How to Replace a Radiator

[whitefish]

This is the procedure I followed from 2CarPros, I've added my own comments in red. Note that the instructions were for a 2007 Aveo with manual transmisison and no a/c. My car is a 2005 with a/c and AT. Sorry no pictures - I'll try to add later.

- Drain the coolant (It has a drain plug. Standing in front of the car looking into the engine bay--look to your left and straight down below the top radiator hose. Look along side the radiator; near the bottom on the side is a black plastic plug that is hex shaped (approx. 12 mm) with a cross slot in the head of the hex.
If you put a light near the top radiator hose shining down, you can see the plug when looking thru the lower horizontal slot in the front fascia.)
- remove 2 nuts and 1 bolts to loosen up the powersteering resevoir. This thing is totally in the wrong place for this job and complicates the whole thing. There is a recommendation farther down to remove the battery and battery tray. I just removed the battery and had plenty of room.
- there is a hose that goes from the resevoir down to a pipe. This pipe is affixed to the front of the car with a pclip and nut. Remove the nut so you can move the resevoir a little better. I didn't bother doing this.
- remove the fan shroud (2 bolts at the top of the radiator, disconnect the electrical connector to the fan, then pull out, The bottom passenger side is held in by a clip. I had to pull pretty hard to get it un stuck. On my fan shroud, there is just two bolts holding it. One on the top and one on the drivers side. There is no clip on the passenger side. I can't recall, but there may be clips on the bottom. The fan electrical clip must first be removed from the shroud (pull towards the drivers side) and then it can be simply pulled apart. I had to carefully us a set of pliers to get mine apart.
- disconnect 3 hoses (upper, lower, and a small degas hose?) The upper hose is hard to take off of the radiator neck due to limited space. You can take off the thermostat housing, but this is another gasket and potential leak when you are done. I opted to loosen the passenger headlight housing which gave me enough room to remove the upper rad hose.
- remove the transaxle oil cooler lines and one retaining bolt. The upper line (source) is bolted on, the lower (return) is held in place by a hose clamp. Account for one bolt and washer for the upper line. Some oil will leak out of the hoses and cooler when removed.
- remove the two mounting bolts at the top of the radiator. Note that the rad is NOT bolted to the AC Condensor (thing that looks like another rad infront of the actual radiator. The rad is bolted to the rail that runs between both headlights and simple rests in place. Once the two upper bolts/brackets are removed, the rad is now free. You DO NOT need to remove anything associated with the A/C system. I've seen posts where people discussed disconnecting A/C lines. Perhaps this is a requirement of earlier models, but I doubt it.
- at this point I was able to wiggle it out of there by lifting the passenger side up and dropping the drivers side down until it had rotated about 90 degrees. Again, the powersteering fluid resevoir was RIGHT in the way and made taking it out a big pain in the butt. You might take out the battery and see if that gives you more room to push the resevior back.
I did remove the battery and it gave me the needed room
- the vertical passenger side of the fan shroud had rubbed through the radiator. I used the dremel cut enough of the fan shroud away so that it will not rub through on the new radiator. I am going to take it to a radiator shop today and see if they can just fix it so I dont have to buy a new one.
- install the new rad, reversing the removal procedure above. Be careful not to damage the fins or tubes of the new rad while installing. As an added precaution, I put a piece of cardboard in front of the rad once it was place - you will remove the cardboard when you are ready to install the fan shroud.
- one precaution for cars with AT is to ensure that the upper cooler oil line is started by hand to avoid stripping. Torque this bolt to spec once finger tight. Not doing so will void the warranty. Something that was not mentioned is whether the washer for the upper oil line is a "use once" compression washer and therefore would need to be replaced. I would recommend using a new one regardless. I initially had a small leak on this line with the old washer.
- continue hooking up components in reverse of removal. Follow appropriate coolant refill and system purge procedure. I added a 50/50 mix of Dexcool and distilled water until I reached the minimum fill mark. I then ran the car until the coolant got up to temperature to check for leaks. I left the resevoir cap off initially to "burb" the system of any air. Then I screwed the cap down and ran the car for a few miles and again checked for leaks.
- you may need to add abit of ATF to the transaxle to replace the amount the was in the cooler and in the lines (AT only). Not sure how much this would be, but best to check AT oil level following owner manual and using this to determine how much to add. GM recommends no more than a pint if AT oil level is low.

Good luck

[daug1502]

Couple notes I made when I replaced my Radiator. This is for a 2008. First on the driver side where the fan bolts into a clip on the side of the tank, your replacement may be missing a couple of nuts. They are pushed into the plastic, and can be a pain to remove. Fortunately your old radiator is probably shot, so cutting the plastic to get them out is an option. Now if you are like me and taking advantage of having it out to get the one for A/C, The clip on the bottom might be different, and the clip on the top will probably have to be transferred to the new radiator as well. Other than those few things, it's a very easy repair. Just look everything over before putting in the new one, to make sure it will all line up.

