I am going to replace my radiator in my 1991 lexus ls400 this weekend, has anyone ever replaced one before in a lexus ls400? I've only replaced one radiator before, but it was not in a lexus. The reason I'm doing it myself is because it will cut down the cost by 70 percent. Plus Im a high school student with a part time job, so I do want to spend all of the money I get from my job, Im planning to save for college next year. If anyone has any tips or knows of any websites that have a tutorial on how to install radiators, just let me know.

 

whats wrong with the current radiator?

 

There is a crack in my radiator where the bottom hose connects to the radiator. Plus I need the thermostat replaced. Yesterday on my way to school my car overheated, and The coolant was all over the place. The top hose connected to the radiator had popped off, so I put it back on with the clamp still intact and I found a hose by apartments and filled up the tank. Then I drove it over to my mechanice with the heater on, and he looked at the radiator and noticed some corrosion on top and around the top hose and he showed me the crack on the bottom.

 

uh oh, u mightve blown a headgasket too since u overheated....hope not since the 1uz is pretty strong.

 

Ok, replacing the radiator is probably one of the easiest thing you could do. Drain the coolant (there's a drain hose on the bottom of the radiator, disconnect two big hoses, remove fan cover, remove two top clamps that are hold the radiator, and its basically loose. Now you will need to disconnect the temp sensor on the bottom of the radiator, and unclamp the two small hoses on the bottom (they are actually transmission fluid hoses). You will lose about 1/2 qt of transmission fluid.

Then put in the new radiator, follow instruction in reverse. Fill up with coolant, and add transmission fluid. If you're going to do the thermostat, do it while you have everything apart, otherwise you will need to drain coolant again. Also, a small tip, if you have the big top hose connected before you install the fan cover back in, it will be hard to put it back in, so do it before you connect the hose.

 

thanks for the info och. I couldn't thank you enough. Im doing it this weekend, hopefully everything turns out alright.