So, having pushed Zionsville to create a more durable radiator for our vehicles, I figured I'd better buy one and put one in. After reading over their stuff, I decided to get the kit with the radiator and fan. I don't have lots of miles on my car, but I am of the view that short hops can impact radiator life because of the number of heat cycles the plastic parts run through, so I decided to replace my stuff before it breaks down. Plus, my local dealer told me I needed a thermostat, (and belts) and I lost a radiator hose last year and was worried about the hoses. So, I decided to replace the radiator, tstat, hoses and belts. Then, I had to decide about the water pump, and I replaced that too because I was going to have the front end of the engine torn apart and the part wasn't that expensive. The water pump was probably overkill (hell, this whole thing is probably overkill), but anyway here's some pics of the whole deal:
So, I ordered the Zionsville "Super Duty" cooling kit, which includes not on the Alloy Radiator, but also an electric fan to replace the one running off the engine. I was pretty happy when it showed up:
Check out the welds:
I made up the wiring harness in advance:
Here are the other parts laid out:
To start, I drained and ripped out the old radiator:
It is amazing how much crap gets caught up in and around the radiator:
Laid in the wiring:
Tapped into the switched power wire, which is green/white (Thanks RMedure for the heads up on this one):
Had to take a little detour on the radiator project to pull out the water pump:
Install the new water pump and tstat:
And put in the new belts:
Then back to wiring. I ran the unswitched power wire across the front of the engine:
Installed the fuse:
And Zip tied it all up:
Radiator in:
After I filled and bled the system, I actually went back and cut out the wiring connector between the fan and the power/ground, both because I pushed one of the wires/connectors out the back of the connector while mating the connector ends together, and because it hung right below the radiator fill cap and got full of fluid while bleeding the system.
Anyway, she's all in and buttoned up. So far, so good.
So, I ordered the Zionsville "Super Duty" cooling kit, which includes not on the Alloy Radiator, but also an electric fan to replace the one running off the engine. I was pretty happy when it showed up:
Check out the welds:
I made up the wiring harness in advance:
Here are the other parts laid out:
To start, I drained and ripped out the old radiator:
It is amazing how much crap gets caught up in and around the radiator:
Laid in the wiring:
Tapped into the switched power wire, which is green/white (Thanks RMedure for the heads up on this one):
Had to take a little detour on the radiator project to pull out the water pump:
Install the new water pump and tstat:
And put in the new belts:
Then back to wiring. I ran the unswitched power wire across the front of the engine:
Installed the fuse:
And Zip tied it all up:
Radiator in:
After I filled and bled the system, I actually went back and cut out the wiring connector between the fan and the power/ground, both because I pushed one of the wires/connectors out the back of the connector while mating the connector ends together, and because it hung right below the radiator fill cap and got full of fluid while bleeding the system.
Anyway, she's all in and buttoned up. So far, so good.