Radiator Question

[goodol84]

My cruiser was overheating a little even with a new thermostat. The radiator looks to be original. Should I replace it to be on the safe side? If so where can I get a good deal on one??

 

[Bret]

You may try taking to a radiator shop and have it "rodded" or cleaned out real well and see if you actually have to replace it or not. Does your waterpump seem OK?

 

[goodol84]

How do you know if a water pump is bad or not?

 

[goodol84]

Should I trust a shop if they test it and say its ok. It seriously looks OLD!

 

[cruiserhunter]

Water pump leaks out of a little hole on the bottom if going out.
Getting the rad rodded/cleaned out is a good thing to do if your chasing the heat.
I would also make sure your fan clutch is working... search for how to test this.
If you give everybody some more information on what exactly is happening, someone will be able to stear you in the right direction. GIve as much info as you can... when overheating, on highway? on road? in driveway? any leaking.... etc

good luck

patrick

 

[rfj62]

New radiator in needed

A couple of spots where people have purshased before; TOYOTA 1984 LAND CRUISER Radiators, AC Condensers, Fan Assemblies at USA Radiator and Radiators, automotive radiators, condenser, oem radiators, truck radiators.

 

[chesshircat]

What do you mean over heating a little, what are you going by? The "dummy quage"? Thats the 1st thing I'd replace, get a mech guage and see what the temp actually is.

 

[jvazquez53]

Also get one of those IR thermometers, the go for about $20-30 and they are very accurate.

 

[Michael Hanson]

I would replace the rad. I have never gotten much time on a cleaned out one. I would go aluminum that has no epoxy. Man-a-fre. Mike

 

[goodol84]

Heres a little more detail on what happened. When I bought the cruiser this past summer(Phoenix) I drove it home in the evening to my house about 15 miles away and there did not seem to be any overheating issues from what I could tell at the time. The needle on the (dummy) gauge was pegged on cold the whole time. Couple days later I was tinkering with some things and getting ready to run it through emissions and noticed that the wire under the hood for the temp gauge was chewed up. Put a new connector on it, started her up and ran it for a while. The needle moved up as it warmed up but never exceeded the halfway mark. Thinking everything was ok I drove it to the emissions place down the street(still running fairly cool). I handed the keys to some dumb***!, who proceeded to drive the crap out of the truck, revving the engine far past what i would have ever taken it thru every gear. When I got back in after he handed me my FAIL slip I noticed that the DUMMY needle was pegged toward HOT. I pulled out front for a while in an attempt to let it cool down, hoping that the gauge was just wrong or bad. It took about an hour and a half to get home, stopping several times along the way. Pulled into the driveway and I noticed a small amount of steam coming from the overflow. Changed out the thermostat that day, ran it at idle for about five minutes and it seemed to do the same thing.? That was the last time she ran because I have since torn it apart to fix my carb, intake & exhaust issues.

 

[goodol84]

By the way I would like to install a mechanical temp gauge. I have heard about how bad the stock ones are. How hard is it to install one??

 

[jvazquez53]

How do you know if a water pump is bad or not?

If the pump does not leak, it might be good. What I did on mine to check the pumping action was that I disconnected the upper radiator hose, and crank the engine. Water gushed out wit force out of the upper hose, as soon as the thermostat opened. Water coming out that way showed me that the pump impellers were fine.

 

[jvazquez53]

Heres a little more detail on what happened. When I bought the cruiser this past summer(Phoenix) I drove it home in the evening to my house about 15 miles away and there did not seem to be any overheating issues from what I could tell at the time. The needle on the (dummy) gauge was pegged on cold the whole time. Couple days later I was tinkering with some things and getting ready to run it through emissions and noticed that the wire under the hood for the temp gauge was chewed up. Put a new connector on it, started her up and ran it for a while. The needle moved up as it warmed up but never exceeded the halfway mark. Thinking everything was ok I drove it to the emissions place down the street(still running fairly cool). I handed the keys to some dumb***!, who proceeded to drive the **** out of the truck, revving the engine far past what i would have ever taken it thru every gear. When I got back in after he handed me my FAIL slip I noticed that the DUMMY needle was pegged toward HOT. I pulled out front for a while in an attempt to let it cool down, hoping that the gauge was just wrong or bad. It took about an hour and a half to get home, stopping several times along the way. Pulled into the driveway and I noticed a small amount of steam coming from the overflow. Changed out the thermostat that day, ran it at idle for about five minutes and it seemed to do the same thing.? That was the last time she ran because I have since torn it apart to fix my carb, intake & exhaust issues.

Is your truck desmoged?? Check on the link were I placed mine. If is not desmoged, you can use the same hole were the OEM sending unit goes, remember that way you will not be using the factory gauge. In my case I have both gauges working.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/249066-found-home-sending-unit.html

 

[goodol84]

my cruiser is not desmogged as of yet. but is that a mechanical gauge setup or just an after market electric gauge that you speak of????

 

[coolotisdog]

Dude sounds like you and I have the same problem. I just got done replacing my water pump, fan clutch and thermostat today because I've been having the same problem with my FJ60. I am still having problems with it running warm, and the radiator is next on my list. There are radiator shops all around depending on what side of town you live on. I am planning on getting mine recored at a shop down in mesa, but if you don't want to drop money that would be your best bet probably.

 

[goodol84]

maybe its just because we live in Arizona where its 100 degrees up til the end of October...

 

[jvazquez53]

my cruiser is not desmogged as of yet. but is that a mechanical gauge setup or just an after market electric gauge that you speak of????

Mine is electrical, but a mechanical can be installed pretty easily.

 

[Mace]

If the radiator looks that old on the outside, it probably is hashed on the inside as well.

Take it to a Radiator shop for a checkup.

Sounds to me like your gauge is working fine. It is not incredibly accurate, but it is working enough to indicate a problem..

 

[Ducks]

Since you live in Arizona, a new radiator would seem like a good investment. I just pulled mine out and was amazed at how many leaks it really had. I put in an aftermarket one from Performance Radiator. I think it cost $150. You can get one for $100 from Radiator Barn. The OEM radiator is around $350, I think.

But when it is 110 out (or more) you want to make sure your cooling system is working.

 

[coolotisdog]

i just pulled mine out and am going to have it rodded out tomorrow see what happens