rberman999
10-22-2007, 04:21 PM
I changed my radiator on my 1998 CR-V about two months back. Overall, very easy job, for me.
Issues that I remember, biggest pain was removing the two electric fan motors that are attached to the radiator. One I removed fully from the vehicle, (it was the left fan looking at them when standing in front of the car) the other I just moved back and away toward the passanger compartment. One of the two fans was bolted at the 4 corners of the fan (this is the one I removed, note, you will need to seperate an electrical connector to remove this fan), the other fan had just two top bolts and two tabs on the bottom of the fan that fit into slots on the radiator at the bottom, (this is the one I moved back out of the way). The fan with the 4 bolts was the pain because getting to the two lower bolts was difficult (from above). The only other issue is making sure to fully purge the cooling system of all the air and getting it full with fresh coolant.
To Start: You will need to drain the fluid from the radiator, (make sure the coolant is not hot at the time of draining) open the pep-cock and catch the old coolant. Once the fluid is out you can remove the upper and lower hoses from the radiator. Remove the overflow hose from the radiator fill neck and remove and drain the overflow tank. Now attack to two cooling fans mentioned above. I have an automatic tranny, if you do also, then you will need to remove the tranny cooling lines but be sure to plug the tranny fluid lines (to keep from lossing fluid). To remove the radiator, there are just two bolts at the top, remove those after everything else has been removed and remove the old radiator. Be careful as the two rubber mounts at the bottom of the radiator may or may not come out attached to your old radiator, take note of where these go and how they seat in place so you get the new radiator mounted correctly. Just reverse the procedure when putting the new radiator back in place. Remember, if you have an automatic then you will need to set the nipples for the new radiator at the right angle. Just use the old radiator as a guide for the angle. Note, you need to be careful when putting the new radiator in as you don't want to damage the cooling fins. Once everything is back in place you need to fill the system with fluid. Make sure you fill the radiator fully and make sure the temp in the cabin is set to full heat. You will need to make sure that you fully purge the air from the cooling system, and this can take some time. Rather than go into that I know I have seen postings about this on this web site, so search for that. Once you think you have the cooling system purged and there are no leaks, take the car out for a short test drive, pay attention to the temperature gauge. But only drive the vehicle when you feel you have it well purges of all air. Then be sure you check the level for the next couple of days (make sure the coolant is cool enough to open the system, check the level by removing the radiator cap, hence make sure the system is not hot). Add any required fluid to fill the radiator up to the top if needed (talking about one or two ounces at most, assuming properly purged). I have a factory manual but I didn't even bother to use it. I found replacing this radiator was a straight forward job. But that assumes that you have the tools and the mechanicle ability to go with them. Lots of luck.
Issues that I remember, biggest pain was removing the two electric fan motors that are attached to the radiator. One I removed fully from the vehicle, (it was the left fan looking at them when standing in front of the car) the other I just moved back and away toward the passanger compartment. One of the two fans was bolted at the 4 corners of the fan (this is the one I removed, note, you will need to seperate an electrical connector to remove this fan), the other fan had just two top bolts and two tabs on the bottom of the fan that fit into slots on the radiator at the bottom, (this is the one I moved back out of the way). The fan with the 4 bolts was the pain because getting to the two lower bolts was difficult (from above). The only other issue is making sure to fully purge the cooling system of all the air and getting it full with fresh coolant.
To Start: You will need to drain the fluid from the radiator, (make sure the coolant is not hot at the time of draining) open the pep-cock and catch the old coolant. Once the fluid is out you can remove the upper and lower hoses from the radiator. Remove the overflow hose from the radiator fill neck and remove and drain the overflow tank. Now attack to two cooling fans mentioned above. I have an automatic tranny, if you do also, then you will need to remove the tranny cooling lines but be sure to plug the tranny fluid lines (to keep from lossing fluid). To remove the radiator, there are just two bolts at the top, remove those after everything else has been removed and remove the old radiator. Be careful as the two rubber mounts at the bottom of the radiator may or may not come out attached to your old radiator, take note of where these go and how they seat in place so you get the new radiator mounted correctly. Just reverse the procedure when putting the new radiator back in place. Remember, if you have an automatic then you will need to set the nipples for the new radiator at the right angle. Just use the old radiator as a guide for the angle. Note, you need to be careful when putting the new radiator in as you don't want to damage the cooling fins. Once everything is back in place you need to fill the system with fluid. Make sure you fill the radiator fully and make sure the temp in the cabin is set to full heat. You will need to make sure that you fully purge the air from the cooling system, and this can take some time. Rather than go into that I know I have seen postings about this on this web site, so search for that. Once you think you have the cooling system purged and there are no leaks, take the car out for a short test drive, pay attention to the temperature gauge. But only drive the vehicle when you feel you have it well purges of all air. Then be sure you check the level for the next couple of days (make sure the coolant is cool enough to open the system, check the level by removing the radiator cap, hence make sure the system is not hot). Add any required fluid to fill the radiator up to the top if needed (talking about one or two ounces at most, assuming properly purged). I have a factory manual but I didn't even bother to use it. I found replacing this radiator was a straight forward job. But that assumes that you have the tools and the mechanicle ability to go with them. Lots of luck.