Last update; 23 May 2008 08:52:14
Click on the photos to enlarge
Here's the engine compartment with the old rad & fan in place. I had just got done flushing the coolant at this point. Note the coolant overflow bottle on the left. This will cause some consternation later.
Here's the "slightly" clogged rad. I, unfortunately was the culprit here, since my initial fix of adding rad leak sealer caused this damage. This was AFTER flushing.
Here is the old rad. Note the mass quantity of dead leaves on the bottom edge. They were between the rad & the A/C condenser. Note; the old fan was at this point resting comfortably in the trash.
The old one is out, waiting for the new Radiator Barn rad to go in place.
The new fan and rad in place and working. Not too bad. Or at least I thought so.
Here's where my usual luck comes in. When I first ordered the fan from 4WD Hardware, there was no notation on the website that any additional parts might be needed. Well, turns out that I needed a additional bracket for the coolant overflow bottle. I originally called 4WDH and ordered one, at which time I was told it would be at my home in 2 days, since I live; according to MapQuest, less than 35 miles away. To make a long story short, that didn't happen, and after having 3 customer service reps tell me on 3 consecutive days that it would "ship today", I cancelled the order and had Quadratec send one to me. Then I needed to replace the trans cooler lines, since they were pretty beat up. That taken care of, the Monster's cooling system is working pretty much as I expected it would, the Flexalite fan seems to be doing its job reasonably well. I have also done as much as I can with the ancillary wiring. I was never able to reach the wiring for the A/C clutch, so I am using the override function anytime the A/C compressor is on.