I was just reading the post about a clogged/missing thermostat.. I've been flushing and cleaning out my radiator for the past week now. Today i did the last flush treatment on it and installed a new thermostat. My fluid was so bad that it was darker than chocolate milk. I know the radiator will have to be replaced in the spring.
Every print. diagram, offer for a replacement radiator shows the connections opposite from mine. The top heater hose is on the right side , facing the driver. It had me sriously thinking i had the wrong radiator installed. The bottom hose is on the left as is the cap/ fill port.
I have a feeling that this is not the original radiator. reason being the pet **** is plastic. I thought all factory ones were metal.
Please tell me I'm not crazy and all the figures i've seen are wrong. The radiator will stay as is for now. but if it is wrong i'll just chalk this up as another " Oh Boy ".

 

was the colour from a stop leak agent?

 

My 1989 Ranger, which was bought new, had the top hose on the passengers side and the lower on the drivers side.

 

Hi ken

if you're looking at the driver my top hose is on the left and the bottom on the right. But like i said all the figures i've seen for replacement ones are exactly opposite. I mean there really is no other way for it to fit correctly.

 

I have an 88 and an 89 Bronco II and they both have the same setup with hose positions. The 88 now has the explorer 4.0 radiator in it now(better cooling on hot summer days)the 4.0 radiator from a 94 Explorer also has the same setup.
They all have the upper hose on the drivers side and the lower hose on the passenger side. I would have to say you might have another type of radiator in it.
Also all my radiators has/had a plastic petcock on them.
If you are going to change the radiator this spring, I would suggest buying the 4.0 explorer radiator, lower hose ( bronco II upper hose)and clamps.
It is a direct bolt in and works better than the stock radiator.
From the color you describe, it sound like the radiator is scaling from the inside = No good. Replace as soon as possible.

 

Thas how mine was, I'm not sure about the current replacement ones, mine was replaced with the same design.

 

I've got a stock Ford rad in my '90 BII.

- Top hose on passngr side
- Drain valve also on passngr side.

- Bottom hose on drivr's side.
- Cap/fill opening also on drivr's.

 

What causes "scaling" ? When I picked up this little beastie the RAD was top off with fresh fluid, nice and green. Even the expansion tank was chock full of fresh fluid.

 

I would think corrosion from the engine and contaminates in the H2O if its not distilled, high pH will promote scaling too.

 

wolffpax, I think you reversed yourself when you listed the sides of the hoses. The 2.9 and 4.0 radiators should both be top-passenger, bottom-driver.

Yes, the Explorer radiator is a great unit and IMO an essential upgrade to any 2.9 RBV. Best price I've found is 117.60 shipped from RadiatorBarn.com (mine is from there and the quality/service was flawless).

 

Ken

By the amount of discolored fluid that was in the radiator.... this has obviously been happening for awhile. I'm concerned if this will mess up any new radiator I install?

 

Scaling is normally something that builds up over time. I would do a GOOD flush of the block if you putting in a new radiator. New hoses would be good too. Are you sure the color isn't due to another fluid mixing with the coolant.

 

Oops! My bad. Thanks fastpakr. I did reverse them. Sorry about that.

 

Scaling happens over a long period of time even with flushing. I have personally had two vehicles from new that where flushed and drained on a regular basis. At 120 k they both had some scales. By 165 K one had a lot. I used some lime away to clean it and it worked great. They say do not use lime away on aluminum but with all the scale I had no choice. My 2 cente worth.