2008-2018 Radiator Failure and Public Service Announcement (3 Viewers)

[kickboxr99]

All, I've been following this a bit since having purchased a 2010 LX with 57k miles. After having owned it a month I finally took some time to pull the covers off, and this is what I found. Three questions:

1) Does it appear to have simply been a radiator cap that wasn't entirely on? Note I placed it back on, and it's clean so far today after the trip to office albeit probably didn't get warmed up enough to make a difference.

2) What radiator is that?

3) I hate those plastic covers that I had to pull off (having owned an 80 series I loved how everything was exposed - very easy to maintain/work on). Any disadvantage to leaving the black covers off?

View attachment 1405694

All, I wanted to bring this back to the top...frankly I should create my own thread...I know I know

I do appreciate the replies I've rec'd although wanted to get more exposure to this particularly with re to the engine bay covers. Are the Land Cruiser covers the same as the LX? If no, think the Land Cruiser covers would fit nicely on the LX?

 

[gaijin]

All, I wanted to bring this back to the top...frankly I should create my own thread...I know I know

I do appreciate the replies I've rec'd although wanted to get more exposure to this particularly with re to the engine bay covers. Are the Land Cruiser covers the same as the LX? If no, think the Land Cruiser covers would fit nicely on the LX?

If I understand your question correctly, there are no covers in the LC engine bay other than the silver colored intake manifold cover. Here's what my 2013 LC engine bay looks like:

It appears to me that you should be fine leaving off all the other engine covers on your LX. As others have mentioned, you may experience some additional engine compartment noise in the cockpit, but probably not enough to be concerned about.

HTH

 

[yondermountain]

Just thought I'd mention that I replaced my radiator last week, at 145,000 miles and it was noted that where the upper radiator hose attaches, that plastic was degraded and brown, sort of like it could break off, or crack more easily as well. No sign or even a hint of a crack at the typical area, and inside the radiator, it looked extremely clean, no sign of gunk accumulation, etc. My mechanic, who is awesome and a Toyota master tech, says he has seen this type of degradation on many other models of Toyotas with the plastic radiators, but typically at higher mileage and you can see signs of cracks forming from the exterior of the radiator. Anyway, just thought chime in, and I certainly think that if your 08-10 l.c. is in this mileage range, it seems wise to replace the radiator....
j

 

[ranma21]

This is definitely a must do PM item for all 200 series owner, do it before you plan to do a long drive. Peace of mind is priceless.

 

[Rigger]

My new radiator is in. The truck is at the shop waiting for me to pick it up. I'm going to get the old radiator home and cut it open. I'll post pics of the inside bear that stress riser. Any other thoughts of what I should do with the old one?

 

[TexAZ]

you shouldn't have to cut it open. the top is held on by a bunch of crimped over tabs. it would be interesting to see how difficult it is to pry the tabs up and take off the top. and to see if the tabs will bend back....making the radiator serviceable.

 

[40Man]

So to answer another member's inquiry, and to give some guidance on a field repair--

I have a decent amount of experience welding plastic on whitewater boats. From this experience, I know some plastics (linear) can be welded and hold strong, and some cannot be (cross linked plastic). Most plastic is linear, as I assume the radiator piece is. Now, the best plastic to weld with would be the same plastic that is on the radiator, but I don't know the exact composition, and don't know where you would find out. Most plastic is linear as crosslink is more expensive to produce. I would be very surprised if the radiator plastic cannot be welded.

Jackson Kayak sells plastic welding sticks:
Plastic Welding Sticks

You can weld with a heat gun, soldering iron, mini torch or lighter. The following link is a great demonstration:


The key is to use a scraper blade and make a groove wider than that crack for the new plastic to adhere to (see video). The groove does not need to be very deep. On a kayak I would generally drill each end of the crack to keep it from spreading.

I have a few welding rods, and I made a kit to keep in the car just in case. My kit includes:
-A scraper
-A hand drill Amazon.com: In-tool-home Precision Pin Vise Model Hand Drill Set with Twist Drill Bits Set of 11: Home Improvement
-A Dremel Butane Torch Dremel 2200-01 Versa Flame Multi-Function Butane Torch - - Amazon.com
-A putty knife
-two plastic welding rods or zip ties.

In a pinch, I have seen people cut plastic from NEW gas cans. A cheap gallon of water may even work.

This will likely create a very strong hold on the repaired area. On a kayak I would generally drill each end of the crack to keep it from spreading. I have had kayak welds hold up in class III and IV whitewater for years.

As you can see in the video, once the plastic dries, the new plastic seamlessly integrates with the old.

Anyway, just an alternative to preventative replacement that may help in a pinch.

 

[Rigger]

you shouldn't have to cut it open. the top is held on by a bunch of crimped over tabs. it would be interesting to see how difficult it is to pry the tabs up and take off the top. and to see if the tabs will bend back....making the radiator serviceable.

I don't see a way to uncrimp these tabs. They are small and tight and there's probably 400 of them.

 

[Rigger]

 

[40Man]

It's time to work on a solution... I have completely disassembled a new OEM stock Trad radiator. The core is impressively large and well constructed two row unit. Pictured is the cracking culprit as viewed from the inside of the upper header tank. The part number for the upper tank has never changed, even on the new 2016.... and IMO it's no coincidence that the space providing a place to affix or print a part number on the unit has created the failure point.

View attachment 1316514

Were you able to reassemble after you took this apart?

