First, I had to remove the front bumper facia. (Hint spray some silicone from the inside of the headlight opening when the facia locks in, as well as the crack between the fender and the facia, it will make it release easier) I drained the system. Then I removed the Transmission cooler from the radiator via the single screw that hold it onto the radiator, then I removed the hose that goes from the radiator to the transmission cooler at the radiator connection. I then had to remove the passenger side connection to the coolant reservoir. On the same side I removed the single screw from the Power steering cooling line that runs in the shape of a U in front of the AC Condenser. I used paracord to hold this up to the upper radiator support plate. With two of us with a flat screwdriver unlocked one side at a time of the A/C condenser by pushing in on the clip above the tab from the A/C condenser and lifting up. Once we had both sides free I used paracord with a loop on the end to catch the tabs on tach side of the A/C condenser to keep it in place and tied it up to the upper radiator support also. The next step was my mistake, big mistake. I tried to remove the fan unit from the car. I already had the trans cooler out of the way and should have been able to lift up on the passenger side and drop down on the driver’s side and wiggle it out of there but no matter what I did I could not get it to wiggle out. We then decided to drop the radiator out of the bottom. After getting the radiator out it was easy to remove the fan. When we had the new radiator ready to install my Son asked me do I think it could all go up as a unit. I did not think it would clear with the fan mounted, but it did, and it worked really great to already have the fan mounted to the radiator, the radiator installed on the bottom support plate and just slid in the whole unit up the hole in the bottom. We then put one turn on each of the 4 bolts on the radiator support plate and then started working with the A/C condenser to the radiator connection with the tabs. When we started to install the top plastic radiator retention pins and screws, I thought the radiator seemed loose and it was. I did not realize the old radiator had 2 rubber bushings in the top that you must transfer to the new radiator. I just did not notice them when switching over everything. You can relax the 4 screws on the support plate and create enough room to install those square bushings into the top of the radiator.
We installed the Nissens Radiator from FCP Euro and kudos for them for shipping a radiator that comes in a very well packed Nissens box inside of another box to insure you get a good undamaged product. Hopefully I will not ever need another radiator, but if I do, I will have these notes to hopefully make it an easier process. I sure have a better way now to deal with the Radiator fan. To be honest with you if I would have known what I know now, when my fan failed and started making noise, I would have dropped the radiator and fan out the bottom and replaced them both at the same time. With the age of the car, it would have been a wise thing to do. My plastic tank, at the passenger side radiator hose, just gave up and cracked after 230K Miles of heat and cold cycles. We also installed a new radiator cap and hoses too. I had already installed a new thermostat recently or it would have got that too.