sixonemale

Much appreciated, thanks! I also found a diagram that shows the inlet and outlet lines that I've attached for others to view, in addition to an attachment that explains the order in which to do the repair from a manual purchased on EBay a while back.

DshngDaryl

I would give it a try. It is pretty straight forward. In fact removing the splash guard is the step that took me the longest

hotrodsrj

Well... I have a question. Being how I have designed and engineered many radiators in my time for mainly street rods, clasics, muscle cars and others..... a radiator is not a radiator is not a radiator necessarily because it fits the exact footprint of the old one I would like to add. Obviously mounting ease is one of the first parameters that many people/customers like! And.. I agree! "Exact fit" replacements are a "godsend" in my parts.. right?

Having said that... has anyone done a "performance design" check or measurement on these radiators? Radiators need three things to be effective. One, they have to fit obviously. Two, the shear surface area of the radiator must also match the OE (or customized) cooling requirement. This would include such things as number of tubes, size of tubes, number of fins/inch or cm, Some OE radiators actually have baffles built into them to create "turbulence" to churn the stream of coolant entering and exiting the radiator or in strategic areas. This is to make sure that the radiator won't support a more of a "laminar" flow phenomenon and creates productive turbulence. Coolant flow is king (along with air flow obviously) for the most efficient system.

It would be a good exercise to make some measurements on this Denso replacement radiators IMO. A friend in Houston replaced his Acura radiator with a Denso. Everything was cool until the middle of July sitting in traffic with the air on... the thing overheated! Come to find out that the gross cooling area and fin count of the Denso was not the same as the OE replacement. He sprung for the OE and things were fine.

I am NOT trying to throw monkey wrenches into everyone's positive experiences here... but in my opinion you usually get what you pay for and OE cooling systems are inherently designed and tested with OE parts. One last point. While aluminum radiators definitely need anti-corrosion help... make sure to run at least a 30% mix of anti-freeze to water (and no.... you're water does NOT have to be distilled!!!)... bottled water works fine and actually soft water works best! I would also suggest a sacrificial anode and a product called water wetter. While water wetter will NOT help the overall efficiency of cooling... it is a surfactant that reduces air pockets/hot spots and provides better "quenching" of hot surfaces to absorb more heat. Most newer anti-freeze concoctions already have these properties however.

Bgw70

great points!
my two year old Denso replacement radiator has been through two Florida summers and no overheat issues detected.

running a mix of distilled water and Walmart antifreeze.

NOTE: I reused the foam in each side of the radiator, it seals the area between the fan assembly and radiator and causes more air to be air to pulled through the cooling fins in the radiator.

hotrodsrj

MOre cooling information for automotive geeks (like myself). I have been designing special cooling systems since originally designing primary-pass cooling systems for nuclear facilities back in the 1970s. Many a hotrod, classic, muscle car or custom car has my mark on it. Many of these applications are difficult due to the unbelievable amounts of horsepower utilized in these motors, add air conditioning and the want to run them in heavy traffic on hot days... well you get the idea.. I mainly use Griffin Radiators for my applications and Stewart High Flow water pumps for moving coolant. There are other quality made radiators and pumps as well. The two go hand in hand!

There are many bad myths around cooling systems. Example: the more antifreeze the better. Actually... the more antifreeze the worse the cooling system will be at carrying heat! Pure water is the best absorber and carrier of heat period! So.. in warm climates (where you don't need low-temperature freezing protection) 30% antifreeze to water is fine and actually will perform better than one with a 50/50 mix! And.. 30% will still maintain the anti-corrosion properties of the concoction! Example Two: the longer the water sits in the radiator the better. Wrong! The higher the flow of the water thru the radiator (and system) the more efficient the system.

HEre is some more boring bed-time reading for those who just want more basics on cooling. Often, it's not what you think it is.. but interesting stuff! Enjoy! http://stewartcomponents.com/index.p...ormation_id=14

sixonemale

Good points, but my guess is that Denso could not legally make this statement below if not true:

"DENSO's radiator configurations, tanks, fin pitch, core dimensions and materials meet OE manufacturer's rigid standards. All DENSO radiators pass our strict durability and function tests. As the result, our radiators deliver reliable performance even under the most demanding conditions."

