Radiator Replacement inquiry... urgent!

Well folks i've read threw about 15 pages of saturn furoms and im in a bit of a rush seeing as how my car broke down 80 miles outside of town. never the less. most of seam very knowledgeable. so allow me to fill those of you who are readin this in as to why im takin up space

The Question: "how hard is it to replace the radiator in my manuel transmission saturn sc? and if u have and tips advice or knowledge on this subject it would be greatly appreciated"

The story: i was headind down the turnpike in my hand me down 1992 saturn sc. traffic was low so my speed was at average 90 miles/hour. but at time i did push a 100 but not for more then a minute before i slowed back down. i heard some knocks in the engine but thought not to much of it. i clearly noticed them but figured something could have been caught under car. then shortly after the a/c started gettin warm and i noticed what at first i thought was wind jetting from around my fenders turned out to be steam. my temp gauge was all the way up and to make this already long story short. i had cracked my radiator. firestone wants to charge me money i dont have. like a good 600 dollars worth. nope!

It's not very hard to replace your radiator with basic tools. You can buy a new one for around $150 or less if you shop around. Just be very, very careful installing the new one. They can be damaged very easily by knocking them into something.

well thanks. coud anyone inform as to what tools in specific... i know a place where i can get the radiator for like $114. oh

I believe a good socket wrench/sockets and various screwdrivers are the only things necessary. Possibly some needle nose pliers or something to remove the drain plug to drain the coolant from the radiator and engine. Basically, you just gotta remove the fan and disconnect the hoses. Just be careful not to damage the fins.

Your radiator may have become very hot because of less amount of water inside your saturn water pump (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/www.satpartswholesale.com/saturn-water-pump/) that caused it to overheat in which the radiator alone cannot contain.Most basic tools can be applied on removing of your old radiator.

Along with the new radiator, you should replace both the top and bottom radiator hoses - unless you were certain they had been replaced in the last half dozen years. And since the temp gauge showed a very high temperature, keep track of it after the car is back on the road. If the temp gauge doesnt behave, its possible the thermostat got damaged too, and may stick -wide open-. The result would be the temp gauge reading unusually low, such as when driving at night.

I like to drive the front of the car onto a pair of the portable ramps. This gets it up where I dont have to bend over so far, and so its easier to get a bucket under the radiator drain. Also you would probably need this access to be able to replace the bottom hose.

P.S The next thing to split open in the cooling system might be the heater hoses. They are probably as old as the car. They usually are more work to reach than the radiator because they arent at the front of the engine compartment.