Radiator replacement
 

After a few weeks of watching my radiator weep fluid from the top tank, I will be replacing it this weekend. My dad needs to take the runna out of town and wheeling to pick up some rocks.... sooo I thought it best I get that radiator fixed soon.

I will be getting new upper and lower hoses.

The fluid looks a little brown... any comments? Does the toyota red antifreeze feel funny between the fingers or do I have a leaky head gasket?

No White smoke or loss of power.

I hate cooling issues, they have always been my downfall with motors, if this one craps out I will be bummed!!!!!!!

Are there different factory models of the 2nd gen radiator? I want the largest coolant capacity, any suggestions?

So no-one with a 2nd gen has replaced a radiator? wow. I did a search and found little help...

I just replaced mine about 3 weeks ago (in a '91 runner)... I went to Performance Radiator... It's not any bigger - but will cool with the best of them! I have actully used this place 2 other times with my other yota trucks - and I couldn't be happier. I see there is one in Phoenix - you should check 'em out... http://www.performanceradiator.com/

thanks, the stealer quoted 550 for a new radiator, Autozone was 190. online performance was 170 shipped, not bad

I thought I saw one in Phoenix - you could go pick it up and it would probably be cheaper!!

Just bought one that matches dimensions exactly one ebay. The guy has sold over 3,000 radiators with no negative feedback so I'll let you know how it goes. Putting it in tuesday. I'll let you know how it goes as he guarantees that it is commercial quality. His 3 core radiators are like $89 and he's VERY easy on shipping!

I replaced my radiator with one from Performance. Not a bad unit, but overall it is a bit rougher than the Toyota. It is all metal and fit fine, but pretty obvious that it was not made in Japan or US (think it said made in India IIRC). Does not leak, no overheating (2 row like stock) and so it's worth the sub $200 price.

Lots of info here: https://www.yotatech.com/search.php?searchid=831844

bought one from radiatorbarn payed somewhere around $115 that was almost 3 years ago and its holding up fine
http://www.radiatorbarn.com/s7.asp?a...size=V6%2C3.0L

????Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms. ????

I replaced mine about 2 years ago with one from here: http://www.radiator.com/

I'm a happy camper, they had it to my door in 2 days with a lifetime warrany for about $130.

I looked up radiator .com and they have this weird program that asks you questions about your application. I got side tracked in the middle of the questions, when I started up again the "person" asked me the same questions in the same order, so I asked if the "person" was real or a computer. The question that followed was one of the application questions, so I responded by telling the "person" they were a cool computer program, and how long would it take for the toyota tech to call. They responded by giving me a 25$ cupon off for figuring out it was an automated computer program and not a real person.

For those of you shopping for a rad. keep this in mind to save a few $$$

The radiator was weeping fluid in a few spots (i'll post pics later tonight) and the belts were a little sad.

I have an agreement with my dad that when he needs to go out of town on business and may see 4wd he takes my runner and I get the taurus. My mom won't let him take the 2004 runner off road yet. It will be a street queen for a few years. But my dad is getting milage for the trip to the tune of 300$ or so. He takes my runner because of reliability and 4wd ability, so I showed him the rad leak and he agreed with me that it should be fixed before the trip. Dad said he would use the milage cash to spring for a new radiator, I can't argue that. He picked up one from Autozone for 170 today.
The Downside(s) I will be without my runna' over the next few days.
The upside: I get to go install a new radiator, Mom will have some good leftovers, and I can have my dad take the digi photos while I do all the wrenching. That is all good.
Listen up young guys- I am 32 and still go to "M&D's Bar and Grill" once a week! NEVER turn down a home cooked meal no matter how old you are. Pretty lame for a friday yes, but after the work is done dad will have some guinness or maybe martini's.

