Radiator Archive

Replacing the old radiator was quit easy, all I had to do was drain the coolant, unscrew the top rad support, take the old hoses off, unscrew the fan and then installed the new one doing the same steps backward. It took me about 45mins to do the replacement and then another 15 minutes or so to add water to the radiator as the engine warmed up and air bubbles came out.

Old Copper Radiator New Aluminum Radiator

Here is how it looks installed in the car

Driving to work on the weekend I noticed the familer sweet smell of car coolant that I knew was gonna put a dent on my wallet some way or another. I lifted the hood when I got to work and all I could see is green antifreeze all over the front of my radiator and the inside of my bumper. I left it for a few hours for the coolant to cool down so I could take off the rad cap and when I did the the rad was full of fluid so I was like ok where in the world is it leaking from. But I did notice my reservior was low so I took an empty 2 liter bottle filled my reservior with water and washed down the rad and its surroundings. I drove it home that day and while driving I was watching my temp gauge not to over heat my engine. When I got home I opened the hood and looked at the area around the rad and couldn’t see anything but a bit of coolant every where. I looked closer at the rad and and then I saw it squirt squirt squirt , my rad had a tiny little hole that was spewing coolant all over the front of my bumper. I guess it’s time for a new rad and hoses, time to jump on eBay and see what they got. I looked online and found some for a decent price but only problem is waiting 2 weeks for shipping. So today I phoned around to auto supply stores and a few radiator supply stores and managed to find an aluminum rad for a decent price. Now why did I go for aluminum well aluminum is stronger then copper, cools better and should last longer, this is good because I have big plans for this car to add a VTEC engine and a turbo. Now incase you don’t believe me that aluminum is better check out this link StockCarProducts. Once I get the rad installed I will post images and info.