Radiator Round One
Well, I pulled the old radiator out today. Took a little over an hour. Covered in oil and dirty antifreeze, and my fingers are throbbing from struggling with those rusty spring clips that grip the hoses. But it's done.
Didn't really have many unforseen problems. I began by taking off the fan unit, which bolts onto the radiator itself. Or to be more accurate, I took it halfway off. By the time I tried to Helen Keller the lower bolts a few times with a crescent wrench, I realized that it would simply be easier to disconnect the electrical plugs and pull the whole unit out as one.
That only left the hoses. I actually managed to pull two off clean- the upper radiator and the runoff hose that goes to the reservoir. Considering that I'm fairly sure no one has replaced these clips in at least ten years, I think that's pretty impressive. They'd been rusted shut in a few places.
After taking off two of them, my hands hurt like hell and I was ready to quit. So I grabbed a knife and started hacking. I figured it would make sense to replace all the hoses anyway (they're mighty cheap) if I was going to all this trouble in the first place. I was already in a hundred bucks, so I might as well spring for another thirty or so.
Once I pulled the radiator, I proceeded to separate the blower fans and mounts from the radiator. Unfortunately, I stripped one of the bolts, so one of the blower fans is still mounted to the old radiator. I either need to find a way to remove the bolt, cut the part out and just go with three bolts (which I think would work fine,) or find a new blower fan.
I hope to use another afternoon to prep the car for the new radiator, i.e. full removal of old hoses, fitting of new hoses, etc. Then, I'll use one last afternoon to fit the new radiator into the car. Here's hoping that works.
Didn't really have many unforseen problems. I began by taking off the fan unit, which bolts onto the radiator itself. Or to be more accurate, I took it halfway off. By the time I tried to Helen Keller the lower bolts a few times with a crescent wrench, I realized that it would simply be easier to disconnect the electrical plugs and pull the whole unit out as one.
That only left the hoses. I actually managed to pull two off clean- the upper radiator and the runoff hose that goes to the reservoir. Considering that I'm fairly sure no one has replaced these clips in at least ten years, I think that's pretty impressive. They'd been rusted shut in a few places.
After taking off two of them, my hands hurt like hell and I was ready to quit. So I grabbed a knife and started hacking. I figured it would make sense to replace all the hoses anyway (they're mighty cheap) if I was going to all this trouble in the first place. I was already in a hundred bucks, so I might as well spring for another thirty or so.
Once I pulled the radiator, I proceeded to separate the blower fans and mounts from the radiator. Unfortunately, I stripped one of the bolts, so one of the blower fans is still mounted to the old radiator. I either need to find a way to remove the bolt, cut the part out and just go with three bolts (which I think would work fine,) or find a new blower fan.
I hope to use another afternoon to prep the car for the new radiator, i.e. full removal of old hoses, fitting of new hoses, etc. Then, I'll use one last afternoon to fit the new radiator into the car. Here's hoping that works.
posted by Yorick at 7:19 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home