Hi!

I just had to replace the radiator in my 2000 Volvo V40. I did some internet searching beforehand and found some very conflicting information on how to best remove it. So while this is still fresh on my mind, I figured I'll post a short write up here - maybe someone will find it helpful in the future.

Sorry I didn't get any pictures, but everything is pretty straight forward and fairly easy to identify.

Like I mentioned, my car is a 2000 Volvo V40 but I assume S40's would be the same. The car is the US version with the 4cyl 1.9 turbo.

I would recommend putting the front of the car up on ramps or jack stands for better access under the car, but you might be able to pull this off with the car on the ground. Also have plenty of rags on hand and protect your floor as you will have plenty of opportunities for spills and drips.

OK, here we go:

1. When you look in the area of your radiator, you will see a nice sandwich of what looks like 3 radiators. The front one (furthest away from the engine) is the AC condenser. We will leave this one in place, and there is no need to mess with any AC lines. The next one (in the middle) is the actual radiator. The last one (closest to the engine) is the Charge Air Cooler for the turbo. Behind the Air Cooler you'll see two fans. The fan assembly, Charge Air Cooler and Radiator are all attached and will come out as one unit. The transmission cooler is also part of this assembly. It is attached to the driver's side of the Charge Air Cooler

2. Remove the plastic splash shield under the front of the car

3. Drain the coolant

4. Remove the upper radiator hose

5. Remove the upper air cooler hose

6. Disconnect all electrical connectors connected to the fan assembly. Also make sure to detach any wiring clips.

7. On the drivers side top corner of the Air Cooler there is a little black box with vacuum lines running to it. Detach this box from the assembly. Also make sure to free the vacuum lines from the fan assembly, as the vacuum lines will be left in place when everything is pulled out.

8. Under the car - remove the lower air cooler hose.

9. remove the lower radiator hose

10. remove the two transmission cooling lines from the transmission cooler next to the lower radiator hose. (The lines will only have a very small amount of transmission fluid in them)

11. There is one last big grey electrical plug on the fan on the back that you might be better off accessing from underneath once the lower radiator hose and transmission lines are disconnected.

12. With all hoses and plugs disconnected from the Air Cooler, Radiator and fans, you are ready to unbolt the assembly and pull it out.

13. There are two brackets on top of the Air Cooler / Radiator assembly that holds the whole thing in place. Each bracket is held in place by two bolts. Remove the bolts and the brackets.

14. Carefully pull the assembly straight up and out of the engine bay. You might want to have someone help you guide it as you pull it out to make sure you don't mess up the vacuum lines or get caught up in any wires.

15. With the assembly out of the car, you'll see 4 screws that holds everything in place. Undo these screws and you can fit your new radiator between the fan and air cooler.

16. Installation is reverse of removal

I hope this can be helpful to someone, and let me know if you have any questions!

 

About to do this... thanks for post.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post! Much appreciated.

 

I believe its

FRONT
AC Condenser
Air Cooler
Radiator
REAR

You would never want your air cooler behind the hot radiator air flow
(or the AC Condenser but that's how Volvo turbo rolls)

In any case I'm doing a 2000 S40 and that's the layout

FYI cooling turbo air with ambient air is hard enough, compound that with hot days and an AC unit on blowing hotter than ambient air from the AC condenser onto the turbo cooler, and it gets tougher