PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

Arrived home to find a box on my doorstep from RadiatorExpress.com

Says to self: "Self, I still have about two hours of daylight left, I can change this right now..."

So, at 5:45pm I run the car up on the ramps and pop the box on the new radiator




Ok, pop the hood and speed-cool the radiator with a garden hose (don't feel like scalding myself tonight)




Grab an 8mm wrench and drop the battery cable, take a 10mm socket and remove the six bolts holding the radiator cover on and the fan. Pop the radiator cap, stick a bucket under the petcock and drain the old radiator out





6:20pm, take 1/2" flare nut wrench and undo the tranny cooler fittings. Channel lock pliers handle the hose clamps, ready to pull the radiator out.





6:45, old radiator is out, new radiator in place, fittings back on. 1 gallon of Distilled Water, and 3/4 gallon of glycol in. Reconnect the battery and crank the motor up and let it warm back up. No leaks, everything works. Hood closed and back off the ramps. Done! One hour radiator change.

Take this nasty P.O.S out to the curb for trash pickup tomorrow, take shower, grab a cup of coffee and regail y'all with this little tale

*dang*, that old one is trashed

GoldenBullet wrote:*dang*, that old one is trashed

Well, it is comming up on 20 years old. Stains are from the pin-hole leak in the core. It's been leaking for the past six months. I finally got tired of topping off the radiator.

FYI, my scrap yard will give me $25 per radiator...

yea i was just about to say radiators get alot of money at scrapyards

That looks bad. Both of mine look better, although I did have to have a small pinhole fixed a couple of years ago on mine. Wife's hasnt been touched in the 10 years we have owned it, save for hose and coolant changes.

Awesome preventative maintenance. Hopefully that'll be some good reminders to people to change their aging radiator that could leave them stranded or cause severe damage from overheating. 100,000 miles or 10 years is probably the oldest any radiator should be trusted. That one looked similar to the one in my 89 when it was replaced at 120k at 16 years old. Half filled with scale.