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How to: removal of radiator

51K views 16 replies 6 participants last post by  Pixie70  
#1 ·
how would i pull the radiator. Is it capable of being pulled from the top of the engine compartment or does it need to be pulled from the bottom. the main problem i see is that if jacked up with a home jack that the center jack mount would cause a clearance issue with pulling it from the bottom but the black piece that spans across and connects to the top of the radiator bracket is causing me issues with being removed.

any help would be much appreciated. thanks.

Hitting a coyote at 90 causes problems... fyi
 
#4 ·
It's very easy and straight forward. Whole front end needs to come off though. Remove bumper. Remove headlights. Remove crash bar. Put something under the core support to prop it up at this point. Remove the core support. Remove the cooling lines going into the rad and the atx line if you're atx. Remove the fans from the back of the radiator. Then you can pill out the rad from the core support. Do not disconnect the condenser or all of the refrigerant will leak out for the ac. Whole process should take 30-45 min with the help of a friend if you've removed the bumper before. Power tools help to remove the ~40 10 and 12mm bolts. Check the last page or 2 of my build thread to see how the car should look in the removal process. It's not scary if you take everything one step at a time.
 
#6 · (Edited)
^What issues are you having that you're replacing those parts? For the Tstat you just need the stat (OEM) and an o-ring. I used the stant in my diy, but it really didnt' make as huge of a difference as I was wanting. Car is running best with a new OEM tstat in the car after swapping the radiator and condenser. Check out my DIY for the cooling system overhaul here: http://www.6crew.com/forum/showthre...read.php?21363-DIY-3-0-V6-Coolant-Flush-Hose-Replacement-amp-Thermostat-Install

Putting it back together is easy. Everything lines up nicely upon reinstall and everything can only fit one way.
 
#7 ·
^What issues are you having that you're replacing those parts? For the Tstat you just need the stat (OEM) and an o-ring. I used the stant in my diy, but it really didnt' make as huge of a difference as I was wanting. Car is running best with a new OEM tstat in the car after swapping the radiator and condenser. Check out my DIY for the cooling system overhaul here: DIY: 3.0 V6 Coolant Flush, Hose Replacement & Thermostat Install

Putting it back together is easy. Everything lines up nicely upon reinstall and everything can only fit one way.
I actually used the DIY of yours as a reference and bought the Stant thermostat and seal you did in that job.

I am just replacing the thermostat because the car is 10 years old and the cooling system is going to be drained as I am already having to replace the radiator. After reading your DIY I figured "why not?". Not really looking for any performance gains from the tstat. My car is mostly stock other than intake, springs/shocks, and rims. Just one of those replace before repair sort of things since its so cheap and I am already going to have the coolant drained.

The radiator is leaking at one of the seams at the top. I did everything I could to ensure it was(n't) the radiator but I ruled everything else out. It is hard to see exactly where the leak is because A.) its hard to recreate, and B.) it is right behind the power steering fluid reservoir.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Ahh, yeah that's the same thing I had going on with mine. Coolant temps have never been cooler since replacing the rad. I think the one I had in there before had some serious blockage. What rad did you go with?

The condenser is a part of your AC system and is located in front of your radiator. It's similar to a radiator in that it helps to pull heat out of the cooling system. It converts vapor into liquid. It does not need to come out when you replace the radiator, but it must come out of the core support in order to get the rad out (you can swing it out - you'll see when you're in there). If you disconnect the condenser all of the refrigerant in your AC system will spew out and you'll need to have your AC serviced before it will work.. So don't remove it.

Can see my old condenser here:
Image

And the new condenser I put in when I overhauled my AC system a few months after the above picture:
Image


The radiator is located directly behind the condenser.