Radiator Question

Alex Kurdian · Post by **Alex Kurdian** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 12:55 am

hi All
I have regularly serviced the Radiator i.e. rad flush and coolant change...

can anyone tell me how long a radiators life should be if you maintain it well?

Also no snow or salt here....and my car is an auto so it has Auto trans cooling in it...

2001Neon_LX · Post by **2001Neon_LX** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 2:20 am

I have an '01 and it would almost be a year ago now i was driving home from a friends house (20 min drive in the country), and the transmission started to slip in and out of lock up. I pulled over looked under the car, no fluid was leaking, so i went to go continue driving, put it in D and went to take off and it slipped and slammed into first, so i just stopped and called the tow truck. The metal between tranny cooler and the coolant side of the rad had corroded and let the tranny fluid out of the cooler and into the coolant, and as soon as the car was turned off amixture of gooey tranny fluid mixed with coolant went into the transmisson. Long story short, it gave no warning before hand, the rad had been flushed twice before, something to keep on your mind, ended up having to have the ecktoplasm looking goo flshed from the engine and the transmisson flushed a couple times over the nextfew weeks after it happened and of course a new rad, my transmission still lives tho. Sorry for the novel lol.

Post by **occasional demons** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 7:12 am

Apart from the ATX cooler issue, with a well maintained coolant, it should outlast the car, in a frendly enviroment. If the coolant is flushed every two years, regardless of how long they claim it will last anyways. Keeping the internal acidity down is the key.

Paul56 · Post by **Paul56** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:03 am

I replaced my rad, coolant hoses, coolant pipes, thermostat and thermostat housing in the spring.

There were no issues... no leaks... but I decided to do a little proactive preventative maintenance.

I often take 500 mile trips with the car through semi-remote areas and don't want to get stuck beside the road because I failed to be a little proactive.

Of course... being proactive comes with a price tag.

Pablodragon · Post by **Pablodragon** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 7:04 pm

I would say the only way to make sure that stupid trans cooler doesn't cause problems is to get an aftermarket one and mount it.

Have already posted here the problems I had with it. .and I did flush the radiator, and when it happened, it happened with no warning

All yer national chain and local auto parts stores seem to have these aftermarket trans coolers... just ask at the counter...and all u need is the smallest one they got. Cheapest one I have found so far was $23.99 at Advanced Auto Parts. and putting it in looks pretty easy...don't know how much fluid would come out or if u have to drain and re-fill.. but there are only 2 hoses to disconnect from the rad, then re-connect to the new cooler

RADARsx 2.0 · Post by **RADARsx 2.0** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 7:52 pm

I have 200k on mine and well i've come to learn ass of late that my car is a ticking time bomb for problems...I've never flushed my coolant system, little lone change the fluids..got all the maitinance records from the previous owner and they never did it. And my timing belt is still the original and apperently they should be done at the 100k mark too lol.

But my mechanic told me that you should flush and replace the coolant at least once a year...

Post by **occasional demons** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 1:21 am

When bypassing the radiator cooler: Remember to flush it with solvent, and seal the ends in a manner it will hold coolant, should it begin to leak.

Once/year may be a bit extreme on coolant changes, but it isn't going to hurt anything. Well, as long as it is recycled.