So here is the plan for tonight- Drain all coolant.
remove radiator
Flush engine (with distilled water)
Install new Belts (no timing belt (yet))
Pop in the new radiator
Refill with toyota RED antifreeze
Nurse Knuckle busters
Make martini's
Eat leftovers.
Sleep
Dad was showing me some photos of his last trip to Peru, I guess he had one of those diesel banderante FJ clones, and he had unfixable problems at 12,000 feet far away from the nearest village 12-15 miles. Dad HOOFED it back to the village to wait for the supply truck the next day, he is like 63. Nutty old man! My old man has been all over the globe doing the geologist thing and has wheeled in some wacky places, so I think it says a lot that his vehicle of choice is a toyota. Alot of otherstuff he buys is el cheapo crap, but we do agree on a car brand at least :)

When I talked to the guy at radiator .com he told me the stock radiator is 2 row and there is a 3 row available. The one my dad got is probably a stock replacement 2 row.

I am coming up on 60K so the timing belt will need to be done soon, I have been collecting parts for this service, but I may upgrade to the 3 row and keep the 2 row as a spare.

My only concern at this point would be the toyota red antifreeze, I thought I read it was the best to put in the motor, but some toyotas don't use this, is this true??

Also I looked on a prestone bottle and they recommended a 70/30 AF/H20 ratio that provides a higher boiling point, but also a higher freeze point than the 50/50. I live in Phoenix, so the freezing I am not concerned with, Any comments on the Toyota Red antifreeze?

Yeah I remember calling them about 3 times and everytime I called the price got cheaper. Mine is a 3 row.

I have been using Prestone for many years now. The dealer that replaced my head gasket in 1997 filled it up with yellow coolant, so I've been using that ever since.

I think mine has a mixture of red/green because it is a funny color now.
Mt. Goat, I miss my p/u, but I don't miss people asking me to move stuff for them!
I was thinking of a little "dream project" Same truck like you with the auto, total chaos and the lexus v-8 for high speed desert stuff, that would be fun. This is off topic, but is the auto a A340 variant? It shares fluid with the transfer right?

I think it's ok to go off topic on your own thread :laugh: Yes, it's a A340H. I'm not sure about sharing fluid but they both take ATF and can't be seperated.

If you start with red Toyota coolant, stick with it. Do not mix red and green Toyota coolants together as it will gel. For more information about this, contact any Toyota dealer.

Troy

Another geologist here with a 4Runner, actually a geologist/hydrogeologist hence my screen name. Now what could be more fun than wheeling your truck to some remote location and banging on some rocks or exploring an old mine site?? Oh yea, my radiator is seeping too, (for almost three years now) top seam drivers side. Let us know how the repair goes. Its on my list of things to do but its waaaaaaaaaaaaay down there. First I gotta fix the things that won't pass PA inspection.

Right on PA, I like that stuff too, I am a chemist though and can't spell the names you crazy rocklickers come up with, like gneiss.

Well after all the planning, Just as I figured, I forgot my open end wrenches, and my 12 mm deep socket is mia. And dad's camera battery pooped out. Dad had the radiator out when I got here so I didn't get much farther. I did pick up a new thermostat too, why not while I am in there. I also got three new belts, the old ones don't look so bad, but they will be good spares for the toolbox.

The new radiator is a 3 core for sure, almost 1/2 in thicker than the factory one. There seem to be less tubes per inch though, Im not going to count though. This is good, extra coolant capacity for this oven of a city.

I got lucky tonight, a nice 85 or so, usually this time of year it is still way hot outside at this time.

The old coolant was the red, but during the last service somebody at toyota topped it with green. the fluid was pretty dark but no oil. I only took 2 pics before the camera died, so I'll post em tomorrow.
I still got good food, even if I didn't get the truck done.

By the way PAHydrohead, how does your truck look with the coils/bj spacers? I got the coils a month ago, and I am going to order the spacers soon. Does it look butt high? I want to run 32's but my fear is they will look small in the back

I think it looks great and H@ll yea its butt high - like a dragster - but you're gonna need it to counterbalance all the cool rocks your dad will want to bring home from the field like a highly metamorphosed schist or a petrified tree trunk or something :P . I have a couple pics of my truck with 33s, the bj spacers and cruiser coils in another thread. Let me see if I can link it up here or you can do a search on "cruiser coils". When I get into the office tomorrow, I'll email you some pics of the truck with 32s. The 32s looked fine until I pulled up next to another 2nd gen with 33s. Then they looked small. Tire envy. Now that I have 33s I'm staying away from anybody with 35s!!