just my expert advice , DO NOT , DO NOT buy cooper radiator it will not cool well get the same/similar aluminium.
22 year old radiator
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This agrees with our experience.
Mine blew @ 216k miles on our trip to Zion. Replaced with a OE replacement brand and seems to be working well.
^^^^^ Someone needs to tell my radiator then. Because it cools just fine. But....maybe I got a 'stupid' one, who knows.
my experiment with cooper 3 rows did not went well, but nether with the aluminium , but aluminium cooling a lot better than cooper in my case.^^^^^ Someone needs to tell my radiator then. Because it cools just fine. But....maybe I got a 'stupid' one, who knows.
ewillis
SILVER Star
My OEM brass 3 core cooled flawlessly in the Mojave desert for 23 years. No signs of failure, but replaced it with a brand new one as PM...I'll stick with what works.
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Just drove it 9 hours and it stayed between 183-190( on long hills). I'm going to change it, any one have a link to the radiator of choice?
Not sure my grandpa took it up there with the Rad out of the “36 Chevy pick up rad he needed done. I’ll ask him when I’m over there this weekend...
Ended up needing a new radiator as part of my HG repair. PO had installed a new radiator in the last few years, plastic tank separated most likely from the overheat when the HG let go. I ended up going with OEM from here as it was local-ish and a few bucks cheaper than toyotapartsoverstock.com: Radiator Assembly - Toyota (16400-66081) | Boch Toyota South
The choices I picked up from a few threads are OEM, Koyorad A1918/ A1917, CSF, Ron Davis etc. I have no clue what is currently the true rad of choice. Available budget and past experience seemed to be deciding factors.
This thread helped me wade through the many options Replacement Radiator - 1997 FZJ80
*edit for spelling
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- #31
Thanks. I'll probably go OEM.
I got this monster for my FJ80 (3f-e) but I'm assuming there is something like it out there for the 1z. I get the whole OEM thing but I have zero confidence in brass radiators, and with the frequency of plastic/alu radiators separating, I have pretty good peace of mind with the all aluminum. I have a cheap full aluminum radiator in my M3 and it seems completely fine. The build quality on them isn't 100% perfect but it doesn't really need to be IMO.
edit: this was $220 shipped from ebay
Well mostly because cooling system component failures can damage the engine and leave you stranded, so the obvious thing to do is to replace things before they fail.
I totally get it. Just not obvious to me. I just bought a FZJ80 with 325K miles on it. Not going to be replacing the motor just because is it old. The thing runs great. I just don't replace things that don't necessarily need replacing. If I suspected it as being bad, that is a different story. I would tend to pull it and take it to a radiator shop for inspection / boiling out. Do they still have radiator shops? As you can tell, I'm old.
Yes, there are still radiator shops. They rebuild the brass and aluminum ones. The plastic/aluminum combos can be tested but are usually trashed before they are rebuilt.
The 95+ radiator is the plastic/aluminum combos and they sometimes separate at the seal.
Mine exploded the top tank linearly the top center of the tank. Sounded like I blew a tire.
^^^^^ Mine suffered a big split in the plastic top (8"-10" long). Spewed coolant all over the engine bay.
Luckily, I was very close to home when it happened. No obvious issues (crazing or cracks in the plastic top) and the Cruiser was not running hot.
But...I DO believe we have one potential warning sign that the plastic is (or has) become brittle. Once it has turned from its normal black color to a yellowish-brown, I think this is an indicator of compromised integrity.
Not saying that failure is 'certain' or that it will happen within a particular time frame, but most of the radiator tops I've seen that actually split....looked as described.
This is what mine looked like not long before it failed.
That being said, mine was still black when it blew.
Mine was due to crappy belts, no idler pulley, and a radiator cap that was fillled with gunk due to the PO mixing red and green coolant.
WOT coming onto interstate, belts broke, wrapped around water pump and stopped it, temperature spiked, couldn't relieve fast enough, and BOOM! It felt and sounded like a tire blew out.
My OEM ‘97 rad never turned yellow or brownish at 215k. Drove into my garage and it sounded like sizzling bacon. Opened the hood and the entire top tank was separating from the core and seeping pressure/coolant. Never overheated. No early signs aside from age. Either I got lucky that it didn’t catastrophically blow, or I got lucky that it failed slowly. I chose to replace it with an early model brass rad and couldn’t be happier. Here in SoCal, it keeps things at a rock solid 185* regardless of ambient temp or driving condition.
Thanks for the information. This is new to me. Never had a cruiser radiator that was plastic. Seems weird.
Just got a '95 that has 325K on it that runs excellent. Don't want to start replacing all the old parts though. I think I'll just give it a visual inspection and go from there.
