Radiators

It is located on the lower right hand corner on the inside toward the engine. It is very hard to see and best seen from the bottom side.

No drain Plug Just loosen lower rad hose

Coolant reservoir, or directly in the radiator. If you are having to add much coolant, you need to find out why. Serious engine damage can occur if it is leaking inside the engine.

a hose clamp

If it is a pin hole try using Bars Leak. If it is larger try using JB Weld to seal it. If you use jb weld, be sure the surface is clean and dry and give it plenty of time to cure.

Just had to do a rad replacement on my own 93 Skylark 3.3, and it's a tricky and long process. First you'll need to remove the cooling fan, which is accomplished by undoing one bolt at the top of the mount, unplugging it, and lifting it out; it's a tight squeeze with the exhaust manifold in the way, so take your time. The coolant radiator is bolted to the AC radiator in the front, and there should be two bolts holding them together facing the front of the car; they're behind your headlight mountings, and are tricky to get at if you don't remove the lights first. There is also an AC line that runs directly over the top of the radiator; you WILL have to disconnect the pressure-bolt for it (located on the passenger's side) and relieve the freon from the AC system to remove your radiator (this is *the* catch of doing a rad replacement in a '93 Skylark). Back off the bolt very, very slowly until it begins to hiss; you'll have to let the AC system bleed off until there is absolutely no hissing at all, perhaps backing off the pressure very very slightly if the hissing stops to allow more space for the freon to escape. When working with freon, be very, VERY careful, wear gloves, safety glasses and a breathing mask (or at least a rag or shirt over your nose and mouth) because it is highly toxic and very cold when it contacts air. You WILL have to get the AC system recharged at an auto shop (which these days is no small amount of cash, since you can't buy freon/R-12 recharging kits in the store the same way that you can get R-134a). After the AC line is disconnected, you can move it out of the way (it is connected to a flexible hose on the driver's side) so that you can drain your radiator if you haven't already. Be sure that you've let the engine cool for a good hour or two so that you aren't burned by the coolant; the stopcock is a small, hand-turnable valve located on the driver's side at the very bottom of the radiator that will allow you to drain most of the coolant from the rad. Disconnect the hoses from the engine block-to-radiator (located on top-driver's side) and overflow tank-engine block-radiator (should be an odd-looking 3-way hose at bottom-passenger's side). After all this, unbolt the two radiator retaining bolts--will be just above the radiator, facing the engine--and pull the radiator toward the engine and out of the car; be careful not to jostle or bump your coils or spark-plug wires, the clearance there is very tight. Putting another rad in is basically a reverse of the process--good luck!

Remove the plastic cover underneath the radiator(passenger side) to access the radiator drain and you will need a large screwdriver.

the coolant goes through the radiator too fast to be cooled sufficiently. a thermostat will help get the engine to operating temp and the let only enough coolant through to keep engine at that temp. this slows coolant down enough to be cooled properly.

No. The fan should shut off when the engine temp is to cold for the fan to be on. If its on all the time the temperature switch/sensor is probably defective.

Keep the radiator full as possible and leave the cap loose. This will keep pressure from building up and forcing the coolant out the leak area. This is only to get you home or to a garage for permanent repair.

I had the same probleme. Finally I had to push down again and turn counterclockwise again and Bingo I got it out ! Answer 1 is correct, but did not explain that the cap was NOT "jammed." In the "old" days, radiator caps could be removed with a single twist to the "open" position you mention. However, the pressure of the coolent in the radiator, would often "blow" the cap out of your hand, and scald your hand, arm, and possibly your face and other parts of the body. This was NOT good !!! For SAFETY, radiator cap manufacturers designed a "DETENT" lock into caps which allow you to loosen the cap just far enough to allow the hot pressurized coolant to flow through the "overflow" tube to the coolant recovery tank. When you turn the cap to that detent position, it CANNOT blow off, nor can you remove it. By design, to "override" the safety detent lock, AFTER there has been time for the presure to neutralize, you must FIRMLY press the cap down, and THEN CONTINUE to turn the cap another 10 to 20 degrees of rotation, in order to clear the safety lock tabs, and THEN lift the cap off of the radiator filler neck. Hope this helps many. j3h.

The amount of coolant needed is different from vehicle to vehicle. Smaller vehicles like motorcycles may only need a few quarts while a large truck would take several gallons. The amount required for your vehicle will be shown in your owners manual.

Most rads have a drain at the bottom,on one of the end tanks. If you can not find it just take the lower rad hose off.

What I do when I cant find the drain plug on different vehicles is to pull the lowest hose coming from the radiator. Usually saves me lots of time trying to find them and when I do sometimes you have to be a contortionist to be able to open them. It does the same thing. Good luck and hope this helps you. Brad.

Aprox 11 qts.

what is the radiator capacity on my 97 delta olds with a 3800 series engine

The radiator only holds about 3 to 4 qts. The entire cooling system holds about 12 qts.

They are hard to see but are right where the block meets the oil pan. One nice thing is they point straight down so it makes less of a mess when draining.

On the cars I grew up with the fan belt was a rubber belt that transfers torque from the crankshaft to the shaft of the cooling fan for the radiator on an engine. On the cars we drive today, the name fan belt is a bit misleading now because the belt drives much more than just the fan to cool the radiator. Most cars have one large "serpentine" belt that drives all of the accessory motors. The serpentine belt goes around a pulley attached to the flywheel and powers accessory pumps and motors such as the water pump, air conditioner compressor, alternator, power brakes, and the power steering pump as well as the cooling fan for the radiator.

They are both controlled by Relays and not fuses. I currently have the same problem and am looking into the solution.

The antifreeze is building up to much pressure you may have a cloged line or tour hose clamp is lose

Just about every major city has at least one and usually several shops that specialize in radiator repair. They remove the "caps" or "tanks" of the radiators and run a rod through the small tubes. The process is called "rodding" the radiator. The parts are then dipped in a solvent and cleaned again. The radiator is then re-assembled and you are ready with a radiator that is like new. Some of the newer radiators, with the platic cans are not as suitable for this process. Also, the brass radiators can be soldered if there are leaks, making them somewhat more desirable. But then, some of the newer radiators seem to keep going for a long time, so it's all just a crap-shoot.

Nope, a dealer said my radiator was "gone", and that transmission fluid may have mixed with the coolant, and they have to flush the tranny (180 dollars worth of tranny fluid) to ensure it is ok, add a new radiator, coolant, and a transmission filter, plus labor and you get 1100 worth of work-is this accurate?

Yikes...

yes a tranny flush is expensive (@ between $150 and $200). Plus, a new radiator. So, I'm afraid it's possible. But, they're killing you with labor costs. Just make sure that your car can handle a flush. In some cases, mostly in older vehicles, a true flush on the transmission can cause it to lock up, rendering it useless. I'm just taking a guess here, as I don't know what your driving, so I can't even guess how much a new radiator is for your car.

Yes! both the radiator and the hoses are swapable :) Just besure that if your vehicle has a automatic transmission the radiator has the automatic transmission cooling line fittings.

damaged or faulty radiator If coolant is "pouring" out of the radiator with no damage evident, could be stuck thermostat, especially if it happens soon after starting car. Could also be blown head gasket if pouring out of the fill tube with cap off.