May 15, 2015

I'm Sharing My Personal DIY Experience Removing And Installing A New Radiator In My Car. Enjoy! :)


UPDATE: 5/25/15

PROJECT #1: Replace radiator. Piece of cake.
PROJECT #2: Flush and burp air pockets (bubbles) out of cooling system manually. Pain in the butt. Why? Because my car wasn't made with a bleeder valve. I'm still burping my car for hours at a time after two weeks using a Lisle spill-free funnel. I still have air pockets trapped in the cooling system.

Hi everyone! Well... I did it. I replaced the radiator in my car myself. I went for it this Monday. It took me two days to iron the kinks out. Then another two days to merge, edit video clips. I finally uploaded my DIY video on YouTube this morning. Now I'd like to share my video with all of you. I hope you enjoy my crazy, fun, nerve-racking experience recorded in real-time. :)

Mitsubishi Radiator cost MSRP $300. I paid $107 for an after-market radiator manufactured in Canada, not China. I couldn't find radiators manufactured in America. :(

Local Mitsubishi Dealer Radiator Installation labor cost $110/hour. The local dealer told me it would take them 2-3 hours to install. Total cost $330. Oh, and the Mitsubishi dealer only installs OEM Mitsubishi radiators. Three other estimates from independent mechanics to install the radiator were $150, $160 and $180.

I saved myself $500 or maybe even more doing this job myself, and the hands-on learning experience itself was priceless.

So save yourself a good chunk of money. If I can do this project all by myself with absolutely no prior mechanic experience, so can you. I am on my way to becoming a bonafide Grease Monkey! :)
I have typed a transcript of my 2 minute message at the beginning of my video:

Hi everybody, Josette here, getting ready to replace the radiator in my 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS. My car has been overheating for the past two weeks. So I started trouble shooting starting with the least expensive repair. I have already replaced the thermostat ($21 for the part) and cleaned out the throttle-body (because my car had a rough idle) hoping that would resolve the problem. But, my car is still overheating. The radiator may be clogged up or damaged.

The original OEM radiator lasted for 13 years. So, it’s probably time to replace anyway.

Now, I’d like to point out that I’m not a mechanic. But I am tired of getting taking advantage of by male mechanics that do crappy jobs, sell you repairs you don’t need, overcharge and leave a mess under the hood. This is why I decided to do the job myself. I watched several DIY videos on YouTube, and read the Haynes Repair Manual for my car.

I’m video taping this project to encourage YOU, to believe in yourself. If I can do this with absolutely no experience in the auto business, then you can too. I had to get over my fear and silence the little voice in my head telling me that I couldn't do this. I feared the unknown, and that made me feel insecure.
Plus, I had to overcome the ridicule, even laughter from male mechanics, and other guys after I told them I was going to replace the radiator in my car myself. They made it sound like it was so hard to make me feel insecure, give up, and take it to them. Even my own mom thought I was nuts, and told me to take it to a professional mechanic. So, basically I had no moral support while pursuing this DIY radiator project. I'm sharing my personal experience so you have no excuses to stop you from doing anything. (added emphasis after the fact)
But once I took the initiative to learn something new, that knowledge gained, gave me confidence! You and I can do anything, once we set our mind to it and tell ourselves,

I - can - do - this. Keep repeating to yourself, I can do this!

So let’s get started… I made a list of the tools and supplies you’ll need for this job. (I share this list in the description section of my video for you to print or copy down.)

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