Radiator Replacement DIY

[bloc]

What year is yours?

2013.

What engine do you have?

Interesting that even your lower grille slats have an upward slant to direct air into the duct. Toyota's attention to detail...

but yeah it looks like yours are blocked. Some people do leave the side bracket in place.. I normally disagree with this method but in your case it may be the lesser of two evils.

Then again Charlie has correctly pointed out before that it isn't too hard to remove the bumper skin.. It's a bunch of small screws and clips to remove the upper grille. Just easier if you don't have to. Also have someone else on hand when you go to reinstall it.

 

[vladimir1986ca]

It’s a regular 5.7 gas. Well, the same engineers make you take front bumper, grill and air cooler to access that one bolt which is pure Toyota greed over legacy. Why not just place those 4 bolts on the other side especially for supposedly off-road vehicle

 

[bloc]

It’s a regular 5.7 gas. Well, the same engineers make you take front bumper, grill and air cooler to access that one bolt which is pure Toyota greed over legacy. Why not just place those 4 bolts on the other side especially for supposedly off-road vehicle

Ah.. somehow I was thinking you were in a different region.

What year? This may help narrow down the mythical rigs where you have to remove the bumper or leave the passenger side bracket.

Sure you can’t get to the bolt from the bottom? Or side with a short extension? The back side is accessible but it is a square nut.. and you’ll need access to the front to hold back when loosening.

 

[vladimir1986ca]

Ah.. somehow I was thinking you were in a different region.

What year? This may help narrow down the mythical rigs where you have to remove the bumper or leave the passenger side bracket.

Sure you can’t get to the bolt from the bottom? Or side with a short extension? The back side is accessible but it is a square nut.. and you’ll need access to the front to hold back when loosening.

2009, there is literally no way to get there.

 

[CruiserFan88]

You can leave the passenger side mounting bracket alone and just remove the three bolts holding the radiator to the bracket. Then remove the passenger side bracket from the new radiator and slide it in. You gain nothing from going through all involved to remove the bracket especially when its 99.99999% likely completely fine. My $0.02.

 

[bloc]

You can leave the passenger side mounting bracket alone and just remove the three bolts holding the radiator to the bracket. Then remove the passenger side bracket from the new radiator and slide it in. You gain nothing from going through all involved to remove the bracket especially when its 99.99999% likely completely fine. My $0.02.

You technically do gain new rubber mounting bushings, and the top and bottom bolts into the plastic tanks will be to the factory torque spec which IIRC isn’t published… but in the case of that bolt being obscured I agree those things are not worth the trouble.

 

[vladimir1986ca]

Ok, so I have decided to proceed with front bumper cover removal. Only bumper cover needs to be removed. Few tips, if you have side fenders like myself you don’t need to remove them just remove bolts closer to front bumper and loosen the front bumper. Don’t remove front bumper cover, in my case I had headlight washers and wiring-so I just let the bumper cover hang and still was able to access the bolt to remove air duct. The lower passenger side radiator mount bolt was right behind it. Oil cooler lines clipped, had some at fluid. Now just waiting for the new radiator and those oil cooler inlet/outlet hoses

 

[KLF]

I'm in the middle of this job now, a few things I'll add since they are fresh in memory:

I have the PDFs of the Service Manual printed for all the steps, I'm kinda following them. It tells you to remove the big trans cooler and the bumper cover, but I found I didn't need to do that, I could reach the 4 bolts with long extensions. I did have trouble with the nuts on the back side spinning while removing these bolts, so I had to hold them with a 12mm open end. The bottom ones are pretty tough to reach, getting your hand down in there.

I'm also doing all the other stuff on the front of the engine and replacing all the coolant, so I did go to the trouble of draining the block. I have both front wheels removed, and found the passenger side drain easily by removing the plastic shroud in front of the shock. I used a 3' piece of 1/4" id plastic hose on the nipple to direct it to my catch bucket, I think I got close to an additional gallon out this way. The drivers side drain is directly behind the shock/spring tower, pretty much impossible to reach so I gave up on that one.

