When This Happens, Your Engine is Screwed

# Step-by-Step Guide to Fixing Car Radiator Leaks: Replace Your radiator Like a Pro

## Introduction

If your car’s radiator is leaking coolant, you’re in the right place. In this article, we’ll walk through the process of fixing a car radiator leak by replacing it entirely. The example used here is a Mercury Grand Marquis, but the steps are applicable to most vehicles.

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## Preparation: Gather Tools and Remove Obstructions

1. **Remove the Plastic Shield**: Start by taking off the plastic shield in front of the radiator for better access.

2. **Inspect the Radiator**: Use a flashlight to inspect the radiator. Note that while radiators have aluminum cores, the ends are plastic, which can become brittle over time (about 21 years). Cracks in this brittle plastic are challenging to fix and often lead to recurring leaks.

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## Removing the Old Radiator

### Step 1: Detach Components

- **Overflow Tank**: Remove the overflow tank.

- **Radiator Mount**: Take off the radiator mount using the appropriate bolts. If it’s corroded, expect some difficulty.

- **Spring Clip**: Inspect and remove any spring clips holding components in place.

### Step 2: Disconnect Hoses and Lines

- **Upper Radiator Hose**: Use a clamp remover to disconnect the upper radiator hose. Pliers can slip, so this tool is safer.

- **Coolant Lines**: Remove the coolant lines to free up space.

### Step 3: Unbolt the Radiator

- **Bottom Bolts**: Check for bolts securing the radiator at the bottom and remove them if necessary.

- **Fan Assembly**: If it’s an older car with an electric fan, unbolting is simpler. Carefully wiggle the radiator to free it from any remaining connections.

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## Installing the New Radiator

1. **Positioning**: Lower the new radiator into place, ensuring alignment with mounts on both sides.

2. **Coolant Hoses**: Reconnect the hoses using metal clamps for better reliability.

3. **Fan Assembly**: Snap the fan assembly back into place and secure it with bolts.

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## Refilling Coolant and Testing

1. **Fill Coolant**: Once everything is in place, fill the radiator with coolant (e.g., 50% coolant, 50% water).

2. **Start the Vehicle**: Turn on the car to check for leaks or smoke from the exhaust. Excessive smoke may indicate a blown head gasket.

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## Bonus Questions and Answers

### Buying a Used Hybrid Car

- Consider models like the Ford C-Max under 60,000 miles. Hybrids often have reliable systems until around 165,000 miles, but higher mileage can be costly to repair. Avoid after-market parts for cigarette lighter assemblies as they’re cheaply made.

### Cigarette Lighter Issues

- Replace the entire cigarette lighter assembly if it’s faulty. Modern cars use power outlets instead, which are more reliable.

### Hydrogen Fuel Cells: The Future of Trucking

- Companies like Heison Motors in Rochester, NY, are producing hydrogen fuel cells for 18-wheelers. While gray hydrogen (produced from hydrocarbons) isn’t ideal, green hydrogen (from renewable sources) would be cleaner. Legislation and infrastructure will drive adoption.

