Radiator Replacement

[willie3204]

Planning to swap for a new radiator tomorrow. First timer for this.
I've read the guides on this forum. Any tips on making this successful?

 

[xtriggerman]

Installing the radiator is not anything to be concerned about. Its the condition of your cross over plug thats used to refill the rad and The condition of the lower thermo housing as I pointed out in this article that might be of concern.

Repairing a rotten lower Thermostat Housing

These old car do not lac for surprise repairs! While in the process of swapping in an all aluminum Radiator, I thought I would check on the thermostat housing since it was dripping coolant. Mind you, this 1997 car only has 69K miles on it but as...

www.lincolnvscadillac.com

The major issue in these cars is trying to get all the air out of the system once you refill the rad. As carful as I was doing it, I still over headed the engine on a short test drive after my new rad was "supposed to be" air free. My tip to you is crack open the top heater core hose to get that air out and then park the car on a steep uphill to fill the cross over. Get the engine hot to circulate and repeat the heater hose and refill after cool down several times. These engines hide air ridiculously. Good Luck

 

[willie3204]

All done. Learned a lot.
Had no issues with the trans lines or the cross over plug. Will run her around tomorrow some more and take a look at that uphill trick.
If I was going to have an overheating issue.. how many miles in do you think it would appear? It snowed here today so..

EDIT: also was going to do the water pump but could NOT get the pulley off... oh well.

 

[xtriggerman]

It will over heat pretty quick since the pump will be air locked with no coolant moving out of the block.

 

[willie3204]

Put some fresh cardboard under her overnight. NO leaks at all
Alright I ran her around for about 50 miles. First 3/4 was side streets before I took her on the freeway for the last 1/4
The temp barely moved above center line for the entire time. It would slightly fluctuate between the center and slightly above then slightly go down as you'd expect. While on the freeway the low coolant message came on... for about 2 minutes.. then turned off (!?!)
Pulled over.. checked the reservoir and it is 2 inches low... no leaks at all anywhere I can see.
Parked in the garage now. No leaks still. Is this a common thing to have happen as the system gets running after a change?

 

[driller]

While on the freeway the low coolant message came on... for about 2 minutes.. then turned off (!?!)
Pulled over.. checked the reservoir and it is 2 inches low... no leaks at all anywhere I can see.
Parked in the garage now. No leaks still. Is this a common thing to have happen as the system gets running after a change?

Park overnight. Once fully cold, remove crossover cap and check if crossover is full of coolant. Top off as necessary and replace cap. Then you can top off reservoir as needed. *Do not open reservoir with crossover cap removed.*

Drive, rinse and repeat cold check until no coolant is needed. It may take a couple days or more to fully purge air from cooling system.

 

[willie3204]

Followed the advice here... things have leveled out. The crossover cap was pretty full when I checked it though I added a bit just in case. The cap itself displaced a little bit of fluid but it was a tiny amount.
There havent been any more messages and things seem stable based on the resevoir levels. I'm thinkin it may be in the clear. Thanks for the guidance guys!