I managed to bottom out my car hard enough to puncture my radiator. Is there anything specific I should look for when getting a radiator tomorrow? I need the car to be reliable, etc. I don’t care too much about a few extra pounds up there if it matters. Should I just find a junkyard one?
Also, what will I need to pull off to replace the radiator? Roughly how long will it take?
I’ve had the opportunity to clean about 10 integra rads in my time. The ma and pa rad shop says the teg rads are totally built tough and restorable. That being said the only recommendation I can make are that a decent one from the smash pit will run you about $60 to boil, flush and rod out(if needed), they’ll even solder any loose brkts for that price and if you’ve got an auto trans then I’d get a can of pressurized trans cleaner and flush the trans cooler real well. Tools? 10mm socket for taking the upper holddown brkts, bottom splash shield, fans, rad hoses, trans lines, along with any brkts holding the a/c hoses if equipped. 12mm for the bleeder nipple upon refill. Pliers for loosening the drain petcock. I’d guess about 2-3 hours and 3 beers once you’ve got all the stuff.:goyou:
so the radiator can be removed without really removing anything else? does the AC have to get opened up at all?
nope…just the two hoses connecting it,need to remove the fans…but thats pretty easy to figure out…
if you have an auto…there will be two extra hoses on the bottom…atf fluid…
make sure you get a new rad cap as well
A/C doesn’t need disconnected, just hoses moved toward engine and the hose brace brkts removed from fan housing. Don’t forget to scrape the hell out of your knuckles. You didn’t say if you had a 5sp or auto. 5sp doesn’t have the trans cooler lines to muss with but feel free to gouge your thumb on something for good measure. Of course that would mean an extra brewski.
:auto: :blah:
It’s a 5 speed. Thanks for the help, I really need to get this done quickly as it’s my only car and classes start monday.
What antifreeze should I use?
Also, have I done any damage to the rest of my cooling system by running just cheap bottled water through it for a bit? I got home about 40 miles refilling it every 5-10 miles (if the temp started to go up, I pulled over within 15 seconds of it hitting midpoint) and went through 4-5 gallons doing so…
oh and also, it did run dry a couple times (sitting parked on the side of the road, not moving). I’m pretty sure my head/HG are still ok, but is there anything else in the cooling system that could have damaged?
and sorry for the triple post, but for a junkyard rad does toyo vs nippondenso matter?
I’d say you’re pretty safe having not ran the car till it pegged. Standard brand coolant is fine, I’ve heard you don’t want to mix certain types. For the short time you went total H2O I wouldn’t worry, if you ran months on bottled or distilled I’d be worried about the crossover tube thats steel running behind the engine between the pump and thermo. Type of rad makes no diff, now git er dun!:run:
Yeah, I figured it would be ok on straight water for a while and didn’t want to spend the amount I would on antifreeze to run it all the way back, let alone leaking that much of it. I was more concerned about whether anything would die from breathing air or something.
Do radiators from any other cars that are likely to be available fit without much work? I really don’t want to have to wait until monday to get a new one, which is as soon as I could get one if I don’t manage to find a used one.
Try searching the TegTips, FAQs or the SteroidTeg sections as they have talked some about civic rads (half as wide) to make room for turbos and such. Which I would think makes you disconnect the a/c perhaps cause the heat melts the a/c lines.:idea:
.JPG)
fucking awesome angle for that hose clamp, that’s the frame rail under it
well now I have the new rad in, but didn’t get a drain plug with it so it can’t exactly hold water 
any clue what size the drain plug could be? it’s larger than my old one, which is larger but the same thread pitch as the 12mm bolts behind the turn signals that hold the bumper on
that’s not good :o