Radiator replacement

Hey John,

Thanks for asking you must start by draining the coolant, here is a guide and video on what you will be in for also I have included diagrams on how it will be on your car below.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-replace-a-car-radiator

Please let us know happens so it will help others.

Engine Cooling problem
2001 Chevy Impala 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic

I just recently replaced the water pump, had a radiator flush and also replaced my radiator cap and about six months ago I had my head gasket replaced as well as the intake and as of today my car continusley over heats and the car will not blow out heat unless you are actually driving the car but why'll sitting in park there is no heat. The same as when I go to heat up my car in the morning I can let it run for twenty minutes but when I go to leave and get in it, it's as if I just got in and turned it on at that moment instead of twenty minutes ago. Can someone please help me I've been to several differnt mechanics but no one has a anwser can some one just give me a direction to began looking.

Has thermostate been replaced with a 195 deg?

[quote:e88c5ce4f7="Docfixit"]Has thermostate been replaced with a 195 deg?[/quote:e88c5ce4f7]


I have replaced my thermostat and I just recently noticed that the two tubes that run into the heater core, one of them is running hot and the other cold!~ Would you have any idea because I recently took it again into another shop and they did a pressure test and diagnostic ect.. and they could not find anything, but I just recently noticed the one hot and one cold tube but besides that I don't know what to do any more!~ please help me even if it's a guess that would be wonderful!~ My car just keeps almost overheating and then I pull over and bleed the lines and it's fine again for a very short amount of time!~

fullofjoy87,

Since one of the tubes is hot and the other is cool, it seems as if something is clogging the heater core. Have the heater core backflushed.

Also, radiator flushing has been known to not work very well. It depends on how contaminated the radiator is. If the heater core is plugged up, chances are the radiator is also plugged.

TakeChargeSarge

I have a 2001 Chevy Impala 3.4 My radiator fluid is rusty looking it has not been running over 210. So can I flush the radiator and replace fluid or do I need to change the thermostat to? Also the engine coolant fans do they run when you stat your car or when it gets warm? Please help Thanks

sarge is right pull off heater core lines and use garden hose to back flush. Also check to see if cooling fans come on.

The fans don't run until the temperature gets high enough. The color of the coolant has nothing to do with the thermostat. The temperature should ideally stay around 195 degrees but it can safely go a little higher. If you're going to flush and refill the system, that is a good time to get the red Dex-Cool (Dex-mud) out of there and put in regular antifreeze. You have to flush the entire system though because the different types are not compatible.

[quote:a2574bc165="TakeChargeSarge"]fullofjoy87,

Since one of the tubes is hot and the other is cool, it seems as if something is clogging the heater core. Have the heater core backflushed.

Also, radiator flushing has been known to not work very well. It depends on how contaminated the radiator is. If the heater core is plugged up, chances are the radiator is also plugged.

TakeChargeSarge[/quote:a2574bc165]


right...one of the several mechanics that have worked on my car one of them told me he had indeed pulled of the tubes and flushed the heater core and the fluid that was flushed from my radiator was pretty gross and discolored. My question is have you have heard of vapor lock being created from having extremly clogged heater core or radiator?? because I have indeed had a flush of both! But the engine runs perfectly fine, there is no radiator fluid in the oil but vapor lock and overe heating occurs after driving for a hour or two if that. And as soon as you bleed the air out of the lines the temp. goes back done and the car goes back to running completly normal for a hour or alittle more. O and I also had a pressure test performed and it came back as ok, nothing as abnormal or anything. This car is just driving me nuts and I keep telling me self I'm going to beat it LOL!~ Thank you both for helping me I'm very appericate honestly. Good things come to good people!~

[quote:de02161871="Docfixit"]sarge is right pull off heater core lines and use garden hose to back flush. Also check to see if cooling fans come on.[/quote:de02161871]

right...and yes sir my fans are coming on, and one of the several mechanics that have worked on my car one of them told me he had indeed pulled of the tubes and flushed the heater core and the fluid that was flushed from my radiator was pretty gross and discolored. My question is have you have heard of vapor lock being created from having extremly clogged heater core or radiator?? because I have indeed had a flush of both! But the engine runs perfectly fine, there is no radiator fluid in the oil but vapor lock and overe heating occurs after driving for a hour or two if that. And as soon as you bleed the air out of the lines the temp. goes back done and the car goes back to running completly normal for a hour or alittle more. O and I also had a pressure test performed and it came back as ok, nothing as abnormal or anything. This car is just driving me nuts and I keep telling me self I'm going to beat it LOL!~ Thank you both for helping me I'm very appericate honestly. Good things come to good people!~

Engine Performance problem
2001 Chevy Impala 6 cyl Automatic

2001 Impala radiator started to leak excessively recently causing the car to overheat. I'm getting ready to replace the radiator and i was wondering if there is any chance that the motor will last very long now that it got hot. Also my car has terrible gas mileage any ideas what would cause that?

Hi there, this will depend on how hot it got, at worst may be a head gasket issue, but if it was not that bad, you should be OK, just replace the thermostat as well and the pressure cap, as for the economy, do a full tune and run a scan to check for any faults.

mark (mhpautos)

fullofjoy87,
Yes, I have heard of vaporlock and it's usually caused by something. In this case I believe it is being caused by the clogged radiator not being able to pass enough coolant to keep sufficient supply for the water pump so it cavitates and tries to pump air. This air accumulates in the uppermost areas of the engine where the bleed screws are located. I really don't know an easy fix for this because I am so doubtful of radiator flushing being successful.
TakeChargeSarge

we did a radiator flush with a mixture of Tide laundry detergent (recommend by another mechanic) and that solution indeed cleaned it out because the heat is worken better and it's not longer over heating. Now adays probley every four to five of driving even off and on the low coolant light comes on and I have to add more coolant to the engine. and once in awhile I have to bleed the lines again. By any chance would you have any guess to what may be causing this probem or what the issue may be within the engine!~ Any help would be so greatly appericated!~

My radiator as sprung a leak. i took the old radiator out and when i bought the new one the transmission cooler lines have bigger fittings than the replacement radiator. the transmission was replaced before i bought the car, how can i figure out what radiator i need

I would take the old radiator to a shop and have them match it up with the correct one. You can buy a kit that determines the size and thread of the fittings and then match it up too but the easiest way would be to take it to a shop.