2F Replacement Radiator that won't Fail (1 Viewer)

[ibis1969]

My mechanic just informed me my radiator on my '86 FJ60 is leaking again. I replaced this radiator probably 4 years ago which was a replacement of another radiator that was replaced 4 years before that. The radiator from 8 years ago replaced the OEM one. I've put 33,000 miles on the truck over the course of those last two radiators. The OEM radiator had well over 200,000 miles before it failed! Any recommendation on currently produced radiators that don't fail after ~15,000-16,000 miles? This is absurd!

 

[TexasBlue]

CSF for brass and Mishimoto for Aluminum. About $400 for either one, and the Mishimoto has lifetime warranty.

I had my stock radiator re soldered and repaired for 175.00 over 18 months ago and no problems.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Are you using distilled water w/ the coolant? Could be whatever your using to reacting badly in the system?
Plenty of us have gone the CSF route cuz it’s a decent price.

 

[OSS]

Nobody makes radiators like Toyota used to make 30 years ago, including Toyota. I bought one of the last Toyota OEM radiators in 2009 (now NLA) and it literally dissolved in only 4 years.
Due to the increased cost of copper (compared to 30 years ago) along with bleeding edge material thicknesses reduction, (thinner metal) the copper radiators for the 60 today are never going to last as long as the original. Modern Manufacturing to hit a price point- taking everything to the limit

 

[mattressking]

16400-61090 is still available in the overseas market if you're willing to spend about $600 landed in the US.

 

[Freewheel]

I'm leery of the OEM Toyota Rad now too. The original one lasted forever so I figured i'd get another. Got one for my HJ and paid a lot for it and it lasted 3 years (about 30,000 km) It's now been rebuilt and has been holding up fine, but it was the only time I have been disappointed by an OEM part.

 

[ff347]

I wish I could cross reference it to something more common and local, even if brackets had to be made etc. While lifetime warranties are great, the shipping is expensive and the down time sucks.

 

[micruz60]

CSF 2708 working well for me over ten years now, just need to take routine care, use distilled water.
GL

 

[Joe T]

Why not Recore it? I recore’d one for an older Toyota forklift about 10-15 years ago, was very much NLA new.

 

[ibis1969]

No idea why my CSF failed in such a short time. Super frustrating. Plan on checking the 'insulators' aka mounts when I re-install the replacement radiator just in case they are gone and that might contribute to the CSF's short life. All that being said, I'm getting a Mishimoto for $450 w/ shipping included because of the lifetime warranty.

 

[Willard]

No idea why my CSF failed in such a short time. Super frustrating. Plan on checking the 'insulators' aka mounts when I re-install the replacement radiator just in case they are gone and that might contribute to the CSF's short life. All that being said, I'm getting a Mishimoto for $450 w/ shipping included because of the lifetime warranty.

In the aluminium rad, make sure of two things
1. The coolant is made for aluminium
2. Like others said distilled water.

I would also flush your system completely and then drain it completely block and all.

 

[SteveH]

My FJ62's OEM radiator lasted 14 years, the next CSF (installed by the dealer) lasted 13 years, I put another CSF in it. It has made it 2 years so far.

 

[georgebj60]

It think there are some electrolysis issues with aluminum radiators as well. Be sure to make sure all the grounds on your truck are solid. Maybe read this post too....

 

[Skniper]

I’ve had a couple Performances radiators, I can drive to their warehouse here and pick it up....come to find out I believe the Performance radiator is the CSF unit.

I just installed a Mishimoto aluminum in my 62 a couple weeks ago. Did water pump, hoses, belts, new pulley bearings, etc.... Fit is great, although I had to tweak the trans cooler fittings slightly for them to tighten properly. Non issue with a 60 obviously.

I used Toyota red coolant Kool-aid for years with no issues, the next time I tore down my cooling system I vowed to go back to classic green coolant. Why?....it’s what they ran from the factory, it’s something that can be found on most shelves if you have problems far from home, and cheaper.
I drained everything of the old red and ran straight distilled for a day, drained again, straight distilled again, drain. Repeated this 3-4 times then went back in with plain old Prestone green (couldn’t find plain green Zerex) and distilled, mixed 50/50 myself.

I’ll prob do a final drain/refill of the new green tomorrow morning, and do a final fresh refill. Running the straight water got rusty real fast, the current dose of green in there has held its color well...amazing what the coolant properties do for combating rust. Btw, the Mishimoto drain plug has a magnet built in to catch particles, mine collected a little but lessened at each flushing.

That said, you have to be educated to buy coolant anymore, there’s a lot of different stuff out there that gets confusing. I was about to buy some Zerex that I thought was green even after reading it but noticed it’s red color through the viewing strip at the counter.
Decided to go old school Prestone at that point.

Man I have bought a sh*t ton of distilled water jugs in the past two weeks.

 

[TexasBlue]

Have my original albeit, it was resoldered
1.5 years ago. Did full flush, all hoses, T stat and gaskets , water pump was newer so left it alone, repainted the fan shroud..did not cut it. Since then she runs cooler, even when it's 100 plus here in N Texas with A/C running. Original is better quality IMO

 

[HemiAlex]

The fact that my paint came off of my CSF2708 in less than a year makes me believe that the quality has gone down hill just as others have said.

My next one will be an aluminum one and I really don’t like the idea or appearance of one.