I did a search but found no definitive answer. What is the best way to remove my radiator, with or w/o the condenser. Thanks in advance. Walt
I have always removed them with the condensor but at the time the A/C didn't have any freon in it. So, it made the job much easier as a few of the lower bolts are difficult to get to. If your A/C is not working and no freon is present then remove them both. You can clear the bonnet as well when removing both. You don't need to remove it.
Well I got the radiator out. The only easy way(as I see it) is to recover your refrigerant, break those lines loose at the condenser and lift the radiator and condenser out as a unit. It only took 5 minutes after the freon was recovered. Now off to the radiator shop.
if you remove the radiator and condenser as a unit, you don't have to undo the bottom bolts you mention, since these bolts only hold together the rad and condenser but nothing of both to the chassis or frame. This is the big difference because, if the condenser should stay in place while removing the radiator, the front grille, bumper, valance has to come off :-( Best Regards from Germany Martin
Yes, I saw all the bolts that hold the condenser to the radiator before I started, had to use a mirror to see the bottom two. That's why I decided to remove both condenser/radiator as one unit, I couldn't see even trying to get to the lower two. I'll find about the radiator flush later today. This all started because I'm doing the Hayden fan upgrade. It's one of those "while I'm in there" things.
Guys read my first post. I recommended to pull it as a unit. After Walt pulled the rad and cond. out I asked him if he sees the difficult bolts. The point being; aren't you glad you removed it as a unit like mentioned. That is all.
308GTS: I'm very glad I went the way you suggested in your post. It was very easy and seeing that I have the recovery equipment, it was also very economical in time and money for me to do it that way. THANKS Does anyone know how many passes the stock radiator is (how many baffels in the top & bottom ends if any)??
For the archives - I had to pull my 308 radiator out this weekend so to have it recored to correct a leak. I did not want to drain the A/C condensor by breaking the lines, as it's filled with expensive R-12. I searched the archives and found several folks who said that it was possible to remove the radiator with the A/C left behind, but I found this to be a real bugger. Instead, simply removed the top half of the spare tire well, by drilling out the various pop rivets. Once the top part of this well is removed, the radiator can then be easily removed without any potential to damage either it or the A/C condensor. Cheers - DM Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
HELP! (It's my first Saturday with nothing on my Honey Do list!) Okay! So I have a radiator that leaves me a small indoor lake whenever I bring the car back from a ride. The lake's been getting larger and now I can see that the source is not a spring under my garage, but a radiator that is rapidly dripping water into the top of the lower valance pan. I recently upgraded my hoses with Rampante rubber and I THOUGHT that perhaps my ring clamps were not tight enough. I never thought of steel wooling the radiator pipes before installing the new hoses - was that a bad thing not to do? Some of the water is pooling in the top seam of the radiator, but even before this appears, water is dripping below so I'm pretty sure I have an industrial level leak or two going on. So, reading all of the above, and thinking hell, let's have it out and take it to a radiator shop, where the word, Ferrari, stamped on the top of the radiator will make me some new friends. Now, you guys mentioned two things that have me curious: The A/C on my car has never worked (well not since two weeks after I bought the car, before which they probably pumped it up fast and held their breaths). So is now a good time to do something with the compressor? I haven't read any AC threads yet, but I'm sure you guys can point the way. The other item I was curious about was the Hayden fan upgrade. What's that all about? Happy regards, Quasimotor
FWIW - I had a leaking radiator. Pulled it and had it re cored matching the pen core except with 2 less FPI for more air flow. Rebuilt the radiator fans and put in new fan motor brushes. We had a very hot summer in NEPA and she ran at or just above T Stat line even in traffic. I also re worked and flushed the AC system and changed out the Evap valve. Changed to r134a. Center vent blows 38f on low fan and 45f on high fan with 87f inlet temp. My opinion is once the 308 system is set up correctly it works fine.
Yes I will agree with the foam. I put foam on the radiator sides, bottom and top. Also on the tire well top lip.
Wow! Thanks guys! Some questions: Explain: 2 less FPI for more air flow More details: I also re worked and flushed the AC system and changed out the Evap valve. (How do you test the compressor? Can you test the hoses for leaks when the compressor is out? I know I was leaking Freon somewhere. Is there a detailed procedural on all this somewhere in Ferrarichat? More details: changed r134a What is involved in this. Is it a DIY job? I have the gauges, but never really used them. Again, thanks to everyone on this thread. And yeah, I know the top hose is probably leaking and I'm going to remove, steel wool the pipe and reset. I switched everything over to Scuderia Rampante rubber and that's when it all started dripping! Probably installed with dirty pipe edges. And now another thing! Damnit! The shifter is locked in the reverse position but the gears are in first! Egad!!
George, for the shifter, look at the silent block under the car and see if the bolt and the nut for it are still there, either it’s looks or missing, it happen to me before, the bolt was barely hanging as the nut came off, I then replaced it with lock nut and all is good.
The OEM radiator had 16 (fins per inch) I dropped it to 14 fpi with no change to the tubular flow design. No change to the condenser or evaporator. Disassembled the evaporator box and fan. Resealed it. Also rebuilt the radiator fans. Changing to r134a. I bought a new york style compressor. Changed the orings, evap valve and dryer. Basic flush with AC flush. All pretty standard and straight forward. Vaccum down to max for 2hrs it held for 24hrs so I charged the system to standard pressure based on outside temp.
Look under the car, in front of the oil sump. You'll see where the shaft connects to a fork - with a bushing bolted in the middle.
I’m in the same boat, trying to remove the radiator without taking the condenser with it. I’ve got * hood off, * radiator drained via the crossover pipe access panel * top left and right bolts for the radiator off * removed condenser top left, top right, and the bolt holding the coolant tubes to the rear of the radiator * top radiator hose removed @dave80gtsi , The radiator doesn’t yet feel free to be pulled out. Are there bolts on the bottom of the radiator that need to be removed? If so, how did you do it? I can remove the spare tire cover like you did but before I do it, I’m interested in how to remove those bottom bolts. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Wow - a real Blast From The 2007 Past! I do not recall there being bolts on the bottom of the radiator. Working from a (perhaps spotty) memory, I recall only that the radiator bottom sits into a pair of brackets which are lined with a thin rubber gasket sheet. Perhaps someone who has done this job more recently than me can jump in here and advise yes/no accordingly. DM
update. Figured it out. It didn’t lift out and felt wedged in there or like it was secured in a place I couldn’t understand. In the end, it was stuck due to the radiator foam strips on the side that keep air from leaking around the side. Once I cut out the strips on each side with a scraper, the radiator plus a/c condenser lifted out easily as one piece. At that point, I could have removed the bottom screws and separated the condenser from the radiator, leaving the radiator free and out of the car. Now, that’s not what I did it really felt stuck on the bottom so I removed the lower fascia. This was mentioned in another thread and, frankly, I was a little envious of people who had posted pictures of it being removed and it seemed like a challenge. With the fascia off, there was direct access to the bottom cradle. After trying to push and pull, it was finally clear the issue was the sealing. It was easy to access the front of the radiator to dig out the foam on each side. Had the front spoiler not been off, might have had to remove the spare tire lid to get enough access to each side to dig out the foam. Image Unavailable, Please Login Once the radiator was out, it was a simple job to put the new radiator from Nick’s Forza in. It fit fine in the saddle. Only difference was it was slightly narrower so it needed extra foam on each side (used the Frost King from Home Depot) Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
