Greetings to you music and radiator lovers,
This radiator video might best be described as of giant thank-you card from the folks at Garden Grove to all of their loyal (and yet to be discovered) customers in Southern California. It was enough to make me want to jump in my car and drive the 600 miles to shake hands with the people who have such a nice way of looking at the world of the automobile radiator and car parts business. What better way to say ‘thank you’ than to bring to life a well-used disc jockey phrase - “more rock, less talk.” The video assumes that when you want to thank someone, you aren’t trying to sell them a product or educate them about a radiator flush or the workings of a plastic radiator. In fact, this video isn’t just less talk. It is no talk at all! Click “play” and you get treated to an upbeat light rock music background that provides a well-deserved break in your busy day. The music is accompanied by some fast and even classic car racing images. The shots will take you back to your own past with a little background music and lots of room to dream and reminisce. Thanks a bunch, Garden Grove ! I loved it and hope others will drop in and watch this quick and very pleasant video!

Susie

Welcome back to the video reviews,

This week, basic car care and maintenance. If you were like me, you were indoctrinated into a fear of hot things under the car hood from an early age. With me, it followed an innocent question about why somebody’s car was pulled off to the side of the road with flames shooting out from the hood. My father mumbled something about how he hoped that the fool didn’t try to open the hood when it was so hot. So, this video reminder that I should use a towel or glove to remove the radiator cap – and ONLY after things were cooled down and I had done a touch-check of the hoses – was fine with me. And although we have all heard that warning, and it is printed right on the radiator cap, I didn’t mind hearing it again.

However, from the female point of view, what I liked best in this video is that I can now walk into an auto shop and buy coolant without looking like a fool. Neither my mother, nor my father thought that it was important for me to know that coolant comes in both diluted or non-diluted solutions before I moved out of the house. I guess they just didn’t think it was a critical piece of life information. Unfortunately, I was taught how to check coolant level so I was one of those “little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing” people. I’ve made auto supplies purchases many times based on the teensy-weensy bit of auto knowledge that I have picked up along the way. Sometimes, I actually pull off a purchase without looking dumb. At least I can now feel confident in one more auto products aisle – radiator coolant.

And by the way, based on this video, give me a good 50-50 radiator coolant any day. It suits my lifestyle. I have no idea if it suites yours, but thanks to this video we can both understand the choice!

Susie

Hello again video viewers,

This video makes me feel good about the 1-800-Radiator approach to doing business. Rapid franchise growth can be risky but Chief Operating Officer, Joseph Rippey, explains the company’s expansion in a way that makes sense. Jumping from a two store mom-and-pop operation to 120 stores in less than two years is a gutsy move for any company. When you franchise that fast, lots of things can go wrong – everything from cash flow to critical elements like service and quality that people came for in the first place. Joseph explains that 1-800-Radiator strength is actually in those growth numbers that gives some key advantages.

Volume lets them use sophisticated purchasing systems that can compare prices and quality with 16 vendors at a time. That is more than just impressive. It is the kind of buying power can only be done when you are big and growing and it benefits the owners and the customers. Their warehouses are huge (which is clear from the video shots) but equally impressive is the way that franchises share inventory, which translates into satisfied customers who get what they are looking for when they want it, and always at discount radiator and auto parts prices. With 250 stores planned by the end of the year, it’s a good bet that if one store doesn’t have what you need, another will. Kudos for a smart business model that supports local community franchise owners by giving them a big-company edge and their customer the savings through genuine price breaks.

Susie

How to Install a Radiator in your Chevy Engine (in a Ford)- Part 2 : That’s a mouthful.

As a female, I am sometimes annoyed by what sometimes seems like a conspiracy on the part of male inventors who go out of their way to make certain that parts of similar products are incompatible. Give me one good reason why Mac and IBM computers had to go their own separate ways. And why can’t I find a compatible adaptor for my (OK, it’s old) Yamaha electronic keyboard? Yadda, yadda, yadda with the seventeen electric cords that are stuffed in my kitchen drawers for when I need to charge up one of my assorted small household electronics and appliances.

Well, after watching this video of Doug Jenkins installing a Chevy radiator in a Ford, I confess that I may have judged too quickly and too harshly. Perhaps men are beginning to see the light – or, at least men like Doug the quick-change artist are. And all it took, according to Doug, was planning - mocking the whole thing up carefully before installation to be sure that everything fit perfectly. I watched him with my own eyes as he took a slightly modified Chevy radiator and dropped it into its new Ford engine home like it was born there. Part of the trick was what he calls “captive nuts,” of which he has a seemingly endless supply of sizes, because they hold the intake and outlet holes in the exact place they need to be for everything to work. Bravo Doug, you’ve restored my faith in progress!

A new video: Josh’s Crappy Car: Radiator Breakdown!

