keish

Good call on the pulleys.....old ones were the reason the timing belt just got done. Needless to say they are brandspanking new... Checking the ball joints is something I hadn't thought of. I'll do that and I'll have a tool case with me for sure...... Cap rotor and plugs are all set....... As far as the radiator goes I'll do the hose test this evening. What concerns me is that the car has never run very warm, and lately in this really cold weather it runs pretty cold (accoring to the gauge) and when I turn the heat on it runs just a few needles-worth above the bottom line on the gauge. I know this most likely isn't caused by the radiator but the radiator is getting pretty old and it seemed like rather than flush it out just replacing it wasn't a bad idea......that being said if I do the hose test and it seems fine I'll still want to flush it out and change the coolant. Any tips on doing a through job of flushing the radiator out?

First off thanks to everyone here, I've learned a ton searching through here. This weekend I'm doing some prep for yet another trip cross country and back New York to Cali via Alabama for Christmas/Winter Vacation.......218,000 on the Loyale, timing belt and other belts just replaced along with plugs..... Below is a list of what I'm planning on doing this weekend What I'm asking you guys is what am I forgeting.... Changing filters oil/fuel/air Fluids oil/differential/power steering Checking battery fluid levels Rotating Tires One thing I can't make my mind up on is the cooling system, I'm leaning towards replacing the radiator....I've never done this but it seems pretty straight forward, what else should I be doing to the cooling system while replacing the radiator? I was going to replace the thermostat as well..... Also I've read about many issues with the crank pulley breaking. Is welding that the only solution to preventing that from happening? Thanks for any info/opinions.......