Greetings repair buddies.

It’s time to learn another car part repair technique and today we will watch a radiator repair known as the refill radiator task. Yes, it’s time to flush the radiator out, readers, and the man in this video has such a calm voice I didn’t even feel a twinge of panic when he talked about things like air bubbles and floor heaters. After all, it’s just your average radiator maintenance task, right? Nothing dangerous- just a radiator flush. The whole thing looked a little weird to me but he was taking it in stride and I decided to do the same. I mean, after all. How much do you think they would charge you to do this at an auto shop? I can handle it!

Step one, start the engine. I can do that.

Step 2, put the floor heater on (the floor heater ONLY , he warns, and I tremble to imagine why!) and then you can take the lids off the radiator. (Does he mean radiator caps?)

Step 3 (remember, I am paraphrasing all of this and you should watch it at least once for yourself before attempting a flush) use a funnel and run water into the radiator.

That is pretty much it. Could probably save me $75 if I did this myself, which means I can pick up the cute strappy pair of sandles I saw at Macy’s a few days ago. Oh yes, we aren’t quite done yet. The guy says he ran water for about 10 minutes but the air bubbles in radiator still seemed to still be burping (my word.) That is a bad thing and he warns to keep the flush going until the water in radiator routine gets all the bubbles out and we’re off to a clean start.

Greetings, friends. In this video I learned how to approach the removal of my car’s radiator hoses, which is (I suppose) something you need to do before you begin a new radiator installation. That in itself is more than I learn about cars on most days so I am completely satisfied just 5 seconds into the clip.

I think the guy talking is named Danny and that he is the same auto repair beginner that I saw in another video recently on this site. At least, he looks familiar, which is a start. His claim to fame is that he follows directions from a book. However, he showed us how to pull out and replace a headlight bulb in the other clip, which makes me wonder if he is as “dumb” as he claims. At any rate, he now shows us where is the radiator hose and how do we remove radiator hoses before doing a radiator repair. If I had any doubts about Danny in that earlier video clip- clean cut, polite, and claiming blissful ignorance – I am past it now because but he truly looks puzzled as he refers from the book to the engine and back again, scratching his head.

Finally, he points to a hose and announces that it is one of two hoses that we need to disconnect. He calls it the upper hose and he says so with authority. Yeah, Danny, I think to myself. Then he admits that he doesn’t know where the other hose is and I begin to wonder if he will ever remove two radiator hoses in my lifetime. He mentions that the errant hose is somewhere on the “bottom.” Stay tuned. The next video clip I trip across with Danny is bound to wrap up this exciting auto repair and radiator removal escapade. Still, I have to wonder. If Danny is the do it yourself radiator learner that he claims to be, how DID he know that the other hose is somewhere on the bottom and not off to the side? Does he know more than he is telling us?

- Susie

Goodness gracious auto repair lovers! Here’s a radiator video that you can do without. Its only redeeming factor is that it sends a clear message that some people just shouldn’t own cars – even clunkers like this car. The two guys in the video don’t have half a brain between them. I’m not sure who they are, but someone should take away their video camera along with their wreck of a car. As a viewer, you already have a suspicion that the car is in the shape it is in thanks to their idiocy. They certainly aren’t doing a radiator repair. I doubt that they could even find the radiator under the hood.

It starts out with the driver (a loose description of the guy sitting at the steering wheel) gunning the engine so hard, it stops turning over at all. Then, we have to watch him repeatedly jam the key in the ignition as the whole frame convulses in its death-throes. He has no idea what he is doing to his auto car radiator but the next things we see is the passenger who has the hood open. He is banging at the radiator with some kind of pliers, hopping back at each swing from the radiator smoking. If it isn’t clear already, he ought to know by now that he needs a new radiator. He succeeds in knocking off the radiator cap without burning himself which is pretty amazing with the engine smoking at this point. Boiling water spurts out and he jumps back, laughing like a maniac.

So there it is – everything not to do when you have car trouble. And besides that, if you ever see one of these guys walking down the street (they couldn’t possibly be driving) move to the other side of the street because they could be dangerous!

- Susie

Let me tell you something about my truck. I love it.

Now before all of you hybrid car driving environmentalists show up on my doorstep with pitchforks and torches, allow me to clarify. I’m one of the few pickup truck drivers that actually use the vehicle for functional purposes. I tow things. I lift things. I move things. I truck, dammit.

Now, I’ve been through all brands of trucks. I’ve had a Ford truck, Chevy truck and a Dodge truck. And no matter how dependable those commercials on television (Y’know, the ones with the cowboys and John Cougar Mellencamp songs) say that their truck is, there is one part that invariably goes out every time. The radiator.

Truck radiators are magnets for destruction, I kid you not. Whether you’re towing a trailer, carrying a load of dirt, or simply strapping a giant elephant into the bed of the truck (Which I do every Wednesday. Don’t ask.) you should know that your truck radiator is eventually going to blow. There’s only so much cooling a radiator can do on an overstressed engine and, trust me on this one, radiator repair will only get you so far. A repaired radiator will at best cool to 80% capacity as a new radiator will because even if they flushed it, it’s still full of buildup that is now somehow physically part of the radiator. I’m not even sure how it gets that bad. Clearly, I should have watched more Mr. Wizard as a kid.

So needless to say, with all of the truckery (I just made that word up) that I do, I find myself buying a new truck radiator at least once every 4-5 years or so. It’s not like the radiators I buy are defective; in fact they’re some of the highest quality parts I’ve ever seen, it’s that I put that much strain on my trucks. Still, it doesn’t hurt to do some research to ensure that one gets a discounted truck radiator. Personally, I know I’ll get as much mileage out of it as I would an OEM Ford, Chevy, or Dodge truck radiator, so why would I throw away up to 200 extra dollars that can be better spent on can after can of alphabet soup? God I love alphabet soup. I’m eating a bowl right now. I spilled a “Q” in my keyboard. It’s wedged in the little space between the “N” key and the “M” key which ironically isn’t anywhere near the “Q” key.

That’s all for now.

- Geno

In 2003 I was teaching 6th graders in the Oakland CA Unified School District when I had an epiphany. I was cleaning a smeared Grape Jelly sandwich off of my chalkboard while admonishing a student who, while criticizing another student with a “Your Mom” joke had used a double negative, when it hit me. I really love teaching but there must be another way to make a living in California. The job hunt was on.

I am not good with cars. As a matter of fact, I’ve never changed my own oil, a tire and if truth be told, I do not even know how to program a radio station in our Volkswagen Jetta. I never saw myself in the auto parts industry, let alone working for the nation’s largest distributors of radiators, Radiator Warehouse. Yet at the end of the summer, I started learning about the difference between plastic tanks, radiator repair, when you need a new radiator and other car part components that help cool your car’s engine. Somehow I was able to parlay my experience teaching kids into a call center environment managing students of The Radiator.

I quickly came to realize how much radiators were in demand and found myself talking to friends and relatives about the difference in core measurement between a Chevy truck radiator and a Honda Civic radiator. As the company grew and eventually started franchising, I became more enthusiastic about the radiator market. Though I still miss the occasional “Your Mom” joke.