Attention to detail pays off in better radiator cooling and air flow.

[Rifleman]

I've been helping a fellow mud member doing some work on his rig. He pulls a 24 foot trailer with his truck, and during the hot summer months he's been having some overheating problems. Anyway we pulled his radiator out, took it to a shop to have the "Gray Goo" we found inside it cleaned out. While waiting on the cleaning to be done we did the oil replacement on his fan clutch. We also took the time while the radiator was out, to clean out all the bugs and other crap stuck in his air conditioner condenser and the oil cooler. We went ahead and took this time to install a new Toyota T-stat (80c) and gasket. When we went to put everything back together we went the extra step to replace all the old foam seals that went around the radiator and fan shroud. Let me tell you what a HUGH difference in air flow that makes!!! Upon start up, you can now hear the roar from the fan clutch, but along with that, the seals around the radiator, and fan shroud makes a marked difference in air flow being directed through the radiator core. Now just sitting at idle, placing your hand in front of the grill, you can feel the air being drawn through the grill. When we finished up, I hooked up my Snap On MT2500 OBD 2 tester to check out his trucks water temps, his gauge now runs just a little below the middle of it's range. According to my Snap On MT2500 tester, his truck now runs a steady 80c (176 F) to 84c (183 F).

 

[Chris FJ80]

Did you use OEM foam inserts or off the shelf stuff?

 

[WarWagon]

All the foam around my rad is gone......and I've had overheating issues climbing.

 

[Golgo13]

This is going to spark a run on parts and a very long debate on which foam is better, OEM or off-the-shelf from weather-stripping section of Lowes.
I'm sure Joey will chime in with something that NASA used for sealing the Space Shuttle doors...

 

[greentruck]

Great points all.

Did you use OEM foam inserts or off the shelf stuff?

I used the foam stripping available at the local big box. For the bigger gaps I used a 1.5" or 2" square foam strip. These typically have adhesive on one side to stick to things.

One thing that tends to get broken in messing with this sort of work is the fan shroud. Be careful, it's surprisingly fragile once loosened to take out or when put back in. In case you break it, the aluminum tape with peel off backing that is used to seal ductwork is great for taping up breaks in the shroud. Looks like heck, but works well.

 

[Overland Tailor]

The foam is only available on the New OEM Radiator. AFAIK there are no standalone OEM replacements.

I used Home Depot Foam and it worked great until I replaced my Radiator with OEM and it had the foam strip mounted to the mew rad..

J

 

[LFD2037]

I'd be willing to bet a shiny new nickel the fluid in the FC made the drastic difference you're describing. Foam helped too, I'm sure, but the fluid change makes the most marked difference. Does the fan ever 'turn off' or release?

 

[Tools R Us]

Yep, a well setup and clean cooling system pays off. We use big box weather strip, best is the closed cell, water proof stuff.

 

[NLXTACY]

This is going to spark a run on parts and a very long debate on which foam is better, OEM or off-the-shelf from weather-stripping section of Lowes.
I'm sure Joey will chime in with something that NASA used for sealing the Space Shuttle doors...

Umm ok guilty. Problem was it was only available in large sheets and I didn't want to go that route. I instead broke down and went to Home Depot and went the same route as everyone else. The foam wasn't a huge difference maker for me. Hell I drove without a shroud for a few months and didn't notice a big difference. The fan clutch on the other hand...

 

[Rifleman]

To answer some of your questions, he used some sticky side, 1 X 1/2 inch closed cell foam from one of the big box stores. He said he picked this thicker foam because he wanted to make sure that while following the fan shroud, it would fill all the peaks and valleys when the shroud is fitted to the radiator, and it filled all the big gaps between the radiator, and the core support. To fill that larger gap under the radiator he used some 3 inch, by 3 inch, foam that is used when you install a window air conditioner. He said the cost for all the foam came to grand total of 6 bucks!!!

