against the 1993's condenser. The 1992 was a 4401968 and did fit exactly with the 1992 condenser. Should I have had the 4401969 radiator in the 93, and would it have fit? Or does 4401968 really supersede? Did he just tell me that to be able to get me a part that might work? Is the entire problem that the condenser in the car was not the original? If so, how did the radiator that failed fit the condenser?

The good news is that it fits and works, and after burping, the radiator did siphon back from the overflow jug for the first time in several weeks, and the radiator was full this morning. So I know there was a pinhole that was fixed (the hoses were not loose), and I did not waste my time and money. But I would have preferred to fit it all back together the way it was intended.

 

[bamman]

Part 4401969 is superseded by 4401968. The only difference between the two radiators should be that the 968 radiator is a thicker core for Turbo and V6 models.

4401969 is no longer available and is NS1.

How thick is the 968 radiator? All you can really find in the aftermarket is the single core radiators. Is the 968 truly a two core radiator?

 

[Bob Lincoln]

All three radiators - the OEM 4401968 that I put in my 92 Daytona nine years ago; the radiator that I just pulled (which might be aftermarket); and the new OEM 4401968 - are all single-row and the cores are all the same size and thickness. As I said, the placement of the flanges on the new one is ever so slightly off, so that the condenser won't sit where it belongs. The new one is made in Mexico, not sure of the others.

The new 4401968 doesn't fit against the old 92 Daytona's condenser exactly, but the old 4401968 from nine years ago does. And the old 4401968 doesn't fit the condenser in the 1993 Daytona, which is a different condenser from what was OEM in the 1992, despite the parts book showing the same part number.

 

[ChargedDust]

I don't know if this helps at all but I did pull several condensers for spares (because the aftermarket one are junk) at the junkyard, and all the later model ones I remember were parallel flow. I know the ones up to '89 were series flow, not sure about the '90, that can be a funny year, some things are one year only for '90.

 

[Bob Lincoln]

Well, as I said, my 92 Daytona had a serpentine flow condenser for R12, and the 93 is listed in the parts book as the same condenser. But it was not what I found in the car (may not be original), it's parallel flow, and it was still R12 when I bought the car. So it's looking like someone put a later condenser in it, and had it refilled with R12 at the time. It runs nice and cold with R134a now.