[bluestarvoyager]

Just finished removing the Rad from my 2008 Aveo5 AC AT. Thanks for the good tips. To open the drain plug on the side of the passenger side plastic strip at the bottom. I loosened both hose clips on the upper heater hose, pushed hard in the middle of the hose with a screwdriver handle and it popped right off. I the was able to easily get on the drain screw with a closed end SAE 1/2 inch wrench. I removed the battery and the power steering reservoir which I just moved to the side without disconnecting. I had plenty of room to get the Rad out.

[cmedina3]

I am changing my 2008 radiator now, and realized there are two different size radiators. I have the larger 23 5/8 inch one. the bottom AT cooler line connects with a large height nut to a small hose with clamp. I dont have the right radiator so I cant tell if I turn the but or pull the hose? I question pulling the hose because the tube its fit on is long; about almst 4 inches.

[cmedina3]

pull the hose. I went ahead and changed the AT lines for $1.50 a foot (takes one foot)

I did notice the upper hose (OE) was shorter than the replacement, so i cut to fit

also by looking at old radiator, I seen a long vertical mark where fan lays up against radiator. and brush marks from fan.
so...I added a couple of washers t help separate the both

[OG-Lou]

I remover my fan shroud and took a hot air heat blower/gun and heated up the fan shroud on the passenger side (USA) to bend it back a little past where it was originally straight and let it cool. It is now back to like new position/straight.

The fan shroud rubbed a small in the radiator coolant tubr and made a small leak. I bought some Low Temperature Aluminum Welding (brazing) Rods 8 Pc at Harbor Freight ($15.99-20%). I used my MAPP torch (Propane torch should work) to melt the aluminum brazing rod where it leaked (youtube video) and melted some thin fins and partially melted the coolant tube, which I quickly filled with the low temperature brazing rod. This fixed the problem and appears it would for a long time.

Just to be on the safe side (I live in an area where towns are 100miles apart) I decided to buy a new radiator. The local people wanted up to $150, so i went to the radiator and A/C warehouse. They wouldn't sell me a new radiator so we kind of had a few words about differences of opinions. No loss because even at wholesale, their price was much higher than what I found a new radiator on eBay.

I bought my new radiator from an eBay seller for $51.15. It was shipped fast and packaged well.
(RADIATOR FOR CHEVY PONTIAC SUZUKI FITS AVEO WAVE SWIFT 1.6 L4 4CYL with A/C) The radiator for the automatic transmission works for cars with manual transmissions, just ignore the transmission cooler lines. One tip to remember is you might have to use the old nuts where the fan shroud attach to the new radiator, from the old radiator. I had to reuse the top center fan shroud tin nut clip and one from the top side mounting position. This nut was a little tricky to remove and re-install once the radiator was installed in the car. Install the nuts and fan shroud before installing the radiator temporally. Putting the fan shroud on the radiator while the radiator is out in the open might take a little wiggling to get everything lined up, which is easier to do out in the open.

Installing the radiator was easy. The most difficult part was figuring out how to disconnect the the fan wires. To get more coolant out, (5yr change interval) I jacked up the right side of the car to drain more coolant out because it was time to change it. I reinstalled all the parts using 1 gallon of full strength DEX Cool and some distilled water.

g

[OG-Lou]

Good pictures.

My 2008, (hatch back, manual transmission, A/C) fan shroud bowed forward on the passenger side, contacting the radiator tubes, and rubbed holes in the radiator tubes.

I took out the fan shroud and the radiator. I put a straight edge on the passenger side of the fan shroud where it was contacting the radiator and it bows forward about 3/16" - 5mm.

OG-Lou 25 yrs certified ACE master mechanic, retired.

[D3bhMzgW]

I'm in a search for a replacement radiator for my Aveo (2008 Aveo5, M/T, AC) and I see there are radiators sold for With High-Capacity Heater and for Without High-Capacity Heater. Can someone offer insight on how this makes a difference when buying a replacement, other than cost?
Thanks

[OG-Lou]

D3bhMzgW

I don't see any advertisements regarding heaters. Cars with air conditioning (or A/C option) need a larger capacity radiator. The best thing to do is measure the width and height of the radiator core (the aluminum part, not including the tanks on each side of the radiator and order or buy a radiator that matches your year of Aveo and the dimensions of your old radiator.

My car does not have A/C or an automatic transmission but it had the A/C option so I bought a radiator for a car with A/C and an automatic transmission. The automatic transmission works for both automatic transmissions and manual transmissions, just ignore the cooler lines. If you have an automatic transmission you have to have a radiator made for an automatic transmission.

[Brit01]

Great thanks for the write up.

I am tackling this job tonight as my rad sprang 2 leaks yesterday.
Auto version also. Just replaced the expansion tank 2 weeks as it had an hairline crack - guess the extra pressure in the system now showed up weaknesses in the old rad.
2012 model.

had a busy week with my cars - just finished removing and refitting an oil pan due to a stripped drain plug on a mutshubishi lancer!!

I'm knackered already before starting this 2nd job - will be after work and in the dark.
Wife needs the car asap.