Ford Explorer Radiator Replacement - Page 4

The old radiator is out. You must transfer the rubber air divider that is held onto the top of the radiator. This rubber strip is held in by some odd plastic push fasteners and as luck would have it they broke when I tried to remove them. I replaced them with a small screw and locking nut to hold it in place. If you salvage the fasteners just pop them back into place and you are done with this part.

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Rubber Air Divider

This rubber strip as indicated by the red arrows needs to come off the old radiator and be placed on the new. It's easy if you can get the push in fasteners out without breaking them. If you can good for you, if you can't you will need to use a couple of screws to hold it in place. This part keeps air flowing through the radiator and not over it.

Broken Fastener

This refused to come out, they are similar to door panel push in fasteners. Easy to fix with a small screw and a couple of washers.

Air Divider Mounted With New Fasteners

A couple of screws with washers did the trick. I used a locking nut (Nyloc) to make sure they don't come loose since the rubber keeps it from getting tight where a nut would just rattle off. Loctite would work just fine too.