Well I'm constructively spending my time while waiting on the Fed-Ex guy to deliver my new radiator! Hope it all goes well and I'll try to take some good pics without getting my phone covered in grease.

 

not hard to change the radiator. just remember the clutch fan nut turns CCW

 

^^^ Good reminder, thanks Weed

 

Alright well I bought the new radiator from RockAuto. It was from Spectra Premium, model # CU2480. As you'll see in the pics it was a perfect fit and had all the mounting hardware as the original one, so mounting the power steering cooler and transmission cooler was no trouble at all.

Bottom of new radiator, shows where the PS cooler brackets go.


The tabs on the new match up to the old for the mounting nuts


Just pry the metal tap up and slide them out and reinstall on new radiator


I used some baling wire to hold the PS and transmission coolers in place since I didn't want to pull them out with the radiator. For those with the crappy fan clutches, you'll see I just unbolted the fan blade from the fan clutch, so all that stayed in place.


As you unbolt everything, don't forgot to unhook the transmission lines from the clip brackets on the radiator.


Fan shroud removed no problem, notice how the fan blades are loose and out of the way, once the shroud came out I unbolted the power steering cooler brackets and pulled the radiator out.


Transfer the rubber bushings to the new radiator, and at this point during the install, if it doesn't seem to fit just right, grab the old one, take off the last rubber bushing and pop it in place. Now it fits good and solid.


Original radiator. 192,700 miles of service, 5,230 hours of run time.


Aahhhh, that's why the stupid washer fluid jug would not come out, there's a hidden locking tab.


Well everything went great and no leaks so far (well none from the radiator anyway) It took me about 2 hours of slow, easy work, puttering around and getting sidetracked and misplacing my tools.

 

Always feels good to fix something yourself!! Nice job.

 

Yes it does, and this was one of those really easy fixes where I wasn't even thinking about laying down the cash so a shop could do it.

 

Well I feel the need to update this. The Spectra radiator has not held up long at all. After about 4 months in service I realized it was starting to leak just a minor amount. I finally contacted RockAuto, they shipped out a new Spectra for a warranty swap. I just wasted 3 hours freezing outside trying to figure out why the new one would not install fully. Well I still didn't figure it out, but I chalked it up to cheap manufacturing by a cheap company. Heck, there's only 2 bolts that hold the radiator in place, how hard can it be to make something that lines up correctly. IDK, maybe the new one got slightly bent during shipping. At any rate the leaky radiator is back in place and I'll try my luck with the Vista Pro radiator next.

Don't bother buying the Spectra radiators.

 

All of these radiators have problems leaking at the tank where it meets the actual radiator. My original unit started to leak so I crimped the folded over tab even more and it stopped it for a while, bought a new one from Oreilly's locally and it leaked right after I installed it, Pulled it out and to my surprise one holding tab for the tank wasnt folded over. Checked the warranty unit before I installed it and made sure all the tank tabs were folded over and tight. No issues yet........ At least with mine i find a leak it's fixed that day, I can't imagine having to wait for one to be sent to me, find its bent or messed up, then waiting even longer to get one that's not messed up. sometimes saving a dollar isn't the way to go....

 

I replaced my radiator in my 02 5.9L and noticed later that I had some sort of leak under the motor, turns out when I pulled it one of the lines (maybe for trans cooler?) had pulled slightly loose under the motor. I had to push it back on and tighten the hose clamp. Just be sure to check all of the lines running to and from the radiator area after install to make sure nothing came loose in the process.

 

I have went through 2 radiators in less than 5 months due to the tank leaking at the core. The tabs at the bottom (pass side) did not appear to be completely bent over either and low and behold that is where it started leaking (again). The first replacement (2 months old) was sent free of charge however, now they want me to pay $50 (for shipping) for the 3rd radiator in 5 months. Does anybody know of a radiator for these trucks that will hold up that does not cost $300?