A few days ago, The Old Bucket (1988 900S 4-door with original engine, 5-speed trans and clutch) proudly rolled over 250k miles--and its 15-year-old radiator marked the event by p- (no, no, bad word) h-issing coolant from most of its lower third :evil:
Todd Morin, owner of www.eeuroparts.com, offers an OEM rad by Valeo (comes with thermoswitch) for $127, and a Nissens aftermarket unit for $100 (no switch: this is an extra $7). I asked his advice about which to buy, and he told me he sells equal numbers of both! I went with the (Danish-made) Nissens, and ordered the thermoswitch as well.
Here are my notes on changing out the rad:
To remove the old one: Loosen the drain valve (lower RH corner of rad as viewed from inside car); remove cap from expansion bottle; slip 1- to 2-foot length of fuel/heater hose over drain valve; aim hose at suitable container under car (cat-litter pan, say; evict cat first); twist hose to fully open valve and drain coolant.
Remove top hose, and distributor cap (swing out of the way). Remove small hose at rad upper LH corner (this leads to expansion bottle). Unclip airmass meter from air cleaner body; unscrew hose clamp holding its duct to throttle body intake; remove AMM and duct. Pull apart the electrical connectors for both fans. Pull off 2 connectors from thermoswitch.
Loosen the clamp for the lower rad hose. Quickly pull off the hose, then bend it up and back so you can jam it behind the plastic tube through which your battery-to-starter cable goes. This will minimize loss of coolant from block.
Undo the 2 bolts holding top of rad to hood-support crossmember. Tilt rad back, and pull up: the bottom has 2 pegs that locate into holes in rubber bushings in the lower crossmember. Carefully lift rad out (I did this solo, but an assistant really helps here).
Remove the fans. Their screws will probably be very rusty--drill 'em out if you have to. Use a wire wheel in a bench grinder to clean them up, or plan on replacing them with generic sheetmetal screws of the same length. CAUTION: The Nissens rad had holes that were TOO SMALL for the OEM screws! I enlarged them with a taper-reamer. You may want to just buy screws to fit the holes as they come.
Install thermoswitch and reattach fans. Remove metal tubes and rubber bushings from mounting points at top of old rad, and insert in new one. There is no drain fixture on the new rad, just a plastic screw-in plug that you tighten with a flat-blade screwdriver.
Lift rad into engine bay, and guide the bottom pegs into their holes. Watch out that you don't foul the distributor rotor! (Again, a helper is really useful here). Refasten the upper bolts, then reconnect all wires and hoses.
To fill: not as simple as it seems! Turn heater temp. dial to hot; loosen bleed screw (11 mm) on thermostat housing. Cut top off empty 1-gallon windshield-washer bottle just below swage line, and wedge this funnel into opening in expansion bottle (it's a perfect fit). Pour in 50-50 mix of water and antifreeze until it oozes out of bleed screw. Tighten bleed screw.
Start engine. The water pump will suck coolant from expansion bottle; top it up to "full." Wait until temp. rises; you will see 2 or more episodes of bubbling where the thin overflow hose from top of rad enters expansion bottle. After fan comes on and goes off again, top up expansion bottle one last time. Remove funnel, and screw on the bottle's cap. You're done!
Now, go pour some suitable cooling liquid into your own system :cheesy:
Todd Morin, owner of www.eeuroparts.com, offers an OEM rad by Valeo (comes with thermoswitch) for $127, and a Nissens aftermarket unit for $100 (no switch: this is an extra $7). I asked his advice about which to buy, and he told me he sells equal numbers of both! I went with the (Danish-made) Nissens, and ordered the thermoswitch as well.
Here are my notes on changing out the rad:
To remove the old one: Loosen the drain valve (lower RH corner of rad as viewed from inside car); remove cap from expansion bottle; slip 1- to 2-foot length of fuel/heater hose over drain valve; aim hose at suitable container under car (cat-litter pan, say; evict cat first); twist hose to fully open valve and drain coolant.
Remove top hose, and distributor cap (swing out of the way). Remove small hose at rad upper LH corner (this leads to expansion bottle). Unclip airmass meter from air cleaner body; unscrew hose clamp holding its duct to throttle body intake; remove AMM and duct. Pull apart the electrical connectors for both fans. Pull off 2 connectors from thermoswitch.
Loosen the clamp for the lower rad hose. Quickly pull off the hose, then bend it up and back so you can jam it behind the plastic tube through which your battery-to-starter cable goes. This will minimize loss of coolant from block.
Undo the 2 bolts holding top of rad to hood-support crossmember. Tilt rad back, and pull up: the bottom has 2 pegs that locate into holes in rubber bushings in the lower crossmember. Carefully lift rad out (I did this solo, but an assistant really helps here).
Remove the fans. Their screws will probably be very rusty--drill 'em out if you have to. Use a wire wheel in a bench grinder to clean them up, or plan on replacing them with generic sheetmetal screws of the same length. CAUTION: The Nissens rad had holes that were TOO SMALL for the OEM screws! I enlarged them with a taper-reamer. You may want to just buy screws to fit the holes as they come.
Install thermoswitch and reattach fans. Remove metal tubes and rubber bushings from mounting points at top of old rad, and insert in new one. There is no drain fixture on the new rad, just a plastic screw-in plug that you tighten with a flat-blade screwdriver.
Lift rad into engine bay, and guide the bottom pegs into their holes. Watch out that you don't foul the distributor rotor! (Again, a helper is really useful here). Refasten the upper bolts, then reconnect all wires and hoses.
To fill: not as simple as it seems! Turn heater temp. dial to hot; loosen bleed screw (11 mm) on thermostat housing. Cut top off empty 1-gallon windshield-washer bottle just below swage line, and wedge this funnel into opening in expansion bottle (it's a perfect fit). Pour in 50-50 mix of water and antifreeze until it oozes out of bleed screw. Tighten bleed screw.
Start engine. The water pump will suck coolant from expansion bottle; top it up to "full." Wait until temp. rises; you will see 2 or more episodes of bubbling where the thin overflow hose from top of rad enters expansion bottle. After fan comes on and goes off again, top up expansion bottle one last time. Remove funnel, and screw on the bottle's cap. You're done!
Now, go pour some suitable cooling liquid into your own system :cheesy:
When I did mine I left the disributor cap on.I bumped it, and completed the job.Then I took it for a test run .It went about 1/4 mile before it missfired and stalled, ruining my new cap and rotor!Glad you had better luck than I!Keep your cool, 8) Pat
