radiator replacement

so i go outside yesterday morning to find a huge puddle of coolant under my truck. it was all over the front skid, controls arms, everywhere. i bring it down to my mechanic just to check it out since it hadn't been leaking at all before this. turns out that where the aluminum radiator mates to the plastic tank on the bottom had cracked from the cold we've been having. he said he's been replacing radiators all week.

he said i need a new radiator, but it should be easy enough to do myself. it's seems like there's just a few things to disconnect, but does anybody have any advice or pointers? i did a search but couldn't find anything.

i've been looking around online and I think I'm going to get one from Radiatorbarn.com because i know some people from here have used them before. they have an all metal radiator for $151.85. seems like a good deal to me. any other suggestions?

If you are considering a tranny cooler, now would be the time to put it in. You need to loosen the rad to put one in anyway. That would be my only consideration for the entire project.

thanks for the suggestion, but i wasn't planning on doing that any time soon. i may try replacing the belts while i'm at it though

Might as well do new hoses while youe in there, how many miles on the current set?

around 62k. how much would new hoses run?

$25 maybe for hoses, replacing them yourself.

did you try searching car-part.com yet for a used radiator?

i did check car-part, and they had some that i could get for around $100. i just ordered the one from radiatorbarn.com though. for an extra $50 i know it's new and it's all metal so hopefully i won't have to worry about this problem again.

thanks for the suggestions guys

Radiator replacement is so easy even I did it - I would put it on par with changing your oil. You may want to replace the thermostat ($10) while you are there. It is a bit more of a pain, but is definitely easier with the radiator out. There is a writeup somewhere on here on the radiator replacement because I remember using it last fall.

P.S. Don't forget to move the little rubber bumpers that are on the top and bottom of the radiator posts over to the new radiator - sometimes they stick to the old radiator.

i searched around and couldn't find the writeup, but i'm hopeing that i can just figure it out as i go along.

thanks for the hint on the rubber bumpers

Its not that bad...a few hours.

Try to remember to make sure your anti-freeze is still good though....so the new one doesn't get cracked too. (A few years from now, when the new anti-freeze is old...)

I would do the belts while you have the radiator out. I have three belts sitting on my workbench, and it doesn't look like it will be fun to get in there and do them.

i picked up a couple gallons of antifreeze over the weekend. the new radiator should be here thursday

buddy and i did his belts on a 2002 sc/se and it took about 40 min. then we did mine 2000 se, it took about 20 min. tops...we didn't remove any radiators. fyi. good idea to do it since you've got the rad. out, but not that bad with it in either.

Now is the time to do the hoses and the thermostat. They are relatively inexpensive, and easy to do. Besides, you'd be kicking yourself if a hose burts and/or your engine overheats a week after you installed your new radiator.

South Side Ninja is correct about the belts. It may be a good idea to change them, but not critical becuase you can change them with the radiator in place.

i didn't have time to change the belts or hoses or anything because i was in a rush to get out to paragon to go wheeling, but i did get the radiator put in on friday. it took a little longer than i thought, but it was pretty easy. if anyone is thinking of doing it on their own i would recommend it.