[4th Gen : 01-07]: Broken housing under radiator cap. At what outside temp will the engine overheat?
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Broken housing under radiator cap. At what outside temp will the engine overheat?
Hello Everyone,
We're talking about a 2001 Grand Caravan with a 3.3 liter engine. It belongs to a friend in Saint Paul. His name is Torleif.
So he had an accident and rear ended someone. (I did not ask. I expect he was looking at his telephone when he should have been looking at the road. He uses that telephone like it's glued to his body.)
The passenger headlight housing was broken, along with some of the body that the housing attaches to. I bought a new headlight housing and we installed that.
Oh, surprrise! Picture the rim under the radiator cap. About a third of that is gone, down to an inch and a half.
He has been driving his Caravan to work and back in this condition. The weather has been sub-freezing cold. So the engine never overheated.
First question:
Tomorrow the temperature is supposed to reach a toasty 55 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm wondering how long he can get away with driving his Caravan in this condition.
He did buy a new radiator, a brand new radiator. The thing arrived and it's sitting in the box, ready to go.
2nd question:
I looked at several You Tube videos.There were 2 mechanics who both said it took them 2 hours to replace the radiator. I expect it will take us at least twice as long. How much time do you expect it would take 2 guys to replace this radiator?
Thank you for your help. Happy Weekend.
We're talking about a 2001 Grand Caravan with a 3.3 liter engine. It belongs to a friend in Saint Paul. His name is Torleif.
So he had an accident and rear ended someone. (I did not ask. I expect he was looking at his telephone when he should have been looking at the road. He uses that telephone like it's glued to his body.)
The passenger headlight housing was broken, along with some of the body that the housing attaches to. I bought a new headlight housing and we installed that.
Oh, surprrise! Picture the rim under the radiator cap. About a third of that is gone, down to an inch and a half.
He has been driving his Caravan to work and back in this condition. The weather has been sub-freezing cold. So the engine never overheated.
First question:
Tomorrow the temperature is supposed to reach a toasty 55 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm wondering how long he can get away with driving his Caravan in this condition.
He did buy a new radiator, a brand new radiator. The thing arrived and it's sitting in the box, ready to go.
2nd question:
I looked at several You Tube videos.There were 2 mechanics who both said it took them 2 hours to replace the radiator. I expect it will take us at least twice as long. How much time do you expect it would take 2 guys to replace this radiator?
Thank you for your help. Happy Weekend.
Theoretically you could drive it forever as long as the coolant level is kept up. Not a good idea though. At some point it's going to start boiling over and without pressure it will happen sooner when it's warmer. Just not a good all around. Replace the radiator asap.
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Joined: Feb 2012
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I agree with jkeaton (again). I've had a car overheat in freezing temperature, though to be fair that car had a stuck thermostat. Sounds like you don't have a crisis but it's also not a good idea to continue driving the van in that condition.
Re your second question it will take two guys who have never replaced this radiator at least as long as the mechanics in the YouTube videos did. I just replaced the radiator myself on my 2008 and it took me 3-4 hours, but that was largely because it took me a while to figure out I needed to take off the bumper cover to get at some connections. I'm not sure if you need to do this with the 2001.
Re your second question it will take two guys who have never replaced this radiator at least as long as the mechanics in the YouTube videos did. I just replaced the radiator myself on my 2008 and it took me 3-4 hours, but that was largely because it took me a while to figure out I needed to take off the bumper cover to get at some connections. I'm not sure if you need to do this with the 2001.
