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No comprendo. You have to disconnect some fixtures to remove the radiator, ne? Some, maybe not, all need to be moved aside to provide room . . . what the **** am I missing?
More politely: if you have never done car repairs before, hire somebody . . .
No comprendo. You have to disconnect some fixtures to remove the radiator, ne? Some, maybe not, all need to be moved aside to provide room . . . what the **** am I missing?
More politely: if you have never done car repairs before, hire somebody . . .
He asked a straight forward question. You should have stopped with the first sentence. How do you know he is not going to take it to a mechanic and wants to know his options first?
Less politely "What the **** am I missing about the true message being sent by the tone of your reply?
Meh don't worry about it. I'm quite comfortable spannering but there is quite often a "trick" to doing stuff that can save a bunch of time/effort. I was wondering if this was one of those situations.
A radiator is about as basic as you can get regarding mechanical works. Everything is right in front of you, ..just not the easiest to reach, thus the response by Jim....who's been here quite awhile and a very capable Tech. I mean he only has 15 cars listed in his signature.
The only thing to make it easier would be taking the hood off.
Is it possible to replace the main coolant radiator without taking all the a/c pipes, gearbox cooling etc off?
Welcome aboard Tim and, equally politely, like [Elmo] I have a similar car to yours, being normally aspirated, though earlier in production. The answer to your very reasonable question is . . . no.
Unlike the XJ6 Series I, II, III and then XJ40, on which you can reposition but not need to disconnect the AC system, for the X300 and your X308, you do need to de-pressurise the AC system, and disconnect the evap, as well as same for transmission heat exchanger lines. I suggest you start by grasping a firm understanding of how the rad is located and thus, how it will be removed (workshop manual in the Stickys, pages 973-979).
Unless you have both skills and gear to de-pressurise the AC, take it to a shop, ask them to do so, undo unions and plug them, pull compressor fuse. You then drive home, do your stuff. When you return to shop, get them to fit new O-rings to unions, connect evap, replace fuse and, as they say in the classics, Bob's yer uncle!
Notice how I gloss over "do your stuff", because there is plenty there to frustrate, especially if whoever was there last, left the hose compression clips in awkward to reach orientations. Ask me how I know! However, you are obviously competent with the spanner twirling, so I wish you well with the outcome.
Cheers,
Last edited by cat_as_trophy; Jun 24, 2021 at 02:46 AM.
Reason: added explanation
