Does my radiator looked cooked?

[westfaliacamper]

Is this radiator considered cooked? It's not totally black, has some slight browning (or discoloration really) and what looks like future hairline cracks forming. Guessing the age and mileage (2004 with 165k miles) and no prior radiator replacement would be a vote towards a proactive replacement, but curious what others think...vehicle is living in Texas now so maybe that's worth factoring into the equation...

 

[vipergrhd]

Is this radiator considered cooked? It's not totally black, has some slight browning (or discoloration really) and what looks like future hairline cracks forming. Guessing the age and mileage (2004 with 165k miles) and no prior radiator replacement would be a vote towards a proactive replacement, but curious what others think...vehicle is living in Texas now so maybe that's worth factoring into the equation...

View attachment 4056465View attachment 4056466View attachment 4056467

I would say it's almost there, that top hose is just waiting to be disturbed and it will fall apart. Don't go far get a replacement coming ASAP. Get new hoses and thermostat too.

 

[westfaliacamper]

I would say it's almost there, that top hose is just waiting to be disturbed and it will fall apart. Don't go far get a replacement coming ASAP. Get new hoses and thermostat too.

Thanks, just needed to hear I wasn't being totally paranoid from another person.

 

[vipergrhd]

Thanks, just needed to hear I wasn't being totally paranoid from another person.

No worries, if all possible replace all your hoses and heater T's these engines don't like any kind of overheating at all.

 

[baltistyle]

Yep, I agree with all the brown staining at the upper inlet pipe, that nipple has a good chance of breaking. I’d also say with all that brown staining (iron a rust) that every rubber and plastic coolant pipe should be changed as well. If when you replace these parts, you see that there is scale inside of the radiator, you might want to use a chemical to clean out the system before putting the new coolant in, or at least make sure to reverse flush the system with water.

 

[Jack90210]

Replace it, and when you pull it post a pic of the clogged front-facing fins so we can all be reminded to clean ours from time to time.

And when the radiator/fan cowl is out, it'll be the perfect (and only) time to clean your AC condenser coil fins from the rear, I recommend a can of foaming coil cleaner followed by a rinse of water.

Replace the thermostat too, it'll be right there.

Given the age, I would also replace the overflow res, and as many hoses and clamps as I can get to (with OEM parts) but that's just me.

 

[westfaliacamper]

No worries, if all possible replace all your hoses and heater T's these engines don't like any kind of overheating at all.

T’s replaced with brass OEM units about a month ago, along with all corresponding hoses and constant pressure clamps (previous owner had a couple, not all, done w worm clamps).

 

[westfaliacamper]

Replace it, and when you pull it post a pic of the clogged front-facing fins so we can all be reminded to clean ours from time to time.

And when the radiator/fan cowl is out, it'll be the perfect (and only) time to clean your AC condenser coil fins from the rear, I recommend a can of foaming coil cleaner followed by a rinse of water.

Replace the thermostat too, it'll be right there.

Given the age, I would also replace the overflow res, and as many hoses and clamps as I can get to (with OEM parts) but that's just me.

Thanks, will do!

Aside from heater T hoses, the send and return hoses to radiator, and hose to overflow tank, are there any others tucked away that should be considered, or is that it?

 

[mrkdwrds]

Thanks, will do!

Aside from heater T hoses, the send and return hoses, and hose to overflow tank, are there any others tucked away that should be considered, or is that it?

There are a few hoses in the engine bay (up top and by the oil cooler), as well as hoses to the rear heater (either 2 or 4 depending on year). Best to look at your car on Partsouq for info but this thread is a good start:

Thread 'Cooling System Rebuild Part Numbers'

Apr 15, 2021

There are several threads going on with different titles and various states of information. I thought I start another one with a good title so it can be found easier in the future. Hopefully, I'm not duplicating something, but you get what you pay for.
I did find (the hard way) the Toyota parts diagram lists the incorrect clamps for the upper heater tee hoses. Correct parts are listed.

The rear oil cooler hose is a particular SOB. Just plan on cutting it after you get the clamp off. I spent more time on that one hose than the rest of the system combined. I did choose to NOT do the...

• Bisho
• Replies: 13
• Forum: 100-Series Cruisers

• 

 

[westfaliacamper]

There are a few hoses in the engine bay (up top and by the oil cooler), as well as hoses to the rear heater (either 2 or 4 depending on year). Best to look at your car on Partsouq for info but this thread is a good start:

Thread 'Cooling System Rebuild Part Numbers'

Apr 15, 2021

There are several threads going on with different titles and various states of information. I thought I start another one with a good title so it can be found easier in the future. Hopefully, I'm not duplicating something, but you get what you pay for.
I did find (the hard way) the Toyota parts diagram lists the incorrect clamps for the upper heater tee hoses. Correct parts are listed.

