I spoke about my leaking and old radiator that was going to need to be dealt with. With the hottes months of summer coming up, I wanted to make sure my cooling system was up to par. The eventual plan is to remove the belt driven fan and to install an electric pusher fan in front of the radiator. As with just about ANYTHING I do on the car…I take it in stages. So the first part is dealing with the radiator. I found a used one in what seems like VERY good condition. I buy it for $80 bucks. New a 2002 Radiator lists for about $600. Not a bad savings. I took it to my local radiator shop and had it pressure checked and flow checked. Why go through all the hassle if its a bad radiator? It checked out perfect. So I went about installing it. I noticed the bottom hose connected slightly differently than the original radiator. After some research I realized the radiator I got was from 1968! The older models had a straight hose connection, the newer ones had an angled connection to make the AC installation easier. No big deal. So I got a 320i hose and had to cut an inch off of it. The job was simple….drain the radiator, remove 2 hoses, and remove 4 bolts. Thats it and the radiator lifts out. Installation is just the opposite. Once buttoned up, the car now runs much cooler…and even at 95+ MPH it doesnt rise over the midway point. Driving at 80 before would make the temp rise to 2/3 of the way to hot…Sitting and idling always made the car run at 1/3 up to 2/3 up….once I was even above that mark! Now at idle its never over 1/3 up on the temp gauge. So out with the old leaking radiator and in with the older 1968 radiator? For now…Yes!
Here are pics of the old radiator and the condition its in: