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the old antrx.com wiki => old wiki articles to be converted => maintenance issues => Topic started by: fraz on Jan 6, 2005, 08:12PM
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(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/liftout2.jpg)Changing the radiator in your u12
[author]fraz
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just fixed up the tech article so it displayed in the tech section fraz
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I had to remove the top raditor hose in my car a few weeks ago and the end of the top pipe broke off. It was pretty brittle as it is 15 years old and has been hot for 400,000 kays.
(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/broken2.jpg)
To get it going i rammed the hose on as far as possible and it held for the 2 weeks that i drove it before i got a replacement radiator.
(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/broken.jpg)
First you have to drain the coolant. If its clean you might as well just re-use it.
Put a container under the drain on the gearbox side of the radiator and undo the drain pug about 5-6 turns untill the water comes out. It will come out faster if you open the radiator cap.
If you dont want to re-use the water, just do this step over the garden :)
It wont hurt to start the car without water and move it back into the shed or onto flat ground.(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/drain.jpg)
While it is draining, unplug the 2 fan plugs from the fans and also remove the overflow hose from the radiator. The hose should just twist off with a bit of force.
(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/plug.jpg)
(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/plug2.jpg)
Next, remove the top hose from the radiator, then the bottom hose from the car.
(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/bottomhose.jpg)
Remove the top brackets from the car and the radiator will lift out. If you have A/C you will most likley have the ac hose running along the edge of these brackets, just loosen the bolts and push the hose out of the way.
If you have an auto with the oil cooler in the radiator bottom tank, you will have to drain the auto box also.
If you are competent, you can just pull one hose off the box and the other hose off the rad and loop the one still on the box to block it. This way you will only lose 50-100ml of fluid.
(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/liftout2.jpg)
Make sure you done lose the rubber feet, they will probably stick to the botom of the radiator.
(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/feet.jpg)
When you have it out, remove the hose and fans. The whole fan unit comes off with 5 screws
(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/out.jpg)
(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/fans.jpg)
When i removed the hoseclip, it was all rusted and soft. I had to break it to get it off. Proper stainless hoseclips are around $5-10 bucks, luckily i had a spare.
(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/rusted2.jpg)
My top mounts were also a little shagged
(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/loose.jpg)
So i slipped some of the spare overflow hose over the top stubs and cut it off flush
(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/loose2.jpg)
Like this
(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/loose3.jpg)
Nice and tight :)
(http://www.antrx.com/fraz/radiator/tight.jpg)
Putting it back together is the opposite of removal. Remember to tighten the drain pulg before you put the water back in.
When refilling it, fill untill it over flows and start the car. This will make it go down a bit and when it wont take any more, put the cap on and go for a drive. Let it heat up then wait untill it cools and open it and top it up.
I got the replacement radiator for $40 from the pick-a-part wreckers and also got a few spare hoseclips/hoses/nuts/bolts aswell.
It took me around 20-30mins to do and was pretty easy :)