80 Series Radiator Woes (1 Viewer)

[rynburns]

Hey ya'll, after years of looking into Land Cruisers, I finally picked myself up a 1996 for a decent price, but it's high mileage and needs a little work. Aside from all the little things, I noticed that when going up a long, fairly steep highway grade, that the coolant temp starts to climb uncomfortably. As soon as the grade is over with, or I stop and allow the truck to idle, the temps drop back down to normal, and I continue about my day. I went ahead and replaced the fan clutch, mainly because it's a cheap and easy experiment, and although the issue is slightly better, it still occurs. So the next plan is basically an entire cooling system overhaul, which brings me to the issue of the radiator. Personally, I don't like radiators with plastic tanks, I just don't trust them after seeing a number of them fail. I have found an all steel one from CHF for a decent price, but then also stumbled across one on Amazon of all places that's all aluminum, but specifies 4 row and the description seems a little confused on if it's for a diesel or not (link provided, not the 4.5l fitment). So what's everyone's thoughts on the most efficient radiator that's not $900, and does anybody have any experience with either this radiator, or one for a diesel going into a non-diesel truck?

https://www.amazon.com/Primecooling...-1&keywords=1996+series+land+cruiser+radiator

 

[gummycarbs]

I see CSF recommended most often.

My understanding is that more rows in the same volume means smaller tubes, which means easier clogging.

I recently had really good results on a high-mileage engine that was overheating by doing several 3-day Prestone flushes over the course of a couple weeks. I thought the fan clutch was bad. Turns out the radiator was just so clogged that it never even got hot enough to heat up the fan clutch and activate it! In the future, my first step in diagnosing cooling issues will be to put an IR thermometer on the radiator and compare it to the water pump.

 

[rynburns]

Noted, although I think I'd rather just put in a new radiator than try to flush this one out, it's clearly some sort of cheap replacement and I'd rather just not...

 

[steffan]

My plastic radiator lasted 25 years before it started leaking at the seams. I was considering a metal one just because the plastic bypass tube is easy to break off if your not careful

 

[landtank]

you might just try and clean the radiator in there with some simple green and a garden hose. That amazon rad is for a deisel and a manual at that. What did you use for a fan clutch? If factory or aisin was it modded?

 

[geologic]

I recently purchased a 97 4.5 out of a totaled 40th with 153k miles, I decided to do a head gasket so I would know what I have, after disassembly the most impressive thing that’s not discussed on here enough was that the water passages in the block were full of thick corrosion, gook! I decided to have it disassembled and tanked, the rear seal was so brittle as I removed it, I realized that all these motors need a reseal and clean out, many a radiator have failed when these gobbs of gook in the block find there way to the radiator

 

[rynburns]

you might just try and clean the radiator in there with some simple green and a garden hose. That amazon rad is for a deisel and a manual at that. What did you use for a fan clutch? If factory or aisin was it modded?

The fan clutch I used was sourced from our local Napa, not an OEM unit.

I recently purchased a 97 4.5 out of a totaled 40th with 153k miles, I decided to do a head gasket so I would know what I have, after disassembly the most impressive thing that’s not discussed on here enough was that the water passages in the block were full of thick corrosion, gook! I decided to have it disassembled and tanked, the rear seal was so brittle as I removed it, I realized that all these motors need a reseal and clean out, many a radiator have failed when these gobbs of gook in the block find there way to the radiator

I agree with the idea that there's probably a good amount of goo in my cooling system, so I'll run a flush prior to removing the old radiator, and blast the rest as well as I can with a hose while the old radiator is out, but if im going through pulling the engine to get it all straightened out, it would never go back in as there are better engine options that would result in more hp/better mpg

 

[landtank]

Our trucks need a good strong clutch. Not sure what the NAPA one is but you should do some reading on the subject.

 

[landtank]

OK, just looked on the Napa site and if the picture is accurate to what you bought I wouldn't expect it to have helped much.

 

[rynburns]

OK, just looked on the Napa site and if the picture is accurate to what you bought I wouldn't expect it to have helped much.

Well looks like I'll be installing an OEM one then. Still going to carry out the rest of the overhaul though, better safe than sorry.

 

[inkpot]

Well looks like I'll be installing an OEM one then. Still going to carry out the rest of the overhaul though, better safe than sorry.

Many of us in warmer climates upgrade the silicone fluid in the Aisin blue clutch, even if they are new.

 

[rynburns]

Many of us in warmer climates upgrade the silicone fluid in the Aisin blue clutch, even if they are new.

Another thing I was considering was installing a secondary pusher fan on a switch. Figured the ability to manually flow some air to the radiator/condenser may not be a terrible idea...

 

[fz1boxer]

I'm surprised no one here said........head gasket j/k

 

[geologic]

I pretty much did say that and a thorough block gook clean out before you put on the new radiator and then shove it into the the new one, I bought a $148 Denso 221-9362, it’s a nice wide two row aluminum with plastic tanks, eBay or amazon, rock auto has the aisin blue fan clutch water pump, and oil pump with timing chain cover, cheap price but the Aisin name is ground off and sticker in place, I believe in Toyota and keeping the original parts running but I’m also doing an LS1/4L80e swap in another 80

 

[bloc]

A plastic tank koyo and a pretty badass mechanical fan from a HD pickup are cooling my 6.2L v8 just fine, even this summer in 100 degree heat.

My point? The high quality OE-style plastic radiators are fine if the rest of the system is up to the job.

My rig had a CSF on it when I bought it.. the koyo is higher quality all around.

 

[rynburns]

I'm surprised no one here said........head gasket j/k

I see no indications that there's any head gasket failure. There is no coolant loss, no coolant/oil intermix in either system, it passed a chemical hydrocarbon test just fine and there's no excessive cooling system pressure. I thought the same thing when I first got the truck, but since then I've decided that the head gasket is probably no the cause of this issue...