Radiator to waterpump resto (1 Viewer)

[jmstu76]

Hey guys,
So I've owned this truck for about 5 years. I've put around 75K miles on it. It has always ran warmer than I would like. When I first got it, the temp gauge needle would run above the second mark. It did not like to idle in hot traffic with the AC on. I never would hear the fan clutch kick in. We had a '98 4Runner so I know what the Toyota Roar is when the fan clutch kicks in. That first year I dove in, removed the fan, shroud and fan clutch. I split the shroud, replaced the fan clutch with an Aisan Unit with the red hub. I replaced all the belts with Mr. T belts and the idler pulley. At that point, I could tell someone had already been in here. Worm drive clamps and a non factory radiator was in there. Someone had also messed up the AC adjustment bolt. They actually turned in up side down so the only way to adjust the AC belt tension was to remove the PS pump and bracket. Not a fun time. I also replaced the thermostat with a 180 degree unit. SO it ran a little cooler. Sometimes under the second notch sometimes at it, still didn't like to idle in traffic and if I flogged in on the highway, it would heat up.

Hot at idle is fan clutch right? (just changed it) Hot on hwy is radiator right? (hadn't touched it)

The fluid looked terrible and rusty too. So I would have it flushed at shops, and I would flush it at home. It always looked dirty and brown crud would build up on the cap.

I felt like this was the week part of my rig. So I worked side jobs this summer and started stockpiling parts. I bought a Toyota thermostat, 190 degree, up and lower MR. T thermostat housing, new housing bolts from Mr. T and Mr. T gaskets. Mr T. water pump, Mr. T fan clutch, the red hub Aisan unit again (that will soon change) Mr. T fan, Mr. T belts, Hoses and clamps. Now for the radiator, I bought a Mishimoto aluminum 3 row radiator. I thought I was buying the best, but then read reviews on it mid way though tear down. Oh well, at least they honor their warranty.

So I dove in the week before my wife's bday. Hey, she told me to! (she wanted the stock pile of parts out of our closet)

I had never been this deep into this truck. I had done radiators and water pumps on my 40's but that just too easy.

The ARB bull bar sucked to work around, but it makes a nice close tool bench

I just loved the fact that I was going to have to loosen every damn accessory to get these belts off and to get to the water pump, not to mention they screwed up AC tensioner belt bolt.

I had a new bolt, with the special nut and acorn lock nut and a new AC tensioner pulley

 

[jmstu76]

The thermostat housing came off with out a hitch. I was worried about breaking a bolt and having to deal with a snapped seized bolt in the block. I ordered new hard ware from Beno just in case. The old radiator looked pretty worn. I had green showing at the bottom although I don't think it was leaking yet. There were a ton of dead bugs stuck between the radiator and the condenser

at the bottom.

The tubing on the thermostat housing was all rusted and breaking off.

 

[jmstu76]

I had the normal problem of getting the water pump off. The studs and the AC tensioner prevented the pump from pulling straight off. The M10 nuts holding the pump on were flanged and my fat wrenches wouldn't fit in there to lock them up. So off to the hard ware store I went and pick up some M10 1.25 jam nuts.

The pump came off without a hitch with the studs removed. I pressure washed the greasy front end and then scraped the block clean. I checked the timing front cover bolts and made sure they were still tight. With the PS pump off, the bracket came back off and I was able to finally correct the tensioner bolt for the AC and install the new pulley. New Pump and gasket went on along with the new AC belt all tight and ready to feed me the cool R12 Air.

Thermostat Housing went on. I changed every sensor I could with MR. T sensors. All but the FI temp sensor in the top half on the PS side.

 

[jmstu76]

Old Thermostat housing vs. new housing.

 

[jmstu76]

Thermostat housing and gasket installed.

 

[jmstu76]

So, while in the middle of all the work I got a feeling that the red hubbed fan clutch was just fine and the new MR. T unit also made by Aisin was identical. So I jumped on Amazon and purchased the Aisin FCT-049 unit with the green?? hub. This is the unit called for by the FJ80. It is definitely a beefier unit and has more resistance in my hand. I hoped I made the right choice. I also bought a new fan. With around 350K miles on the original fan, I feared i would let go and take out some of my hard work. A guy that posts on here some from my home town was in his 3FE powered 80 on the way to Solid axle summit. He has over 400K on his rig and his fan let go taking out his radiator and 80 series plastic fan shroud, so new fan is going in.

 

[jmstu76]

Radiator prepped happened on the kitchen table. New foam was installed and the tranny cooler fittings were reinstalled with new orings and teflon tape.

 

[jmstu76]

Not much left now. Everything went in smooth. No modification to the radiator was needed. Perfect fit in every way. It actually fits better than the last radiator and seems to be lower profile. new hoses went on. My petrified PS return hose broke while wrestling with the AC tensioner so it was replaced and new atf filled the reservoir.

New belts all the way round. New hoses. I actually used a silicon hose down on the bottom of the water pump that go to the pipe that routes under the front pulley. I had no idea that existed. That hose was rotten and swollen and ripped in two trying to remove it. I have a really nice Mom and Pop NAPA close by that carries all kinds of good hardware, tools and everything else you might need. The owner actually likes helping me find exactly what I'm looking for. He claims to get bored looking up brake pads for Kias. haha.

 

[jmstu76]

Before filling it up with coolant, I reverse flushed both heaters. My rear heater wouldn't produce heat and if you saw how much brown crud filled water came out, you would see why. It took a while using fresh hose water to flush the rear heater. (hoses to the heater were replaced about 6 months ago on one of my futile coolant flushes).

