New 3 row radiator... $130 Dollars.

1 Gallon of Coolant... 6 Dollars.

Realizing your new radiator solved the problem... Priceless.

Rod.

 

Alright, you want a quick easy way to check if you're radiator is performing as it should? Try this. Before I tell you how though be warned that caution must be exercised here, and I would recommend having someone sit in the car while you do this because your car WILL overheat if you're not careful. Alright its like this. Take the fan off. Thats right, remove it. Make sure you have complete access to the backside of the radiator (the side toward the engine). Now start the car and let it start warming up. As it's warming up start feeling around on the backside of the radiator. The entire surface of the radiator should warm up uniformly. Any "cooler" spots that you feel will signify blockage as this is where no warm coolant is flowing. This has to be done AS the car warms up for a couple reasons. One, if you wait til the car is completely warmed up then it's going to overheat pretty quickly without that fan. Two, once the coolant gets too hot, the entire radiator is going to warm up as it disperses heat, so you wont be able to feel the cool spots as well. Now I'm not saying you're going to feel cold spots, but any noticeably lower temperature are signs that your radiator is blocked up and you should replace if a flush doesn't fix your problem.

 

Really appreciate everyones help & tips. Come to find out it was the radiator. I swapped it out yesterday and took it for a highway run. It was MUCH better. It didn't even reach the midpoint of the temp gauge. Once again thanks

 

Thats good to hear

 

yea...for future reference, you only use that coolant sealer if you're leaking coolant and you're in the middle of the desert, and you plan on replacing your radiator! NEVER use it...if you have a leak, find it...if it doesn't clog the radiator, it will clog the evap, or i've even seen it clog the block!