Radiator choices other than CSF

[Hojack]

I bought a Champion for my 60 three years ago. No problems so far. I just recently placed a ground strap on it to keep demons of corrosion at bay.

I bonded mine with a ground wire to frame and negative battery terminal too.
I used a fan mount bolt and #4 copper wire. My Champion mounting holes lined up, I did need to use drill and step bit the holes on one side a little bigger.

 

[roadstr6]

Do you recall what bolts needed to be modified or changed for mounting?

IIRC the mounting holes on mine were at the correct locations. The only problem I had was with the captive nuts (nustserts) being a different thread pitch than the factory bolts. I just got the correct bolts from the hardware store. It appears that the biggest issue with the Champion radiators is typical Chinese lack of quality control. They may take a little extra work to get them installed. Some folks have reported leaks straight out of the box. I have been lucky though. I have bought three of them in the last eight years and not a single one of them has ever given me a problem. I've put two in FJ40's and one in a 60. Still running strong.

 

[dannyvp]

So should aluminum radiators be grounded?

 

[Hojack]

So should aluminum radiators be grounded?

Yes

 

[HemiAlex]

I’ve got a spare battery cable laying around that would be perfect. I’ll overkill it.

 

[Hojack]

I grounded,
Starter
Transmission
Engine
Radiator
May be overkill but at least it’s all grounded.
Being an electrician we ground everything so why not in the 60.
30+ year old wiring and poor grounding could be why so many radiators have failed, especially the aluminum.

 

[NCFJ]

Grounds are often an issue with Toyota electrical issues. It pays to have good grounds to body, frame, engine/trans, radiator. I run dedicated ground to the fuel pump rather than trust the frame to act as ground.

 

[dannyvp]

Grounds are often an issue with Toyota electrical issues. It pays to have good grounds to body, frame, engine/trans, radiator. I run dedicated ground to the fuel pump rather than trust the frame to act as ground.

so do you have a grounding block?

 

[Gretsch]

The other day it started leaking from the seam on the bottom. 40,000 miles later it’s done for.

Man wish I had seen this thread a month ago. I just bought a CSF through Rock Auto. Been in the truck for several weeks now. It does not seem to cool nearly as well as the original, but could just be air in the system, and I do have a slow leak in the BVSVs in my thermo housing. Hoping I have better experience than you have with it over time.

 

[Hojack]

so do you have a grounding block?

I cleaned off all the grit and used the threaded bolts going into the frame.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Grounds are often an issue with Toyota electrical issues. It pays to have good grounds to body, frame, engine/trans, radiator. I run dedicated ground to the fuel pump rather than trust the frame to act as ground.

Fuel pump is isolated from the block by the thick gasket so it’s not grounded, correct?

 

[NCFJ]

so do you have a grounding block?

I use "grounding blocks" in a few locations. The main grounds all attach directly to military post on the battery. I use the body ground bolt to attach various grounds. There is a ground bus bar in the Bussman fuse block. This is directly connected to the AUX battery. Even the switch grounds run back through this bus bar. There is a ground bus bar in the driver's kick panel, directly to Main battery. There is a ground pole in the driver's 1/4 panel, directly to AUX battery.

 

[NCFJ]

Fuel pump is isolated from the block by the thick gasket so it’s not grounded, correct?

The fuel pump set up I use has both POS and GRND leads outside the tank. My point was more to, rather than just jump a ground to the frame from the tank I run a dedicated 10g ground wire paired with the POS wire, GRND goes directly to BATT

As far as the gasket goes, all bolts on the set up I use bolt through so any ground should also be carried by the bolts. Not an issue though.

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

The fuel pump set up I use has both POS and GRND leads outside the tank. My point was more to, rather than just jump a ground to the frame from the tank I run a dedicated 10g ground wire paired with the POS wire, GRND goes directly to BATT

As far as the gasket goes, all bolts on the set up I use bolt through so any ground should also be carried by the bolts. Not an issue though.

So the difference here is you have a 62 and that wasn’t clarified. Excuse my silly question. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have asked.

 

[NCFJ]

It was not a silly question. It was a straight answer though. Not a matter of 60 or 62 for me, either way as I use the same set up on both, electrical in tank fuel pump. Manuel fuel pump requires no grounding.

 

[Spike Strip]

The most important thing you can do to prevent radiator electrolysis is to use ONLY distilled or deionized water or pre-mix coolant.

 

[Infinity00]

Just as a reference point, on my champion that failed: used only distilled water with Prestone mixed 50:50. Big 3 grounds all new. No ground on radiator due to lack of knowledge. If it matters so much, wouldn’t champion and all aluminum radiator companies have a disclaimer stating it’s needed or no warranty?

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Just as a reference point, on my champion that failed: used only distilled water with Prestone mixed 50:50. Big 3 grounds all new. No ground on radiator due to lack of knowledge. If it matters so much, wouldn’t champion and all aluminum radiator companies have a disclaimer stating it’s needed or no warranty?

Post #44 shows that already...

 

[HemiAlex]

I used distilled on the radiator fill itself and burping but I didn’t drain the block. I’m going to add a braided ground strap to from a mounting bolt to the block to help out.