How to Remove a Heater Radiator From a 1996 Ford Escort

There can be numerous reasons why you may need to remove the radiator from your car, though most of them will involve repair work to the engine cooling system. The radiator is mounted in the front of the engine compartment and is connected to the cooling system through multiple hoses and connectors that you must carefully disassemble. Removing the radiator in a 1996 Ford Escort will slightly vary depending on whether the car has automatic or manual transmission and the size engine it has.

Instructions

1

Disconnect the car's negative battery cable, then drain the engine coolant at the radiator, unscrewing the petcock at the bottom of the radiator and letting the coolant drain into a large container.

2

Raise the Escort's front end and support it on jack stands. Blocking the front wheels with wheel chocks or blocks will help. Unscrew and remove the splash shield on the passenger-side front end of the car using an Allen or Torx wrench.

3

Twist off and disconnect the coolant recovery hose from the radiator's coolant filler neck. Loosen the hose clamp for the lower radiator hose with pliers and disconnect the hose. If the car has an automatic transmission, disconnect the upper cooler line and the seal between the fan and radiator.

4

Lower the car off the jack stands.

5

Detach the resonance duct--the very large hose--on the air cleaner from the radiator mounts, loosening its hose clamps with a screwdriver. This is only needed if the Escort has a 1.8-liter engine.

6

Disconnect the electrical connector for the fan motor and then unbolt the fan bracket and shroud assembly using a wrench. Lift the shroud up and out and remove the clip off the motor shaft to disconnect the fan from the motor.

7

Disconnect the upper radiator hose, using the pliers on its clamp

8

Unbolt the the radiator mounts, using a flare-nut wrench on its bolts, then lift the radiator out of the car.