AC Condenser Fan Upgrade (from a 90-95 4runner) and 22RE aluminum radiator (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jul 31, 2007
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Location
San Diego North
I still see quite a few 3.0 90-95 4runners in the junkyard and have been upgrading my 92 pickup with creature comforts like
map lights
full gauges
AC
int wipers
clock
ash tray and glove box light
oil pressure sender
dash speaker enclosures

I noticed a while back that the 4runners have an AC electric condenser fan behind the grille so I finally got one and decided it must be bolt on like everything else. Well, it wasn't quite bolt on but I did it anyway. The lower part of the Radiator support where the fan and bracket bolts to on the 4runner is different on the pickup and would explain why it is stamped "PU" on my pickup. There was an existing 10mm hole where the top of the fan attaches but I had to weld 3 nuts to the lower support for the bottom 2 fan mounts and the new hood release support bracket.
I read elsewhere you would need the bumper and grille from the 4runner but I only got the fan, wire harness, and hood release bracket.
The wire harness includes it's own relay(2) and fuse box that attaches to the existing fuse box nicely via slots in my 92. The harness also includes a resistor and 2 ground points. It appears that the fan has 2 speeds depending on conditions.

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I had to trim the grille but not the bumper. It fits nicely. Ill add to this once I wire it up. Ignore the foam, it's helping hold the grille while the black silicone dries cause the grille clips suck. Time to build a stronger bumper or protection as I feel like I just installed a damage multiplier. A minor front collision could push this into the condenser easily.

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Wiring
The factory wiring harness for the fan has 3 wires you need to deal with. I have included the factory diagram as well as a simplified diagram I made as all anyone really needs to know is what the 3 wires do coming off of the harness. The fan will normally run on low when the ac clutch is activated. The 4runners have a normally closed high pressure switch in the condenser line that triggers the fan to high when pressure builds during high demand/temps. The pickups don't have this so something like a normally closed snap disc/thermo switch could be used to trigger the fan to high when a certain temp is reached.
Basically when both the black/white and green wires have a positive signal to the relays, the fan will be on low, when the green wire positive signal is removed, the fan will be on high. The first picture shows how neatly the condenser fan relay/fuse box slots onto the existing pickup fuse box.

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I ended up connecting both the green and black/white wires together to the AC clutch wire and the yellow wire to the battery. The fan turns on low when the compressor clutch engages.
I will test it out this upcoming summer and see how it does. Low moves a good amount of air and high is pretty obnoxious so I may just leave it this way.
I did consider adding a switch to the dash to activate high but I'll probably use a snap disc like the one below, just need to find the right temperature and placement.

This is the type of normally closed snap disc that can be used in place of the 4runner high pressure switch(also normally closed). you can choose the temp you want the fan to go to high. the snap disc would be attached to the condenser or radiator. this one would turn the fan to high at 194 deg F.

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So I needed a new radiator and instead of the brass CSF 2314 or 2306(the one to get), I decided to try out the cheap overseas 3 row aluminum radiator that just about everyone is selling these days under different names. I was able to find one for $110 on ebay. It appears to be a radiator made for various vehicles and just has different mounting brackets so it's not really an exact fit for the 22RE. The radiator cap is also larger and higher(19 psi) than what is on a 22RE(13 psi). I bought a Ford RS-62 13 psi cap that fit. A Stant 10229 also fits. Some reviews on Amazon say it leaked so I did some pressure tests when it arrived. I know there are better aluminum radiators out there but the price has gone up and availability has gone down. I will test this one out for a while and see how it goes.

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The radiator isn't quite as wide as the original so it left a little gap on both sides where the brackets are on both the radiator mount and the fan shroud mount.
They at least could have just left a little more aluminum on the mounting tabs to fill the gaps. I ended up cutting some black ABS from a 25 gallon agricultural
pot to make some gap fillers and riveted 2 strips on the shroud and 2 strips on the radiator. On the shroud I had to add a little foam and glue on some spacers
for the mounting tabs(one was already broken).


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Here are the strips on the radiator for where it mounts to the core support

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I wanted to replace the water pump, thermostat, and hoses too and I noticed some people complaining that the Aisin pump quality is not what it used to be
and/or the casting is very poor. I saw some reputable Toyota suppliers had switched to the NPW pump made by Nissan in Japan so I sourced one from ebay.
Water pump torque. 10mm head nuts/bolts=72 inch/lbs. 12mm head bolt=108 inch/lbs.


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I saw that Aisin had a nice looking 190 deg thermostat (THT-002) made in Japan so I got it along with a gasket 039-0057. Torque 108 inch/lbs.

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There is a lot of talk about Toyota Red and Pink coolant. I have always understood it this way. This is my opinion, you may disagree.
Pink and Red are slightly different formulations. Pink is not a diluted Red.
Red only comes undiluted and is made for older Toyotas up to 2002. It has protections (molybate & triazole) for brass and copper radiators and heater cores that Pink does not have.
Pink only comes 50/50 mix and is made for Toyotas after 2002 when they switched to aluminum for both radiators and heater cores.
You can use Red in anything because it protects brass/copper/aluminum. You shouldn't use Pink below 2002.
Pink doesn't protect brass/copper
Pink has a longer life than Red
I used Red in this instance because my heater core is not aluminum.

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After buying and returning hoses I have the list.
1. upper hose. 22re to radiator=Dayco 71262 (may have to cut a little)
2. lower hose. coolant tube to lower radiator=Gates 21171 (cut to fit)
3. elbow hose. water pump to coolant tube=Gates 20801 (cut to fit to 90 deg elbow, water pump connection is slightly larger than coolant tube and this hose has one end slightly larger)
note: Amazon says that the Gates 21398 is the correct upper hose. It did not work for me especially compared to the Dayco listed above.

I ended up gluing a normally closed 205 deg snap disc thermostat to the side of the radiator to see if it will activate the condenser fan high speed at the right time. I used Dowsil 734 high temp silicone to adhere it. Toyota used foam around the radiator to help it suck air from the outside and through the condenser so I added foam in places.

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