Pinch clamps on the trans cooler hoses on the bottom are a huge help, I only dripped a couple Tbsp of ATF out. Hose removal pliers and picks are a huge help as well. Harbor Freight links, if you're planning on this job:

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece-long-reach-hose-grip-pliers-37909.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/pick-and-hook-set-7-piece-69592.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-piece-fluid-line-clamp-set-65116.html

Putting things back together today.

 

[bloc]

The drivers side drain is directly behind the shock/spring tower, pretty much impossible to reach so I gave up on that one.

The passenger side drain gets most of what's in the block anyway, so you're good on that.

 

[KLF]

The passenger side drain gets most of what's in the block anyway, so you're good on that.

That's what I'm hoping.

Do you have a recommendation for dealing with the many spring hose clamps? Channel-locks and long nose pliers are just not working out well.

 

[bloc]

That's what I'm hoping.

Do you have a recommendation for dealing with the many spring hose clamps? Channel-locks and long nose pliers are just not working out well.

They are different brands but I have the two below and they work well.

 

[TeCKis300]

I'm in the middle of this job now, a few things I'll add since they are fresh in memory:

I have the PDFs of the Service Manual printed for all the steps, I'm kinda following them. It tells you to remove the big trans cooler and the bumper cover, but I found I didn't need to do that, I could reach the 4 bolts with long extensions. I did have trouble with the nuts on the back side spinning while removing these bolts, so I had to hold them with a 12mm open end. The bottom ones are pretty tough to reach, getting your hand down in there.

I'm also doing all the other stuff on the front of the engine and replacing all the coolant, so I did go to the trouble of draining the block. I have both front wheels removed, and found the passenger side drain easily by removing the plastic shroud in front of the shock. I used a 3' piece of 1/4" id plastic hose on the nipple to direct it to my catch bucket, I think I got close to an additional gallon out this way. The drivers side drain is directly behind the shock/spring tower, pretty much impossible to reach so I gave up on that one.

Pinch clamps on the trans cooler hoses on the bottom are a huge help, I only dripped a couple Tbsp of ATF out. Hose removal pliers and picks are a huge help as well. Harbor Freight links, if you're planning on this job:

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece-long-reach-hose-grip-pliers-37909.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/pick-and-hook-set-7-piece-69592.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-piece-fluid-line-clamp-set-65116.html

Putting things back together today.

@bloc gear wrench hose clamp pliers are my go to. Here's another tool for those super tight areas.

www.amazon.com/dp/B0917J3DBG

 

[MJernigan]

I’m fixing to take on the radiator replacement this weekend. Should I worry about the trans fluid that will be lost or is it not enough to matter? I know to plug the lines to prevent it from leaking but what about what’s in the bottom of the radiator?

 

[bloc]

I’m fixing to take on the radiator replacement this weekend. Should I worry about the trans fluid that will be lost or is it not enough to matter? I know to plug the lines to prevent it from leaking but what about what’s in the bottom of the radiator?

I didn’t worry about it. You’re talking about between a cup and pint out of about 3 gallons of fluid.

 

[KLF]

I’m fixing to take on the radiator replacement this weekend. Should I worry about the trans fluid that will be lost or is it not enough to matter? I know to plug the lines to prevent it from leaking but what about what’s in the bottom of the radiator?

If you can, try to pick up a set of those hose pinch clamps I posted above from Harbor Freight, very helpful, at the least they stop any fluid from leaking out on you while pulling the hoses off. It's pretty crowded down there. Also, the new radiator will come with these nifty little covers over the ports, slip them over the ports on the old one before you yank it out so it won't dribble out on the floor.

I tried to measure how much ATF got lost in the swap, by setting the old radiator over my oil drain pan, and it's really minimal, maybe a cup or so in my case. I'll probably pour a little back in since I have a quart of WS fluid handy. But my fluid is looking pretty dirty so it's time for at least a pan dump and fill anyway.

 

[KLF]

I didn’t worry about it. You’re talking about between a cup and pint out of about 3 gallons of fluid.

Which now begs the question: how DO you easily add just a little ATF to the trans? No dipstick!

 

[bloc]

Which now begs the question: how DO you easily add just a little ATF to the trans? No dipstick!

