Radiator removal DIY

[barryb97]

I have done many searches but I can't seem to find anything that covers replacing the radiator in a 2001 X5 4.4 automatic. Anyone know where I can find it? My radiator blew up tonight and I am picking up a new one tomorrow.

Help!

[meltdown325]

Don't know of any DIY, but I just did this a few weeks ago, and while it is not too complex it is not necessarily a quick job.

I'll try to explain the steps the best I can from memory. This is specific to 2001 4.4L engines. All others use at your own risk.

1. Remove splash guard from bottom of engine, and drain radiator. The (blue) drain plug is on bottom of radiator on driver's side. Just loosen plug, and coolant will drain.

2. Remove air intake duct from top of radiator (pull the four plastic pin connectors and pop loose from intake hose)

3. Remove fan/clutch from water pump (DIY are out there for this step)

4. Remove fan shroud from backside of radiator (pull the three plastic pin connectors along top side of radiator).

5. Look at the top of radiator, and on the top right and top left there are two black triangle shaped plastic pieces. Each piece has two bolts. These plastic pieces hold the radiator down, and you need to remove the outside (towards fender) bolts to remove these pieces.

6. There are three hoses that you must remove from the radiator (large upper hose on driver's side, small hose near bottom of radiator on driver's side, and large lower radiator hose on passenger side). Both of my large hoses were a major bitch to remove, and I had to "gently" use a screwdriver to assist in removal. (You may have to remove some additional hoses to get better access or to give some slack to work with)

7. There is a Trans cooler on the pass side at the bottom of radiator (silver box with fins). Don’t disconnect any of the hoses/lines on the trans cooler. This is held in place by one bolt, and by one of those plastic pin connectors, and it is mounted on the bottom of the radiator. The cooler has to be released before the radiator can be removed. Remove the bolt, and the plastic pin connector (on the bottom and hard as hell to see and reach), but don’t disconnect any of the hoses/lines on the trans cooler.

8. Slowly pull out the radiator. If everything is disconnected, it comes out fairly easy. If not, check to see if it is still connected somewhere.

9. Drop new radiator into place, and reconnect everything. It took me FOREVER to reconnect the lower hose on the pass side. It just wouldn’t fit on all of the way. The space is limited in the area, making matters worse.

10. Get cooling system buttoned up, fill and bleed system (DIY on here somewhere), and check for leaks. If it looks dry, install the fan shroud, fan clutch, and air intake duct.

11. Go haul ass.


TIPS:

1. I got a radiator from RadiatorBarn.com for $167 (w/ free shipping), and it was delivered the next day. Quality was OK, the brand was CSF. I don’t usually buy cheap parts, and prefer OE BMW parts when prices are reasonable. But the stock radiator SUCKS, and the Radiator Barn unit has a lifetime warranty, so I figured it was worth a shot. It looked identical to the Behr unit I removed, and it has worked fine so far.

2. After replacing my seeping water pump, my radiator started leaking a few days later. After replacing the radiator, I blew a heater hose on the firewall side of the intake manifold a few days later while driving, resulting in a tow back home. Luckily I didn’t overheat (or warp the head or crack the block or …). I have now ordered $350 in hoses, and I am replacing every piece of hose in the cooling system. If I had known better and listened to the ghosts of X5 past, I would have done everything at once. Since I perform all of my own repairs, my only additional costs were time and stress, but it still sucked. And if I had to pay someone else for labor, I would have been out tons of cash.

[barryb97]

Thanks for the great information. I went to pick up the radiator and there are two types. With heater return line or without heater return line. I couldn't visualize the connections well enough to know which I have. So I guess I will remove it and take it with me to make sure I get the right one.

I was debating if I should bite the bullet and replace all the hoses, belts, water pump and thermostat while I was in. I bought the car recently with 100k miles and I'm willing to bet all this stuff is still original equipment. After your post I am thinking even more it might be a good idea.

