2nd gen Sequoia (5.7) - Radiator removal

[hoch]

I found a leak in my radiator. I’m looking to order a Denso radiator from Rockauto, which should get here this weekend.

When removing the radiator, do I need to remove the fan and serpentine belt? A video I watched shows the guy removing them. A couple of comments say they do not need to be removed.
Any advice?

 

[kbahus]

Serpentine belt no, fan clutch assembly, yes. It just bolts on though, nothing difficult. Perhaps you can sneak it out with leaving the shroud and fan installed, but it's not hard to remove and will give you some more space.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

the fan is actually mounted on a separate bracket from the water pump, the pulley may go a little askew but there shouldn't be a need to remove anything other than the fan clutch and shroud. About half way down the first page of my build thread there is a picture of the pulley without the fan.

 

[hoch]

Hey guys, I had ordered the radiator from rockauto, but when I got it, the box was beat up and the fins were a bit mangled. But Rockauto sent a replacement which I got today.
I was going to replace it this weekend, but I got thinking of other things I might as well replace when I’m in there. My Sequoia now has a little over 200k, and I don’t think any of these have been replaced. Does it make sense to do these?
- Thermostat
- Coolant hoses
- Serpentine belt
- Idler pulley
- Tensioner

Anything else you suggest? I was going to order the parts above from Rockauto but they’re all Gates or AC Delco, which I’ve had mixed experiences with.
I think I’m going to go OEM for those parts, even at 2x the cost.

 

[kbahus]

Wouldn’t hurt, the tensioner is a common issue. Also check the water pump and make sure it isn’t seeping. OEM wherever possible unless Aisin or Denso parts can be sourced. The OEM tensioner is not very expensive, I think I paid $75 for mine.

 

[hoch]

Wouldn’t hurt, the tensioner is a common issue. Also check the water pump and make sure it isn’t seeping. OEM wherever possible unless Aisin or Denso parts can be sourced. The OEM tensioner is not very expensive, I think I paid $75 for mine.

Will check the water pump as well. This has snowballed a bit but glad to be taking care of this at the same time. Belt service will be easier with the radiator out of the way.

 

[hoch]

Time to get to work…

 

[vtl]

Need 3 coolant jugs for a complete replacement. Unless you are not going to drain the block.

 

[hoch]

Need 3 coolant jugs for a complete replacement. Unless you are not going to drain the block.

Yeah, the parts guy said only 2 was needed for a full flush. Then his co-worker confirmed. My fault, as I should have known better and checked myself! I picked up 2 more gallons today.

 

[hoch]

Got it pretty much done. Wasn’t bad at all. I didn’t remove the fan. It was very easy to get the radiator out. I didn’t even need anyone to help guide it out and the new one back in. I did remove the little petcock to help it get past the fan shroud easier. Probably a non-issue if you have a friend helping.

It was MUCH easier to do the serpentine belt with the radiator and hoses out of the way. I removed the radiator, lower hose and thermostat and there was a lot of room to work with. Some videos showed having to snake the serp belt through the top then moving to the bottom to loop around the pulleys, then back to the top… This was easy with all of the parts removed.

The only issue I had: the engine block drains didn’t budge. I didn’t want to risk them stripping or worse, breaking. So I tried to flush the system with distilled water. I think there’s still a gallon of the old green coolant that was left in there. So I bought some Peak red concentrate, dumped that in the system and let it run for a while. I’m going to run it for a couple of days, then do another drain. Then will probably wait for about 15k miles before doing another drain/fill.

Lots of room

Old vs new bearings. Lots of play in the old bearings, which I believe are the original (200k miles). No more squeaking at start up.

 

[LINUS]

I just paid the dealership & got a new serpentine belt & tensioner done <6mo ago.

It only has ~90K on the powertrain but the belt was ~13YO & a tensioner seemed like smart $$ as it only added 1/2HR to labor charge.
IIRC it was just about $300-$325 taxed total.

Peace of mind it was worth it - even at just 90K it quieted the startup noise.