02 Rendezvous Radiator Replacement Nightmare

Hi my girlfriend has a 2002 Buick Rendezvous V6 Auto, 3.L and the car started overheating one night when we were dating. I checked it over and found steam coming from the radiator and noticed that it had a crack in it.

I decided to start taking the car apart and starting taking components from the top down, the steering/body braces that slant over to the front grill of the car, motor mount clamps, overfill tank, washer tank, battery, and removed the radiator fan and some other parts.

I finally got it down to the radiator and noticed all the bolts that hold it to the condensor, and removed almost all of them. The hoses are disconnected and tranny lines as well.

The part i am having trouble with is that there is a bracket on the driver side that connects the radiator to the A/C condensor, this tiny little bolt. I cant get to it from up top, when i tilt the radiator backwards, it hits the ECM box and i cannot for the life of me figure out how to remove the ECM box. I can't really reach it from underneath, and its just in a spot where its very difficult to get to.

I cannot find any service manuals, like chiltons or haynes on it, and when i spoke to the mechanic, he said to remove the radiator from underneath the car, not from above.

I need some help with this topic, the project has been put on hold for awhile now, i finally bought a replacement radiator (parts are not cheap for this car) and am ready to go.

Whatever knowledge you have on this topic would be much appreciated.

No replies...

Well what i learned may help someone who wants to tackle this job and get lost in the miriad of parts to take off. If you are looking for a repair manual, good luck, there isnt one. I found a repair manual for a Venture, Montana and some other mini-van, and the engines are the same. The only major difference i saw was the fan unit, which is manufactured by different companies so it fits differently.

The key in getting the radiator out is you have to remove the Radiator and the a/c Condenser as a unit. After you remove the radiator fans, you will see the A/C Condenser junction block. You have to discharge the refrigerant in the system first, then remove the bolt and nut at the block to remove the A/C lines. With the tranny lines and radiator hoses removed, the fans come out and the radiator/condenser unit together.

When you look at the back side, the condenser has tabs that fit into slots on the radiator itself, making it difficult to separate the two on the vehicle.

Another lovely caveat, the tranny line cooler in the tank floats inside, so once you remove those tranny lines, that tube will start bouncing around inside. Its very difficult to reinstall the lines, because when you try to thread a the line in, it pushes the cooler into the bottom of the tank.

This stalled the project for awhile, i was pretty upset that i couldnt get it to stand still. Then i remembered my engineering classes and dumped a whole bunch of water into the tank. The cooler tube floated up to the top and i stuck my finger into the hole in the tube with the threads and pulled it up to the top well enough to hold it in place.

The trick here is to thread something into the top hole and tighten it down, this will hold the cooler in place for you to install the BOTTOM tranny line in on the car. Once the bottom line is in, it will hold the cooler in place, so you can remove the place holder and install the top tranny line again. (after you put the fans back in of course).

Ok so i got the radiator unit back in, a/c lines on, radiator hoses and tranny lines connected. When i was putting the battery back in, when i attached the hot lead to the battery i heard clicking in the fuse block from a relay and a clicking by the computer.

There was a loud POP or BANG POP and then smoke started fuming up around the air box. There is no power inside the car, but when i turn the key the tiny little Service Engine Soon light came on, did i pop a fusible link?

Boy that sure makes me ready to tackle my wifes 2002 Rendezvous. The air conditioning has gone out and from what I have been reading it sounds like common condenser problems! So I guess I would have to go through same job as you. Did you figure what happened with electrical?

I am not sure what happened to the electrical, after i charged the battery and hooked the grounds back up it started up fine.

If you do work on the car yourself, two pieces of advise, use a digital camera and take lots of sequential pictures and more importantly get a bunch of clear plastic ziplock bags and for all the bolts you remove write on a piece of paper what they are and put everything in separate bags.

This was particularly helpful since i had to juggle school work and working on the car, and a month later i was still able to put everything back together. Since its all tightly confined make sure you are really gentle taking out the radiator and putting it in, its really easy to bang it against something like a tranny line. Pictures will help out on reassembly.

The other thing is, you have to rotate the engine when you are reinstalling the struts/engine mounts to the radiator support. I used a turnbuckle from lowes attached to a hook. The book says to use a ratcheting strap but i couldnt figure out how to use it, (i took the hook off the strap and hooked it on to the engine eye and hooked the turnbuckle to the end).

Remember you have to discharge the A/C to remove the radiator and condensor as a unit and refill it after you vacuum out the system. The hardest part was getting the necessary knowledge to do the job, but after that it wasnt too bad. It took an awful lot of patience and persitance

Good luck

DONT FIX THE AC!!!!
That has lead to me reading this thread on how to replace my radiator! I told my husband last year our AC didn't work and our window broke. I said we charged it and the car started running funny and our mechanic was floored and couldn't figure it out and left the conclusion to its a Rendonvous everything is a recall. (His words not mine) I like the car until now.... Starts went... After I bought new tires and they jammed through them. Seems like they should have told me hey lady I wouldn't put this rust bucket on a lift let alone new tires. But a sale is a sale. Drive shaft... I cut it off. Myself. Then the window regulator AGAIN. So he cahrged AC for us and there was our downfall. Car acted possessed. The drain plug for the radiator actually cracked and busted inside radiator (car wasn't overheating btw I had just ran to arm and back and realized I forgot my wallet with DL) and there it sits. Other truck in drive with the electrical harness in the back of Rendonvous and my husband works in Canada 6 days a week. So not a lot of driveway mechanic time. I know this post comes years later and you all are surprised any of these recall ridden cars are still on the road (all of mine resolved) all I can say is start saving to buy your GF OT wife a new car!!

I know it's late, but you can buy a brand new radiator from RockAuto.com or AutoPartsWarehouse.com for less than $100 for this vehicle. You may also check out DiscountAutoParts.com for other parts.

You aren't kidding it's late...