Cincinnati Radiator Services will help keep your vehicle running
By Travis Sloat May 14, 2016 in www.muskogeephoenix.com

 

When you reach your centennial year of business, you learn more than a few things about radiators and cooling systems.

 

At Cincinnati Radiator Services Inc., 220 S. B St., there will be 100 candles on the cake this summer, and they want to tell you how to prepare your car for hot Oklahoma summers.

 

Jess Windrix III, the shop manager at Cincinnati Radiator, said they specialize in making sure your car will last through the summer.

 

“Times have changed,” Windrix said. “This is a lost art, working on radiators. I love working with my family, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. We can take care of people’s cooling systems, and all that entails. If they’re running hot, plugged up, leaking, or just needing checked. We also work on gas tanks, intercoolers and heater cores. We do a little bit of everything.”

 

The business is owned by Jess “JW” Windrix Jr., who bought the shop in 1982 when the previous owner retired.

 

Windrix Jr. said his son has been working on radiators since he was 7 years old, and he enjoys “trying” to tell him what to do.

 

“I’ve worked here since 1974,” Windrix Jr. said. “We were downtown across the street from the Phoenix parking lot. It started as American Buckboard and Buggy Company, and switched to radiators in 1916.

 

“One thing I’ve learned is to treat the customer right,” he continued. “We try to do that every day.”

 

Windrix III said the best thing about their shop is that it costs nothing to come see them and let them tell you what you need to be summer ready.

 

“Let us just look over it,” he said. “It’ll definitely save you money in the long run, especially with how hot Oklahoma summers are.”

 

Windrix III pointed at a Dodge Ram pickup in the shop bay.

 

“This truck right here has never been flushed out,” he said. “I just flushed it out for the first time, and it’s probably 10 or 15 years old. I drained all the antifreeze out of his cooling system, not just the radiator but the engine, as well. I flushed the heater coil as well and filled it all up with new antifreeze. I also checked over the belts and hoses, as well.”

 

The father and son duo also will diagnose other engine problems and send the customer to a trusted mechanic to fix those issues as needed. Hendrix III said the best antifreeze for Oklahoma summers was the trusted green stuff.

 

“You can’t just fill the cooling system with water,” Hendrix III said. “You’ve got to put the right kind back in it. There’s so many different kinds of antifreeze now. You can’t go wrong with green.”

 

As for the cost of a basic radiator flush and refill, Hendrix III said you’re looking at $80 to $85. He said that the cost of ignoring such a basic car care need can get much more expensive than that.

 

“If you get a bad head gasket because of ignoring your cooling system, you’ll spend $1,500 fixing it,” he said. “I recommend people come in every four to five years to get it flushed. But again, it doesn’t cost you anything to come out and let us look at it.”