While on the trail this past weekend, I was bitten by the bad luck bug. A few miles into a treacherous trail, steam began to roll out from under the hood. At first I thought (hoped) it was just a hose that sprung a leak, and that it wouldn't be a big deal. Upon popping the hood, I saw the worst case scenario for my cooling system - a 4" crack across the top radiator tank.
After figuring out a way for the truck to get home, and a new radiator and thermostat in my hand, I took it easy that night. Enjoying a few brews with a departing friend can cure the blues.
I began working on the truck at the crack of dawn, or 11am to be more precise. With only one good hand, I began to remove everything, top to bottom. Upper house came out quickly, and the 8 nuts/bolts required for removing the fan/shroud came out easily. The shroud didn't, as the lower transmission line attached to it hung on for dear life. This forced me to remove the foremost skid plate. After breaking the clasp for the transmission line, the shroud slid right out. I began to drain the radiator while I began disconnecting the lower radiator hose and transmission lines. Easy peezee so far, nothing out of the norm. Little did I know the Toyota manual called for me to remove the grill/bumper of the truck. I'm lazy, so this became a daunting task suddenly. Of course, as one friend says, I'm lazy because I'm brilliant. I had two options - drill a couple of holes in the grill to access the radiator bracket bolts, or use the 3/8 knuckle for my ratchet. Again, I'm lazy so pulling out the Dewalt and 3/4" drill bit required too much work. I turned to the knuckle, which in turn turned the bolts right out of their homes. Bing, bang, boom, all 4 are out of the way and the radiator slides right out.
With that out of the way, I quickly remove the thermostat housing and replace the thermostat for good measure. Turns out both the radiator and thermostat were original equipment, enduring 265,000 miles of life.
Trick to the entire job was lining up the new radiator while threading the bolts back through the grill using the knuckle. Thankfully a neighbor was outside washing her car and was able to lend a hand. With only one good hand and distracted eyes (she has a pert rear end!), it took about 10 minutes to get all 4 started, allowing her to get back to her Sunday chore. With the radiator tightened up to the truck, everything quickly went in reverse: lower radiator hose, both transmission lines, slide the shroud into place, push back towards engine to drop fan in. Tighten up the shroud, begin the nuts on the fan studs, tighten up the fan nuts. Upper radiator hose, catch tank hose, foremost skid plate. Filled the radiator back up with hose water, knowing this next weekend I will flush the system and refill it with the extended life OEM coolant and distilled water.

Job took me about 3 hours, which is pathetic. I didn't have full use of my left hand (broken middle phalanx on the small finger, and when I say broken I mean the bone is in 2-parts) and I had no idea the challenge Toyota engineered for me regarding the front grill/bumper non-sense. With it under my belt, the job would take 75-80 minutes.

 

Not sure what truck you have, but on my '01 4Runner, it took me around an hour, start to finish. While a bit tricky, the bolts that hold the radiator mounting brackets to the truck did not require bumper removal.

Last year a friend and I replaced the radiator in his '97 for good measure. Took under an hour.

Hope your hand is on the mend.


Andreas

 

Unless your "pert" neighbor is somehow off-limits, you have a good pick-up line to use now; suggest to her that the two of you get "overheated."

 

aowRS - 97 Taco 3.4l 4x4. It shouldn't have taken me as long as it did, and now that I know the grill doesn't need to be touched, simply bypassed, it'll take me about an hour next time, maybe less. The hand is what really slowed me down, and even more so when I removed the brace and squarely jammed the broken finger into a pulley. That was 15 mins right there!

4Runner - Nice line, maybe I'll try it!