2008 H3, 5 cyl, Auto, Air. Radiator Removal guide.

I just finished replacing the Rad in the above mentioned vehical and thought I would give my novice instructions on the procedures I used.

First off, you do not need to remove the fan clutch to perform this job. It will give you a little extra room, but not needed.

1. Remove the skip plate in the vehical. This is held on by 4 bolts. 2 10mm and 2 13mm.
2. Move the dust flap up and out of the way and remove the lower Rad hose to drain the system.
3. Remove the upper hose from the Rad. You can pinch the factory hose clamps with channel lock type pliars, to remove the hoses.
4. There is a small vent line on the left side (pass side) of the Rad. Remove it from the clip and move the hose out of the way.
5. The fan shroud has a inner and outter ring. With the top hose out of the way, you can now slide the inner ring all the way around. This will give you enough clearance to remove the shroud (it'll make sense when you're doing it). There are two tabs on each side of the shroud, just push them in and wriggle the shroud off.
6. From under the car, remove the two protective covers over the trans line clips. Using a small flat head screw drive, pry the clips off (this is one of the most time consuming parts of the job). One the clips are free, just pull the trans lines out of thier fittings. You will lose around 1 qt of Dexton IV fluid.
7. Remove the top center Rad hold down. The Rad is now loose and can be moved around a little.
8. You have to remove two bolts holding the AC condensor to the Rad. One is on the driver side and can be removed by going through the grill. It's a 10mm. Use a 10 inch ext on your ratchet. The second bolt can be removed by moving the rad forward a little. It's also a 10mm and very easy to remove. The lower part of the AC Cond. is an interference fit plastic clip that it sits in, on the Rad. Nothing fancy about pulling it off the Rad.
9. At this time, you can remove the Rad and replace.

A few notes- The job took me about 2 hours. The Trans fluid is Dextron IV and is very expensive as far as ATF goes. If you reuse the original hose clamps and you compressed the clamp as to where it is locked into the open position, I cannot stress enough to be extrememly careful when 'unspringing' the clamp. You could easily lose an eye, break a finger etc by the pressure in which those clamps are held.

Feel free to add any other tips that I may have missed.

Tools required
Ratchet
Sockets- 10mm, 13mm
Flat head screw drivers
Channel lock pliars

Parts
New Rad (amazon 235.00 with shipping)
1 gal. Anti freeze
1 quart of ATF fluid

 

Instructions work great. When removing the transmission lines, there is a tool that you can buy for about $5.00 called a GM transmission line puller that will help speed up the job. Once you remove the line, use an earplug to stop up the line. I will also stress, if the hose clamps lock out when taking them off, be careful when putting back on, they do have alot of spring to them.

 

Thanks Robrote, just replaced my radiator using your instructions and it worked perfectly. Yup, right at 2 hours to do the whole job. I used a little less than 2 gallons of radiator fluid. (1 Gallon DexCool mixed 50/50)

I did the foam earplugs trick to plug the transmission lines as ColoradoH3 suggested. Worked perfectly! I lost a little but didn't even bother refilling as the trans fluid still registers in the middle of the dipstick band.

Thanks guys.


Here are a couple clarification points.

The plastic fan shroud requires no tools but it's not very intuitive to remove. Standing on the bumper you reach in on the left side and rotate the lower fan shroud clockwise like a giant sundial. There are 3 plastic tabs that impede the movement as you rotate through 180 degrees. The lower 4" plastic lip is now hidden at the top and exposes a 1" lip at the bottom to clear the fan. You are now free to unclip and lift the whole fan shroud straight up and out from the top.

Piece of cake!

To remove the transmission line clips pull back hard on the line, the swelled portions of the line will expand the clip past the sharp internal edges. This makes it easy pick off one leg of the clip with a tiny screwdriver … they fall right out. The trick on the install is to partially push in the line, the clip will pop on over the swelled portion of the lines using just your fingers. Next firmly push in the lines into the radiator and the clips will lock into place. Slip the plastic retainers over the clips and your done.

Easy as pie!

 

There is another set of radiator removal instructions on this page saying basically the same thing but offers a some pictures that might be helpful.

https://www.hummerforums.com/forum/h...-21184/page12/

The rest of this thread has turned into a bit of rant about getting GM to replace your radiator for free. Good luck with that. I spent less time doing the job myself than the effort it takes to read this thread.

 

Thanks Rebrote, last nightI replace my cracked radiator following yours instructions, they work perfectly, I also followed the points suggested by Fourxfour, it took less thana minute to remove each transmission line.

I bought an AC-delcoradiator, it fit like a glove

 

I have a little issue. Did the entire job on my 06 H3 and no problems......until I had to replace the transmission cooling lines back into the new radiator. I pushed them in, but forgot if the swelled end is held in by the clips. See I pushed them in as far as they would go and installed the clips. The plastic covers were very hard to push back on. I actually broke one.
So my question is, do the clips hold these lines in by being set in behind the swelled end and the plastic covers are just that, a cover. or does the plastic cover hold everything in place? No matter how much I push on these lines, they dont seem to be able to go in far enough for the clips to hold them.
Next question, since I broke one of the plastic ring covers, any Idea where I can get new ones, if they are important to have on.
Thank you
Harry

 

Harry,

Yes the metal spring clips prevents the swelled end of the line from backing out.
The plastic lock simply keeps the spring from falling out on heavy terrain.
The plastic locks are likely dealer only parts.

Its most likely you don't have the spring clips in right, not centered, thats why the plastic lock broke on you. The plastic locks will easily snap back together if the springs are in correctly. I mention the trick to installing the spring clips above. Go ahead remove the lines and try it again.

As long as the spring clips are installed correctly I would not sweat a broken plastic lock for a few days until you can get to the dealer to purchase a new one.




While your at the dealer;

With a 2006 Hummer if you haven't changed your plugs "it's really important" that you buy your spark plugs from a GM dealer.
NOT FROM A PARTS STORE!
We have seen numerous issues arise with aftermarket spark plugs.
The Delco OEM plugs go though extra quality control steps, are always gapped perfectly, and only cost a few dollars more.
With something you only change every 80-100K miles, why its just not work the risk.

For counterpoint, I can almost guarantee your thermostat is now shot, and in this case don't buy one from GM dealer, buy a top quality aftermarket thermostat. The best ones have a copper alloy valve.

By shot ... I mean its moving to full open shortly after the motor starts. Your temp gauge will read well below center, thats your only indication its sticking full open. With a correctly operating thermostat you temp gauge should read dead center to slightly towards hot. The H3 engine needs a properly functioning thermostat for smooth operation. I can't count how many times we fixed an H3 with a bad idle with the combination of new OEM plugs and an a quality aftermarket thermostat.

Food for thought.

 

I followed the instructions from Robrote and they were right on - Thanks! Took me and and a more mechanically experienced friend about 2.5 hours, but as noted, the little springs for the ATF lines took the longest - they are "picky". It also took a little bit to realign the A/C evaporator with the new radiator (it sits in front of the radiator). But, overall, not too bad of a job. Probably saved $500 or so at the mechanic.

I had the small "line" leak on the drivers side that was causing a loss of pressure and loss of coolant. Temp gauge was running at 3/4 and slightly more. After replacing it, temp gauge is back at 50% even in 95 degree weather!

 

Good write up.
Chris

Gonna be doing this very soon.

 

After replacing the radiator and reconnecting the trans lines, they both leak. It appears that they leak from where the connections is screwed into to radiator.
Any suggestions?