radiator leaks bad need info

[97 silverbullet]

has anyone replaced a radiator in the aurora? if so how hard was it

[dsatt12]

As easy as topping the coolant tank off for the 1/2 mile drive to car-x

Seriously I think people said it wasn't too bad to do in another thread. Just be careful with all those fittings for the oil cooler lines and the plastic tank. It looks like Indy8 might be the one to ask about it: http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=159609

[Indy8]

Silverbullet, have you not been paying attention? There must be a half a dozen threads on rads.

[97 silverbullet]

nope lol i know ppl have talked bout it but i really never payed any attention

[97 silverbullet]

ok what do you have to take off the car to replace it? I guess thats what Im really asking

[scruff]

Here are the instructions for a 98 Aurora, which should be similar. Cars with Vin C have the engie oil cooler.

1. disconnect the battery
2. remove the lower air deflector (except Vin C)
3. drain cooling system
4. remove the upper tie bar (platic piece - ez)
5. disconnect and remove the cooling fans
6. disconnect the coolant level sensor (except Vin C)
7. disconnect the coolant recovery hose from the radiator filler neck(except Vin C)
8. disconnect the radiator inlet and outlet hoses
9. remove the bolts from the condenser
10. disconnect the transaxle cooler lines
11. On Vin C, dissconnect the engine oil cooler from the radiator
12. remove the radiator

reverse order for installation and here are some torque #'s:
transaxle cooler lines Vin C - 13 lb*ft; Vin 1 - 20 lb*ft
oil cooler lines Vin C - 10 lb*ft
tie bar - 89 lb*in

[DeepFlorida]

I recently replaced my radiator and did it in less than 3 hours (including new hoses and thermostat. I did manage to slice my hand on the radiator when I was trying to loosen the nuts on the oil cooler, but other than that it went well.

However, I must have flushed the old coolant wrong, because now the low engine coolant warning stays on all the time. Does anyone know where I can reset this or see if the level is stuck somehow? Point me in the right direction, and I can take it from there!

[not_mine]

I thought it was a pain in the ass! Since I had to change it twice due to the first one had a cracked tank! Damn cheap radiators! Go with a GM replacment! You get what you pay for!

[ugsrich]

It was easy (relatively speaking). Everything is right there and easy to get to. If you don't cut your hand then it's probably not a real job anyway.

Estimated time to remove, take to repair shop to be cleaned/repaired, and reinstalled: 5 hours (for me). Two hours to get out (I was learning as I went), two hours total for repair shop, one hour to reinstall (I knew better what I was doing).

[IT Geek]

Replacing the cracked tank is also a viable alternative, at least for the 95 and 96 Auroras, and isn't that hard if you feel like adding a couple of hours to the job. I decided to try it since I was able to find the tank online for only $33.62 plus shipping. I also found mention of replacing only the tank in the factory service manual. So, considering the cost of a genuine GM radiator, I figured the $250 or so in savings was definitely worth it.

This may sound kind of obvious, but make sure that the leak is in the passenger side, or inlet tank of the radiator and not the core. The inlet tank is the most common failure point. The radiator also should be in good shape. There is no point in replacing the tank on a radiator core that isn't still good. You need to be pretty mechanically inclined, so if you are not comfortable working on your Aurora, this job is probably not for you. Taking your time, you should be able to do this job in three or four hours.

There aren't any special tools required for the tank replacement. I used a couple of screwdrivers, a set of channel locks and a set of vice grips when replacing the tank. I also used a little bit of RTV to hold the replacement tank gasket into place while putting on the new tank.

Anyway, remove the radiator following the instructions in post #6 of this thread. To remove the tank, you will need to bend back the tabs which hold it into place against the radiator core. I used a couple of different sized screwdrivers to do this. Don't be afraid to pry against the tank, since you are going to replace it anyway. The key to this step is to not bend the tabs too far out. You only need to bend them enough to get the old tank out and put the new tank in. According to the manual, the tabs are good for a couple of replacement cycles.

