Good afternoon everyone,

I have a stupid question, how do I install the bottom transmission cooling line to my radiator? My radiator went out a week ago so I bought a new Duralast one today. All was well installing it and the top one went on perfectly without an issue. I started the car and immediately the bottom on started gushing out trans fluid, i took it off and installed it as deep as I could and I lined up the fitting, I made sure to line it up and tighten the best I could but again the POS leaked again i took a look at the old radiator and it matches up with the new one. What am I missing??? Also how do I refill the transmission? I checked it afterwards and it was full apparently

 

Provided the line isn't cross threaded, the flare should seal it. Can you take a picture of the fitting out of the radiator?

 

I just tried messing with it earlier but I got frustrated so I'll take a picture tomorrow. I did start it by hand and then used a wrench both times. I also noticed the line fitting and line look crooked compared to the top one.

 

If it's crooked, it's cross threaded. Hopefully you'll be able to thread it straight on the next attempt. Most parts stores will not warranty a radiator with cross threaded cooler lines.

 

I think it's f'd. This just isn't my year lol How should I try and straighten it out? Or should I just buy another radiator

 

Yup, that's fornicated.

See if you can remove that aluminum fitting from your old radiator and put it into the new one.

 

had to fish it back from the dumpster. Is it possible? Its also the original radiator i think. It's got a 1988 sticker

 

Most of the time, that fitting is the cooler itself. The bigger problem is what the fitting on the line itself looks like now. Again, you may get Lucky by pulling the fitting and trying to very slowly put it in straight. But it's going to take patience and you may end up having to replace the radiator just the same

 

My game plan is to pull the fitting on the line tonight and seeing what the condition is. If its good, I'll try to slowly screw it on again, hopefully it works, if it doesn't I'll just throw a tantrum and I'll buy a new radiator. If the thread is bad on the line fitting I'll see if I can cut the line, replace the fitting and connect the line using a trans cooling rubber hose and hose clamps. I saw someone do it on youtube but im not sure if its ideal

 

When you put the line fitting into the rad. fitting if you can't turn the fitting at least 2 turns with your fingers then don't use a wrench. If you cut the line you can use a compression fitting to connect it back together. Found at most hardware stores.

 

I'm QUITE sure that it is NOT ideal. While that might get the car back on the road, it will leave a permanent legacy of leeeeeeks.

This is a MUCH better solution. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Drill-Am...2-20/305700763 Coupled of course, with a bit more care assembling the line the next time. It might even be possible to remove that fitting from the rad (some you can; some like your particular stock one, you can't) and work on it out in the open.

 

I wrote an updated last night but it didn't post but thankfully the fitting was cleaned up but not stripped (i double checked and all the threads looked good) so I was able to use it again and it fit into the new radiator I bought yesterday from advanced. Now I'm in a different pickle, when i finished working on it I drove to autozone to pick up some coolant and I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask if they could warranty the stripped radiator. I was completely honest with them on how it happened and they said they could so now I have an extra radiator from autozone...I called advanced to see if I could return it but I doubt they'll take it back since I've already installed it into the car. I haven't started the car to check to see if all is well since I don't want to ruin the return if its possible. I also bought some Dextron 3 to top off the transmission after the half quart got spewed all over the garage floor. Will keep you guys posted and I appreciate the help!

 

*Advance*

*Dexron"

 

Hard lesson learned. I only made sure it caught the thread the first time and I went a little too crazy with it Thankfully it appears all is well with it. The fitting went on without issues on the new radiator

 

I'm lucky it didnt strip out, i was going to town with it from frustration on Monday hehe but this time around I made sure it turned a few times before i used the wrench I'll post an update once i get it running. I did notice that the advance auto radiator appears to have the removable fitting but not the duralast one

 

Glad you were able to resolve it.

I suppose there are worse problems one could have, although no doubt your bank account is now light by one extra radiator's worth...

 

Advance said they'll take the radiator back I'm glad but those lines make me nervous now man, at least I won't have to worry about the fluids when replacing it

 

'Cool you got ot all fixed. I like happy endings...

 

I got a question though, since the transmission let out about half a quart to a quart onto my garage floor how should I go about filling it back up? Should I turn on the car, fill up the radiator/ let it get to temp and then go through all the gears for 3 seconds and check it then? My dipstick just has a hot area from what I remember but is it wise to drive around with low fluid until it gets hot?

 

Check the fluid level on the dipstick with the engine idling. Top it off as necessary through the dipstick tube. Easy stuff...

 

If you're that worried about what you lost, add 1/2qt then get it hot. 1qt or less overfilled won't hurt.

 

Quick update, the bird is back on the road! It all worked thank god. Advanced let me return the radiator and autozone let me warranty the radiator and even offered to switch it out when the fitting on the second one was acting up. Those fittings are just terrible, the advanced one fit like a glove and the autozone one was just bad...All in all, monumental pain in the butt, had to remove the radiator twice, flush the coolant twice and install the radiator three times. Once everything was working well, the burping cone I bought off Amazon was loose at the corner joint and about 40oz of coolant tipped over and fell on the floor Hard lessons learned here: 1.Autozone radiator fittings are poorly made 2.Only buy advance or better radiators 3. Be careful with burping cones from Prime Day because they're loose. 4.Autozone staff are great. I really appreciate the help and tips from everyone and I hope you all have an amazing weekend.

T.L and ratfink I followed both yalls advice, I added a little ATF before I started the engine, I then let the motor heat up and I filled the trans up until it was halfway to the full mark on the dipstick just in case, drove the car around the block and reached 45 mph for a little bit, checked it again and filled it to full. Will drive it around tomorrow to make sure its all good in the neighborhood