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1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
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1995 900 SE V-6 auto
there are a lot of good things about ng900 and 9-3 design, but the radiator ain't one of them. to me, a radiator is a normal service item in a vehicle, and should be easily replaced. unfortunately in this car, it is absolutely buried. here is my story of learning things the hard way!
Part 1
just finished a timing belt job on the V6, bought the tensioner/belt kit ($200) and added the usual water pump and thermostat. also replaced the "outlet pipe" that goes between the thermostat and the upper radiator hose. oddly, the side-arm had broken, allowing the outlet pipe to come loose from the t-stat and cause a massive coolant leak on the passenger side of the engine. anyway the job was relatively easy, contrary to many postings on this board. i'm not saying that i got it right the first time, but after 2 iterations (adjusting a cog one tooth L or R and rotating the motor manually) I got it all lined up and ready to go. thanks to anders for posting basic, methodical instructions. so the engine started up and ran great, but still had a small coolant leak on the driver's side.
Part 2
The small leak was easy to spot...the plastic end tank crimp was failing, and coolant was seeping & bubbling out of the joint, along the whole length, or at least as far down as I could see. with the giant coolant leak on the other side, this was undetectable before the repair in Part 1. I had my parts guy get me a new radiator same day ($200) and I was off to the races (or so I thought). I've pulled radiators on many, many cars, so I assumed a few things about this car - pull the fan off first, then hoses, then radiator mounting bolts, then lift out. Boy was I wrong! Here is what I had to remove:
engine covers (4 torx bolts and 1 10mm bolt)
upper radiator hose (2 7mm hose clamps)
heat shield on exhaust manifold (3 bolts)
power steering line to reservior (1 7mm hose clamp & 10mm bolt)
bracket to hold ps reservior (1 10mm bolt)
>>now you can remove fan<< (2 screws, 2 elect connectors)
Next I'm looking for the radiator screws...surprise, there are none. just some f'd up clip things that hold a rubber donut into a bracket. ok, i can handle this GM-cost saver no problem and I take them out. but the rad won't budge. So I learned the hard way that the AC condenser has no mounts of it's own and is bolted directly to the radiator! nice job!
remove lower radiator hose (1 7mmm hose clamp)
auto trans cooler lines (2 19mm bolts)
power steering pressure line (16mm)
cut various zip ties (1+)
remove battery (13mm positive, 10mm negative, 13mm hold down bolt)
remove grill (2 tabs)
remove headlights & corner lights (4 T20 torx screws each side)
reach secret screws through AC condenser to radiator (2 8mm)
push rad/cond assembly backwards and release 2 tabs from slots
now even though you have practically removed the whole front of the car, you still have quite a battle on your hands. for starters, the left "foot" of the radiator juts out diagonally, right under a hard-line that belongs to the AC system. so you cannot just lift it right out. you have to lift the left side first, which means dealing with the one PS hose and both hard lines from the trans oil cooler. fun fun fun. try not to cover yourself in power steering fluid, and definitely protect the serpentine belt. if you get it out without shedding blood, you are doing much better than I did! the best part is...assembly is the reverse of removal! Hah!
Finally the car is NOT puking coolant and drives reasonably well, so the job is done (for now) and I can go back to working on my classic 900, where almost everything is as easy as it looks! :)
posted by 65.78.13...
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