my temp gauge has been broken for a week or two so it is always just pegged at the top after i start the car
yesterday my radiator blew a hole through the side of it on the plastic part right next to the upper radiator hose
white smoke everywhere, smelled awful, etc, got towed home
today i order the griffin 31 by 19 radiator from summit along with a cap
reading through some of these threads most members seem to think that is a pretty good radiator, but, just by looking at the picture i have a question: does this radiator have an opening for the heater hose? cuz my stock one has 4 openings (upper, lower, reservior, and heater) but the picture just looks liek it does not have this fourth opening?
so anyone who has this radiator, does it have this opening? or what have you done if it does not? actually, for some reason my heat doesnt even work on my car right now, so could i just plug that hose or something along those lines?
also, i took off the coolant reservoir to clean it out with water. i filled it with water and started shaking it to clear it out. water started pouring out all over me...coming through the cap! isnt the cap supposed to be sealed as the whole system is pressurized?? i think i have a broken cap, or is this normal? i looked at the bottom of the cap and there are 3 or 4 little holes that merge into one at the top of the cap, it looks like it is missing a piece on the bottom that seals the cap.
anyone who can help at all feel free to give advice
thanks in advance

 

ok so i was reading some of the other threads again so i figured out there is no heater hose connection, but that i should connect it to the water pump. where exactly on the water pump does this go and how do i connect it? do i just put it on and clamp it down exactly as i would connect it to the radiator?

 

There should be a threaded hole in the top of the water pump. You can go to any parts store and get the threaded piece that screws into it for the size hose you are connecting. Its either a 5/8 or 3/4. As far as the other hose from the heater core goes you can hook it to the intake. There should be a provision on it. It may already have a plug. If you have an automatic you will need a tranny cooler to go with the griffin as there are no openings for that either. Remember, these are aluminum race radiators. They are not for stock replacement. My coolant reservoir doesnt fit tight either but I still have plenty of pressure inthe system. You can buy a new one.

 

The cap on the reservoir is supposed to have the holes in it. It allows the reservoir to breathe, and in the event of a boil over, lets the coolant escape. Otherwise, you'd blow a hose, or worse, rupture the stock radiator.

 

ok thanks guys
everything seems to sound good
i dont need a tranny cooler i have a t5

 

installed the griffin radiator today
and maybe my temp gauge isnt broken cuz now it wont get any hotter than like 150*
obviously the better radiator would drop the temp some, but this is a little too much i think, is it possible that everything is working correctly and my car runs that cool?

 

Well, which stat are you using? A 160, 180*? My guess is that it is running at least hot enough for the stat to open...

 

its a 160 stat
today was a hot day (at least 80 degrees or so) and while in traffic it got up to like 170 maybe but as soon as i started driving it went back down to 160 right away and then to about 155