That’s part of why I didn’t.

But you’d just pull the fill plug in the side of the trans or pump it into the return line from the cooler while it’s disconnected. I can’t remember which is which.. but it’s the one that doesn’t flow out when we do a transmission fluid exchange if you check that how to.

 

[KLF]

Argh!! Guess who has two thumbs and just discovered he forgot to re-install one of the hose clamps on the water pump, and now has a coolant leak?

Now I get to remove the fan shroud AGAIN! Draining coolant now...

 

[KLF]

Tip I'll share with the group:

After you pull the new radiator out of the box, cut the "flaps" off the box, then trim them down to about 23" high by 28" wide. Tape them onto the inside face of the new radiator (the side facing the engine), using blue painters tape at the top only. Don't tape the seam between the 2 pieces, place it in the center vertically below the nipple for the overflow bottle. Install the radiator, then the drop in the shroud and fan. Once you get a couple of nuts on the fan coupler and it's stable, lean the shroud back and slip out the pieces of cardboard. Proceed with installing the shroud and everything else.

Why? See my previous post, and I learned the hard way that the fins in the radiator are VERY fragile. Paper thin aluminum. By the time I got the fan and shroud out the second time, I was shocked and dismayed at how many fins I smooshed on my brand new radiator. Had to spend some time with a small screwdriver reaching down in to straighten them back out. The cardboard protects these fins while wrestling with the awkward fan, trying to get it back onto the studs.

Oh yeah... This funnel setup makes refilling the coolant sooo much easier:

Amazon.com

 

[amitbh234]

Before I do this- is a radiator replacement DIY needed? I couldn't find one but maybe I wasn't looking hard enough. I'd say this job was a 5/10, kinda a pain to figure out how to do it but I did it without removing the fan or shroud. Radiator was as of today 460 bucks or so with tax from the dealer. I didn't want to risk getting an older version or some OEM version that was superseded, I wanted the real deal latest version of the part so I was happy to pay full freight at the dealer for the RIGHT, LATEST version of this part.

I have a 2014 with 107K, original radiator was basically mint when I pulled it out but I figured this was cheap insurance and also facilitated a (mostly/partial) coolant swap which was also due. I watched some YT videos which actually ended up making the job HARDER, which was frustrating. For example one of them attempted to do it by disconnecting the radiator from the side mounting rails which is a bad move and totally not needed.

Couple points/highlights:

1. Just remove the 4 main bolts for the main radiator mounts, it's simple. The two lower ones are reachable via long extensions and a 12MM socket through the grille, the two upper ones are blind but easily reachable too, the driver side (right side facing the car, port side of a boat) has a little plastic cover blocking that upper bolt, it has one fastener to remove and it can be moved out of the way. Screwing with trying to separate the side rails from the radiator was a huge waste of time and a total pain in the ass.

2. I mainly drained from the radiator petcock as well as the passenger side/left facing the car/starboard on a boat block petcock. Barely any came out of the block really. 2 gallons came out of the radiator. I could not find a drain on the driver/right facing the car/port on a boat side of the block. There's a heat shield there but I still coudn't really figure out where a drain could be on that side.

3. Sharpies/Expo markers/etc. easily plug both trans lines once your remove them- that was actually a good tip from one of the YT vids I watched.

4. In filling the radiator back up- I burped the system constantly using the upper radiator hose as a squeeze bulb while I added coolant via the actual real radiator cap. Engine cold and NOT running. Fill funnel, burp and it sucks the funnel contents in. Repeat over and over and you basically rid the system of air, I was able to burp in the full 2 gallons missing very easily. Amazing really. Even extensively running the engine after it didn't take any more in from the reservoir.

Interesting. Was going to attempt changing the radiator myself. All the videos I saw recommended keeping the mounting bracket on for the passenger side as the lower bolt is not accessible by a long extension. I tried to look through the front grill/vents and it does look like the lower one is covered by the trans cooler. Am I missing something?

Or do you mean just unscrew the radiator from the mounting bracket and don’t bother taking the mounting bracket off? It would be pretty difficult to shimmy off the radiator with the mounting brackets in place.