Radiator Questions.
 

Well, the '97s starting to overheat now...I found that the waterpump was shot and gone so I went ahead and replaced that. The car still runs hot though so I took a closer look at the radiator and saw that it was clogged. I tried to flush the system but the radiators still not in the best shape. Do you guys have any recommendations on a radiator flushing fluid? If there's nothing like that for my car, what is the best route to take to fix the problem.

PS I have a 160 thermostat but the car still runs at 200/210 (mid) and the fans don't kick in till about 200...what is the problem here? What do I do to fix it?

Re: Radiator Questions.
 

What's the highest temp that it's gotten up to?

Do the fans come on at stock temps?

Re: Radiator Questions.
 

Are you still running DEXCRAP? If you are, get rid of it. Its been known to clot up after a period. If messed up my engine pretty bad. My motor would intermittantly overheat, then cool down quickly. Because of this behavior, I assumed it was a bad sending unit and stupidly continued to run it, until it got hot and never cooled down. I traced it to serious orange goo clogging up the coolant line that comes off the back of the heads. I took the radiator out and had it rodded out. Didn't cost much, but the tech said that Dexcool was causing those kind of problems all over. My radiator was down to about 50%.
My advice, even if you don't run Dexcool, is to take out the radiator and have it serviced. They can pop off the tanks and rod it out for you very easily. Won't cost much and will definitely improve your cooling capacity.
Jim

Re: Radiator Questions.
 

Just found a crack in the radiator...crap. I need a new unit now, cheapest I've found an OEM replacement was $127 w/ free shipping. Is that a good deal, or do you have any other sources that would serve me better.

Re: Radiator Questions.
 

Be very cautious at this point. My car was acting funny and the radiator got a crack in the plastic. Kept overflowing/boiling over..So I thought. I had a blown headgasket and the pressure was pushing through my cooling system. 127 is not a bad price..I just paid 100 for a used one locally... some go for 50~75 bucks + Shipping.