Last time I had my car in a shop, they found it strange that on the passenger side of my radiator had a plug in it?? They asked me if I did that. Told them I had my radiator repaired 6 or 7 years ago and maybe they did it? Sorry for the ignorance, but guy at shop said something about "line that goes to transmission was plugged off." On the passenger side, at the top, there is a plastic petcock (thought those should be on the bottom??). Under that there is a metal line going into the rad, under that, there is a plug? Does anyone know what is going on??

 

i dont know what they are for but i have two plugs in the passenger side of the radiator

 

The radiator could have been used to keeps the trans fluid cool. Better to use an external trans cooler however.

 

the petcocks on the radiator are for the trans cooler on an auto , stick cars they just plug them . Your sig doesn't say what you have but if you have a auto you should either use the stock (in the radiator) or a external which usually mounts in front of the radiator .

 

Mine is an automatic. I believe this radiator is the original? The radiator was leaking 6 or 7 years ago, and a rad. shop took it out....cleaned it real good and welded up the leak. Maybe they ripped me off and broke, or messed something up?? Therfore didn't hook back up right? I have been driving this way for a long time and seems to be fine??

 

a lot of generic replacement rads have ports for the trans cooler and a port for a temp sensor. stock should have a petcock for draining in the lower driver side. you should have 2 hard lines for the trans cooler, and inlet and an outlet usually on the passanger side. both should be on the same side, roughly 6" apart. if thats whats capped off then they screwed you and that needs to be fixed ASAP, unless you want to replace a trans.

 

My radiator is exactly as you described except I have another petcock right below the rad cap. The hard line for the inlet is there, but the outlet is capped off. I know it's at least been this way for 7 years....maybe longer?? So what is it actually doing with a hard line running to the inlet and no hard line from the outlet?? Is trans fluid just sitting in the line and the rad?? I think I'm going to order a new radiator. So to fix this correctly, do I just add a hard line from the outlet to the trans?? Can you think of any possible reason why this would have possibly been done??

 

Thats exactly whats happening. Either the outlet from the trans is capped off and no fluid is even making it to the rad. Or the rad outlet is capped off meaning no fluid is making it back out of the rad. Im suprised you havent burnt up that trans.

 

Well, I don't drive it in the winter and not a whole lot in the summer. It has 103,000 on it. Out of the 8 years that I've owned it, I've only put roughly 23,000 on it. In the 10 years my mom owned it (was taking it to one garage for all repairs) she roughly put 30,000 on it.....so that leaves my step dad for the other 53,000 and he babied it worse than me...lol. So basicly not a whole lot of miles. Funny thing is....I had the trans filter and fluid changed at a reputable tranny rebuild shop twice in the 8 years that I've owned it and they never ever mentioned one thing about it!!!

 

It sure sounds like maybe you should post some pictures so we can see exactly what you're trying to describe.

 

Will do! I'll take them tomorrow as soon as there is daylight. Thanks everyone for trying to help me solve this problem! It's been driving me nuts ever since it puzzled the guy at the shop. LOL

 

Here is the pic.

 

That's not a stock radiator.

The stock radiator would have an aluminum core and plastic end tanks. On the passengers side normally, starting at the top, working down, you'd have the cap, overflow nipple, heater line, trans cooler, and trans cooler. It's hard to say what that radiator is from.

I guess what'd I'd be concerned about is how the system is hooked up. Is the transmission cooling circuit blocked off? or connected to something else? Is the heater circuit plumbed in a manner it'll work? And finally, how much life is left in that radiator? It looks like there's some corrosion going on. I'd probably get a stock replacement radiator and convert everything back, but I'm a bit of a stickler for having things "right" more then just functional.

 

Well, if it's not a stock radiator.....it must have been changed out before the car was given to me (8 years ago). It's getting put up for the winter. Come spring, I'm going to buy a new stock rad and have everything hooked up RIGHT!!

 

id check the tras fluid just to make sure its nice a red and not burnt and brown. i cant see how it would not be burnt up unless the trans is hooked to some other kind of trans cooler.

 

Guy at the shop checked tranny fluid when I was there, and I double checked it when I got home.....4 year old fluid is cherry red and no burnt smell to it. I'll get to the bottom of all this come spring and see what's hooked up to the tranny and what's not!!

 

on a side note. that rad looks exactly like the one in my 86 silverado.

 

Some autopart stores offered a copper/brass replacement. Autozone still does.

 

***update*** Took my car to the radiator place that cleaned and repaired my rad back in 07. He told me that it was a copper/brass heavy duty aftermarket replacement. He also said that everything is OK. The thing 6 inches or so under the trans hard line that I thought was a plug is the coolant sensor. Under the lower rad hose is the hard line going back to the tranny, you can't see it, but it's there. The green crap in the pic is under the black paint. Guy at shop said the rad actually looks in good shape...lol....go figure!!!