Radiator ques - after much searching (1 Viewer)

[CS888]

Hello all,

Well, after an exhaustive search and lots of reading, I still have a few more questions about the radiator in a 96 LC. Here's the story:

When I flushed my dad's rad out a year ago, he had a bunch of "flakes" sticking out of the top of some of the rows of his rad....I assumed that this was scale. I have seen no other evidence of the dreaded "casting sand" or whatever it may be. I am thinking of removing it and having it rodded out, but I have heard that some times that plastic rads don't go all back together again so well. Would it be easier/better (given the plastic is 9 yrs old) to just replace it? What company would you recommend? I can definately advise anyone against SILLA radiators, they are junk and I went through 2 of them in a year on my old daily driver. I broke down and bought a MODINE, and was very happy with that, but they are a bit expensive. I spoke to the rad shop that I have dealt with in the past, and they said that I could flush it and put in a "chemical" that will slowly dissolve the scale (cheapest route)....I am VERY wary of chemicals and "reverse power flushing" of a system though, what to do....? Anyone bought a rad from Toyota before ($$$)?

He's going to drive from San Diego to Montana, and after reading about the misguidance of the temp gauge, I"m worried about this.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[CruisinGA]

I've bought and installed two 80 series rads from Toyota. (R&R'ed others working in a shop).

I would go ahead and replace the radiator now, you are getting close to borrowed time. i would not bother to try rodding or any sort of maintenence aside from a regular coolant system flush.

Both the 80's in the family needed a new rad between 100-110k. Sangamo's, with similar mileage, also now needs a replacement. I am generally not very impressed with the 80 series radiators. At least with OEM you are guaranteed about 100k miles before problems can be expected.

See vender section for info on Cdan and contact him for one. (OEM Toyota) Dan's price beat my local dealer by well over $100, not to mention he is a top-notch guy to deal with.

 

[Beowulf]

Chris,

Modine has a good reputation for radiators but I would replace it with a Toyota 3-core brass radiator from C-Dan. The reason would be to avoid fitment issues. If you are prepared and equipped to handle those issues then an aftermarket is an option.

If it were me, I would let your radiator shop have a look at it and let them make a recommendation regarding rodding or replacing. If in doubt, then replace it.

-B-

 

[IdahoDoug]

I felt the price of the 80 radiator from Cdan was excellent considering the workmanship. Before buying it, I read the procedure in the FSM for disassembling and rodding it, and it seemed feasible, however you'd have to buy some parts - mainly a large O ring that connects the top tank with the core. The aluminum fingers that hold this joint together could break, and I reasoned that in the end I'd have a couple hundred into a rodded old OEM radiator. Since I tow heavy and place a lot of stress on the cooling system the new OEM was my choice for plug and play forget-about-it confidence. This was also an excellent time to put new belts, thermostat and big hoses on it for zero extra time. Topped it off with a system flush, a backflush and a new PHH and would now tow over a mountain pass in the 97 on any hot day just like I would on the 93.

I don't cut corners anywhere, but the cooling system is no place to cut corners considering the damage potential. See my post from a month ago or so on tips as I did this recently.

DougM

 

[Taz]

I had a custom dual 1" core all aluminum radiator built by Ron Davis Racing for my 97 with TRD charger. It solved all my cooling problems and then some. The best part was they had already built one for a 97 80 and saved all the measurements. All I had to do was order it and install it, no measureing etc. The even beter part was the install, it fit like the oringinal radiator (NO mods or problems!)

 

[Lars]

I had a custom dual 1" core all aluminum radiator built by Ron Davis Racing for my 97 with TRD charger. It solved all my cooling problems and then some. The best part was they had already built one for a 97 80 and saved all the measurements. All I had to do was order it and install it, no measureing etc. The even beter part was the install, it fit like the oringinal radiator (NO mods or problems!)

Nice. Have one of their rads on my rockcrawler. Pricey but it solved my cooling issues.

 

[cruiserdan]

Photoman's was the prototype for that one. You need to thank him...

 

[IdahoDoug]

Mark,

Just out of curiousity, what does something like that go for? (activate bling lust detector...)

DougM

 

[White Shark]

I'm putting a Ron Davis dual electric fan double pass radiator combo in my 92 to cool the 350, and Ron Davis Co was talking around $700. That was last week. I expect the radiator alone should go for $400-500. I got rid of the crappy plastic top radiator a long time ago. When the top seal fails, it's a pain. I put in a metal topped radiator and it has worked really well. I kept it for the 350 swap and had a dual electric fan setup put on it and it has worked well. I want the Ron Davis aluminum unit because it works even better in the desert than the stock brass type radiators.