v8 radiator replacement

[david hopwood]

HI all has anyone managed to replace a radiator without the use of a hoist or pit and if so whats the struggle factor on the scale of 1-10

[superdavelotus]

DOn't tell me yours has gone as well?

Oh when you doing yours, can you do mine too? I can get the rads for

[williamives]

I replaced mine with the front of the car up on axle stands. the car was supported at the front two jacking points with large areas of wood to spread the load. access was fine.

However... the job itself is a right pig. 11/10 rating for hassle.

You have to remove the front underbody and front spiltter. and then prise the radiator&ducting out from between the oil coolers....

Good luck. Took me about a day to strip apart, and a day to put back together. Including cleaning everything & replacing the mounting hardware on the front splitter!

Good luck!

Will

Edited July 28, 2006 by williamives

[paulhavelock]

I have recently replace mine. It was a complete pain. I had to take off the undertrays, both oil coolers, the front lower bumper. The worst part was that my car is a '98 and all the bolts were rusted solid. I broke most of the M6 bolts and over half of the M8s getting them out! Also many of the bolts screw either into stud plates bolted to the bumper - I had to remake all 8 of these - or screw into some other fixing attched to the panel which will rotate when you yurn the bolt so the bolt head will have to be ground off.

I propped the car on axle stands and did most of the work lieing on the ground - not the best.

However, now the car is all back together it sits at 82degC onthe button whenever the car is not in traffic, and oscillates between 95 -100degC in traffic - perfect. Also think of how much it wold cost to get a dealer to get it out...

[oneshot]

Also think of how much it wold cost to get a dealer to get it out...

[marvin]

DOn't tell me yours has gone as well?

Oh when you doing yours, can you do mine too? I can get the rads for

[Feffman]

Last year I pulled my leaking radiator from my former 1999 with the front of the Esprit on jack stands. Not a real hard job, just messy and puzzle like with the oil coolers (which I simply loosened but never removed) and body pieces. Once removed I took it to a good radiator shop and had them recore it with an extra row (total of four(4) rows) and re-installed it. I was amazed at the more stble coolant temperatures and whne on the track how it stayed much cooler. Best $550 (US dollars) I spent on the Esprit.

Swithced to G5 coolant (mixed wth distilled water) as well to be nice to the various metals in the system. The lower aluminum drain tube (driver's side of radiator) was so badly corroded, it had pin holes forcing me to replace the aluminum pipe. G5 is friendly to all metals and despite the fact G5 is a long-term coolant, I'd still change it annually.

Mark "Feff" Pfeffer

[th4neuk]

Wow I can post in the V8 forum now... cool

We are doing mine next week at PNM. This must be a regular thing on the V8's then.

Cheers

[steveduffell]

i ve just had mine replaced and increased from 2 core to 3 core, the whole job was

[Bernie]

Do you need to remove the A/C condensers with the radiator, or do they stay in place??? Do they both come down

attached together ???

Edited June 6, 2007 by Bernie

[lotus4s]

Do you need to remove the A/C condensers with the radiator, or do they stay in place??? Do they both come down

attached together ???

They come down together as 1 unit and then you can separate them to remove the radiator. No need to completely remove the a/c condensors.

[actwon]

They come down together as 1 unit and then you can separate them to remove the radiator. No need to completely remove the a/c condensors.

Does anyone have a documented procedure for this? Sound like it would be a good tutorial.

[atgnat]

i have a core for sale...

[Bernie]

They come down together as 1 unit and then you can separate them to remove the radiator. No need to completely remove the a/c condensors.

Does that mean I have to disconnect A/C hoses from the condensers and purge the R134??? If so, this is not a DIY

job...Maybe the hoses are long enough so there is no need to disconnect them???

Edited June 8, 2007 by Bernie

[Advantage]

Just undo the fixings without touching the hoses, they should be long enough to allow you to carry on working on the radiator.