I have a 2000 tl that had a smallhole in top of rad. I replaced radiator and everything was fine. two days later i took friend to work @ 6 a.m. no problems, 2 hrs later i start it up and get about 1/2 mile from my house and CEL starts flashing and car starts jerking. not close to parts store to get a scan done can anyone give me some ideas on what it could be?

 

Welcome Allen77665 !
So before you replaced the leaky rad, was the car overheating ? Running low on coolant is not good ! Anyways, hopefully ya caught the leak quick enough....and....on to the present flashing "CEL" and jerking issues.

Assuming no overheating occurred previously, once the rad was replaced....did ya burp the air from the cooling system ? Go over your work and make sure that everything is tight. Do the fans come on when idling up to operating temp ? Is your coolant a 50/50 ratio and is the level up in the rad ? Check the oil for signs of cross contamination. (Possibly blown head gasket) Make sure that the system is burped and full. Don't drive it if the temp gauge goes up, otherwise ya risk bigger problems with things cookin' !!!!

 

I'm not any expert, but in my opinion, I'm not sure how much one has to do with the other. (The radiator and the flashing CEL with jerking)

Usually if air is in the cooling system, or the head gasket it blown, your car would simply overheat.

Here is a video about how to properly bleed a cooling system:


When your car was jerking, did it feel like it was losing power? Did the RPMs drop? Was there any thing besides the CEL and jerking that felt off to you?

 

the jerking with vsa light on is your car going into limp mode, to safely "limp" onto the side of the road.

 

A flashing CEL is a Misfire.