This is my ol' girl. She's tough, dependable, reliable, and, well, old. She's a '97. She's got 202,000 miles on her. In fact, her only flaws are cosmetic. Ladies, you understand. She's got...
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| dings and dents |
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| parts falling off |
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| a deteriorating interior |
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| even a bullet ricochet acquired years ago. |
However, unlike every other girl I've ever know, she's never given me one, single problem... until yesterday. On the way home from picking up Monk from daycare, she decided she would pick up a smoking habit. Mad? No. Concerned? Yes. After making it home, as she has for 13 years, I popped the hood for a peek. Coincidentally, a 'peek' is actually my most advanced mechanic move that I have acquired. After immediately seeing the problem, which was cleverly hidden by a smoking crack that was spitting lava-hot engine coolant, I did some research. Research, while not always an automotive skill, I can do and do well.
After watching 15 YouTube videos, reading countless 'how-to' walkthroughs, and even studying some graphs of a radiator, I decided that I'd try my hand at some radiator maintenance. That being said, I would be completely remiss to not acknowledge some key sources (plus, it's just poor academia not to do so). To anyone with a Honda and considering undertaking a radiator change, I would highly suggest the following:
This is Part 1 of a two part video. This will help you get the radiator off.
,This is Part 2. This helps getting the new radiator in.This E-How was awesome: http://www.ehow.com/how_6088156_honda-civic-radiator-install-instructions.html
Finally, this diagram was a nice addition for finding the drain plug and fan make-up:
