Hey guys,

I recently got a split in my top radiator hose just next to the clamp at the thermostat housing end. I took off the entire hose and cut it shorter then reattached in order to get myself moving to get a new hose (yeah probably not clever).

After driving for a good half hour and going over some bumps the front of the hose came off at the radiator neck along with a good sized portion of it. I would guess this happened from the increased stress of a slightly shorter hose and I may have clamped the front part a bit too tight and a bit too far out on the neck.

Since there was enough of the neck to accommodate the hose clamp (but only just) I reattached the hose, filled the system up and got home with no problems.

I have since changed the hose, thermostat and thermostat housing (they needed changing from before), but am now feeling a bit unsure whether I can trust the radiator neck to hold up.

What do you guys think, is the neck strong enough there or should I splash out on a new radiator (something I'm not looking forward to installing) ? Car is on less than 190K

http://i.imgur.com/8FZhoS7.jpg

Radiator needs to be replaced. When the radiator hose is clamped to the neck, the raised portion stops the hose from coming off the radiator, especially under pressure.

Gen 2 magnas are bad for breakimg the top radiator pipe. I remember just looking at them would break them lol

Yeah the material look like fibreglass and the fibres are oriented along the circumference (ie weakest way to make a tube) no across the length of the tube....

so would I need to drain the oil radiator as well when changing this or can I just move it to one side ?

Before you get a new radiator check with a radiator place and see how much a new plastic top tank fitted will be as may be a cheaper option.
Plastic top tanks often crack etc due to the heat and as low as 150k sometimes...... 200k most common time frame. Had a few replaced and they have been good afterwards. Changing a top hose on an old plastic tanked radiator can lead to a disaster sometimes as they get so weak and break with the slightest of pressure on them.
Mechanics get a lot of headgasket work from these going and nobody noticing in time!! Vee

Has the trans oil/fluid cooler totally bypassed the bottom radiator tank?
If it is no need to touch it but if it still goes thru the radiator bottom tank cooler as well you will need to disconnect it to remove the radiator.Plug the ends to stop dirt getting into them.

I'm not sure about the oil cooler - looking at the service manual I always thought it was a separate radiator core attached to the main radiator, but now it looks like it's integrated within the main radiator and just hooks up the oil lines. Good excuse for a tranny flush - it's been needed !

If anyone is checking here for future reference I got a brand new radiator and it turns out the oil cooler is a totally separate unit from the main radiator, but two oil lines do go in and out of the rad, so you have to disconnect those and lose a bit of tranny fluid, not entirely sure why this was done.
The whole job took a complete rookie like me just under 2 hours with burping the new coolant through, and I was taking my time. I would suggest squeezing the hoses a few times while pouring in the coolant to get some fluid going through the water pump before turning on the engine.