My own personal diagnosis? Josh, the owner of the “Crappy Car,” needs to watch one of Jeff Clinard’s (Example: Fuel Time, Episode 012) so-easy-to-do-you-are-an-idiot-if-you-don’t-do-it videos. Jeff makes car maintenance look simple; Jeff takes it lower than gutter level in this video about driving his trashed Civic for the third time while its engine is ACTIVELY emitting – yes, honest to goodness SMOKE! I suppose that if your car is running great, you might get some sick pleasure out of watching Jeff’s Civic smoke and burn, not to mention the entertainment value of his “blast it!” furor (at least he doesn’t cuss) and his use of such technical auto jargon as, “the engine thing” (temperature gauge.) Then, there is his misdiagnosis of an upper radiator hose as a cracked radiator, but it was hard to see clearly through all the smoke so maybe we can forgive him for that slip. As far as the radiator coolant “rain” that he discovered on his driveway, I am sure that Jeff would scan for that sort of thing on a regular basis, but Josh is too caught up in track practice to notice the extreme leakage that runs slimy and green under his neglected car. I’d feel sorry for Josh because he has to drive such a crappy (his word) car, but he doesn’t generate much sympathy from this female viewer because no girl wants to risk having to hitchhike home at the end of a date with the likes of him.

Welcome back, reader. I thought I’d go ahead tell you about the radiator safety video that was recently posted on the site.

In this video, Jeff Clinard gave me a gentle nudge about the simple things in life – you know - those car maintenance no-brainers that I swear I know but sometimes neglect. He has a way of raising the spotlight on these little buggers and reminding me of how little time it takes to do the auto maintenance that can keep me from living on borrowed time. Besides, the thought of having to hitch-hike to a gas station while my car is spewing smoke sounds like something I should avoid.

Jeff reviews the basics and makes them look as easy as they are. I picked out my 5 most important, based on what I know I can do without much effort:

1) Take a look at those belts. (Who knew that the most common auto breakdown is from belt failure?!)

2) Don’t believe some old fool who tells me that my car doesn’t need a thermostat. He’s dead wrong. A worn-out or clogged thermostat can halt the release of coolant and get me into hot water.

3) Ditch that bent or corroded radiator cap. I’ll have it pressure-checked at an auto parts store. Jeff even suggests buying an extra cap while I’m there to toss into the trunk, just in case.

The same goes with 4) checking the condition of all belts under the hood and buying a few extra belts to stow away. Hopefully, I’ll never need them.

Finally, summer peace of mind means (5) looking at my tires. I’m going to get re-acquainted with my spare tire and check in on the four tires that are carrying the load for me as I make my vacation escape. Summer is no time for a slick, worn-out tire. With the good weather right around the corner (negative groundhog report, withstanding) I want to thank Jeff for nagging a bit because it’s really for my own good.

Lately, my boyfriend has been calling me the “Radiator Queen.” It’s not because I harbor some girlhood fantasy about working under a hood with the guys. In fact, until recently I had about as much interest in radiators as my guy had in making duck breast in morel mushroom sauce.

Then, Jeff Wong came along. I met Jeff on a video here at the Radiator.com site following a little lover’s tiff after dinner when I found out how much my man paid to get his radiator flushed at a dealership downtown. Beaucoup bucks, as a matter of fact. It was all in fun but I got carried away and reminded him that he’s a “guy” and should be able to take care of his car by himself. He replied that I probably couldn’t even open the hood on my car. He was right, but I denied it – adamantly! In my ignorance, I threw toilet flushing into the mix. I mean, how difficult could it be to flush a radiator? Isn’t there a little handle somewhere under the hood that you can pull down to get the job done?

I thought about quitting while I was ahead, but I didn’t. He grinned and did a double-dog-dare that I couldn’t open the hood of my car and check the coolant in the radiator all by myself. He promised that if I could do that, he would learn to cook me dinner. ”Duck?” I asked, sweetly. “Whatever,” he snorted back. “With morel mushroom sauce?” I said confidently as I pictured that little flush handle hiding somewhere under the hood and pointing the way to the radiator. He changed the television channel and was off on The Great Race before we got any further.

Fast-forward to the following day at 5:15 p.m. The love of my life pulls into the driveway where I am standing between my car and a champagne bucket. The hood is propped safely open and I am wearing my spiked heels as I alternately sip and work. The look on his face is priceless, expect that this isn’t a charade. It is for real! I have memorized Jeff Wong’s patient, step-by-step directions for checking coolant in his 3 minute Radiator.com video, “Basic Car Care and maintenance.” I hear his voice in my head and I grow confident: “Pay attention to the warning on the radiator cap. Use a towel or wear a glove when you feel the hose because it could be full of hot coolant. We don’t want any of that hot nasty stuff squirting out and causing a serious burn, do we?” I flutter my eyelashes and grin.

My guy is speechless as I push down and turn the cap like an expert, finding that the fluid level is up to the top where it should be. I do the same thing with the reservoir container, which needed a little coolant added to raise the fluid level to midway between minimum and maximum. “I bought a 50-50 mix,” I say as I open the coolant and indicate that he can have a sip of my champagne. I wipe the dot of sweat from my dainty brow. “I prefer the pre-diluted coolant so I don’t need to mix it with water before I pour it in.”

The rest is history. With the $4.69 I spent on coolant, and the beaucoup bucks he spent on his dealership flush, he agrees to make good on the duck. Of course, it will be at Chez Emil next Friday, but he did make the reservation by himself, and I hear that the morel mushroom sauce there is fabulous!

Susie