In need of replacing the Radiator in my 98 Ingtra, LS: I know I can get a replacement from RadiatorBarn and am confident it is a DIY project. I have read about air becoming trapped in the cooling system. Anybody have a procedure for preventing or reducing the risk of trapping air.


All Original 204,000 miles, I guess it's time.
Thanks

 

There's no way to avoid some air getting into the system when you replace the coolant or the rad., just need to bleed the system after you fill the new rad.

 

since its a 98 LS, theres no bleeder screw.

people have different ways of doing it, but this is how I do it.

just remember to fill the block first. i usually fill the block from the elbow just in front and below the distributor where the top radiator hose connects to. fill it up until its about to spill out. then connect it to the radiator. then fill up the radiator. then fill up the reservoir. close the radiator cap.

turn the engine on, and immediately check for any leaks or any abnormalities. if everything is normal, close the hood. it warms up the engine faster.

theres going to be a lot of air in the system because the thermostat is closed and whatever parts of the system werent filled. this is why filling the block is so important. ive seen it so many times that people only fill up the radiator then wait forever for the thermostat to open up/fans to cycle. once the radiator fans cycle, go inside and turn the blend-door to full red (hot) and turn the fan on. if your vents blow hot air, then the coolant has cycled through the heater system.

go back outside and open the hood and check for anything abnormal again. fill up the reservoir, since it'll be drained. fill it to the "full" mark. chances are if everything is functioning correctly, it'll stay at the full mark, indicating that you've refilled/bled the system. just make sure the tube inside the reservoir is connected also.

the next morning or when the motor is cool, give the system another look-over.
pull the radiator cap (make sure its cold) and fill up any coolant there if necessary. refill the reservoir to "full" if it went down.

i also highly recommend honda type2 coolant.

i've done this method at least 20 times on various customer and personal cars.

if any of you pros see any flaws, feel free to chime in

 

firestone has a machine( coolant flusher) that does not introuduce air in the system.

 

lots of places have that machine. i wouldnt trust firestone to change my tires, let alone do a coolant flush...i had so many bad experiences with them, I have no clue why I kept going back. oh wait, now that I remember, I had a friend that worked at the one I used to go to. He and his boss later got fired. I guess they were too nice to their customers. after going back, the service writers and techs always pissed me off somehow, either they were just rude, or didnt do something right on my car.

however, thats irrelevant to the issue here.

using those machines correctly is a nice method, but not necessary.

 

That's why I don't let anyone perform any services on my car. I went to get tires, but the car was too low to be put on the lift. The dumbass started jacking the car up by the front LCA. That's all it took for me to see that made me leave. I went home, put the car on jack stands and brought the wheels there for the tires to be mounted and balanced.

 

yeah i'm very picky with who i trust to work on my car. luckily the people i go to are pretty good.

i used to do everything on my cars, but these days, my free time is more valuable than the cost of paying someone else to work on my cars, if the job takes more than a couple hours of my time.

 

True, but I have a lot of free time and would rather work on my car myself.

The only time I let someone work on the car was when I had my alarm installed a couple weeks ago.

And even then, I took my license plate off, I took out ALL my paperwork and registration etc, and gave them my grandma's address for the warranty info and such. Can never be too careful now, especially when a GSR was just stolen about 3 miles away from my house. It sucked too since he only had it for 3 days and they stole it in the middle of the day from his driveway.

 

yeah for my alarm installs i entrust my friend. haha

 

Thanks everyone for the input: Recieved the rad for Rad-Barn this week. Now just need the weather to warm up to do the job. I like the idea of Filling the Upper hose First. Hadn't heard of that tech. before. . Have always used the Honda Coolant, well worth not having problems. Thanks again.