Radiator removal?

[Stilllearning6]

1998 740iL:
I cannot lift out the radiator; why not?

I feel that I have disconnected all that I need to disconnect to remove radiator:
the electric wiring sensors @ expansion tank ( sniffer sensor, temp sensor)
upper and lower radiator coolant hoses,
pried open the two screwdriver clamps at top of radiator,
pulled out the 2 push pins (one at top of each side of radiator)


I wiggled the top of the radiator loose.
I dislodged the lower part of radiator at passenger side first and eased it toward engine.
I dislodged the lower part of driver side and could just barely ease it slightly toward engine.

Saw much leaves/debris sandwiched at lower front of radiator in spite of my " meticulous" cleaning several times.
This stuff was never seen by me, nor could it ever be removed w/o first removing the radiator.

Well, I cannot lift the radiator up and out as the Youtube instructional says to do:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv7cAVT4-No

I read one post that said that he had to remove the transmission cooler lines from the driver side to remove the radiator.
Another poster stated to simply lift up and out.

Can someone educate me about removing radiator E38, 1998 January build, 740iL.

The radiator is currently partially lifted and is sandwiched in there fairly snugly.
Will brute force free this creature or is more disconnecting of transmission coolant lines required?

[Zedbimmer]

Did you remove the drain plug at the bottom of the radiator, it connects to the bottom of the alternator line I believe. its L shaped and twists.

[BillConn]

Did you remove the drain plug at the bottom of the radiator, it connects to the bottom of the alternator line I believe. its L shaped and twists.

The alternator is not watercooled on a 98, so that is not the problem here...

The lower mounts on the radiator get hung up on some hard plumbing. I don't remember exactly which lines, but those lines can be carefully bent a little bit to make clearance. The radiator also needs to be tilted toward the firewall on one side to help provide clearance while lifting up and out. It doesn't come straight out, there is some careful maneuvering required. Just examine for interferences carefully while lifting up. Make note of them and try to wiggle it around these interferences. Also make sure the radiator fan has been removed. If the fan is not removed, you will not have enough wiggle room to get the radiator all the way up and out.

[MarkZ28]

I have started to dissassemble the 98 740 parts car. Radiator was broken so did care if i messed it up. I removed everything but the fan, it was a little hard until I twisted the radiator some and pushed the too back. Had the whole radiator pushed back on the passenger side. Moved the ac lines a little too. Came out easy once I did that. Im using this car as a learning experience fir redoing my other 98 and my 01 540 Sport. Radiator came out unscathed.

[BillConn]

I would not want to risk damaging the fan during radiator removal, personally. Especially considering how easy the clutch fan is to remove. With the fan removed, it's also easier to reinstall the new radiator without the worry of damaging either the new rad or the fan.

[kouks]

This is a pretty simple job.

1. Disconnect the upper and lower large hoses and drain radiator as much as possible.
2. Remove cooling fan (this give you more room to work without risking damage to the fan, but its optional)
3. Disconnect electrical fan plug on the passenger side of the radiator.
4. Disconnect the plugs on the coolant level sensor under the expansion tank.
5. I'm not sure what it is, but there is another electrical connection under the expansion tank that has a square box that clips unto the expansion tank plastic mount, remove that.
9. Disconnect fan shroud and remove.
10. Disconnect the plastic clips on top holding the radiator in place (get new ones, these always break.
11. Disconnect the small coolant hose from the raditor to the expansion tank.
12. Lift radiator out. Easier said then done. You may need to angle it a bit each way, mainly the bumpers that the radiator uses to rest on interfere with the side of the engine bay, it will require some wiggling, which is why you want to remove the fan to avoid smacking it.

Assemble in reverse, should be about an hour job. The AC and trans cooling lines have nothing to do with this job.

[Stilllearning6]

Gentlemen, thank you for the words of experience.
Your comments lead me to believe that the transmission coolant lines do not have to be removed.

As you know, my driver side radiator continues to get stuck on the hard coolant lines as I attempt to wiggle out the radiator toward the firewall.
The instructions that I read said to first move the driver side toward the firewall and then do the same on passenger side.
I did not yet remove fan blades yet, as postings led me to believe that blades could be left intact.

Will remove fan blades this weekend and post again for others to learn if I am successful, though I believe that the fan was not the blockage.
I feel that I need either more room to slide radiator to the passenger side or I need the coolant lines to move.
We will see.

