Radiators

It is on the Front side of the radiator, bottom driver's side (faces forward). Use a 1/4" drive extension bar ( will fit into 1/4" square plug) turn left 1/4 turn to drain radiator.

If you follow the upper radiator hose to the engine, you will see it is clamped on to the thermostat housing that is held on with two bolt to the intake manifold. When you take out the two bolt for the thermostat housing the thermostat sits under the housing.

You might think it should only take minutes to replace the thermostat. But due to the minimal amount of clearance between the thermostat housing and exhaust cross over pipe, it took me hours (and my wife's small fingers). Some suggest that the cross over pipe be removed first. In Hind site I believe that might be true. However, anyone who has disassembled exhaust components knows the nightmares waiting there; rusted fasteners are always difficult to remove and often break.

I settled for disconnecting the three hoses from the coolant manifold tube and removing the one nut which stabilizes it on the thermostat end of the intake manifold. The coolant manifold tube can then be moved enough to gain some room without completely removing it. Leave the other end connected. Also disconnect the sensor wires from the air cleaner boot and remove it too.

One of the two capscrews which hold the thermostat housing in place can be removed easily with the right size socket, six inch extension, and ratchet. It is the second, "demon" capscrew, which will demand hours of your life before surrender.

I purchased one of those ratchet type, boxed end wrenches with a swivel head to access the second capscrew. A word of warning; do not loosen this capscrew with the ratchet end of the wrench to the point that the wrench can not be taken off the head of the capscrew. As you back the capscrew out, you lose clearance between the head of the capscrew and cross over pipe to the point that you can't get your wrench off the capscrew. Due to the nature of the wrench and its ratchet feature, it will only turn the capscrew in one direction. You can't tighten the capscrew to get your wrench back!

Once the two capscrews are removed, a bit of twisting and turning of the thermostat housing and poking with a screw driver to separate the thermostat will allow both parts to come free. Be sure to retrieve the rubber gasket washer from the old thermostat. Inspect the thermostat housing and capscrews for damage and replace, as required. You will now notice that the housing has one hole and one slot. There is no doubt that both capscrews have to be removed completely to free the housing for this method, despite the slotted hole. For the effort so far definitely get a new thermostat before assembling even if you determine the "old" one is still good.

Position the new thermostat in the intake manifold, spring side first. Delicately place the thermostat housing over the thermostat and hopefully it will remain in place. More than likely it will be knocked loose while trying to position the thermostat housing. Use a screw driver carefully to put the thermostat back in place. I tried to start the demon capscrew first before positioning housing but it only got in the way. With that slot in the housing I thought it might be the way to go; didn't work.

Once the housing is in position, install the "easy" capscrew finger tight to keep the parts in place. I then used a magnetic wand to help position the second capscrew in its threaded hole, but it took my wife's small hand to start the capscrew. Once the second capscrew was started, the rest all seemed easy; ten minutes it was all back together. One major footnote as far as I'm concerned. We used a slightly shorter capscrew (M8 1.25 x 20) in place of the demon capscrew. It was easier to "find" the hole, hold in place, and start threading into the hole.

Check the coolant level in the radiator. Make sure after you fill the radiator with coolant, you bleed the air out of the system. On the top of the thermostat housing you will see a bleeder screw. Open it up after the car is at operating temperature and bleed of the air. Let the coolant flow out till you have a steady stream of coolant.

If it doesn't have a "bleeder" screw at the top of the thermostat housing--remove or loosen one of the heater hoses with engine running and at operating temperature and allow water to run for a couple of minutes If it has a "bleeder" screw--just open slightly and let vehicle runs for a couple of minutes

We had an old school (3 generation) radiator shop that used to remove one tank from one end of the radiator core and "rod it out" with various size flat rods. At the same time they would run water through the radiator to flush out the junk. It is probably cheaper these days to just buy a new radiator than to pay for all that labor.

it is on the right hand fender well under the hood on the over flow bottle it is a plastic cap the screws on.

Follow wiring backwards from the fan. If it comes to a relay it could be burned out. Also could be a faulty temperature sensor.

are you asking where the drain is, specificaly on a rover or the whole general procedure? i don't know rovers specificaly but I am at the point of taking it down to the radiator shop. this way they dispose of the old fluid. it is more costly to properly dispose of the old fluid when you are doing it yourself. Note. radiator fluid does not go bad. it however very corosive to an engine and the chemical that keeps it from coroding your engine is what gets old and go's bad. i have started using "evans cooling" in my cars. its harder to change because you have to take out the small plugs in the block itself to completley drain the old fluid. but it is NOT corrosive to your block. Has a higher boiling point and uses less pressure which is better on all your seals and hoses. check out http://www.evanscooling.com/main21.htm if your interested in it. general instruction.
hook a hose up to the drain on the radiator. (best if vehicle is level or at a down hill slant) open the drain (after the engine is up to operating temp. so the thermostat is open--so you have to be careful IT IS HOT--)
Drain the fluid. close the drain. keep vehicle level or turn upward and refill the radiator. (you want uphill now so you don't get a air pocket in the top of the motor.) add fluid. start enging and let it get to the normal temp. the thermostat will open and then you will probably need to add mor flui. ( note you may have a closed system that you have a cap on the fluid level and must have the cap on for the system to work and do not remove while hot.)
again, take to the shop of a jiffy lube or something to change. it much esier.

A bad radiator is a radiator that is leaking or clogged. If you are loosing coolant then you have a leak that should be easy to find if the leak is at the radiator. If it is clogged your engine will overheat.

antifreeze antifreeze a fifty fifty micture of water and antifrez is best

== == No and No. The radiator can easily be replaced without touching the front bumper. It may take 3 hours, but it shouldn't take a professional that long.

