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radiator replacement - 98 explorer


evan9381

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drove my truck today, first time in a while (besides trips less than 1 mile, a few in the last couple months). get home from work, get out, WTF is that smell? something smells like burnt plastic. pop the hood, on the drivers side (didnt look at passenger side, but who knows), theres coolant everywhere. i had stopped at my brothers on the way home, and didn't smell anything, nor did i at work this morning or when i got back from lunch, so i doubt it has been like this long

 

so im trying to see if this is going to be a PITA to replace or if its something i can attempt myself? i have other transportation, so its not like its something that needs to be fixed tomorrow or even this month, but obviously i dont want it to be sitting until next summer, and dont want to be working on it when its 20 degrees out. any special tools needed? ive got basic socket/wrench sets, some other tools. anything else i should replace while im doing that? hoses/etc?

 

TIA

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i just got off the phone with my buddy who works at a shop. said he could get me the part for like $114 and for $20 in gas he'd come out and help me. said its booked at 2 hours, and shouldnt be bad unless the transmission lines are rusted

 

brian - if its not gonna be as bad as i thought it may be, i'll probably get this done by the end of this month, so i'll let you know

 

and rocky - yeah, for $10-15 for a thermostat, i might as well replace it while im in there. who knows how old this one is. bought this truck april 2010 with 169k, has 172k now

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i replaced a radiator in my 97 mountaineer once, its really not too bad, me and my bro got it done in about a half an hour in a parking lot, but we didnt exactly reclaim the coolant either (summertime and there was a leak so it was mostly water). anyways its a lil tight in places but all in all not too bad
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Book time is 1.6 hours... Basically take off thefan shroud, coolant hoses, take off the trans lines, which can sometimes be a pain, remove the top 2 bolts and it should just lift out..

 

Thermostat calls for .6, just make sure you dont strip out the bolts, because the "nutsert" or whatever you want to call it, strips out easy..

 

Make sure the gasket seats well too..

 

As far as air bubbles in the system, easiest way to get them out on the exploders is to jack up the front end 8-10 inches...

 

There is really no pictures on all data to make it easier, just explaining what hoses and bolts to take out

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