Radiator Replacement Congratulations, you drive a DSM and it has problems. The radiator was my latest problem, and this is how it was fixed. Here you see the problem quite clearly, a cracked radiator. This particular crack was discovered when I was picking up my boss at, of all places, a Chrysler dealership. Step 1: Drain fluid. This one�s quite simple, locate the drain spigot on the bottom passenger side of the radiator and turn counter clockwise. It makes for less of a mess to have some sort of catch can underneath and I chose not to completely remove the plug as it would be nearly impossible to control the flow of fluid. At this point it would also be helpful to remove the radiator cap, as that will hasten the flow. Step 2: Unplug fans and remove upper hose. All of this happens while the fluid is draining to save time. Unplug both fans and, once the fluid level has dropped below the inlet line, disconnect and rotate the upper hose out of the way. Step 3: Unbolt radiator supports. One on each side of the radiator, two bolts each, both 12mm. There is a matching set of supports on the bottom of the car, very similar to these, but I don�t remember if they are removable or not. Whether they are or not is irrelevant, as they stay in place. For all intent purpose�s, these are the only things holding the radiator in the car aside from hoses and wires. Step 4: Remove Lower Radiator hose and Transmission lines. By this time the fluid should be completely drained, if it�s not then you should smoke a cigarette and wait a little longer. When the fluid is completely drained you may continue with removal of the lower radiator hose. If you have an automatic transmission car then you should also remove the transmission cooler lines. Depending on how environmentally friendly your are you may consider catching any transmission fluid that drips into a separate catch can, but the fluid that drips out should be minimal. Step 5: Remove radiator. Well, you�ve reached the apex of the job; from here it�s pretty much downhill. Pull the radiator with the fans attached, unless you are running a turbo there should be more than enough room. The rubber isolators on the bottom supports maybe a little stubborn, so you may have to give it a little wiggle to persuade them to let go. Step 6: Remove the fans and place them on the new radiator. There are four bolts per fan, all 10mm. I found it handy to have a flat head screwdriver on hand to lift the backing nuts up a little as I threaded in the bolts on the new radiator. It probably depends on how cheap a radiator you bought. Step 7: Replace radiator. Everything is just reversal of the previous steps. Drop it back in, hook up the transmission lines and lower hose, bolt on upper supports and hook up fans and upper hose. At this point I removed the upper hose from the thermostat housing and ran water from the garden hose into there to fill the core. Then I clamped the hose back into place. Step 8: No pics, but it is imperative that you make sure that there are no air bubbles in the system. The way I did this was by removing the radiator cap and starting the car. Basic idea here is to allow the engine to run to full temperature and watch the thermostat. When it opens it will draw down the amount of water in the radiator, so simply add water through the thermostat housing (where the cap goes). The cold water will close the thermostat again so give it some time to open again. If it draws down, add some more water. I repeated this process approx. 4 times until it stopped drawing down. Then I replaced the cap and allowed the engine to run for another 15 minutes. Make sure the reservoir is to the full line and shut off the engine, then just let it cool down. After the engine is cool, check the reservoir level and see if the engine has drawn in any more fluid. If you�ve done it properly it won�t, but if it did the just make sure the reservoir isn�t completely drained, fill it up, then start the engine and repeat.

Document statistics: Last modified on 2007-08-05 16:36:47 by Keith2172