chinese radiator blues....other options? (1 Viewer)

[calsbeek]

I have tried two radiators from eBay now, for my 1986 BJ74. Both from China, both died within two months. Do I have other options? Both seem to have failed internally as there is a streak of red coolant running down the length of the rad. Moreover, both failed in the same spot (near the top on the passenger side (Right hand drive)) where the inlet hose attaches. Is it worth having it repaired locally (as in, would a good rad shop be able to make this thing useable in the long-term?)?

I havent found anything else out there aftermarket....maybe my only chance is to find a decent toyota part from a used cruiser?

 

[SHREDwagon]

Buy OEM once every 20 years - much less hassle.

 

[coldtaco]

Have you tried Australia? Adrad I think is a good brand, all the Australians trust that brand. I have what I believe to be a good used one from a 13BT. If interested message me.

 

[FJ73Texas]

ADRAD is a great brand that was just like the old OEM one that I removed from the FJ73 I had, plus it didn't give me any problems afterwards but getting one here stateside can be a hassle.

Fortunately I got one with the help of a mud member who lives in Australia.

 

[calsbeek]

Have you tried Australia? Adrad I think is a good brand, all the Australians trust that brand. I have what I believe to be a good used one from a 13BT. If interested message me.

I will see what I can do about getting something from ADRAD but in the event that it doesn't work out, I'd be stoked to buy your used one.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

BJ73 radiator part number

Hi, I am looking to replace the radiator on my BJ73 with 3b motor and can't seem to get right part number or find the right radiator the one I always find has the inlet and outlet on the wrong side they both need to be on the left and no radiator cap either.

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[John Young]

I found an industrial radiator shop in Maryland that is re-doing my heater core for the model 80. Re radiator, here in Dubai I found an old core in good shape and there is a good radiator shop here that re-cored that, and the work looked good. Cost me a little over 200 bucks for the re-core work. I didn't have the old radiator re-cored because there were a couple of pin-hole leaks in the top tub that made me worry that any repair would not last long.

My suggestion would be to look for a truck radiator shop near you. Our old radiators have brass top and bottom tubs and can be re-built. It's just a matter of finding a shop that actually can do it.

 

[Cavalier2000]

I’ve been beating the **** out of my eBay rad for about 4 years now. I wonder why both of your failed in the same spot.

 

[AussieHJCruza]

Adrad is a good product, wouldn't hesitate to buy another one.

 

[roscoFJ73]

I wonder why both of your failed in the same spot.

A dealer here in Perth told me many years ago when they started getting radiators made for 70 and 80 series in Taiwan, the first batches split their seams when they become pressurised.
So they examined the OEM radiator and saw the welding on the seams was much thicker than the copies they had had made. So they told their supplier to do it how Toyota does it and they never had a problem after that.
I bought one off him and it worked great for the next 3-4 years until I sold it.

But I would love to try one of those alloy radiators with the admirable 5 yr warranty from Australian sellers.

Adrad are good and so are Natrad their main competitor, they have been around since 1922

 

[roscoFJ73]

Is it worth having it repaired locally (as in, would a good rad shop be able to make this thing useable in the long-term?)?

I would give it a try, Its got to be cheaper than $500+ for a new one. See my above post

 

[John Young]

Just picked up the heater core for my model 80 from the shop just south of Baltimore and the manager was kind enough to show my son and me around and it was like a blast from the past. Full on radiator shop dealing mostly with semi's but only too happy to help with obscure old land cruiser parts. Here are a couple of photos:

My son helping to carry out an intercooler for a customer.

They also refurbish fuel tanks full on--the way they do it is cut the tank in half, sand blast inside and out, weld back together, coat inside and out.

They also fabricate/duplicate fuel tanks.

Here's their bubble tank.

This is the work they did on my heater core for the 80. The ends were bunged up during removal from the donor vehicle and I asked them while they were at it to extend the ends 1.5 inches so there is more protruding past the firewall. They also did a couple of pressure tests and found it did not need a re-core. The price was right.

It was real nice to see an actual radiator shop that still does it all. Clean shop too. After seeing what they do to fuel tanks I'm likely going to have them re-do both fuel tanks on the 91 diesel pickup once I get it to Virginia. If any of you want to give them a try, and assuming I'm not breaking any forum rules by posting the info, here are the contact details (do ask for Adrian and mention old land cruisers):

Adrian Flores
Service Manager
ERS Cooling, an LKQ Company

LKQ/Keystone Location #3953
Direct Phone: 410-553-4008
113 Holsum way Glen Burnie,MD 21060

 

[calsbeek]

i got an adrad radiator today but the damn hose outlets are the right hand side whereas in my RHD bj74 the oem rad had outlets on the left.

any thoughts on what to do here?

P.s. it also had a rad cap on whereas my trucks cap and thermostat are on the engine block. I assume its not a problem to have two caps?

 

[coldtaco]

They sent you a 2H radiator sounds like

 

[roscoFJ73]

any thoughts on what to do here?

An Australian company should know what radiator a BJ74 needs. I would be sending a politely irate email for starters.

 

[calsbeek]

First I need to corrrect my post. Its not a adrad, but a terrain tamer (sorry) it came in an adrad box so I had that name on my brain when I was typing.

still wondering how to proceed given that it'll take a month to send this back and get another. My local rad guy says he can just flip the ports to the other side and solder them in.....sounds dicey but I don't know much about radiators so.

would anyone do this?

 

[Cavalier2000]

Get ahold of the people you got the rad from and tell them it’s jacked up

 

[coldtaco]

^^^^^ first deal with who ever you got it from. They may just tell you to keep it and they will send you the correct one.

 

[hoser]

First I need to corrrect my post. Its not a adrad, but a terrain tamer (sorry) it came in an adrad box so I had that name on my brain when I was typing.

Where did you buy it from? I don't see a 13BT/BJ74 listing on Terrain Tamer site.

Terrain Tamer - Heavy Duty Radiators

Australia's largest range of 4wd 4x4 four wheel drive aftermarket replacement parts and accessories stores in Melbourne Sydney Brisbane Perth Adelaide Darwin Alice Springs Auckland New Zealand Fiji Recovery Gear Suspension Electric Winches and hard parts

www.terraintamer.com

 

[calsbeek]

I got it from Valley Hybrids, Cruiser Brothers & Long Range America in Stockton CA. I spoke to the guy who helped me get it ordered (George) and he was super super accomodating. He offered to pay to have the ports moved at my local rad shop. When I got to the shop however, I noticed that the radiator itself is larger than the OEM one and it won't fit anyway.

So I skipped the port change and am waiting to here back now on next steps. It might be waiting until Australia can ship another one but that will have to be by container ship now that the borders are closed. In the meantime, the shop plugged the leak in my aluminum POS radiator and that will have to hold me till I get a new brass/copper version.