Replacing Radiator, Water Pump, Thermostat, Fan Clutch

[qthor]

So I have a 04 Yukon Denali and the radiator has been leaking for a while along with the water pump. Ive owned the truck since Oct 2015 and this is my second time replacing the water pump and my first time replacing the radiator. Intinitally I knew the radiator was leaking but after I while I discovered the pump was leaking. Considering I do most of my work myself I had to wait till I was off work and the weather was nice. Luckily today was both. As I'm creating the post the engine is cooling off. I added a gallon of distilled water and a bottle of Prestone radiator and cooling system cleaner and drove the truck 200 miles (Round trip) away from home and let the engine run for 4 hours and I decided to let it cool for 1 hour. I did a lot of research and because I had no intentions on selling the truck anytime soon I decided to go with a Cold Case all aluminum radiator considering mine started leaking from the plastic tank underneath the upper radiator hose. I ended up ordering all my parts from summit and got em all in a few days. Will update post after completion because I haven't even opened my radiator from Cold Case.

 

[Buggdave]

Make sure you place a restictor in the connection between the overflow and the radiator. Most aftermarket radiators do not have this and you will notice that your engine will not get up to temp without it. There are some here that have a write-up on how they did this.

 

[Fless]

IIRC some members here have purchased the Cold Case radiators and they have the proper restriction. But it would help if you post up the model number of the radiator you bought so others can weigh in.

 

[qthor]

Make sure you place a restictor in the connection between the overflow and the radiator. Most aftermarket radiators do not have this and you will notice that your engine will not get up to temp without it. There are some here that have a write-up on how they did this.

I literally was just letting the truck run for 45 minutes thinking there was air in the system and that's why it wouldn't get up to temp but my heat was hot. Now I have to replace the temp sensor in the driver side head because I unplugged it and it melted on the spark plug shield that fast. But I'm gonna have to cut and solder those wires right?

 

[qthor]

What Buggdave said makes sense now that think about it but question the size of the hose going the surge tank from the radiator didn't change so what's different in the radiator that creates this issue? Also Fless I have GMT569A with the oil and transmission coolers.

 

[mattbta]

I broke the clip on my ECT sensor and bought this pigtail - AC Delco PT1798. Used a tool and de-pinned both the broken one and this new one. Pushed the existing pins into new connector and good to go.

 

[qthor]

I broke the clip on my ECT sensor and bought this pigtail - AC Delco PT1798. Used a tool and de-pinned both the broken one and this new one. Pushed the existing pins into new connector and good to go.

but the pins broke off of mine so I can't just reuse the pins

 

[mattbta]

You didn't mention that, but yeah, if pins are gone you either gotta buy new terminals and crimp tool or cut/solder.

 

[qthor]

You didn't mention that, but yeah, if pins are gone you either gotta buy new terminals and crimp tool or cut/solder.

yeah sorry about that. Autozone is the only place around with that pigtail but its duralast looks like I'm have to get that

 

[qthor]

So I fixed the problem with the temp sensor ( The sensor actually didn't melt like I thought, after getting the old on out I saw that it corroded and seized up. ) I installed a 1/4 by 1 1/2 brass nipple from Home Depot into my return line to my reservoir but it did not solve the issue with reaching operating temperature on my dash. I need something else. How small can the restriction be? And how do you find something that small the will still fit in the return hose?

I also I found that my a/c belt was off the compressor and decided to replace that too. After further investigation I found that the belt came off because the tensioner failed and was resting on the a/c compressor pulley so I replaced the belt and tensioner and although its now cold outside I have to add freon and oil to confirm the compressor is still working. I did confirm that the compressor is not seized up because I can turn the pulley.