Had to happen on XMAS!
 

Last night on the way to Dinner I pull in to my parents house and notice my temp a little higher than normal. then i turned the music down and heard the coolant bubbling. A stick went through the radiator and my junk car is 20 miles away. I dont have my manual here so i wanted to know how much i need to remove to get the radiator out besides the hoses. I just cant remember if the fan shroud will come off without taking the fan off. If somebody can just tell me what all needs to be removed so i can bring the right tools with me. Thanks

bump

the fan is easy to get off, use a 10mm wrench and take the 4 nuts off and you can squeeze the fan past the shroud. now take off air cleaner if you still have it then take off the 4 shroud mounting screws and pull the shroud out. now remove the upper and lower radiator and lower heater hoses. now there is only 4 bolts holding the radiator in, remove them and VIOLA!

You have to pull the fan, the shroud, the hoses and four bolts from the sides of the radiator that go through the rubber isolators(don't lose the grommets, what a PITA getting new ones), the coolant level sensor... i'm pretty sure thats it.....

Oh... might be a good idea to yank the bellypan while you are at it to drain the rad completely..

Make sure your 10mm wrench is angled... and put the box end on the bolts so that the wrench angles BACK towards the firewall.... (a cheap, straight wrench is a PITA to get the fan off with)

Take a 10mm wrench, a 10mm, 12mm, and 14mm socket and a coupld of extentions (make sit easier to get to the bolts on the side of the radiator)

thanks alot, one more question. does anyone know where you can get the hose that runs from below the spark plugs to the firewall?

you can plug that hose UNTIL you get home.. its just for your heater core...

oh and no i dont know where to get that hose..

lol
wait till the car warms up, and then break an egg, and put it into the radiator. clogs the hole up pretty good.

If you still need that hose (the one that goes from the firewall to under the oil filter, has several bends), I believe someone said you can get it a Napa, Mazdatrix, or the dealer. I have an extra I got from a dealer, $25 shipped it you want. Brand new in wrapper. I think I paid close to $30 for it, but I've heard napa has it for less than $20.

I went to Napa a couple weeks back lookin for that hose, it ain't worth it trying to get napa to look for it, buncha lazy bastards. so now I am stuck without a heater till I can get one ordered, either from a dealership or mazdatrix.

where did your hose break? if it burst right where it meets the block you can cut off a 2" end section of the hose and reclamp it for a temporary fix, i did that with my hose when it burst and it has made it over 2K miles so far because i'm a procrastinator about ordering parts my car needs over upgrades that it doesn't necessarily need atm. :D

i replaced that stupid "custom" hose with 2 90deg bends and a join piece and some hose clamps. been working for 2 years now.

I DO have a new extra if anyone wants, I can ship it out tomorrow...
Just tryin' to help a bro' out..