Once you have bent the tabs out far enough, you can remove the old tank. Don't forget to remove the gasket too! Remove the oil cooler from the old tank by unscrewing the oil cooler mounting nuts. Then remove the oil cooler gaskets from the oil cooler. Install new oil cooler gaskets and insert the oil cooler into the new tank. Then fasten the oil cooler to the new tank with the old oil cooler mounting nuts.

To install the new tank, make sure you clean the gasket mounting surface on the radiator core. You might find it helpful to apply a little rtv to the rear of the tank gasket to help hold it into place. But only use a little bit. You don't want cured RTV getting into the radiator. Place the tank gasket in the gasket mounting surface of the radiator core (the flat side of the gasket goes towards the mounting surface, the concave side goes towards the tank).

Now you can insert the new tank between the tabs on the radiator core. Now it is time to break out the channel locks. Carefully bend a couple of tabs on each side back into place. This will hold the tank in place while you are bending the rest of the tabs. Make sure that the tank gasket does not get knocked out of place whey you bend the first couple of tabs. To bend the tabs, I found it best to put the top jaw of the channel locks in the area where the tab joins the radiator core. The bottom jaw goes on the end of the tab itself. The channel locks will be pointing at about a 45 degree angle away from the tank. Then squeeze the tab back into place.

Once you have a couple of tabs on each side bent back, then use a small hammer to tap the tops of the tabs parallel with the tank. Some of them will probably have been bent up while the tabs were pried back, and it is easier to get them bent back correctly if the top part of the tab is parallel with the tank once again. Be careful with the hammer. If you bash the radiator core, then you are out of luck!

Now it is time to bend the rest of the tabs back. I just went down one side, then the end that was facing me, flipped the radiator over and repeated the process. For the final step, get out the vice grips and adjust them so that when you squeeze the tab, it crimps down tightly against the flange on the tank. You will have to squeeze kind of hard to get the tab crimped, but this step is important to ensure that there are no leaks. Crimp all of the tabs, then crack open a beer and take a break, and give yourself a pat on the back for saving all that money.

I know that this explanation was pretty long-winded, but I wanted to make sure I got all of the details down. This job really isn't hard to do and is well within the scope of a decent home-mechanic. Just take your time, make sure that you get those tabs crimped back down, and you will be pleased with the results.

I found my parts at www.gm-parts-dealer.com/parts.htm. Enter the info for your Aurora, then browse the Collision catalog. I know, collision instead of mechanical, but there are dozens of GM parts sites using this particular database and the parts for the radiator are in collision. Anyway, navigate the tree on the left side of the screen Cooling->Radiator and components->Tank->Inlet. What comes in the box is the tank, tank gasket, and two oil cooler mounting gaskets.

I'd appreciate if anyone tries this out to let me know how it goes.

[rodtice]

I have NO complaints with my <$200 radiator from the radiatorbarn.com.

It cools extremely well. 0 leaks.

[carman999]

Most of the time these radiators don't fail the tanks crack mainly on the inlet side. The tanks can be replaced and are available from GM. Much cheaper that a new radiator. GM also recommends stop leak tablets be put into the lower rad hose when you reassemble because of the all alluminium engine.
Carman999

[rodtice]

A local radiator shop said it would cost $90 to replace 1 tank, it was worth the extra $110 for the new radiator, same amount of work for me either way and I didn't want to replace 1 and then have the other tank leak.

[IT Geek]

The point to my post on replacing the tank was to point out an alternative for those who do most or all of the work on their cars. If you are having a shop do the work, then you're not going to realize the cost savings that you would by doing all the work yourself and only paying $40 for a replacement tank kit.

I took this approach because I wanted GM original for the radiator and didn't want to spend the money that they wanted, especially considering that the rest of the radiator was spotless. If you are comfortable with after-market parts on your car, then by all means use an aftermarket radiator. But if you want OEM parts, then the tank replacement is an attractive alternative for anyone who wants to put in a little extra work.

[frs64]

Before you start, whats wrong with your radiator?