Replacing the radiator in a 2005 Elantra

My son got into a slight accident that cause the top mounting pin
sticking up on the radiator to break off and expose a hole through the
top of the radiator - the mounting bracket is fine, there appears to be
nothing bent and it's just that plastic pin that appears to have snapped
off.

I can purchase a new Radiator from Advanced Auto Parts for about $200.
It appears to be just a few hose connections, a couple connectors for
the fans, and little else...

Anyone done this and care to share their snags or other insight?

 

Replacing a radiator is pretty much as straight forward as it would appear
to be. Do be prepared though, after you're done, you may find yourself
wrestling with evacuating all of the air from the system. Trapped air can
cause the water pump not to circulate the coolant properly, and it may tend
to want to overheat until you get all of the air out. It will likely take
cycles of running it, topping off the coolant, shutting it down, topping off
the coolant, ad nauseum. Squeezing the radiator hoses can sometimes help
move the air bubbles, sometimes not.

Take the opportunity though, to flush the system and put new coolant in.
You can flush it with just a garden hose and clear water. Sometimes the
garden hose is useful in pushing the trapped air through the block and out
to atmosphere.

 

Thanks for the feedback - it appears that in addition to the
transmission cooling that there are brackets that pass something on the
front side of the Radiator unit - I can't see without taking the grill
off, but on the left/right side there are aluminum/silver colored metal
with two sets of connection on the passenger side - they run around to
the back side of the engine and down under... I thought it was the
transmission at first, but one of the lines has a cap with a H on it,
like some of the cooling systems do in other vehicles...

As I typed the above, I wonder if the "H" represents Heating, as in a
heater core line for heating in the cold vs. an AC line?

 

The a/c evaporator is bolted to the radiator. Once you remove the
fans, you'll need to remove the four screws attaching the radiator to
the evaporator. There will be two in the top of the radiator and one
on each side facing rearward. After doing this, you'll be able to
leave the evaporator in place while removing the radiator.

 

Thanks - I took it to a repair shop where I trust the mechanics and was
able to get the Radiator, Evep unit (and charged), and headlight
assembly replaced and out the door for $440....

That was cheaper than I could even find the parts alone.