While every car’s cooling system and radiator installation is different, there are some universal steps to replacing a radiator that can save you a lot of headaches. Follow these steps with whatever car you’re working on and you might avoid lost time and skinned knuckles.
Disconnect the negative battery connection. Once the radiator is cooled down, remove the radiator cap and place a coolant drain pan under the drain valve and open it, catching the coolant in the pan. Move the pan to just under the lower radiator hose and remove it from the radiator. Disconnect the upper radiator hose and any other hose connections in the radiator.