94SRUNNER
GOLD Star
As always, sound advice and should be followed closely. One point that I think gets missed is the foam on the sides of the radiator.
Best replacement radiator for the money today... (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter 2001LC
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
As always, sound advice and should be followed closely. One point that I think gets missed is the foam on the sides of the radiator.
Hey everyone. Just wanted to let yall know the shop that did my new Mishimoto radiator and thermostat. Installed the thermostat wrong. So hoping this heals my heating issues!
......"To which he rightfully replied. “We have done 100s of timing belts. Never had a problem.”
So they have some crow to eat, and owe you an apology at a minimum for shaming on questioning their work.
Did you end up digging in and finding that mistake yourself or did you go back and insist they check?
Went back to the shop. Had them burp the system and give me my foam that they did not install. Then he had me go to autozone and get something to help control radiator temps Thermo Freeze or something like that. (waste of 10 bucks) He added that to my system with no change in temps.
Came home and was like screw it. Pulled the thermostat and sure as all get out it was sitting at exactly 3 oclock....
Plan on calling them in the morning just to let them know somebody in the shop is not doing precise work.
Pretty sure this was the culprit in my high temp readings.
Good to hear you got it sorted out.
Did Mishimoto respond to your inquiry about the cuts on the sides? I'm curious what they're for
Did Mishimoto respond to your inquiry about the cuts on the sides? I'm curious what they're for
No. I didn’t even ask them about it. Heard other people had them as well so not too worried about it.
94SRUNNER
GOLD Star
Still in very good shape- hasn’t shrunk or dried out- 3yrs in
In case anyone was wondering, I inquired with Mishimoto regarding the "cut marks" on the sides and this is the response I got:
"Those cuts are made to allow for heat expansion. The endplates are used to hold it together while the tubes are welded, Once that is complete they are no longer a structural part. When it is solid it put a strain on the radiator as it gets warm."
"Those cuts are made to allow for heat expansion. The endplates are used to hold it together while the tubes are welded, Once that is complete they are no longer a structural part. When it is solid it put a strain on the radiator as it gets warm."
With 207k on the odometer my ‘06 Lx470’s radiator just started leaking this morning at the the plastic and metal connection, so upon the promising outcome many of you have experienced so far, I ended up also purchasing the Mishimoto all aluminum radiator. It shows on their website its for the 98-07 LC (even though I was under the impression that 98-02 had a different part with #16400-50360) but seeing as 03-07 LC‘s & LX’s both use the same OEM part # of 16400-50290, I’m assuming it should work w/o issue?
I mean, the engine bay pic on their own website shows an LX bay so...
I mean, the engine bay pic on their own website shows an LX bay so...
Last edited:
94SRUNNER
GOLD Star
With 207k on the odometer my ‘06 Lx470’s radiator just started leaking this morning at the the plastic and metal connection, so upon the promising outcome many of you have experienced so far, I ended up also purchasing the Mishimoto all aluminum radiator. It shows on their website its for the 98-07 LC (even though I was under the impression that 98-02 had a different part with #16400-50360) but seeing as 03-07 LC‘s & LX’s both use the same OEM part # of 16400-50290, I’m assuming it should work w/o issue?
I mean, the engine bay pic on their own website shows an LX bay so...
It'll work fine. I believe there have been a few guys with late model LX's that have them installed if you read back through this thread.
Bought mine off Mishimoto’s Amazon page for $20 less than their normal site pricing and with 2 day shipping. It didn’t ship until the day it was scheduled to arrive, but then was overnighted so I’m not mad. I’ll install this today and update my post to reflect my experience/initial thoughts (Haven’t seen any late model LX reviews after reading the 30+ pages of this thread but I might have missed one) 
Good luck!Bought mine off Mishimoto’s Amazon page for $20 less than their normal site pricing and with 2 day shipping. It didn’t ship until the day it was scheduled to arrive, but then was overnighted so I’m not mad. I’ll install this today and update my post to reflect my experience/initial thoughts (Haven’t seen any late model LX reviews after reading the 30+ pages of this thread but I might have missed one)
I’ve got an appointment with my Toyota gurus on April 26th, we’ve got some major service going down including the Mishimoto. Doing a bunch of things that I’ve not done yet and if I don’t do at 230K miles then I’ll just be dealing with them in the near future when the car breaks down. Besides radiator also doing fan clutch, alternator, starter, and differential bushings. Plus my rear seal is leaking oil so they need to drop the transmission and fix that. This coming after we recently did the front/rear shocks, new AC, new muffler. And new windshield wipers, can’t forget those...
