Hello all......well the radiator has finally crapped out at 139K on my 2002 SC...noticing there is a felt like material on both sides of the radiator...is there any problem if I don't replace on new radiator? If so, what and where can I find this replacement material that must be heat resistant and I'm pretty sure the part is not available from the dealer..thanks.

 

Are you sure that's a stock Lexus item? I need to look again, but I don't remember seeing that on mine.

 

Radiator is definitely original and stock…I think the idea was to have maximum efficiency of air to radiator…I would think it wouldn’t make a big difference to leave it off… But who knows?

 

You can buy some foam weatherstripping at Home Depot. It is peel and stick. It is not the original stuff, but it will help

I don't know if it is fire resistant. But then again, I don't know if the OEM stuff is either

 

Thanks...I'm just questioning if I really need to replace it...I saw a repair shop guy on You tube and he definitely didn't replace it...only concern would be if the material has to be heat resistant?

 

Replace it. Radiator is cheap. Just get the Denso radiator on line and replace it yourself.

 

I am replacing it…just questioning if the material on the sides is necessary​​​​​​?

 

What do you mean by necessary. ? Its part of the design, the foam (which I replaced) helps pull air through the radiator rather than pulling air from the sides and not through the radiator itself if the foam is not installed.
All depends on whether you want the cooling capacity processing of the radiator to be maximized as designed or not.....
There is plenty of info on the topic, you can also look at the LS forum for more info. If you were gonna have Lexus replace the radiator, do you think they would leave off the foam? (assuming its available)

 

I reused the OEM foam on each side of the radiator…the pic is the new radiator with foam OEM installed

 

Thanks Bgw70...waiting for delivery on the Denso radiator...hopefully when I pull the old one out the 22 year old material isn't deteriorated ;-(

 

The factory foam on my 04 came off in pieces/dust. I went to Ace and got the black sticky foam weatherstripping when I put in a Denso radiator a couple weeks ago. Just did a round trip to Boise ID, 900 miles. No sign of issues with foam I can see.

 

Potential foam alternative...if you cant buy OEM
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc4...-surround.html

 

Thanks guys.....I guess I'll take the extra step if original foam is shot.....

 

That would have been my thought to do.

 

I was able to salvage the foam..was not real plyable but doable and worked…thanks for keeping me honest and keeping the SC OEM! LOL…..