so a few years back i took my '95 4runner into the dealership to get the top of the radiator patched up a little cause it was starting to corrode. in the past week or so i noticed it was starting to leak a little again from the top and then today i opened up the hood while the engine was running and coolant was spraying out of a little crack. i'm not sure whether i should try to patch it up or am i gonna need to replace the whole thing?

 

i would take it to a good radiator repair shop, and see if they can repair it, but most likely you will have to get a new one

 

yah, i figure since this would be the second time i'm getting the same area patched up i'd prob. be better off replacing it.

 

I would replace it with a new unit. I paid $150 bucks for mine about 2 years ago.

I just remember lots of people suggesting I don't buy one that was made in China.

 

I had a weeping pinhole near the neck for the cap and I was able to patch it by cleaning the area well and applying some fast drying epoxy (I made about a 1" diameter patch and tried to be sure the epoxy had some depth to it) . It held for about 3 years before I had to have the radiator replaced from an accident.

 

Just replace it, once the tank metal gets thin enough to start leaking, you'll have leaks springing up all over the place, fix one, another starts. Get a good brand heavy duty radiator, I run a GoDan and it is way thicker metal in the tanks than the one it replaced. The old one was so light you could pick it up easy in one hand, but this one almost needs both hands to hold it in place.

 

quick question...i was just lookin over everything before i replace the radiator, and i'm having trouble finding the two engine drain plugs for the coolant. if anyone could help with this i'd appreciate. i've got the haynes manual (i think it sucks) which shows the locations but doesn't really help.

 

I never bothered draining the block for replacing the radiator, if the truck is not going to be moved around coolant shouldnt spill out once you emty the rad, and catch whatever is in the outlet hose.

 

If you really want to pull the engine plugs they are right behind the motor mounts. I've never pulled them though, I'd rather do a few drain-refill-run-drain-refill-run cycles instead.

I got my radiator from here: http://www.radiator.com/ Lifetime warranty for about $135 (two years ago). Great service, shipped to my door in 2-3 days. I've bought 3 radiators from them for different cars and once they delivered one out to me in 2 hours (I'm in OKC and they have one of their warehouses here).

 

yah i got mine from the exact same place. i talked to them at about 6 p.m. and it was on my doorstep by 11:30 the next morning, great service. i decided to not mess with the engine plugs, and a lot drained out of the tube coming from the engine. Anyway, new one's in. it was really pretty easy, took a little over an hour. it got dark though so i'm gonna fill it up tom. and see how she does. thanks for the help

 

I never messed with the engine drain plugs when working on my engine. There is nothing lower than the lower radiator hose on my truck anyway, so I don't think it would have helped much.

 

this may seem like a noob question BUT, i got the new radiator installed and i went to fill it up today. my capacity is supposed to be about 10 liters but i poured a gallon of water and was going to then pour a gallon of coolant, but after the gallon of water it was completely full. i then ran the engine to let it cycle through the engine block but the water level still didn't go down so i can't add any coolant. am i missing something here?

 

You may not have had the block fully drained, so some of the system was already full. What I do is to put in the 1 gal. coolant first, then add whatever (deionized/distilled) water it'll take to top it off. This way I know I have the full amount of coolant in there.

 

Drain it all back out and start over. Did you run the engine long enough to open the themostat? Did you set the heater controls to full high? I always mix the distilled water and coolant to 50/50 mix BEFORE adding it to the truck. One gal sounds about right to me, how much did you drain out? There is a lot that doesn't drain out unless you open up the block. That's why I never flush with straight water, you end up with a high concentration of water in the block unstead of a 50/50 mix.

 

BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING... take it to the radiator shop on old Pearl right behind Boulder Toyota. Sometimes it's just a seal on the top of the radiator that goes bad and those guys will fix it. Boulder Toyota sends them radiators to fix so just go straight to them. PM if you want to know directions. Lates!

Edit: Crap... looks like you already got a new radiator. I'd still recommend taking any radiator stuff to that radiator shop on old Pearl.

 

mt goat, i definitely drained more than a gallon out of the radiator and block. i'm sure there's still a decent amount in the block but i was just confused by the fact that was not able to put nearly as much back in as i drained. i turned the heat on high, and let the engine run until the water started boiling in the radiator, so it was definitely long enough for the thermostat to open. i'm just gonna drain it tom. and then pre mix it like you suggest and refill it till its full.

 

You may have gotten an air pocket some where, it helps if you pour the coolant in very slowly. That gives the air a chance to escape.

 

gotchya, i'll make sure to do that tom. thanks

 

Also if both upper and lower hoses are hot you know the thermostat opened up.

 

alright, you guys prob. think i'm a ****ing idiot by now but i don't know what the hell is going on. i drained it again today and then refilled with a 50/50 mix and started it up. let it run for about 10 min. and after the thermostat opened the "never moving" temp. gauge started going up and the coolant in the overflow tank started boiling. the temp. gauge continued going up until it was almost in the red and so i shut it down. the radiator is filled and all the hoses are reconnected correctly, so any idea on whats going on? thanks again in advance for any help.