Radiator replacement

[alan ream]

I'm sure this is second nature to most of you out there, but I thought I'd ask anyway.
I just had the end tanks on my 95 radiator replaced. and I'm going to reinstall it tonight. Cracks were noted nest to both of the transmission hook up connections as well as the exit radiator hose. Except for the water in the block, what is the process for filling up a new system with liquid. The little tank I will add too is connected to the radiator with only little lines, taking a long time to fill up.

Finally, when I took the radiator out, the decal on the side said March 2003, meaning it was replaced at that time (before I purchased it). Since this is a 95 with only 60K miles on it, should this kind of stuff be happening this early on in the game. The car has run great since purchasing about 2 months ago. Do I have this to look forward to on a regular basis???

 

[jsinga]

There are some issues concerning getting all the air out of a LT-1/4 car I don't know what they are.
I got 15 years out of my radiator before the stress cracks showed up around the transmission cooler inlets. Those radiators aren't steel, they can be cracked it they are yanked on to hard or the lines over torqued.

JS

 

[alan ream]

There are some issues concerning getting all the air out of a LT-1/4 car I don't know what they are.
I got 15 years out of my radiator before the stress cracks showed up around the transmission cooler inlets. Those radiators aren't steel, they can be cracked it they are yanked on to hard or the lines over torqued.

JS

Although the radiator had connections for a trans cooler, I have a 6 speed and don't need it. I just picked it up and the new tank doesn't have the holes in the tank, which is fine with me. Hopefully, I will get a few years out of it before it goes south.

 

[jmccloud]

Bleeding air from cooling system

There's a bleed valve on top of the thermostat cover where most of the air can be let out. Stuff a rag under it to absorb any leak and keep it off of the optispark.
There was a thread about a month ago that described putting hose over the bleeder to duct the bleed liquid into the reservoir in front of the right front wheel. I still got a lot of leak and was glad to have the towel stuffed under the thermostat housing.
It still takes a little while to fill the system but was quicker than I expected (much less than 20 minutes). I filled and bled without running the engine, then attached the hose and ran the engine for only a minute or two.
It seemed to have all the air out but when I ran into town, the temp went into the 240's. This happened for 3 trips on 3 successive days. The service manual says it takes 3 full temperature cycles to purge the remaining air and it did. During those 3 cycles, the manual says to 'avoid aggressive driving manervers' so take it easy. The manual also says to shut off immediately if the temp reaches 260F (with antifreeze installed). I added about a quart of antifreeze to the overflow container during those 3 days.
Keep the opti dry!

 

[lone73]

drill a hole in the T-stat

Another trick that I've found helpful is to drill a small hole in the thermostat flange to allow bubbles thru when it's closed. High flow t-stats from Stewart come with that already drilled. I put drilled stats on both cars.
Ran across a 25 year veteran radiator repair guy the other day that told me he'd been doing it for years.

good luck

 

[oldace84]

I had my original stock radiator rebuilt. Works fine. and has for the last 9 years.
tony