Denso Radiator (2 Viewers)

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Anyone have any experiences with the Denso unit?
DENSO 2219362

I'm in the market for a new Radiator and was going with the OEM unit (16400-66081) until I saw the price of the Denso ($159).
 
I put the Denso in my last Cruiser and it fit just like the OEM one. It may be a little lighter and thinner than the OEM, but it worked great and I had no issues. I would buy another one without hesitation. I know KOYO is a preferred radiator, but some people have mixed reviews on them.
 
I put the Denso in my last Cruiser and it fit just like the OEM one. It may be a little lighter and thinner than the OEM, but it worked great and I had no issues. I would buy another one without hesitation. I know KOYO is a preferred radiator, but some people have mixed reviews on them.

How long have you had the Denso intalled for? Part of me just want to go oem since it has last 20+ yrs.
 
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It's been about a year. I mean if you can swing it OEM would be great. Koyo is supposed to be the supplier for OEM for a fraction of the price? Lots of threads on it, don't quote me on this though.
 
I'm not crazy about plastic tanks (although they did outlast the core)
I found this copper/brass rad at Summit Racing and am almost ready to pull the trigger. Can someone convince me otherwise?
 
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Koyo does not make the OEM radiator, TRAD (Toyota Radiator) makes them (quoting the parts gurus).

New guys: learn to use the SEARCH Function (upper right magnifying glass icon any page), type in key words, choose This Forum.

Did it for you this time:





IME if you want your radiator to look/fit/function like the original, go with the OEM. The original plastic tanks lasted 20 years and my guess is that the plastic (formulation) has likely been improved so may last even longer.

Others particularly in hot (weather) regions of the US have had good experiences with one of the made in Chyna radiators, TYC?? something.

Personally I don't like sending my money to the CPC (Communist Party of China) so went with an OEM radiator. Perfect.
 
It's been about a year. I mean if you can swing it OEM would be great. Koyo is supposed to be the supplier for OEM for a fraction of the price? Lots of threads on it, don't quote me on this though.

Thanks!
Koyo does not make the OEM radiator, TRAD (Toyota Radiator) makes them (quoting the parts gurus).

New guys: learn to use the SEARCH Function (upper right magnifying glass icon any page), type in key words, choose This Forum.

Did it for you this time:





IME if you want your radiator to look/fit/function like the original, go with the OEM. The original plastic tanks lasted 20 years and my guess is that the plastic (formulation) has likely been improved so may last even longer.

Others particularly in hot (weather) regions of the US have had good experiences with one of the made in Chyna radiators, TYC?? something.

Personally I don't like sending my money to the CPC (Communist Party of China) so went with an OEM radiator. Perfect.

Thanks Kernal
 
I went with the Denso unit, I can't attest to it's long term reliability as it's only had 4,000 miles on it but it fit well and the build quality looked on par with what I'd expect. My cooling system functions as it should so I have no complaints.
 
I have installed a few of the CSF all metal radiators. They fit correctly and function correctly. No need to worry about blowing it up when the head gasket fails either. ;)

With minor finagling they work in the 91-92 FJ80s too.

They are my go to replacement radiator for the '80 series.

Mark...
 
I have installed a few of the CSF all metal radiators. They fit correctly and function correctly. No need to worry about blowing it up when the head gasket fails either. ;)

With minor finagling they work in the 91-92 FJ80s too.

They are my go to replacement radiator for the '80 series.

Mark...
Thanks. I'll prepare to finagle.
 
For full disclosure, I also have a used CSF all metal radiator, had to resolder one side bracket, about to install it into my high mileage 80 where the original plastic top tank cracked at about 350,000 miles. Been running it with a patch made up of ~6 layers of fiberglass cloth and two part epoxy (with the radiator cap on loose to decrease pressure on the repair) for a couple of years :hillbilly: .
 
I put the Denso in my last Cruiser and it fit just like the OEM one. It may be a little lighter and thinner than the OEM, but it worked great and I had no issues. I would buy another one without hesitation. I know KOYO is a preferred radiator, but some people have mixed reviews on them.
thinner and lighter? I haven't noticed
Denso being the OEM supplier for most Toyota and Japanese manufacturers I still say you can't go wrong with Denso
 
Had mine in for a few years now with no issues so far.
 
I can only speak from my experience, but I have had more issues with installing Denso radiators in Toyotas and Lexus products over the years. In working at a Toyota repair shop I had to modify most Denso rads to fit the vehicle that they were designed for (80's/100's/LS400's/LS430's/4runners of most generations...) Usually I found that the included side brackets were slightly off and rather than drilling wider holes to fit the bracket, I would uninstall the new brackets and re-use the OEM brackets from the old radiator. I tried a TYC radiator on my 80 last year to save some coin, and the side brackets didn't come close to fitting, so I reused my original brackets. After running the TYC for a few thousand miles I kept having issues with my overflow tank overfilling and wetness around my OEM radiator cap. I found the TYC was not sealing around the cap correctly, so I threw the radiator away and installed a new OEM unit. Problem solved.

I was shopping aftermarket radiators for my 100 a few years back in this forum and a guy posted he had just installed his Denso rad in his 100 and started getting a transmission harsh shift. Pulled his dipstick and found the Denso internal transmission cooler was defective and caused the dreaded milkshake of death ruining his low mileage 100 transmission. It is a pity because his 100 series was super clean and he was just not wanting to spend the $400+ on an OEM unit.

Not saying all aftermarket radiators are junk, but I seem to have had bad luck more than most, so I just buy OEM and move on with life. Saving $200 isn't worth worrying about temp issues or worse ruining an auto transmission. Mr. Toyota makes a damn good unit that can last over 20 years with zero issues.
 
2 Denso's 2 separate problems. OEM from Toyota 3 years no problems.
 

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