OK, so my one year old aftermarket radiator began to leak last week along the seal on the bottom. Bought a new one today and just installed it. Everything seems to work fine; car produces a lot of heat (inside the car), the fans go on and off and there are no leaks. One thing is bothering me though, the lower radiator hose is not getting hot. Not even really warm. The upper is very hot. The thermostat is new and so are the hoses. Before the radiator blew last week the car didn't produce any heat in the cabin unless I was moving. As soon as I stopped for a light, the heat would go cold. don't know if this has any bearing on my current problem. Any ideas what could be causing the lower hose to not heat up?

Thanks in advance!

 

the reason the lower rad hose is not heating up, is because that is the fluid that has just been cooled by the radiator. the upper rad hose contains the heated fluid coming from the hot engine, then through the rad, then back into the engine to cool it.

i see youre in new york, so i presume its kinda chilly, therefore the cold air cools the fluid much better, if you find that your car is running cold, and not heating up, try putting cardboard in front of the rad to block the cold air.

im having a helluva time warming my car, bc i installed a rad from an integra, which is doble the size