Need advice on radiator replacement

Peabody · 2010-12-10T18:30:31+00:00

So it's a 94 Accord with 67K miles. Barely broken in. :-)It seems I have a small crack near the top of the radiator, about an inch long, It's weeping, but still able to maintain pressure, more or less. Anyway, I want to replace it - the crack isn't going to get any smaller.I'm pretty handy, and wonder if I can do this myself. The local independent Honda/Accura repair shop is quoting me around $400.I assume the fans unbolt and swing out of the way. That would leave the upper and lower radiator hoses, and I assume the transmission oil coolant connections. Anything else?I guess what I'm looking for is some encouragement, maybe some detailed instructions on how to do this, and suggestions for where to get the replacement radiator.Any suggestions appreciated. I'm particularly goosey about the transmission cooling.I guess it's silly to think of putting JB Weld on the crack? I mean it looks like it's plastic, so I assume there's no way to patch the crack effectively. Right?

Dec 10, 2010 67 Replies

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Peabody 15 years ago

In an attempt to diagnose the problem, I rigged up a circuit tied in to the lines going to the two solenoids near the top of the transmission that shift the tranny into lockup. (I actually know something about electronics, as opposed to automotive stuff.) And I was out driving around at night so I could see whether the LEDs were blinking. But, the expected signals weren't being sent to the solenoids. Actually that was good news because it meant there probably wasn't anything wrong with the transmission.

It was at that point that someone suggested it might be a temperature problem - possibly a bad thermostat, or air that hadn't been bled out. So I tried the air bleed, and the tranny worked perfectly after that.

By the way, the proper signals going to the solenoids turned out to be a bit strange. One gets a solid 12V, but the other one gets a pulsing signal - modulated in some way.

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Peabody 15 years ago

Oh ye of little faith. :-)

Thanks very much for your help.

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jim beam 15 years ago

if it worked, that's great - i'm just saying that the switch is something you have to look out for because it's known to fail, and the commonly recommended searches of the coolant circuits can be a wild goose chase.

that's pulse width modulation - it's the way you get to vary the pressure in the solenoid switched hydraulic circuits between the two extremes of "on" and "off". it's used on lockup clutches in modern transmission control systems to provide partial slip and thus better ratio/engine power band matching and so both fuel economy and better drivability. my 96 accord does it.

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Ron 15 years ago

That is one of the reasons that I pulled my fans first. They have to come off anyway and they are a piece of cake to remove.. Another reason was so I wouldn't make a huge mess with the coolant and tranny fluid.

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jim beam 15 years ago

here's yet another reason why we know you haven't really done this ron - you don't have room to remove a fan assembly without dragging the edges of it over the radiator matrix. and when you do that, you don't just bend the fins, you can actually pierce the coolant tubes. indeed, i've watched someone do this when they thought they knew what they were doing but didn't.

to anyone else reading, do this job exactly like it shows in that video. take the whole shooting match out as a unit, swap all the parts, them put the new one back as a unit. making sure you unclip the transmission cooler hoses from the top.

the only mess you're making ron is the saliva you're drooling because you don't know when to keep your mouth closed.

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Ron 15 years ago

Tell me HOW you change the fan motors if you can't remove the fan assemblies w/o damaging the radiator? Oh, that's right, you can't answer the question because you dug yourself into a hole.

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