A/T Coolant lines at radiator

Guys , Havent been on for ever so long,I need to remove my Radiator in my 96 Roady,
and am having problems getting the tubing nuts loose. I have sprayed penetrating oil and used a line wrench,
but havent really gone crazy trying to loosen them as yet. I dont want to cut the tubes with a tubing wrench
unless I really have to. Any one have any suggestions? THANKS ed

I second this request for info/advice. I'm about to replace my deer-damaged radiator/condenser/transmission cooler and am worried about removing all the lines.

Sure do NOT want to round off these bolt heads.

They would not budge on the junker in the salvage yard that I pulled my radiator support from. Had to cut those hoses off in the yard. Need to re-use mine on my car.

Little Help??

-Mike

Does anyone here know the exact size wrench needed for the trans and engine cooling lines going into the radiator on the LT1 cars? I've been spraying PB Blaster on mine daily in hopes of breaking them loose this weekend.

Need to get a quality line wrench. I researched this and basically from what I read, Snap-on is the best, along with SK's Suregrip line. Both are not inexpensive, and the Snapon is not easy to find on it's own. I ended up buying a Gearwrench flare wrench, it has a similar design that puts the torque load on the flats of the nut, the cheap wrenches (like parts store brand) put the load on the corners which leads to rounding off the nut pretty quick.

Note, if you're in the rustbelt, you are likely going to end up replacing the lines anyway if they are original. The Gearwrench did work great and loosened the nut easily on the power steering lines on my Suburban. But of course the flare nuts were rusted to the line so I had to cut the hoses anyways.

For me, the key was to spray blaster...tap around the fitting and wiggle the hose some before trying to break it loose.  

I bought a set of line wrenches at Harbor Freight (FAIL...they suck and will round out your fitting as they bend) I always end up using a long box wrench to break them loose.

Just did my break hoses / fittings on the wagon actually...

I snag extra fittings at the junk yard by cutting the line flush with the fitting and using a socket to remove.  That way if I end up buggering a fitting on my wagon...I have a nice one to replace after re-flaring the end.

Will go look for the RIGHT wrenches. I know what you mean about the kind that pushes on the flat sides...just have to find them. Anyone know the size? Metric or Standard?

Thanks All!

-Mike

I bought my Gearwrench one on Amazon, I tell ya Prime membership is worth it's weight in GOLD. 2 days it was in my hands, no wasting time at stores looking for the right one. Well I did go to Sears and looked around because I read the Craftsman Professional series was re-branded SK stuff, but the guy there said the Pro series was discontinued. Booo. Just internet it. If you don't have Prime get it, I buy most of my parts off there.

As for size, grab your regular box wrenches and slip them on to see what fits. I'm betting it's metric, but as these cars were re-designed on top of the 77-90 chassis I'm finding some odd things are standard thread still.

MalibuSSwagon wrote:

I bought my Gearwrench one on Amazon, I tell ya Prime membership is worth it's weight in GOLD. 2 days it was in my hands, no wasting time at stores looking for the right one. Well I did go to Sears and looked around because I read the Craftsman Professional series was re-branded SK stuff, but the guy there said the Pro series was discontinued. Booo. Just internet it. If you don't have Prime get it, I buy most of my parts off there.

As for size, grab your regular box wrenches and slip them on to see what fits. I'm betting it's metric, but as these cars were re-designed on top of the 77-90 chassis I'm finding some odd things are standard thread still.

Thanks. I think it's a 13.

-Mike

I used a 5/8" LINE WRENCH Sears Professional, that should be in stock
in most Sears hdw. and Dept. stores. After spraying ,brushing and
a little bit of tapping, they came off pretty easily. ed

Roadagon wrote:

I used a 5/8" LINE WRENCH Sears Professional, that should be in stock
in most Sears hdw. and Dept. stores. After spraying ,brushing and
a little bit of tapping, they came off pretty easily. ed    

Thanks very much!

-Mike

My lines were all steel from the factory. Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that some B-body's came with steel lines with flexible (rubber, neoprene-whatever) hoses between the frame bracket, and the coupling to the radiator. If you cannot get the fittings off, this is the solution. I changed mine over because the steel lines looked rusty in a couple spots. If you do this, use only hose made specifically for the purpose, that is, hose rated for transmission use.

I used all the "tips" mentioned above, but still couldn't get the couplings loose when I replaced the radiator. A little heat did the trick on both sides. "A little heat", as in hand held propane torch. Keep in mind the tanks on these radiators are plastic.