I thought they all had plastic tanks. This would be a good time to change the transmission fluid too.

 

Check around, you may be able to find an all metal replacement. Plastic has improved, but still is not as durable as aluminum or brass. Rockauto, Ebay and Amazon are potential mail order sources.

good luck

 

I'm looking at the V6 supplement to the 98-99 service manual. It looks like there isn't a bleeder bolt for the V6.

Can anyone confirm that?

 

I was wrong. The current one is plastic.

 

I've got it all together but the ATF fixtures are leaking. Kinda hard to tighten now where they are, plus I have only a crescent wrench.

Anybody know the size or torque specification for those fixtures.

 

Did you remove ATF fixtures from old radiator to install in new? Usually a replacement radiator has hose barbs installed? You will have to tighten by feel. I would be careful as overtightening could damage the radiator body.

good luck

 

If it's a flare-nut you should really use a flare-nut wrench to tighten it. Those nuts are very thin, and damage easily.

 

The short: It's in and not leaking.

The long: The new radiator came new ATF fixtures that I had to bolt on to the radiator. I used those, but they leaked because I didn't tighten them enough. I pulled the radiator (again, always got to do things twice) and tightened them up with a bigger crescent.

Too big, in fact. One of them tore, if you can believe it. Luckily it didn't strip the male half sticking out of the radiator. At that point, I replaced them with the ATF fixtures from the old radiator.

The new ones were wimpy, like a thin bolt with a small cone on top of it. And the pipe seemed grainy and thin. (I'll get post some pictures later this week.) The old ones, which I think came off a Honda radiator, were beefier. The bolt was thicker and it became the cone. They were much easier to tighten and instilled much more confidence that they were going to hold.

I'll bet the Honda radiator (from hondapartsnow.com for $233) will have the ATF fixtures installed and tightened to spec. The Spectra Premium I got from AutoZone (for $128) didn't. Might with worth the extra money just for that.

Anyhoo, it's all back together for tomorrow (which was the goal.) Thanks for all the help.

--
Tim


PS: Here's some info I got from Spectrum Premium on installing the ATF hose barbs:

• Reasonable torque spec is between 15-20 foot/pounds
• When installing the fittings on the cooler, use thread sealant like those from Permatex or Kleen flow (tape or liquid)
• Look closely, if it is leaking around the fitting nut, remove it from radiator and look at the flare for any wrinkle. If there's a wrinkle, get another accesory pack (ACPK235) through the dealer that you bought the radiator.

 

Yep, and they did ;-)

18mm was the biggest I had, then it was the crescents.

The old ATF fixtures were maybe 19mm. The new flare nuts were bigger than the old ones.

--
Tim

 

i stick a bolt in each hose ,,,,