So the radiator in my 96 is original and seems to be working well. Its always on my mind, how much longer can it go? No leaks and cools well. Do I replace it? I have no interest in fixing it on the trail or side of the road.
If you say yes, what radiator is the best these days? OEM, Koyo, CST?
So the radiator in my 96 is original and seems to be working well. Its always on my mind, how much longer can it go? No leaks and cools well. Do I replace it? I have no interest in fixing it on the trail or side of the road.
If you say yes, what radiator is the best these days? OEM, Koyo, CST?
IF the plastic top of your radiator is a yellowish/brown.....you are on borrowed time. How long....who can say.
Mine (original) developed a huge split along the top. Thankfully not too far from home. Prior to that...there were no indications it would give any trouble. Vehicle not running hot, etc....
Same thing as the heater valve on 80 series... or heater Tee's on 100 series. When they turn yellowish/brown, it is an indicator they have become brittle and degraded.
I chose to NOT put any more plastic radiators on my Cruiser, but would not argue that the original gave good service.
Replace it at your earliest convenience IMO. I would go OEM if possible but if you can get an all aluminum one for half as much I would go that route honestly. It's entirely possible that even a cheap all aluminum one could be better than the OEM one I just think the OEM ones have consistently good manufacturing quality.
I have a '96 and replaced my original OEM (260K miles) with a Koyo aluminum rad last year. It didn't fail but looking at the cores it was definitely time. I live in Canada and cheapest OEM any dealer would offer was $800+. I got a Koyo for <$200 US. Great quality and keeps temps cool after 10k miles.
IF the plastic top of your radiator is a yellowish/brown.....you are on borrowed time. How long....who can say.
Mine (original) developed a huge split along the top. Thankfully not too far from home. Prior to that...there were no indications it would give any trouble. Vehicle not running hot, etc....
Same thing as the heater valve on 80 series... or heater Tee's on 100 series. When they turn yellowish/brown, it is an indicator they have become brittle and degraded.
I chose to NOT put any more plastic radiators on my Cruiser, but would not argue that the original gave good service.
In the 'pic' below you will see the discoloration (yellowish/brown) of the plastic radiator top (original radiator) not long before it split.
And as previously stated...I am not here to argue that the original radiator did not give good service (it did), but the all metal CSF just makes me feel better (not going to damage it when working on the engine, etc...) and it cools my Cruiser just fine ( I live in Texas, it gets pretty damn hot here).
When my new to me LX450 let go, I replaced it with an OEM, but from a 94 (IIRC) I got from Onur 'cause he said it was better. Of course I did all the hoses/belts/fan clutch/thermostat while I was in there too. All OEM.
I have a new OEM heater valve in my parts box waiting for the snow to clear.
In the 'pic' below you will see the discoloration (yellowish/brown) of the plastic radiator top (original radiator) not long before it split.
And as previously stated...I am not here to argue that the original radiator did not give good service (it did), but the all metal CSF just makes me feel better (not going to damage it when working on the engine, etc...) and it cools my Cruiser just fine ( I live in Texas, it gets pretty damn hot here).
I’ve got a 1991 and it has a complete brass Radiator... in the middle of an LS Swap so I sent it out for a rebuild from a shop here in KC... IMHO you just can’t beat the durability and heat exchange rate of a brass Rad... although if it goes bad again I’m going with a Griffin custom unit
I would no go off the beaten path (highway) with a radiator that old. If I were you, I'd ask myself whether I'm going to sell the truck within six months. If not, replace the rad as soon as possible. I replaced mine with a Koyo 2 or 3 years ago. So far so good.
I’ve got a 1991 and it has a complete brass Radiator... in the middle of an LS Swap so I sent it out for a rebuild from a shop here in KC... IMHO you just can’t beat the durability and heat exchange rate of a brass Rad... although if it goes bad again I’m going with a Griffin custom unit
So the radiator in my 96 is original and seems to be working well. Its always on my mind, how much longer can it go? No leaks and cools well. Do I replace it?
SNIP
Edit: 223K miles
Yeah, you're living on borrowed time here if you want reliability and to avoid surprises.
Right before I replaced the OEM radiator in our 97, I would've described it the same way. Then the cooling got marginal rather quickly. In diagnosing the issue, it was suggested that I check the core in different places to see if it was equally warm or if it had cool spots. Get the truck warm, then shut it down. Your hand will work if you're careful and it's pretty obvious if the cool spots are there. That's where things are clogged up and limiting full cooling capacity. One of the infrared no-touch thermometers also would work.
In the 'pic' below you will see the discoloration (yellowish/brown) of the plastic radiator top (original radiator) not long before it split.
And as previously stated...I am not here to argue that the original radiator did not give good service (it did), but the all metal CSF just makes me feel better (not going to damage it when working on the engine, etc...) and it cools my Cruiser just fine ( I live in Texas, it gets pretty damn hot here).
I also had my radiator split and installed this metal replacement. Resting temps are a bit higher than the plastic one but it also doesn't fluctuate as much, which makes me feel much better about it.
I recently had the top of my 1997 radiator separate on a road trip. It kept me from enjoying Moab like I wanted. I would get it replaced. Especially if it is discolored. I went with OEM, but if you have the money, the aluminum replacement is nice.