As for the fan clutch, yes it does disconnect, upon start up you can now really hear it roar like it did when it was new, but after a few minutes of run time the roar disappears, then all you can hear is the slight click, click, of the injectors opening. One thing i would like to add, taking the time to clean all the bugs and crap out of the condenser and oil cooler fins was a big pain in the ass. But once you get down to eye level, and see how much stuff is stuck in there after almost 20 years of use, well it's well worth your time to get ALL that air flowing back through your radiator core by cleaning those fins. The tool he used for cleaning out the fins was a thin, ridged, stainless steel strip about 3/16 of an inch wide by about 1/32 of an inch thick.

Now some of you said that most of the cooling gains came from rebuilding the fan clutch. I'd say that 30% came from the fan clutch, 55% came from cleaning both the inside of the radiator, and cleaning out all the crap plugging the air flow from going through the cooling fins. Last would be 15% from sealing up all the air leaks, and forcing all the available air through the radiator core.

 

[NCFJ54]

Stupid question. Are you guys just pulling the shroud and lining it with stick tape installation and reinstalling?

 

[Rifleman]

NCFJ54, to answer your question, in our case we had everything removed. Yes, removing the radiator is a pain, but look at it this way, this makes a perfect time to do that coolant change you've been putting off. So just go ahead and drain the radiator, pull the fan and shroud, and get after it. Now since you've got it all apart go ahead and replace the T-stat, radiator cap,and fan belts, do the oil change in the fan clutch, clean the inside of the radiator and it's cooling fins, seal it all back up, fill it with new coolant, and you'll be set for summer. To do all this work my friend spent right around 225 bucks getting his truck ready for camping season. That total includes what the radiator shop charged for cleaning the radiator, 2 Gal. of new green coolant, 2 Gal. of distilled water, new Toyota T-stat and gasket, new Toyota radiator cap, Toyota fan belts, oil from the hobby shop for the fan clutch, foam to seal the air leaks, and a new Toyota fan belt idler pulley. Oh one more thing, if you haven't pulled and checked your T-stat, you might want to do that. In the case of my friends truck, we checked it's opening temp in a pan of water, lets just put it this way, after 225000 miles, and 18 years of use, it was very slow opening, and it never did open all the way up like the new one did.

 

[SmokingRocks]

washing the radiator cores, trans cooler and whatever coolers from the backside with a mild pressure sprayer does a good job of removing dirt and bugs that you wouldn't be able to pick out with your fingers. You would be surprised by how much grit gets lodged in the radiator fins.

 

[jonheld]

I use an HVAC wand sprayer that fires a high pressure low volume spray in 1 direction. If you remove the 2 bolts holding the shroud, you can get almost the entire inside surface of the radiator. I do this at least once a year to get all the crap out from between the engine radiator and condenser coils. You should be able to see through both.
I replaced the radiator with OEM last year, so the foam is still new, but I added some adhesive closed cell stripping to the inside faces of the shroud to make a good seal.
OEM blue hub unmolested. Runs cool always.

 

[NCFJ54]

NCFJ54, to answer your question, in our case we had everything removed. Yes, removing the radiator is a pain, but look at it this way, this makes a perfect time to do that coolant change you've been putting off. So just go ahead and drain the radiator, pull the fan and shroud, and get after it. Now since you've got it all apart go ahead and replace the T-stat, radiator cap,and fan belts, do the oil change in the fan clutch, clean the inside of the radiator and it's cooling fins, seal it all back up, fill it with new coolant, and you'll be set for summer. To do all this work my friend spent right around 225 bucks getting his truck ready for camping season. That total includes what the radiator shop charged for cleaning the radiator, 2 Gal. of new green coolant, 2 Gal. of distilled water, new Toyota T-stat and gasket, new Toyota radiator cap, Toyota fan belts, oil from the hobby shop for the fan clutch, foam to seal the air leaks, and a new Toyota fan belt idler pulley. Oh one more thing, if you haven't pulled and checked your T-stat, you might want to do that. In the case of my friends truck, we checked it's opening temp in a pan of water, lets just put it this way, after 225000 miles, and 18 years of use, it was very slow opening, and it never did open all the way up like the new one did.

I just did a flush and t stat, my question was more just referring to the foam.

I am going to do the fan mod and belts soon I guess I will just add foam to the shroud while I have it out.