Chris FJ80
SILVER Star
I though I would create this post about a hard to detect but significant cooling system leak.
About a month ago I noticed some coolant leaking from around where the lower radiator hose connects to the radiator. I replaced the hose and pressure tested the system but whenever I returned from a drive would find a little puddle of coolant fluid in the driveway. I was losing about 1-2 cups of coolant after an hour or two of driving.
When I would pressure test the cold system to 13 PSI I could never find a leak, but when hot I was getting some dripping. After messing around with the hose and hose clamp a few times, I finally figured out it was the radiator itself.
I bought a new CSF 2517, all metal, radiator from Amazon. It shipped fast and was well packed in foam, so arrived in perfect condition. The big difference I can see from the OEM, other than being all metal, are the transmission fluid cooler connections. When I reinstalled the fan shroud it did not fully seat on the passenger side because it presses up against the ATF hose. This was not bad enough to cause a problem. I forced it down and bolted it in (at the top) and the fan rotates freely.
The other obvious difference is the drain/stopcock. On the OEM version, there is a drain spout to which you can connect a tube to get most of the fluid to drain where you want it. I have found this really useful -- while it is a very slow way to drain the system, the fluid does go into the bucket you want it in! With the CSF, the fluid drains out the stopcock itself so I anticipate will be messy the next time I drain it -- I'll need to rig up a funnel or something.
The swap was very easy. I pulled the grill and the headlights to emov the front radiator mounting bolts. Tip: I used a 1/4" drive ratchet and 8" extension since my 3/8' sockets would not fit in that small space. Fan hub came off easily. The shroud was a little difficult to maneuver out, but cooperated after a little persuasion. Everything went back in smoothly with the small exception of the fan shroud, which I mentioned above. Remember to put cardboard down to catch the ATF fluid that will drain out when you remove the hoses.
Not knowing the exact location of the leak was bugging me so I plugged up the hose ports, filled it with wanter, and pressurized the system to 13 PSI to find the leak, but it was perfectly dry - absolutely no signs of a leak anywhere.
I increased the pressure to 17 PSI and then water started to pour out just above the lower hose port. Looks like the leak is where the plastic header meets the metal core.
Bottom line was I had a marginal leak that was not showing up at standard operating pressure and with a cool system but was bad enough that I could lose a significant amount of fluid on a long drive.
I really like the new CSF so far. Seems well built and is doing the job.
About a month ago I noticed some coolant leaking from around where the lower radiator hose connects to the radiator. I replaced the hose and pressure tested the system but whenever I returned from a drive would find a little puddle of coolant fluid in the driveway. I was losing about 1-2 cups of coolant after an hour or two of driving.
When I would pressure test the cold system to 13 PSI I could never find a leak, but when hot I was getting some dripping. After messing around with the hose and hose clamp a few times, I finally figured out it was the radiator itself.
I bought a new CSF 2517, all metal, radiator from Amazon. It shipped fast and was well packed in foam, so arrived in perfect condition. The big difference I can see from the OEM, other than being all metal, are the transmission fluid cooler connections. When I reinstalled the fan shroud it did not fully seat on the passenger side because it presses up against the ATF hose. This was not bad enough to cause a problem. I forced it down and bolted it in (at the top) and the fan rotates freely.
The other obvious difference is the drain/stopcock. On the OEM version, there is a drain spout to which you can connect a tube to get most of the fluid to drain where you want it. I have found this really useful -- while it is a very slow way to drain the system, the fluid does go into the bucket you want it in! With the CSF, the fluid drains out the stopcock itself so I anticipate will be messy the next time I drain it -- I'll need to rig up a funnel or something.
The swap was very easy. I pulled the grill and the headlights to emov the front radiator mounting bolts. Tip: I used a 1/4" drive ratchet and 8" extension since my 3/8' sockets would not fit in that small space. Fan hub came off easily. The shroud was a little difficult to maneuver out, but cooperated after a little persuasion. Everything went back in smoothly with the small exception of the fan shroud, which I mentioned above. Remember to put cardboard down to catch the ATF fluid that will drain out when you remove the hoses.
Not knowing the exact location of the leak was bugging me so I plugged up the hose ports, filled it with wanter, and pressurized the system to 13 PSI to find the leak, but it was perfectly dry - absolutely no signs of a leak anywhere.
I increased the pressure to 17 PSI and then water started to pour out just above the lower hose port. Looks like the leak is where the plastic header meets the metal core.
Bottom line was I had a marginal leak that was not showing up at standard operating pressure and with a cool system but was bad enough that I could lose a significant amount of fluid on a long drive.
I really like the new CSF so far. Seems well built and is doing the job.
, but we really don't know why there has been such a disparity of performance reported for the CSF.