== == == == K&W Permanent "Metallic" Block Seal can be found at most any auto parts for about $9-

1. Come up with an idea

2. Make the idea a reality

3. Done.

What is electrolysis and why is it a problem in an automotive cooling system? Lets start by trying to understand electrolysis as it pertains to automobiles. Electrolysis is a destructive force that packs enormous potential to damage not just cooling system components, but any aluminum engine part that has contact with the coolant. The coolant acts as both the catalyst and as the conductor, just like the electrolyte in a battery.The "electrodes" mentioned in the above definition are the aluminum components in the cooling system (like the plates in a battery). The "electrochemical process" mentioned is the aluminum particle (ion) movement, such that leaks (thinning of wall surface) occur. When enough ions have moved, this results in a failure (leak) typically in the radiator or heater due to the thickness (read thinness) of the tube wall surface. A thicker surface (like an aluminum casting) is not more resistant to electrolysis, but is not as likely to leak because it is thicker. However these thicker surfaces may leak anyway if the electrolysis occurs at a gasket surface. Generally you won't know you have an electrolysis problem unless you have (a series of) unexplained leaks. However, to add yet another factor, in some parts of the country (southwest), electrolysis is much more prevalent than others.

Get a new radiator or flush it out?

R&R of a radiator on a '99 LHS is a bit labor intensive. First of all, are you sure you need to pull the radiator? If so, then here goes.

First of all, drain the coolant from the radiator. Get under the front end of the car on the passenger side and locate the coolant drain valve. (this is easier if the car is on ramps or on a lift. I would not advise jacking the car up unless you have good trustworthy jack stands to support the vehicle while you are under it.) Open the drain valve and place a drain pan under it to catch the coolant.

Now, open the hood and locate the upper radiator support bracket. The bracket extends from the right fender to the left fender and has alot of bolts holding it on. It also supports the headlamp assembly and also fastens to the front facia with three fasteners. The bracket also usually has all your belt routing stickers and emissions stickers attached. Remove all the bolts from the upper radiator support bracket and remove it from the vehicle. You will notice the hood release cable also fastens on the front of the bracket, once you have the bracket loose, you will just remove the cable from the hood release.

Now you need to remove the electric cooling fan shroud assembly. It is held on by clips and screws at all four corners. You will need to remove these in order to remove the assembly. Also, locate the electrical connector that supplies power to the fans and disconnect it as well. Then, remove the fan assembly from the radiator. Then remove the upper and lower radiator hoses from the radiator. Remove the transmission cooler lines from the radiator as well and wrap some plastic sandwich bag around the ends and tape or use a rubber band to secure the plastic. This keeps the fluid in the lines from running all over the place and keeps dirt/coolant/whatever from getting in the lines.

You will need to remove the coolant hose connected to your reservoir tank as well and secure it with a clamp or something to keep all the coolant from running out of the tank.

Next, check the radiator for any other fasteners, etc. You should be ready to lift it out of the car. Once out, do what you need to do and the installation is the reverse of removal.

Once you put the radiator in and EVERYTHING is back in its place, fill the radiator using the coolant reservoir. (make sure your drain valve on the radiator is closed!) You will notice a small bleeder port on the upper radiator hose housing on the engine. You will need to open this during the fill process to allow air to escape from the system. Once you see coolant flowing from the port and no more air bubbles, close the port. Run engine, check for leaks, continue to add coolant until car reaches operating temp then watch coolant level to make sure reservoir stays on the "full hot" line. Shut off the car and let it cool (usually overnite) then recheck everything in the morning including coolant level, add if necessary.

Good luck! Try to pick up a "Haynes" repair book (autozone) as it will help you alot in this process. The Chilton books are great to use too, however they are usually more expensive and I have made ALOT of repairs using Haynes manuals with great success.

Most vehicles have a coolant reservoir (a clear plastic tub) with a phrase "engine coolant only" printed on the cap. This is where you should add engine coolant.

There are instructions in the manual. Take off the top cover and locate the bleeder screw, directly over the Thermostat. Loosen the screw. Add coolant to the radiator with cap off till full. Start the engine. When there is water coming from the bleeder screw, then wait a bit and tighten it . Add a little more coolant to the radiator and then put the cap back on.

Could also be a short to ground. If it runs all the time that's what it probably is. Get a wiring diagram and figure it out

the drain plug is usually located at the lower left hand/right hand side of radiator. I've noticed that some gm's and chryslers do not have drain plugs. in that case, it is easier to have a flush done.

Double-check first by turning on the air conditioning. The fan should come on immediately.

Use a volt light or multimeter and check that there is voltage on the switch (relay). On a 95 Chevy Cavalier, the relay is under the hood inside a black fusebox. The location is labeled "COOLING FAN" on top of the fuse box. The black cover pops off, and the relay can be unplugged easily. Pop out the relay and check the contacts it plugs into to see if there is voltage. There is a schematic on the side of the relay showing which pins (30, 85, 86, 87) do what.

Make sure the fan works by shorting pins 30 and 87, where the relay switch would normally short. The fan should spin up. If it doesn't, then the problem is the fan.

Otherwise it's a problem with the relay or the sensor?

Open the hood and look down. You are looking at the engine. There is a big metal thing that says "HOT" on it, covering the exhaust manifold on the side of the engine. If you stick your hand on the HOT plate when it is hot, you will jerk your hand back directly into the fans covering the radiator.

The radiator is the black thing behind the fans. The top of the radiator is the black thing that goes all the way across the front of the engine bay, and has a hose going to it on either side.

If you look in the front bumper, you are looking at the air conditioning condenser. Behind that is the radiator.

Stocker @ http://www.rdtiburon.com/
David @ http://votefordavid.blogspot.com