I used a radiator funnel and used Honda brand coolant. Stupid? Probably. The old cruiser mechanic in town swears by it and claims its the best fluid you can buy. Also He has newer had to do a water pump on a Honda. Well he's a Toyota mechanic so that might explain something right there. I didn't realize it's blue fluid. OH well. I topped her off and fired her up. Took a while to get up to temp with a cold radiator and cold fluid. Maybe 10 minutes. No leaks, no more bubbles. I was running both heaters and had the AC compressor on. She was holding steady on the second mark. Wait?? what was that I heard??? The Toyota Roar! Fan clutch was kicking on and off as intended. No movement in the needle. No leaks, nothing...

I just let in run and take in all the fluid it could while a reassembled the grill. (Hint, the center section goes on first) So fun to do it over at night while the truck is running.

Fan clutch would cycle, AC compressor would cycle. Needle stayed pegged. I would occasionally flip the heater valves to closed in an attempt to see if I could change the heat at all.

Lastly I checked the Transmission fluid. It didn't seem to really lose any even though the lines were open. Maybe the fluid in the cooler drains to the sump with the engine off. The old radiator only dribbled a little out.

Off I went to Walgreens at 11 PM on a Saturday night to get my wife a birthday card. No issues.

Drove it to the in laws with the family on Sunday. No issues. Rock solid temp. I cant get the needled to move once it's up to temp.

I flogged the Sh*t out of it today. 85 mph on the highway with the AC on. It didn't care. I just wish it was triple digits out. That's the real test.

If I had all the PN's handy, I would included them. The 80 fan clutch is not available in a Toyota box but Amazon has plenty.

Here's to another cruiser rolling steady and smooth. Hoping to make the Solid Axle Summit next year.

 

[Njck22]

Very nice to see a full post with pictures for this! Been acquiring OEM parts this whole summer for doing a full refresh as you did. Interested to hear if you have any problem with your radiator as I think I want to replace mine as well. Where did you get the thermostat housing? OEM or aftermarket? Did you use fipg or a gasket on the waterpump?

 

[jmstu76]

Zero problems with the radiator. I bought it through Summit Racing. It was $399 with free shipping. Thermostat housing is all Toyota. I may have bought the last upper, that's what Beno said a couple years ago when I bought it. I just recently bought the lower portion. It's still available. I used all Toyota gaskets in the thermostat housing. 2 for the thermostat and the one between the block and the housing. The Mr. T water pump didn't come with a gasket so ordered one separately. no fipg, dry on all the gaskets.

I had broken two bolts on the original thermostat housing, had to drill them out and retap. It always bothered me and I didn't like the non Toyota bolts. The hardware is all available in that area.

No leaks.....yet.

 

[hygge]

Very nice. Glad to see it all come together for you. I am in a similar situation with my 89'. The temp always rises and the truck does not like to go past about 65mph without the gauge getting to the same point in your picture in Post #9.

I replaced the fan clutch with a FCT-017 two weeks ago. But after having some AC work done this past week, the mechanic pointed out a hairline crack in the upper radiator.

Today I went a little apesh*t and bought new OEM 180 degree T-Stat, a CSF-2708 radiator (Rockauto) and a bunch of hoses and gaskets and an OEM water pump.

Did you replace the transmission cooler hoses ? If so, what did you use/source for materials?

Great job on the install!

 

[jmstu76]

I did not replace the tranny cooler lines. Even though old, they are still plyable and not in terrible shape. If I were to replace them, I would remove them and take them to a hose shop in the city. I feel like they could be replicated in length and with the same fittings while I wait.

 

[Willard]

Nice job on the install. I did something similar on my 60 as well.
It is a bear of a job to replace everything, but once done it is cool as all can be

One question though, while you had everything out, why did you not put in a mechanical gauge? I find the OEM gauge to be iffy at best.
They work, but SLOW to show any difference in actual heat.

Either way great writeup and great job.

 

[unklwedy]

I use to keep auto parts in the bath tub. Wife never yelled at me.

 

[jmstu76]

Good question. I know that the factory gauge cant compare to a mechanical gauge. At this time I don't want a mechanical gauge. I like the clean factory look of my set up. If I find that the factory gauge cant be trusted then I will cross that bridge. I am using the factory gauge to monitor trends at the moment. I need to check my thermostat housing with an IR gun to verify what temp it is actually running.

Nice job on the install. I did something similar on my 60 as well.
It is a bear of a job to replace everything, but once done it is cool as all can be

One question though, while you had everything out, why did you not put in a mechanical gauge? I find the OEM gauge to be iffy at best.
They work, but SLOW to show any difference in actual heat.

Either way great writeup and great job.

 

[rrv333]

Nice write up

 

[Skniper]

Just did this recently on my 62, complete front motor refresh with a new Mishimoto radiator. The only thing I could've gone further with is replacing the front main seal...wasn't ready for that task. So far I really like the Mishimoto radiator.

....and ain't the front of that 3FE just a motherf$cker to work on?? I've torn it down a few times, it's the worst. I teach myself a new cuss word every time I get elbows deep in that thing.
Glad you got it all back together and running good.

 

[jmstu76]

Just did this recently on my 62, complete front motor refresh with a new Mishimoto radiator. The only thing I could've gone further with is replacing the front main seal...wasn't ready for that task. So far I really like the Mishimoto radiator.

....and ain't the front of that 3FE just a motherf$cker to work on?? I've torn it down a few times, it's the worst. I teach myself a new cuss word every time I get elbows deep in that thing.
Glad you got it all back together and running good.

Yeah, The front of a 3FE is for guys with tiny hands and lots of patience. I have some pretty good scratches on my right arm.

Yes, I could have done more, like the front main of the timing cover. I just wanted it back together. I did check all the smaller bolts on the harmonic balancer. Everything was tight.

 

[Skniper]

@jmstu76 meant to ask, what did you use for the foam stripping on the new radiator? I have a gap up top I’d like to seal up.