Plastic Tank on Radiator Cracked (1 Viewer)

[Gumybob]

1994 LC with 1FZ-FE. Driving home last night on a freeway, was in the 70's and slight rain when all of the sudden my top tank on the radiator cracked, steam everywhere. Temp gauge stayed in middle, never showed hot. If fact, temp has never show more than middle and I live in Phoenix, even left the radiator cap off by accident and drove 100 miles uphill to Payson and gauge never went over medium. Thinking my sensor is bad so wanting to replace it. Looking over other threads and it looks like the sensor is the 2nd one back above the oil filter. Is that correct? Will also mention that when I drive around town with 100+ temps, when I park I can hear my radiator boiling yet temp gauge always in the middle range to low.

Next question, tow truck driver mentioned that it might have been caused by a stuck thermostat, built pressure and cracked the tank. Thoughts?

Thoughts on getting a 3 row copper/brass radiator vs. the standard Autozone replacement with plastic tanks?

Last question, since I will have the radiator out, should I replace the water pump and thermostat just to be safe?

Thanks,

P.S. Truck runs great, no problems at all but I am throwing a 26 code and a 71 code. Have checked all hoses for vacuum leaks and all looks good.

 

[retrofive]

Sounds.... "sounds" like you got lucky. Buy the Koyo radiator and don't touch the vatazone crap for one. Buy a new OEM t-stat.

 

[baldilocks]

CSF 2517 radiator here no complaints.

 

[Golgo13]

Replace the rad cap too!

 

[ToothDr]

Buy a new oem T-rad radiator from toyota and get another 22 years out of it. Yes good time replace hoses waterpump, thermostat belts etc. Also not a bad time to do the front crank seal and oil pump cover.

 

[SLO Nomad]

Good time to do the fan clutch. Do the blue fan or mod your current one.

 

[Gumybob]

Thanks for the suggestions, strange that the weakest part of the system was the top plastic radiator cover. Cap should have releived pressure prior to that splitting, unless it's just that cheap. I have owned this for over 2 years, but taking the radiator out I can tell you it is a replacement that is in there. So one of those codes I mentioned talks about possible temp sending unit, guess it was right.

 

[Timpanogos Slim]

The reason why you never see the temp gauge rise above "good" is because it's a damn liar.

Since we have OBD1 trucks, if we want to know the real coolant temperature we have to either install our own gauge and sensor, or modify the cluster to remove the overly large dead spot in the response of the gauge.

It's normal for temperature gauges to have a range within which they point straight in the middle -- due to manufacturing variances it would otherwise be normal for a lot of analog gauges to read a little high or a little low or to drift over time.

But Mr. T went too far with that on the 80 series.

I've noticed that a lot of head gasket stories start with "I was towing on a long up-hill on a 100 degree day. The AC cut out for some reason, and then the radiator just exploded!" and they never remember seeing the needle move.

The AC compressor's clutch will automatically open when the engine starts to overheat, and it's a shame that this would have been their first clue.

If you want to install your own gauge, there are sensor adapters that consist of a male to male hose coupler that you splice into the upper rad hose and have a bung for a standard VDO type sensor and a boss where you can screw down a ground lead.

 

[tarbe]

I did the resistor mod to my old '97 80, back in the day. At least then the temp gauge was responsive and didn't have that huge dead spot.

I think I still have a few of those resistors floating around in the garage, come to think of it!

 

[Overlandeffex]

I had to do some main seals and arch seals work and since I was in there piece of mind to replace the easy stuff....oil pump gasket, thermostat, water pump front main seal if you have a 300 ft lb torque wrench.

 

[Dave 2000]

I too did the 93-97 Coolant Temperature Gauge Modification

IMO it is one of the single most important mods you can do to your 80. I only run an electric engine cooling fan that works perfect. To make the fan work, I use temperature switches that have been tested, so I know exactly what temperature the fan speeds comes on, of course the benefit is I can compare this with the stock gauge indication after the mod. The gauge is more sensitive after the modification and you can see what is happening and when it is happening.

Whilst I agree that Mr T makes an excellent radiator, I would not discount another manufacturers if the quality s good and the price is better. The other side of the coin is that no radiator will cool your engine if you have now suffered damage, head gasket for example. The radiator cap should have vented off the pressure so as per Golgo, I would replace that as well.

regards

Dave

 

[madisonr34]

I had a pressure relief cap fail on my other car. It was one of those caps with the red lever.
The pressure busted my all aluminum griffin radiator. Now I change my cap every summer.

 

[Gumybob]

Thanks for all the suggestions, will be calling Camelback Toyota today to get some prices. Was also told about the Pesky Heater Hose (PHH) and the Heater Control Valve and to do those at the same time. Hopefully I didn't do any damage, I know I didn't drive it dry, stopped as soon as the radiator cracked. Will pull stuff off today and resemble this week when I get the parts.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

Get an FJ80 radiator from the early 80's. It has a brass core and no plastic top.

 

[Gumybob]

Going with a Brass Tanks and 3 row copper core from Hawkes Radiator. Couple of people around me recommend them. Cost is $399 and comes with a lifetime warranty, can find them at radiator.com Nation wide. Getting other parts from Camalback Toyota. Although the Aisin Blue Water pump is on Amazon for half the price, and everyone says its the same as the dealer. Taking off my clutch to see if it's rebuild-able or if I will just buy a new one.

 

[smoothcruiser]

25 year-old original radiator plastic recently cracked. At first I thought I had another fluctuating-ambient-temps-hose-leak but then found the source (see photo).
I replaced with the T-RAD OEM radiator and thermostat from Camelback, which was smooth and relatively cheap. I added Breeze constant torque clamps for the big hoses. Now everything is running just as cool as before, in the 170s, but ambient temps have not gotten much above 60 here yet.

 

[Minuteman]

Recently replaced my cracked oem radiator with a csf 3 core brass/copper from spector(was still getting hot on hill climbs) Then did the the blue hub with 20,000 cst 2 days ago(stock eaton was shot). Just got done on a 5 hour road trip through the nc - tennesee mountains, never got above 198F according to my obd monitor. Have a 97 with 285s and 2.5 emu, bumpers etc... Couldn't find a replacement oem t-rad, only cheap koyos made in tiawan and china. .