I drove to Texas for a friend,about an 80 mile round trip,took Gayle out for lunch,and when I got home,I noticed water dripping onto the driveway and heard that "hissssssssss" sound of water steaming off the engine.I popped the hood,and there it was,water spraying from the radiator.Luckily,I have a lifetime warranty from Autozone,so,I picked up the new one,and it was a really nice aluminum piece.They didn't even charge me for the gallon of antifreeze either.I monuted the electric fan (took about 2 minutes,remounted the radiator,and had to make one modification,the driver side upper radiator mount has a small tab towards the front that helps hold the radiator in place,I had to flatten the tab and all went together great.I was glad the thing didn't take a dump on me while I was running hard down the highway in the middle of nowhere.The new radiator was $89.99 (if you have to buy it,mine was under warranty as I said).Not a bad replacement at all.It also has a revised drain that drains down to the ground instead of out towards the engine.I went ahead and bought a new cap while I was at it.I've had the same cap for 10 years,3 Birds ago.It hasn't failed me,but,a new one can't hurt,plus,it's chrome to match the intake and CAI.I actually would have been just fine with a standard replacement cap,but,with me buddy's discount,the chrome one was cheaper than I was ready to spend on the stock one.It was a good day all in all.Nice upgrade parts,and I only spent a little over $4.00.
There's my pointless story.Thought I'd share.LOL.
Im afraid mine is going to go soon. I have a small leak. Havent been able to trace it yet. Think Im going with a full aluminum when it does. If I have the money at the time.
Glad to hear you made it home with no issue though.
Vinnie that story was pointless. How dare you waste our time.
Totally pointless.After reading that,there's a couple of minutes of your life you'll never get back.
Agreed. I'm just overflowing with uncontrollable anger at this loss. This is truely a tragedy. I dont know what I'm going to do next. Probably fall asleep because this class is so boring. :rollin:
All seriousness aside LOL good to hear all is well the birdie is fine and nothing blew up en route in the middle of nowhere.
This car has been SO good to me,never left me stranded,and has been great to break in the driveway (nothing too major),not on the road,and most everything that has broke was way old and beyond wore out..Pretty much everything I've done as far as swapping parts,modifying parts,whatever,the car has accepted everything like a champ.The blue Thunderbird fought me every step of the way with everything,no matter how simple.
and now with that said its going to leave you stranded. You should know better than to tempt "Murphy's law".
My Cougar has a small leak too. Right now I'm just kinda babying it and using the Ranger for the longer trips it until I have the money for a full aluminum one and an electric fan.
Nope,not gonna happen.She (the Sport) and I have an understanding.
try 10 min. i had to read it slower than normal due to your lack of using a spacebar. LOL!
Where do you get a radiator for $89.99? The cheapest I could find was alittle over $100 when I got mine. That was for a stock replacement.
Better yet, where did you find an aluminum radiator for under $90? What model car did you buy it for?
Must be radiator time. I had to replace the rad in my DD Nissan last weekend. $200, and that was at cost. Retail would've approached $400.
My personal best rad failure was at 90 MPH in my '80 Formula Firebird. After blowing by a bunch of cars (I was 17 and stupid) my windshield turned green. The rad tank completely split from the core and it dumped its contents in about 1/10th of a second. I called dad, he came with tools, we took the rad out, and re-soldered the tank right there on the side of the highway. We determined the tank failed because it was weakened by damage caused to the rad support when the car was pulled out of a ditch after a snowstorm (my father ditched it, not me - I still bug him about it, 20 years later...)
Not again......................
I bought my radiator with a lifetime warranty for $99.99 from Autozone about 2 1/2 years ago.Now,they have been upgraded,and the cost is $89.99.It weighs slightly more than nothing.Nice looking.A 3 row is $159.99,but I got mine free as a replacement warranty item and it cools great.The needle stays on the cool side more than before.
The swap receipt shows part number 321661 433556
LOL
That's Vinnie's contribution to saving space in today's ever crowding world.
I honestly don't notice the lack of spaces anymore. :hick:
Really who cares, there's other things to consider about Vinnie,
Like ah ah,I will think of something.lol
Isn't this a function of the thermostat unless your radiator is severly clogged? It's all in the mind! :p
My gauge reads near HOT at 185 degree coolant temperature and near cold at 205. I quit paying attention to it as it varies for no apparent reason and the vehicle's got good wiring and great grounds (with new sensors on top of it all)!
I would believe a much more efficient radiator would be a large contributor to that as well.My thermostat wasn't changed,so something made it cooler,and all I changed was the radiator.
Thanks for the support..........I think.LOL.LOL.
Vinnie, I couldn't even finish reading that. Its freakin' me out that your using spaces...lol.
Yeah,I'm obviously a person who really stirs it up around here.
Don't use spaces. It excites me.