Mazda2 Radiator Leaking and Replacement

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Mazda 2 / RSTi / FJ80
I smelled coolant earlier this week and found that my Mazda2 radiator had the plastic and metal separating all along the top which was slowly releasing fluid. It looked like it was the original radiator with over 130K miles on it so I think it had a pretty long life and thankfully let me know subtly without all the mess of a blow out.

I purchased a new radiator and cap to get the job done. I began at 9:30AM today and it took approx. 3 hours due to half of that time trying to figure out the best way to remove the old radiator and the fan. Getting the air intake tube off the motor side was a real pain due to the small tab under the tube. I've been known to break plastics so I tried not to pry too much. Also getting the plug off the fan motor was a real annoyance too and that's something I didn't want to break either.

My method was to unclip all the electronics from the radiator/fan, drain the radiator, pull the hoses from the radiator side, pull the fan off and drop it down under the car, then pull the radiator off and also drop that down under the car. I cleaned the fan up real good and everywhere the splashes had hit from the fan blowing the coolant prior. I then installed the sensor from old radiator to the new, install the radiator to the vehicle and then the fan all from under the car upwards. It was a pretty simple process without having any documentation to assist.

You can tell it was about time for a replacement:

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Parts List
Radiator: Duralast B13233 - - Spectra brand
Cap: Duralast 7037

We'll see how it does! Costs much less than the Mazda OE and it seemed decent quality but only time will tell.

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Thanks.
 
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