Do I need a new radiator?
 

Hello fellow RX-8 enthusiasts, so I've dealing with an issue that popped up lately. My girl has been driving my RX-8 to her job since it's much closer to the house than my job and I use the company vehicle. Anyways, on Friday morning she called me worried that the car started smoking when she got to her job. She has mechanics that work on the vehicles there so they checked it out and said that the car needed coolant but to make sure to replace the coolant reservoir tank since it was chipped at the top were you put the cap to seal it shut; it only clicked once not twice as its suppose to. Anyways, the mechanics topped the car off with the fluids and I thought everything was good to go. When she was driving back home later that day, as soon as she got home it started to smoke again so she pulled up the driveway and when I came home I inspected it and it had no coolant and coolant seemed like it was sprayed everywhere near the coolant tank. I had to drive up to Orlando so I couldn't do anything but search for part-outs nearby or in Orlando for a coolant reservoir tank; thinking that was the problem...

I grabbed a brand new coolant reservoir tank and I replaced it myself and I noticed first that the nipple on the radiator was broken a bit, it seems the piece was just stuck in the hose and had deteriorated with time. I had to remove the cabin air filter box as well to make space to clamp it on tightly and securely. I was a bit concerned because maybe the nipple was broken it might have coolant escape from there but I wanted to see if I could work it out to avoid spending more money on buying a radiator. After everything was installed I poured more coolant and turned the car on and drove it around the neighborhood and when I pulled up again it started to smoke, I looked below my car and coolant was leaking...

So I'm starting to think I definitely need a new radiator? Is this right? I noticed I put some more coolant and I didn't see a puddle below this time and it was dry, I was starting to think it was just excess coolant that was collected from Friday and a bit today. I poured some more coolant just a little while ago and filled it up and drove it around and again I pulled up to the driveway and it started to leak quite a bit with some smoke. I took some pictures from under my car pointing at the radiator. Just wanted to get some advice before I buy this radiator. Thank you guys in advance!

a lot of people break the nipple on the rad when replacing the coolant tank. if its broke you need a new rad. overheating an 8 will kill the motor pretty quickly

Absolutely correct. The top part of the radiator is made out of plastic that gets ridiculously brittle once it's been heat-cycled a bunch. I recently did my coolant tank and ended up breaking this bit while trying to remove a different hose.

Do your future self a favor and replace it with a quality aluminum one rather than just the OEM replacement. It'll save you having to do this again in the future if you do any cooling mods.

Actually ended up buying a CSF aluminum radiator. Going to take a stab at installing it myself with my nephew. Should I replace the hoses as well or no? I have 104,000 miles on it.

If the hoses look like they're in decent condition I'd leave them, but I'm not an authority. I have ~70k mi on mine and they were fine.

As for doing it yourself, it's not too tough, the wife and I did it in a few hours and neither of us are professionals. Just make sure you're careful of the AC condenser on the front. The DIY on here is really helpful, plus the service manual can be of help as well.

What year is the car? Rubber in the cooling and oiling systems is generally accepted to be good for around 10 years. If you are approaching the 10 year mark, go ahead and replace the hoses. They are inexpensive.