Well, I am one of the unlucky ones who cracked the radiator.

Any tips on replacing it? I'm assuming it's pretty straight forward.

Waiting for a tow truck right now...

 

Doah! Good luck man. I know James busted his recently.

 

I am on # 3 lol fn things get expensive

 

I replaced my WRX's its simple! Ill help depending on time this weekend!

 

Well I ordered a radiator through advance auto and it'll be in tomorrow morning at 7:30am. I'll be hitching a ride there to pick it up and I'm putting it in tomorrow.

What's all involved? Do I have to remove the bumper or is it as straight forward as remove hoses, disconnect fans and unbolt the radiator from the supports and then reverse???

 

Found the How-To. Thank god for this section, thank you to MP81 for making it!

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/how-...diator-238716/

 

One of my bottom tabs broke on mine, but it doesn't leak. I know I need to replace it but I'm too cheap and lazy.

 

Radiator drops right out the bottom if you can get front end like 2-3ft high, no need to remove fascia

 

You're gonna have to tell/show me how you did that because I just replaced mine and saw NO way of dropping from the bottom. You have to do everything like posted in that how-to just to even access some things. The radiator sits in the subframe so you can't squeeze to by anywhere.

It wasn't hard at all, just a little tedious with the bumper. All in all, I rate this job a 6.5 out of 10 in difficulty because you the care needed when handling the condenser and the time needed to complete the job. It's very basic hand tools and about 1.2 gallons of coolant needed (that's after topping it off too).

Sucks that this happened but now I know how simple it is.

I corrected the issue of what happened:

I pulled out of a road I was unfamiliar with while helping a friend move and the driver side of the car bottomed out in a pothole. The ZZP intercooler hit the ground, bent its mounting bracket which I'm turn pushed the intercooler into the AC condenser that is attached to the radiator and cracking the radiator where it mounts into the subframe.

 

Tell me again why people want intercoolers that hang lower than stock.

 

My stock IC did this to my radiator, Wanger, after I hit a raccoon. You just can't hit **** with the underside of the front, no matter what you got.

 

Accidents happen, I agree, and stuff will break. What I'm talking about is the IC being unnecessarily low and scraping, and causing issues like this thread. I would never have thought of putting any of these lower than stock IC on. There are places on tracks where going fast means you catch a little dirt, or hop/straddle curbs. I probably would have lunched one of these by now. Stocker still holding up for me, though I'm looking forward to switching to the new ZZP increased clearance one sometime soonish.

There's something wrong if you can't drive around on the street and not scrape the IC. Either the car is too low, the IC is too low, or all of the above.

 

I see where you're coming from and I do agree for the most part. I got the ZZP intercooler because mine broke and they happen to agree to my group buy suggestion. They didn't offer the increased clearance one at the time and the group but price was unbeatable. I'm lowered on CCM's so it's not too low but low enough that I have to be cautious.

The intercooler took it like a champ, though. Just a minor scuff to the metal in the corner. This particular pothole/divot in the road was HUGE. It was dark and I was unfamiliar with the intersection so when I went across the driver front hit it square and caused the damage.

I'm probably going to look into the increased clearance intercooler.

 

thats why you need better lights

 

The section of the subframe that supports the radiator comes off with 3 bolts.

 

Pull the two hoses, unclip the fan, remove the 6 13mm bolts that attach the lower radiator mounts to the sub-frame and pull it out. Make sure the condenser unclips from the radiator too, otherwise you could pinch or break one of the a/c lines. It's an easy job though.

 

Ah, I see what you're saying now.

I would have needed to do it the way in the How-To and remove the bumper because I had to repair the intercooler bracket anyway.

If I ever crack the radiator again or need to replace it I'll try it that way next time.

Thanks!

 

Recently cracked my radiator and order one online, unfortunately I relied on the seelers knowledge and ordered one with the trans condensor fittings that I do not have on mine. Has anyone found brass plugs or something to cap them? Just looking for another solution so I don't have to order a new one and be without my car for another week.

 

Just don't hook them up. It's fine. Nothing to leak.

 

Really? They look like they are straight holes through the tank, can see how it would'nt

 

Trans fluid goes through there not coolant.

Think of it as two cooler combined into one.

 

Man I have literally shovled show and hit a bump where my intercooler went like half inch into ground and dug up mud, basically just scratched it. That thing is tough. I'm surprised I haven't busted it yet . Zzp makes Em good

 

I have a mishimoto radiator. Welded end tanks are a plus if you plan on hitting stuff lol

 

Are you rebuilding it?

 

no the mishimoto one on my car is fine. No damage form the accident. I think a tab bent but thats it.

The stocker I sold to somebody looking for one like 3 years ago