The rear oil cooler hose is a particular SOB. Just plan on cutting it after you get the clamp off. I spent more time on that one hose than the rest of the system combined. I did choose to NOT do the...

• Bisho
• Replies: 13
• Forum: 100-Series Cruisers

• 

Thanks!

 

[mrkdwrds]

Sure thing! There’s one hose by the oil cooler that’s really tough to get to I skipped but I replaced all others. Maybe get some long hose pliers or a topside creeper to make the Ts easier to do, and careful on the heater core while removing the old hoses to/from it. Best to score the old hoses and try to lubricate under them before twisting off to minimize chance of squishing the hard lines on the heater core. Also, just remove the Ts with all hoses attached so old ones don’t crumble into cooling system. Good luck! It’s great peace of mind knowing your radiator isn’t on the verge of letting go.

 

[westfaliacamper]

Sure thing! There’s one hose by the oil cooler that’s really tough to get to I skipped but I replaced all others. Maybe get some long hose pliers or a topside creeper to make the Ts easier to do, and careful on the heater core while removing the old hoses to/from it. Best to score the old hoses and try to lubricate under them before twisting off to minimize chance of squishing the hard lines on the heater core. Also, just remove the Ts with all hoses attached so old ones don’t crumble into cooling system. Good luck! It’s great peace of mind knowing your radiator isn’t on the verge of letting go.

Heater T’s already done about a month ago fortunately. Wasn’t that bad of a job, so confident I can tackle the radiator side of things.

 

[baltistyle]

radiator is easy and quick. You might also want to change the transmission hoses that connect at the bottom, while youre there.

 

[westfaliacamper]

Anyone know of a parts dealer running a sale? I know various dealer networks run decent seasonal sales from time to time within their parts department...

 

[SmoothLC]

I think there was one listed in the Deal of the Day forum the other day.

radiator is easy and quick. You might also want to change the transmission hoses that connect at the bottom, while youre there.

. . . and make sure to use OEM clamps! Ask me how I know.

 

[Jack90210]

Thanks, will do!

Aside from heater T hoses, the send and return hoses to radiator, and hose to overflow tank, are there any others tucked away that should be considered, or is that it?

There are a fair number of them hiding around the place. I did as many as I could (the rear line on the oil filter housing will wait until I pull the housing). Of note, there are two under the car that go to the rear heater core, I did those for peace of mind.

 

[Jack90210]

Anyone know of a parts dealer running a sale? I know various dealer networks run decent seasonal sales from time to time within their parts department...

I find that Ourisman has the lowest regular (i.e. not a "blowout sale") dealer prices in the US.

 

[westfaliacamper]

Yep, I agree with all the brown staining at the upper inlet pipe, that nipple has a good chance of breaking. I’d also say with all that brown staining (iron a rust) that every rubber and plastic coolant pipe should be changed as well. If when you replace these parts, you see that there is scale inside of the radiator, you might want to use a chemical to clean out the system before putting the new coolant in, or at least make sure to reverse flush the system with water.

What do folks recommend in the way of chemical coolant system flushes? Never done such a thing in any of my vehicles before.

Also, is a reverse flush just doing a couple/few drain & fills with distilled water? Or something else entirely?

 

[westfaliacamper]

I was considering doing the fan clutch/fan/shroud at the same time as the radiator and coolant system hoses/thermostat (already did OEM brass Heater T's and associated hoses a month or two ago), but ultimately opted to skip the fan clutch job for now, as it was $300+ more in parts and I just spent about $950 on everything to do radiator job.

Had a friend's fan clutch fail while we were on a camping trip far from home and it ended up being an expensive tow to a crappy town and being stuck for a couple days while parts arrived, so I'm kinda paranoid about this. That said, my fan clutch seems to move freely when spun by hand when the car is off. I read somewhere that a telltale sign of impending fan clutch failure was having one that is difficult to spin by hand. Is this true?

Figure I'd knock it out before the Texas summer heat hits, but would space this job out from the radiator job to go easy on my bank account. If it's going to be a pain to do it after the fact, I can just get the additional parts and move forward with doing that job now too. What do folks recommend?

 

[Jack90210]

What do folks recommend in the way of chemical coolant system flushes? Never done such a thing in any of my vehicles before.

Also, is a reverse flush just doing a couple/few drain & fills with distilled water? Or something else entirely?

I'd personally recommend a drain/fill/run/drain cycle of distilled water before I used a flush, just to ensure long-term compatibility with the Toyota SLL coolant. I'm not sure what is referred to by "reverse flush."