Radiator Removal

[Mister XR]

Been beating a dead horse for a couple hours now... This all started a while ago. Bought the car(96RT10), found it was leaking coolant. Traced the cause to an undertightened "coolant crossover housing" that caused the gaskets to fail. Replaced the gaskets and it's all watertight now. Today I went to flush the cooling system to get rid of the gunk and old gasketchips. Put a hex wrench in the drain plug, give it a tap, and BANG - the drain plug and the thing it screws into, they break off(as one piece), leaving a sizeable hole in the bottom of the radiator.

Once it drained completely, I realized there wasn't much I could do with the radiator in place. So I go to remove it so I can take it to a radiator shop.

Got the airbox off, removed the hoses, removed the 2 nuts that mate the top of the radiator to the housing. The manual says to lift the radiator out and then remove the fan/shroud. I lean the radiator back so it can clear the housing, and its way is blocked by a black bar. I removed the six nuts that hold the fan/shroud to the radiator, thinking that removing that part might give the radiator the clearance to come out ok, but that part won't clear the bar either. That's as far as I got. Has anyone run into this problem? I'd rather not take off the entire front-end. Thanks.

Broken part, from bottom:

You must be registered for see images

(from top)

You must be registered for see images

Bottom of radiator after part broke off - lots of rust:

You must be registered for see images

Radiator from left:

You must be registered for see images

Radiator from right:

You must be registered for see images

Radiator from top:

You must be registered for see images

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

Been a long time, and I have a GEN II....but if I recall correctly you just have to man-handle the fan assembly. I'd try to remove the fan, then the radiator (as it appears you are trying to do). The shroud should flex enough to get over the studs. Doesn't help much, I know....Good Luck!

 

[GR8_ASP]

I had that exact thing happen 5 years ago when replacing the drain plug (actually my friend was overzealous in tightening it).

Remove the fan module first. Then the radiator. I do not remember the specifics but there was nothing out of the ordinary for the removal. I replaced the fan module before so I know you can remove it first.

 

[big-n-italian]

i replaced mine last year, and like SV said, i believe you just manhandle it out. i removed the fan and shroud, then tipped the radiator from the top, and out it went.

<< The manual says to lift the radiator out and then remove the fan/shroud. >>

the fan assembly has to be completely removed from the radiator FIRST. the front end does not need to come off for removal of the radiator.

 

[BLWNV10]

You have a PM

 

[Mister XR]

Whew, what a relief. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Mister XR]

Pulled the fan out with some elbow-grease. As it turned out, the radiator itself had to be man-handled a bit as well. The top-left hose-connector wouldn't clear the wound hood-spring. A bit of force brought it out too. To get a good lifting angle, I took and old belt and used that to wrap around the bottom fan-bolts.