Right.
Got stuck into the radiator on...tuesday....at least i think it was tuesday.
The radiator was starting to leak abit quicker as the days went and i didnt wanna take the risk of it blowing up on me anytime soon.
Was abit low on funds so i couldn't grab an upper hose or heater hoses. Those will have to come hopefully very soon. I had my local auto shop order in a lower bottom hose for me and that same day i went on the hunt for the "upper bottom hose" if you will.
This is the one im talking about.
For now, lets call it the "mid hose".
Headed off to supercheap and i was on the hunt through the clusterfuck of hoses for something similiar.
I ended up with a top hose from i think a 2000 model camry.
Mackay part number CH1619. Ended up costing me about $16.
Off course it needed some quick work with the stanley knife.
Had some mates over to join in on the radiator replacement fun as well.
I let some Nulon Radiator Flush run through it for a while and then let it cool.
The splash guard then had to come off which was easy enough.
(photo was taken next morning before i degreased and hosed it)
After draining the system, i removed the thermostat and ran some straight water through it flushing out any remaining crap that may have been lingering in there.
First to go was the lower radiator hose. Then the mid hose. Both had to be cut off, good thing i had some new ones handy. I never would have been able to pull them off by hand.
Next was the fun part.
Because i didnt have a new upper hose. I had to be careful taking off the upper one. Couldn't cut it obviously, so at it i went.
Eventually the thermostat housing side slid off. Easy enough.
Now it was the radiators turn.
HNNNNNNNNNNNGGG!
/facepalm.
2 minutes later i thought YAY THE HOSE IS OFF!!!
2 minutes after that i thought GAHHHHH THE RADIATOR IS STUCK INSIDE!!!
20 minutes later i win.
It was at this point i realised that if the alloy rad didn't fit. I was pretty much raped.
But then again, if it didnt fit, i would have made it fit...
Anyway.
The radiator slid out with ease.
Time to slide the new rad in, but not before fitting all the rubber mounts.
The upper mounts went in fine, no issues there.
The lower side mounts however...
....
Not to worry. Some quick work with the power drill and problem solved.
Goddamit i hate e-clips...
Righteo, time to pull the fans off the original rad and pop them onto the new one.
Some quick work with the 10mm and i layed them down onto the new rad, the larger plastic one lined up SPOT ON.
Awesome i thought. Bolted that in.
Next fan, should fit even awesomer...
.....
Again, not to worry, it really wasn't off by much. The drill was still out, and problem solved.
That same hole where the mount was off centre, also had some thread depth issues. The standard bolt wouldnt go in all the way without bottoming out so i had to add a 6mm nut and 2 washers to it (i'll grab a photo of that later).
Some issues with the new rad fitting. My car has a/c. So there are extra hoses and piping running around the base of the rad area and it bolts on twice to the original rad. I take it to stop it from moving around and what not. Being as this rad is thicker, i had to work around that and make do with only bolting it in on one place only. Holds fine.
Next problem. It didn't slide in as easy as i thought. The damn a/c condensor is in the way and stopping me from hooking it into the lower mounting brackets. So i unbolted the 2 bottom bolts on the a/c condensor and pushed it out of the way as it was slid down and hooked into place. Good thing the condensor didn't have to be removed.
Everything fits, the hoses and pipes dont hit anything.
This is the gap between one of the a/c lines and the crank pulley however.
Nothing too concerning though.
After the new rad was in it was time to cut the mackay hose and fit that and the bottom hoses. Too easy.
Fits awesome.
The bottom hose had to be trimmed abit to accommodate the extra thickness of the alloy rad.
Next up, ze zermostart
Got to work on the gasket with some silicone gasket maker for leak free thermostatage action.
When the original stat came out, the bulky side of the stat was sticking up, i got a little confused as i recalled reading somewhere and seeing the bulky part sticking down into the stat housing.
I never had cooling issues prior to this, no overheating, nothing. So i quickly ran inside, hopped on the computer, jumped on miata.net and saw that yes, i was right, the bulky part was to face down.
Got that sorted out and all bolted up. So far, no leaks from there yet.
At that point in time, it was getting pretty damn late. So i dropped everything. Took a quick snap, dragged everything inside the garage and locked it up. Sleep time.
Hang on, no i didnt.
Right before i snuck into bed. I remembered i bought this a couple of weeks ago.
Got under the car quickly with the 14mm spanner. Squirted it inside the hole (...you heard me...) and made sure i anti-seized the fill plug before i put it back in again.
Next morning, got up and checked all my fittings again before setting about filling the rad up.
I made sure the car was jacked up at the front to in order to aid with the bleeding.
So i did what i initially planned to do. Fill it mostly with the Nulon premix stuff and then top up the rest with the demineralised water so i have a higher water to coolant ratio. Its probably roughly around 60:40.
Took the car for a spin (at this point completely forgetting i had used the Nulon gearbox additive) and made sure the temp needle stayed put. It did, the fan clicked on when it was supposed to as well. Awesome.
Stopped for some petrol. Took it home, cleaned up and admired my newly installed radiator.
This morning, before uni i checked to see if the coolant level stayed the same as i didnt check it after getting home yesterday. Ended up topping up abit with some demin. water.
As i left home, i realised, holy crap, the gearbox has quietened down abit, and my cold morning 1-2 shifts are less notchy and smoother, so i can definitely vouch that the stuff actually WORKS. When i drain and refill my diff i'll definitely add some of this stuff in as well.
About 10 minutes into my trip to uni at the traffic lights, i noticed some light steam wafting out from the bonnet....my heart sank....i felt sick in the guts....all i could think in my head was "what was that number for the tow truck dude again?".
Pulled into the nearest side street. Popped the bonnet. Loe and behold, the rad was simply just burning off some coolant/water i had spilt on and around the radiator...thank farking god..... Got the rag out from the boot, wiped it down as much as i could and off i went again...no more steam for the rest of the trip, not on the way home either. Awesome.
Thats pretty much it for now.
Got my rego renewed as well so im back to being broke for the time being.