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By following these steps, you can save money by replacing your radiator yourself. Remember to stay informed about the latest in automotive technology for future repairs and upgrades.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enrev up your engines today i'm going to show you how to find and fix car radiator leaks now in the case of this mercury grand marquis the coolant is leaking on the front where the radiator is so we'll take this plastic shield out of the way then we'll get a flashlight and start looking around realize the radiators are made out of aluminum even they're called plastic readers because they are plastic ends and as we look around we can see there it's leaking and right there somebody attempt to fix it using epoxy but the epoxy isn't working it's leaking all over the place from my experience it's a complete waste of time trying to fix a plastic radiator and here's why 21 years old the plastic gets brittle if it cracks and you fix a crack the whole thing's brittle it's gonna crack somewhere else or the brittle plastic might not even hold the epoxy so when it's broken like this just replace it but it's not as bad as you might think my customer bought a brand new radiator for it now this brand new radiator only cost 119 bucks at a discount auto parts store they're not out of plastic and a loom they're cheap to make you can buy chinese ones no problem long as they fit like i said made in china doesn't matter long as it fits a change of radiator isn't that bad you got to take all the plastic junk off bolt it to the radiator first so we'll take the overflow tank off there we go but this is in the way so we got to take the mount off too so we'll remove the radiator mount happens to be the same size bolt off comes the mount then we get to a little spring that holds the tank on it's kind of a pain so take the top one off instead it's easier to get to so wiggle it some more and see if we can get it off there now that's off can't reach behind where the overflow tank is you can unbolt the toweling for the fan one on this side and one on that side while we're at it we'll kick the drain pan under here and disconnect the upper radiator hose now i use a special tool for that it's a clamp remover it's a lot easier than using pliers pliers often slip these don't you just clamp them until they're real tight then the clamp will slide off we can leave it on and then pull the hose off and off goes the hose move it out of the way then we can take the other bolt off that holds the radiator fan colleen on then as you can see the whole fan assembly moves out of the way you know it's an old car it's about an electric fan so with an electric fan it's a lot easier not to unbolt all that fan clutch you just take this out of the way then remove the other bolt that holds the other side of the radiator on kind of old and corroded it's going to be kind of hard to get off so push hard and then start now it's going to come off you don't want to stretch it take it off get out of the way now the radiator seems to be sticking on the bottom so let's get under here and check it out a couple of bolts down here we got to take off too and while we're under here we'll take this hose off the bottom hose so we can get it out easy then once it's loose we can pull it off sometimes they stick around pretty hard eventually they'll pull off then we'll remove the coolant lines here pull them off to get enough room to pull out the radiator that's an extra cooler here normally they're built into the radiator but not on this one so it actually makes this a somewhat easier job the outer comes in every inch then you get the new radiator that goes over there because the other one's on the bottom and slide it in gotta do a lot of wiggling here finally it slides in down before i forget we'll put the mounts on we want to make sure the mounts line up on both sides then we'll put the coolant hoses back on and as usual the one clamps disappeared so i have a box ready to put regular clamps on they work better anyways don't stick the fan back on as you can see here it snaps in place then you bolt it on each side now we'll put the tank back in place bolt it on put the hose on then put the top radiator hose back on try the pliers this time getting it on is usually easier than getting it off and it certainly was then go back onto the car you don't want to forget the other hose you'll have a giant mess there's the hose goes right on there and we'll put the clamp on and on it goes nice and tight and then we tighten the bolts on the bottom back up here comes the easy part fill it up with coolant in this case it's the old ford coolant we put in 50 coolant and 50 water let's start the vehicle up to warm it up that's cool and half water this is the water now unfortunately as it's warming up check it out a bunch of smoke is coming out of the exhaust as you can see it has no tags so i'm guessing that he drove it with a hole in the radiator probably blew the head gasket only time will tell but with this much smoke coming on i'm guessing the head gasket's blown and you just pour it up to the top put the cap back on take off the prop rod then pray the head gasket is not blown only time will tell on that one so the next time your radiator craps out why not replace it yourself and save a ton of money you might even get something for the aluminum that's in the radiator that you're throwing away and here's some bonus questions and answers genopia says scotty what should i look for when buying a used hybrid car i know people say buy a toyota priest but i'm interested in ford c-max it's more affordable what should i look for when i buy a hybrid car well if i were you i'd look for something that wasn't a hybrid car because they're very expensive as they age now you mentioned what about under 60 000 miles okay if you buy a hybrid car under 60 000 miles generally they don't fall apart till they're all over that i had a customer with the ford c-max and it didn't start to have problems with the hybrid drivetrain to 165 000 miles on it so if you buy one under 60 you probably won't have a hybrid system problem until then if you're happy with that go right ahead and buy one with less than 60 000 miles on it but don't buy one with 160 000 miles because it gets expensive to repair and then you're gambling with some very expensive parts expensive batteries expensive generators they get real expensive i personally wouldn't buy a hybrid used but if you do and you can find a lower mileage one you get it cheap enough go ahead just don't buy one with a lot of mileage on it mitsubishi for life says i got a honda crv wait a second if you miss a beast of your life what are you doing driving a honda i changed the fuse in the front for the cigarette lighter but it still doesn't work the light comes on when i turn the headlights on and the battery and alternator are good what could it be well you turn it on and it lights up it's getting some power buy a new cigarette lighter assembly and get one from the honda dealer because there's are well made and they'll fit in your car perfectly don't go after market half the time they won't fit right the assemblies just break down you say it's an hole six okay so it's what it's 15 years old those things were made to cigarette lighters light cigarettes hardly anybody smokes they're only made for using once in a while you fuse them for all kinds of electronic stuff plugging them into their chargers whatever they just break down they weren't made for that heavy duty usage so it's probably just broken and buy another one since you turn the lights and the light comes on it's getting power so just replace the whole thing i'm sure it's broken internally that happens all the time with that age they're kind of cheaply made you know they weren't made for every day you saw the more modern cars they have power cutoffs on them like they'll have the five volt ones for charging your phones some of them even have 112 volt ones for plugging in computers whatever but they're hardwired into the system they aren't just a cigarette lighter where you put universal adapters those weren't made to handle that much power now here's an interesting one heison motors is making hydrogen fuel cells in rochester new york now they're kind of being sneaky and if you look up highs and it'll say they're headquartered in rochester new york well actually it's a singapore corporation they're very good businessmen there of course the land and everything costs so much in singapore they're not going to build hardly anything there but this company has already made over a million fuel cells and they're getting ready in rochester new york even though they are singapore corporation to make hydrogen fuel cells for big 18-wheeler trucks as far as i can see now that's definitely going to be the near future yes this isn't something like solid-state electric batteries that might be 10 20 years or more in the future these actually exist and once they put an infrastructure hydrogen the big 18 wheel trucks can be on hydrogen fuel cells and not pollute anymore the only problem is we've talked before is a lot of hydrogen is what they call gray hydrogen they use hydrocarbons to create it's a very polluting thing to create the hydrogen if they make green hydrogen then they'll truly be dream vehicles because i mean let's face it if they're using electricity to make the hydrogen most of that's from coal and burning or hydropetrochemicals so if you're burning petrochemicals to make the electricity that's polluting they got to make green hydrogen first if they really want to be cleaned but the electric hydrogen fuel cell trucks that's a reality they're already doing it in germany and it's only a matter of time before they'll probably legislate that they have to do it here in the united states but like everything else it's going gonna have to take years they can't get all those 18 wheeler diesels off the road who's going to pay for that nobody when they break down they might make a rule that now you got to get an electric one instead those old diesel trucks can last an awful long time it's going to be decades before you get rid of all that stuff but interesting enough this heison company actually based in singapore even though they were making these things in rochester new york and the rochester new york was a plant that was with the original electric cars the gm was making those ev1's and it failed and other people tried to use the factory and it was empty the singaporeans with heisman have bought it and they're expanding it to an even bigger factory to make fuel cells big 18 wheeler trucks only makes sense and they're smart enough to do it in the united states so they're not got to worry about import tax either if it starts to get big and people start saying oh we got to make them here they'll already be making them here in rochester new york so if you never want to miss another one of my new car repair videos remember to ring that bell you\n"