Radiator Replacement Season

Roasting days mark the unofficial beginning of summer radiator replacement season. One can see the season’s early victims on the first wicked hot weekend of the year. There they stand on the side of the road holding up their hoods while their cooling system makes like a steam engine. This mighty 1969 Dodge Polara did not overheat, but did do something equally unacceptable. While ascending the infamous I-5 Grapevine with four people and the air conditioning on full meat locker setting, the Dodge heavy put the 383 big-block into the slightly hot zone. The solution was clear. Full radiator replacement and upgrade.

Why do radiators and cooling systems fail while you’re on your way to a three-day weekend with a car load of people and half a garage worth’s of gear roped onto the roof? Heat and crud. Even the crustiest and most clogged of radiators will work when the outside temperature hovers around freezing with one driver in the car. Problems start when five people, sixty or so degrees, a long uphill grade, and a few hundred pounds of beverages, sangwiches, and other summer supplies are added to the equation. Air conditioning goes on for the first time in months. Game over. The radiator is overwhelmed. The Polara radiator and air conditioner performed admirably until a similar uphill battle. What was good enough for full-size motoring in 1969 had to step up to modern driving standards.

Series of Tubes

The radiator transfers heat from circulating coolant away from the engine. Inside the radiator are the cooling tubes. Attached to the tubes are the cooling fins. If the tubes get clogged with corrosion deposits, the heat stays in the coolant instead of getting wicked away by the air rushing over the cooling fins. Clean tubes provide more surface area for the heat in the coolant to transfer into the surrounding air. Corrosion can also damage or disable water pumps, hoses, thermosensors, and thermostats. Cooling system failure can lead to engine overheating, which can result in costly engine damage. The 17 dollar head gasket will cost 1749 dollars to replace because 7 bucks worth of coolant went bad.

The secret to long radiator life and cooling system efficiency is regular inspection and maintenance. You test the coolant and flush the cooling system every two years right? Check and replace the thermostat? Inspect the cooling system reservoir? How about those old hoses? The heater core is in good shape too? While the coolant itself doesn’t exactly wear out, the chemicals and compounds in the coolant that prevent corrosion do. Given enough time that bright green coolant becomes a corrosive monster. Once corrosion begins all manner of bad things start to happen. Radiator crud can be removed by taking the radiator into a shop and having it rodded out. The radiator shop will tell you if the radiator can be saved or not.

Tools and Equipments

• Service or repair manual
• A new, upgraded, or fixed better-than-new old radiator
• Some wrenches, screwdrivers, and hand tools
• Safety glasses, gloves, and a coolant catch pan
• Ramps or jack and jack stands as needed
• Coolant and distilled water
• New hoses and hose clamps

Step-by-Step Tips for Removing and Replacing a Radiator

Rotten to the Core

A clogged or corroded radiator can look A-OK from the outside while doom lurks within. While replacing a radiator is within the realm of the do-it-yourselfer, the trick is to decide whether to repair, replace, or upgrade. A competent radiator shop can repair or upgrade copper-bronze radiators. The end tanks are separated from the rotten core, and a new core with the same or more rows of tubes is brazed into place. The radiator will be as good or better than new. Modern aluminum and plastic radiators may be more economical to remove and replace or upgrade than repair. The mighty Polara was upgraded with an original OEM California Highway Patrol Polara super-duty radiator with additional and wider tubes composed of seventies Space Age alloys. Keeping this heavy cool will no longer be a problem.

A special thanks to Tom and Elana for letting the Clunkbucket photograph the mighty Polara.