Auto and Truck Repair and Advice
Serving the Gainesville and Hawthorne Florida Area
Radiator Repair and Replacement
Radiators fail two ways: they leak and they clog. Running proper coolant mix is the preventative for both. Although it's called a "water jacket", one of the nicest things you can do for your engine and radiator is to never run just water in it! Always run at least a 50/50 mix of antifreeze with water. WARNING: Do not run pure antifreeze! Do not exceed a 75/25 mix antifreeze to water! (They used to say never exceed a 50/50, but now the antifreeze jugs say 75/25! I suspect they've watered it down!!!!!)
Food for thought: Why not run distilled water in with that antifreeze instead of tapwater? Our water here is pretty hard, and a couple of gallons of distilled water only cost a couple of bucks....
A CUTE TEST FOR A CLOGGED RADIATOR
Sometimes it's hard to tell if a radiator has enough flow. Here's a couple of quick tests. Although they're not as good as removing the radiator and flow checking it with a machine at the radiator shop, they can be done on the car and are fairly easy.
FIRST TEST
Feel the radiator fins as the engine warms up. As the thermostat opens, the entire radiator should start to get warm .WATCH OUT FOR THAT FAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If only part of the radiator gets warm, it may be clogged in the cold areas.
SECOND TEST
Remove the radiator cap with the engine cold. Squeeze the top radiator hose to get a "feel" of how it squeezes under zero pressure. When the thermostat opens and you can see the coolant circulate, repalce the cap and IMMEDIATELY rev the engine up (3000 RPM or so) while squeezing the top radiator hose. The hose should remain fairly easy to squeeze. With a clogged radiator, you can actually feel the hose "stiffen up" and get hard to squeeze as the engine speed increases.
The best flushes are two part: a strong acid and a neutralizer. The one part flushes aren't as strong. The strong flushes get rid of more scale and deposits, but you run the risk of 'eating through" the extremely thin and cheap radiators and heater cores they have today.
Prestone and others make a "backflush adapter" which fits in a heater hose and accepts a garden hose.
No matter how you do it, I'd replace both the top and bottom hoses, bypass and heater hoses, and possibly the thermostat.
When you remove the bottom hose almost all the coolant will drain out of the system. You really shouldn't just dump this coolant: be a little "green" and at least pour it down a drain so the wastewater treatment plant can deal with it before it gets in the groundwater!. The best is to go to your regular mechanic and let him put it in his coolant recycling tank. Mechanics are required by law to have one.
Fill the system with water. If you decide to use flush, add it at this time. Start the engine and let it warm up. It might be necessary to hold your hand over the radiator filler while squeezing the top hose: the thermostat will be closed and may keep the water from circulating. If no water touches the thermostat, it WILL NOT OPEN AND OVER HEAT YOUR VEHICLE!!! I always drill an 1/16 inch hole in the flange of a thermostat to keep it from "air locking" like that: the better thermostats already have a bypass hole for this purpose.
Once it is warm, follow the can directions regarding the flush, if you use it. If you aren't using flush, skip these next few steps.
If iut's a 2 part flush, remove the bottom hose or open the radiator drain cock if it has one. (the drain cock will usually be on the opposite side from the bottom hose inlet on the rad. After it drains, replace the bottom hose and refill the system as outlined above. After it has been refilled, remove the top hose. Get a piece of pipe that fits either over or inside the top hose: this will make this step a lot neater.
Put a hose in the radiator filler and turn it on. Run the engine. Fresh water is being added by you via the radiator, the water in the engine is being pumped out of the top hose. Run water through it until the water exiting the top hose runs clear.
Re-attach the top hose and add the neutralizer, if a 2 part flush. Drain and repeat both of the above steps to remove the neutralizer from the system. If a one part flush, as soon as the water runs clear you are ready for coolant. Drain the system as outlined above.
Reattach all hoses, put in the antifreeze first. Complete the fill with water.
The Economechanix Cyber Mall
We also serve the surrounding communities of Alachua, High Springs, Hawthorne, and Newberry!
Thank you for visiting the ECONOMECHANIX WEB SITE. Please feel free to comment. We also serve the surrounding communities of Alachua, High Springs, Hawthorne, and Newberry! Gainesville has been my home since 1974, and I've loved Gvl and the Gators since I came here in the fall of 1974 to attend the University of Florida. I loved it so much I stayed and opened my car repair business. Originally it was out of the back of a 1963 Chevrolet wagon, but in 1977 a fellow mechanic and I opened an auto repair shop with actual walls, etc. I stayed in the same location for 26 years, and recently moved my operation to property I bought 15 miles east of Gainesville. I am doing most all the repairs myself now, having reduced my overhead from $1500 per month to practically nothing. I do work by appointment only. I mostly work only on my established customers cars, but I will occasionally take on new clients. E-mail me and I will either make arrangements to look at your car, or I will recommend you to someone who will.
George G. Scott, Jr.