 

[Markuson]

Well when I bought the 12 platinum the synthetic rope wasn't an offering /kit, so I'm running the steel cable. I fit the whole shabang in the bumper. No relocation harness or anything. Just plug -n-play. Had to cut / notch a section of the radiator support bracket to allow a bit of clearance for the top of the solenoid but that was it. Easy install really..just a heavy little booger and bending over at an odd angle to fit the winch in the winch tray...with your recent accident I'd suggest asking for help. Wouldn't be worth aggravating old injuries. Thanks

Hey @Willy beamin ...

Have you run into any issues with your Zeon Platinum's remote, or problems ever releasing the electronic clutch? I'm thinking about that winch, but a little concerned about relying on remote-only operation. Any comments or observations? Tanks!

 

[Softride62]

had mine crack in that same spot at 120K, replaced with new from Toyota. I also called Customer SVC and complained that this was my 5th LC and was very disappointed the radiator cracked... never had it happen to any other LC ... so they paid for it!! And on the topic of replacing things... I also replaced the starter at 125K, fuel sending unit at 130K.. and today I will get a new alternator at 135K miles .. what is this, a Chevy Tahoe disguised as a Land Cruiser?

 

[TonyP]

Which customer service did you call? I had a legit issue with a dealership and brought it up to toyota USA and they didn't do a damn thing.

 

[Markuson]

had mine crack in that same spot at 120K, replaced with new from Toyota. I also called Customer SVC and complained that this was my 5th LC and was very disappointed the radiator cracked... never had it happen to any other LC ... so they paid for it!! And on the topic of replacing things... I also replaced the starter at 125K, fuel sending unit at 130K.. and today I will get a new alternator at 135K miles .. what is this, a Chevy Tahoe disguised as a Land Cruiser?

You were pretty fortunate in the past...because every one of those parts (except the fuel sender) failed at a similar point in the life of my 100 Series.

 

[ag4ever]

I had a failure at about 120k. It was not the id tag area, but the upper radiator hose connection. The plastic had spider cracks and was leaking about a pint a week (20 miles a day).

This happened after replacing a leaking water pump. I also had a belt tensioner fail at the same time.

Replaced the radiator with a new Toyota part, and good as new. From start to finish the radiator was less than a 2 hour job. The experience replacing ghd water pump helped, and then doing half that work again to replace the tensioner also helped.

I think the plastic used is inferior. My 2007 tundra has not had a lick of trouble with the cooling system.

 

[jackiejay29]

*Extreme Conjecture Below*

I wanted to see if I could ballpark the failure rate of the radiator through the use of the information on this forum and the internet as well as narrow down the timing of the failures. On this thread alone, the following users have had radiator failures/ cracking (complete with model year and miles listed are as of the event date):
@jclarke450 - 08 at 166K miles
@INTP - 08 at 143K
@NetJunky - 09 at 135k
@BTUMAN - 08 at 94K
@MEMCruiser - 08 at 185K
@Softride62 - 08 at 110K
@DSallean - 08 at 129K
@thechief24 - 08 at 112K
@Markuson - 08 at 81K
@mreedbmwm3 - 139K
@TexAZ - 08 -
@ranma21 - 11 at 82k

I was able to find two additional cases of radiator failure in another 200 section thread.
@Utahsteve - 08 at 100k
@Fahad -

Number of Failures:
14 total failures, 10 were 2008 model, 1 was 2009, 1 was 2011, and 2 unknown. All are Land Cruisers except for the 2011 LX 570 despite them using the same radiator. This could be because the 200 section is mainly LC owners. I checked the 3rd gen LX 570 section on clublexus but wasn't able to find any failures.

Mileage of Failures:
Failures occurred at an average of ~123,000 miles with a standard deviation of ~31,000 miles (numbers only take into account vehicles who's mileage at the failure was recorded). All are believed to have occurred within the last two years.

Failure Rate:
There is no way a good baseline for failure rate. The MUD population is too small and there is no way to accurately count the number of owners of the 08-11 model year. This thread shows 71 currently owned from 2008-2011 (How many 200's on ih8mud). Assuming all MUD owners input their info (which didn't happen and is a bad assumption), this puts the failure rate at ~20% (take with a Land Cruiser-sized grain of salt)

 

[jackiejay29]

I have a 2008 and just yesterday, while getting my oil changed, the mechanic said i should get my radiator looked at as it is seeping on top. Sure enough, when I got home I looked and there is the start of the dreaded crack, so add me in at 164,400 miles. Going to order a new one today, and use a bit of epoxy to buy another week or two until it is swapped out.

 

[INTP]

I have a 2008 and just yesterday, while getting my oil changed, the mechanic said i should get my radiator looked at as it is seeping on top. Sure enough, when I got home I looked and there is the start of the dreaded crack, so add me in at 164,400 miles. Going to order a new one today, and use a bit of epoxy to buy another week or two until it is swapped out.

I tried JB weld on mine as a emergency repair but it didn't stop the leak.

 

[NLScooby]

I tried JB weld on mine as a emergency repair but it didn't stop the leak.

I did the same thing....a little JB Weld to get the 200 home.....it didn't stop it but I felt better! We stopped to check the level every 40 miles or so and amount lost was negligible.......

 

[tabraha]

Getting my cracked radiator changed out today. Pretty disappointing this hasn't been superseded by something without a flaw in the design.