[Zulu95]

If you are taking everything off at 100K then put only new stuff back. The very act of removal may kill the old parts.

[m5james]

Replace EVERYTHING cooling system related. If it doesn't break from the pulling and pushing removal, it'll break from the pressure of everything else being brand new, making the old parts wear quicker.

[barryb97]

How do I know if I my radiator has the Heater Return Line or not?

[meltdown325]

As far as I know there is only one radiator “type” for the 01 4.4, and RealOEM only shows one part as well. I don’t think that there are 01 4.4 X5’s with/without an additional return line, but I don’t know for sure. I think that they are all the same with 3 outlets - one large upper hose, one large lower hose, and one small lower hose.

When I ordered my radiator, there was no choice of with/without heater return line. They only showed one part for my application, and your radiator in the pics looks exactly like mine.

Where are you trying to get the part from? Make sure they are not just trying to give you some universal unit, since you also need the proper connectors on the radiator necks to accept the snap-on hoses.

[TheX]

meltdown325,


You said "After replacing the radiator, I blew a heater hose on the firewall side of the intake manifold a few days later while driving." Could it be the radiator that caused it, since it was days later? Or was it just coincidence? My radiator is leaking, slow at first but about a 1/4 to 1/2 of a gallon a day now.


Boston dealer is asking over $500 plus tax for it. 30 miles away in Nashua, NH I estimate it to be in $400s with no tax. Either way, that is at least a $300 saving if I go with the one you replaced. But I don’t want it to cause more problems days later. If the additional problems you had are related to the radiator you put in, then the saving is not worth it at all. Could it be the radiator you put in was not designed to have the same or better coolant flow, causing the heater core hose to overheat?


Please share you honest opinion on whether you additional problems are related to the radiator you put in. Anything you say would help me decide.


Thanks

[X5Cat]

I just did a radiator replacement on my wife's 2001 4.4L. Thanks to meltdown325 for the instructions. It really helped to know about the trans cooler (heat exchanger). I have a couple of things to add to those instructions:

a), I did not have to remove the fan/clutch at all. Once the shroud & radiator are fully unhooked from everything, carefully lean the shroud back over the fan blade, towards the engine, and maneuver the radiator out. Takes a small amount of force & manipulating, but it's really not hard.
b), Just noting, the two black triangle shaped pieces over the top of the radiator are actually connected together as one long piece. Once those two outside bolts are removed, you can lift out the whole, long piece. The inner bolts appear to be just some sort of plastic adjusters, and they remain in that long piece.
c), The big silver (aluminum) block is the heat exchanger part of the trans cooler. It is clipped to another part of the trans cooler, a piece of black plastic that on first glance appears to be a part of the fan shroud, but is actually seperate. It has passageways in it for coolant to flow through. You don't have to take the heat exchanger apart from this black plastic piece. From the black plastic piece, just remove the torx screw (which meltdown 325 refers to as a bolt) from the top, and the plastic rivet from the bottom (which holds it to the radiator). You can then ease the whole trans cooler assembly back from the radiator and remove the radiator. On reassembly, clip the trans cooler to the bottom of the radiator with the plastic rivet only. Lower the shroud into place (it has a couple of long tabs which slide down into the black plastic portion of the trans cooler). Then replace the torx screw at the top of the trans cooler. Difficult if not impossible to get the shroud tabs into place if you install the torx screw first.
d) I left the top hose unhooked from the radiatior until I had installed enough coolant that it was up to the bottom of the top neck of the radiator, then hooked up the hose and continued filling the system as the engine ran. Don't know for sure, but I think this helped with the bleeding. It seems to be full, without any trapped air.

Hope this helps someone!

[53helofe]

Much thanks to Meltdown 325 and and X5Cat for these write-ups and additional info. I just did this job and this was very valuable information.

Why in the world has this not been posted to the DIY section as I'm sure many a radiator will be replaced on our aging X5's.

Thanks again guys!!!!!!