So this weekend I'm going to be replacing my radiator and my fan clutch. Any tips/suggestions on either? I know the trick with the fan clutch is that it's a large, reverse thread nut...any other issues?

Anyone have a picture/diagram showing the mounting points for the radiator to body/frame?

 

Just remove the upper shroud, fan/clutch, disconnect the trans/oil/coolant lines, and lift the radiator out.

 

Did you break the old ones, or are you trying to upgrade?

 

My current radiator is leaking at the oil cooler line on the drivers side of the upper radiator. Tried tightening, stop leak, and JB weld on the outside, nothing stops it. Because of that, I can't build coolant pressure, and once the coolant leaks down to the fitting, it doesnt refill from overflow bottle, leading to temperature control problems.

As for the fan clutch its been bad/failing for the past year, but just in the past 2 weeks or so, its pretty much engaged all time once engine reaches 195. And I don't know if you've ever felt the fan engaged at 3000 rpm trying to accelerate...but its got pretty much no power, and the loudest vacuum sound ever [&o]

Good news is once these two repairs are done, I should be back to 100%

Also last weekend I flushed and switched to Prestone green coolant...and it really shows has nasty my radiator was with dex cool sludging (probably because of all the air introduced from the leak )

 

The fan clutch has me concerned... I get that vacuum sound when I hit the gas after driving for a while... what about going to an electric fan?

 

I looked at doing that...just decided to stick with OEM design I guess.. The kit is about the same price as the clutch though.

You can test your fan clutch by giving the fan a spin by hand when the engine is cold. It should spin nicely..mine moves about 1 fan blade when I spin it as best I can

 

If you go electric, you have to set it up properly to get the same efficiency. You loose in the conversion from HP to AMPS and back to HP at the fan. The thermo-clutch fan is actually quite efficient when working properly.

 

Biggest thing I can tell you is to do the loan a tool fro autozone and get the fan clutch removal tool. I spent 4 hours trying to get it off and a friend recommended it. All it took was five minutes after that... <smirk>