As an aside, the radiator appears to sit on two side rubber bumper perches.
One rubber side perch fell out while I was jiggling the radiator and it splashed into my bucket.
Heads up for others who may try this project. It might have been discarded.

Unlike others, there is no way that I can do this project in 2 hours .
My experience was 1.5 hours just to disassemble and to allow for engine/radiator to drain into funnel/bucket.
If I can get the radiator out, I will still need to vacuum 20 years of debris at lower front of radiator area. Piles of it!
By the time I reinstall, add coolant and bleed, run/warm up engine, then 8 hour cool down, bleed again --> 2 days.
Hats off to the speedy folks.

The little black plastic connector clip that secures the expansion tank to the radiator snapped at its thin edge and will require replacing. Time to order;more delay.

Heads up: The top of the radiator has a hidden secret L-shaped fitting stub that lives at the top of the driver side radiator.
The last two times this area was disassembled, it snapped each time . There is a rubber hose that leads from this black plastic L-shaped fitting to the expansion tank. All is extremely delicate/ fragile. Needed to buy one last time. New radiator comes with new fitting. Hooray.
You can see the snapped L-shaped fitting in my 3rd photo. A rubber hose would engulf the end of the delicate fitting before the end was snapped off. A metal L-shaped fitting would not break.

[Stilllearning6]

I purposefully bent the passenger A/C steel lines outward just a bit.
Tried to remove fan blades, but do not have correct tools.
The fan blades do not appear to interfere with my wiggling so I am not concerned with fan blades as a show-stopper.



Result:
Still cannot wiggle the driver side loose from the steel transmission coolant lines.

After getting frustrated with trying to jiggle loose/twist / torque the driver side to be loose, I started to manhandle the radiator in a rough manner against my better judgement--> still cannot get it free.

My vehicle was built in January 1998.
Does the early build require a different removal procedure?

I feel foolish after reading the instructions, studying the video, following advice on the forum and I still cannot get radiator out.

What would happen if I were to disconnect the metal transmission cooler lines?
Will I lose transmission fluid and then need to pay a shop to add more fluid into the sealed transmission unit?
Or will just a teaspoon trickle out?

The driver side of radiator jams against the pre-bent trans cooler lines and will not allow me to thrust the radiator enough toward the firewall.
Then, there is not enough room on passenger side to slide radiator toward passenger side to gain more wiggle room.

Kindly educate me.
It is my understanding that early 1998 models are slightly different than late 1998 models.
I do not know if the radiator removal procedure is the same for all of 1998.

[Stilllearning6]

Success.
Will post tonight /tomorrow with tips for others.

[Stilllearning6]

I learned that the fan blades plus the MAF tube plus the "air duct expansion box/baffle chamber box" all had to be removed.
Except for the fan blades/clutch, these items were not mentioned in the videos and reading materials that I studied in advance.

Home Depot did not have a metric 32mm span wrench, so I opted for the available English style one and a quarter inch span $20 that they had in stock.
It was not quite large enough, barely got over the fan clutch hex nut.

The largest amount of wiggle room became available as I forced / moved/slightly bent the passenger side A/C line out of the way.
I do not know if the lines will leak at the joints. Scary.
Additionally, the driver side has a rubber hose/steel line that resides near the bottom corner of the radiator.
This line had to be shoved out of the way also.

I did not have to disconnect the transmission cooler lines.

The reinstall was not easy.
On either side of the radiator are rubber mounting cubes (size of an ice cube) that insert into each side of the new radiator.
You need to transfer these black rubber cubes from the old radiator to the new radiator as the Youtube video instructs.

Now, you have to navigate these side rubber mounting pads onto their original perching nests where they will reside.
They appear to act as cushions to protect the radiator from bouncing.

I first positioned the driver side of the radiator into place. Then, I squeezed the base of the radiator against the nose of the vehicle in order to force the rubber cushion into its nesting perch. It has to fall into a nest that is not easily visible on the driver side of the vehicle (see my photo of the nesting perch).
After that, I did the same on the passenger side.
When reinstalling the radiator , I had to again push the nuisance passenger side A/C lines and the driver side rubber hoses out of the way.

The unique plastic clip that secures the expansion tank to the radiator was snapped due to too much flexing.
Need to purchase a new one ($7) before I can finish this R/R.

[cyclops2]

good job, you got it! thanks for the additional details/tips. I am replacing mine soon and will keep your comments in mind.

[kouks]

My fault, I assumed you had the intake system removed already.