Radiator Replacement

[JMac101]

Hey Everyone.
I have yet another problem due to the car accident I was involved in a few months back. My radiator started to leak and eventually the crack got bigger and now it wont hold coolant and needs to be replaced.
I have a 2001 Dodge Caravan 2.4 L 4 Cylinder motor.
How hard is it to replace a radiator in this van?
I purchased one and they said I will receive it in about 2 days and Id like to install it before Xmas.

Thanks guys.

 

[oilboy123]

I believe it should not be very hard. I think they come out from the top. My taurus rad was a pain in the petunia it came out the bottom.

 

[Donald]

What about the A/C condenser that is normally in front of the radiator?

 

[meangreen01]

You should have plenty of room to peek around in there and figure out how it comes out with the 4 cyl instead of the larger 6 cyl.

Speaking of that, those 4 cyl vans are pretty hard to come by. Most had the 3.3, 3.8. Do you get good MPG's? Does it move out OK when loaded with people/cargo?

 

[mattd]

piece of cake. I have done LOTS of them on the V6 caravans.

 

[The_Jeff]

usually the ac condensor is attached to the rad real half-bakedly. There should be enough slop in the lines to stuff it forward about an inch and work on the rad. YMMV.

 

[oilboy123]

I have worked on cars that say you need to remove the AC to remove the rad and in the end I finagled around that.

 

[JMac101]

my 4cylinder is awesome. About 18 city and about 23 highway. can haul a van full of people or cargo. on hot days gets sluggish but when colder out it has more power. no complaints. Have had this van for about 5 years and only broke down on me once. It has gotten me through everything.

 

[Chris142]

The easiest way to get the Radiator out of this van is to evacuate the AC system then pull the radiator, condensor and fans as a unit. Then swap them over to the new Radiator and put it back together.

I have heard of people doing it w/o pulling the condensor but I sure have not figured out how they did it. That van is extreemly tight to work around the Radiator.

Book time my way is 1.8 hrs + evac and charge.

 

[JMac101]

Thanks guys I got the old one out and put the new one in and Im good to go. Thanks for the help.

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
The easiest way to get the Radiator out of this van is to evacuate the AC system then pull the radiator, condensor and fans as a unit. Then swap them over to the new Radiator and put it back together.

I have heard of people doing it w/o pulling the condensor but I sure have not figured out how they did it. That van is extreemly tight to work around the Radiator.

Book time my way is 1.8 hrs + evac and charge.


Pulling the condenser is a waste. The easy way to do it is to pull the plastic cover off of the top of the rad, then remove the upper rad support, unbolt the condenser, lift it out of the mounts, set it aside, then lift the rad and fans straight up. This is of course assuming that you've already disconnected the fan wires and rad hoses.