Just pulled the trigger on Amazon and ordered the all-aluminum Mishimoto, it is being delivered on Tuesday. Toy House in Tampa is looking forward to doing the installation for me. I'm also swapping out the fan blade, fan clutch, and thermostat for OEM while we're at it.
It'll be interesting to see what the impact of this is going to be on a truck that is purely a pavement princess, where the factory cooling system is still working perfectly. I'm doing this job purely preventatively, because I know that a 20yo radiator with 230K miles is at that point where now is the time to do it if I want to do it before it fails. But my scangauge generally reads 181F pretty solid. I'll be very impressed if the engine is running warm below 180F!
It'll be interesting to see what the impact of this is going to be on a truck that is purely a pavement princess, where the factory cooling system is still working perfectly. I'm doing this job purely preventatively, because I know that a 20yo radiator with 230K miles is at that point where now is the time to do it if I want to do it before it fails. But my scangauge generally reads 181F pretty solid. I'll be very impressed if the engine is running warm below 180F!
Mine is a pavement princess right now as well. My 2007 (known to run warmer than 2005 and below) was running at 190 I consistently range from 184-188 now. MAKE SURE you stress to them if you are doing the thermostat that the jiggle valve needs to be at 12 o’clock position. My shop installed mine at the 3 o’clock position and I was running 200! Good luck with all your maintenance!!!
Did everyone buy these up already? I'm looking for the Mishimoto for my '03 LX and only the 98-02 part is listed on the Mishimoto site. Took my truck in for new tires and got a report back of several other repairs. As I'm not looking to pay Toyota $1000 to replace it for me I'd really like to do this myself.
EDIT: Nevermind, for some reason it doesn't come up when using the vehicle selection on the mishimoto site, but search specifically for the part got me to the right place. Now to spend $450 or not...
EDIT: Nevermind, for some reason it doesn't come up when using the vehicle selection on the mishimoto site, but search specifically for the part got me to the right place. Now to spend $450 or not...
Last edited:
I went with a TYC from Amazon. Decided to drop the $160 on that, if it doesn't work out, I'll go with a Mishimoto. Ordered a new OEM thermostat and gasket, Gates upper and lower hoses, new OEM clamps from McGeorge Toyota. Also went ahead and ordered new heater Ts from McGeorge as well. I figure if I'm draining all the coolant and pulling all this stuff out, I might as well hit those too. Hoping everything is here by Friday. This is my first "big" item I'm trying myself.
I also ordered a Mishimoto and plan on installing it on my 99 whenever I get the parts. With 268k on the stock radiator I'd say it did well! I just want to mention, everyone seems to be talking about the Mishimoto maybe running at lower temps than a stock radiator, but that's not necessarily how a cooling system works. It may have more cooling capacity, but if you're just driving around, the thermostat is going to determine your operating temperature and open and close when appropriate. You don't really want/need it to run cooler than stock. Operating temp the thermostat is set to is ideal for the engine (as long as it's put in right like many have said). When you really want all the cooling ability you can have is if you aren't moving and are running high load/rpm. Maybe you're wheeling and your stock setup with the fan running just wasn't keeping the temp down for some reason. But really, the stock LC setup works just fine for this too. So the real draw for an all aluminum setup is just to have all the capacity you can and not deal with the plastic part failure of other aftermarket radiators. Just my two cents after reading this thread for a while.
That makes a ton of sense, I hadn’t really considered the fact that the whole system is regulated. I suppose it’s fair to say, though, that I should not expect to see temps running any higher? I’ve been watching since I installed the scangauge and I seem to sit between 181-186. I was riding in 85 degree Florida heat yesterday at 75mph on the highway with the AC on and I was at 186. So I should assume that should not change?
My main objective here is for the thing to last long term, and never have to think about plastic joints failing. And I noticed that the Mex spec one that Mr T sells is $100 more than the Mishimoto all aluminum. No wonder why the Mishimoto seems to be selling out!
