It really is a cake walk. I charge 1.5 hours labor and that includes replace radiator, replace thermostat, pressure test, tighen the rest of the cooling system, and test drive.

I have no doubt there are a few different ways to do one but what I do is:

1. Remove the electric fan assembly. If you have an old style one I remove the two screws from the top of the shroud, lean it forward, remove the for nuts that hold the plastic fan blade to the clutch, remove the fan and then the shroud and now you are to the same place as just pulling the electric fan assembly.

2. Pull the reservoir cap and drain the system, later style radiators you can drain at the left lower corner where there is a fitting as well as at the drain petcock like the older models. Petcock is located in the side of the block by the oil filter or in the coolant pipes right at the oil filter adapter housing on the later turbo cars.

3. With it drained I loosen and remove the trans cooler fittings from the radiator, remove the four hoses from the radiator. NOTE: the lower hose will always drip some coolant out regardless of how well you drain it first so put you drain pan underneath it when you take it off of the lower fitting on the radiator.

4. Hoses removed, coolant drained, trans lines off, fan out of the way, go ahead and remove the two retaining plates that mount on the upper core support and pull the radiator out. Make sure that you do not loose any of the rubber mounting hardware that goes around the bottom and if your radiator is a late model one then put a little lube on those fittings so that the new radiator can slide back into place.

On the earlier cars I use Nissen heavy duty radiators and have never had a problem with them. I have never been impressed with their version of the late model radiators and only run factory Volvo stuff because of it.


Mark