Perhaps it does not meet your expectations, but short of doing an in-depth analysis it works for me. With that said do I think all replacement radiators are high quality, absolutely not, my last one, which I'm not sure of the brand, could have been Denso, did not last all that long before getting a pin hole leak in the upper seam around the O-ring. I could probably run the car as is for a long time since the leak is almost microscopic, but it bothers me enough to replace it. I'll be candid as to the performance of the Denso radiator I'm going to install and write a post should it fail early.

sixonemale

I finally replaced my radiator and found out that the radiator that my mechanic put in was a Denso radiator that lasted about 20,000 miles before getting pin-hole leak in the top tank seam. As mentioned in my last post I don't think these radiators have super high quality craftsmanship, but do believe they cool the engine within OEM specifications.

I followed the instructions from the repair manual that I posted with the exception of disconnecting the negative battery terminal, a precautionary measure that I simply forgot. I also did not disconnect the oxygen sensor wiring from the air cleaner assembly because once the wire harness was disconnected it could be laid on its back in the engine bay out of the way. One mistake made was removing the small plastic tube from the bottom of the radiator which resulted in more of mess when draining the coolant. The top and bottom hoses were very easy to replace with no mess at all with a slight note on the top hose. At a glance the top hose looks semi uniform, but if put on wrong it will touch the overflow tank, one straight end is slightly longer than the other and the longer end connects to the radiator. One of the fan clamp harnesses was broke, but a tie wrap worked perfectly when reinstalling the radiator/fan assembly. I also purchased a package of various sized rubber caps from an auto parts store and used two of the caps on the disconnected transmission oil lines. The total volume of 50/50 coolant required for this job was a little more than one gallon.

Lastly I did an experiment after the radiator was installed by not filling it fully with coolant, about 3/4 to 7/8's full to see where the temperature needle would land on a very short drive, but making sure it was at full operational temperature where the temperature gauge needle would not move further. With that said, the temperature needle landed in the exact same spot, just below the half way mark toward cool. I mention this because the new Denso radiator did not come with foam on each side and wanted to see if I could make an impact with it being slightly less than full of coolant. If I would have had the foam I would have reused it, but since I did not, I know now that it probably provides very little if any efficiency to the overall cooling of the engine.

Bgw70

mandyfig

The shop that repaired my SC430 was top notch (when somebody hit me in the front). The Radiator is a Toyota stamped radiator. I will take a pic.

joemg

This is an excellent write-up!

Just curious, does anyone make an all aluminum, multi-row upgrade for our cars?

I put this 3-row, all aluminum beast in my truck when I was running into overheating issues in the desert. It was $175 on ebay and I couldn't be happier. I did a quick scan on ebay and didn't see anything like this for us. I'm sure you could find one that is the same dimensions as ours and fabricate brackets, but it would be nice if there was something plug and play.

Wilson2000

Unless the hoses had signs of degradation...good call on not replacing the hoses and clamps. My 85 MR2 still has all its original 35-year-old cooling hoses! From reading this entire thread, it looks like the "jury is out" on the Denso OE radiator vs the Toyota OEM part, with two posters reporting pinhole leaks at the top-tank seal on the Denso. Can anyone report a price they paid on an OEM radiator (for future reference)?

Regarding antifreeze/water mix: I follow the manufacturer's recommendations. I've experimented with "Water Wetter" before discovering it is engineered to be used with 100% water in racing engines. Yes, water conducts heat faster than anti-freeze, but street engines need the anti-corrosive properties of the anti-freeze, where race engines don't. A 50/50 mix will give you longer service life too. The Toyota brand and other similar (HOAT) long-life brands are rated at 10 years/100,000 miles!

I have two credos I live by when making repairs...One, like the medical Doctor's credo, "first, do no harm." Two, "make the repair as good as new, or better." Working in this manner is costly and time consuming, but worth it down the line!

mandyfig

I need to look at the summary of the repairs done on my SC, I am sure the Radiator cost is stated.

Magnum Collision Repair in Marietta did an awesome job. The whole Front was replaced, including headlights, etc..

Original Toyota Radiator:

Lawler999

I'm in the uk , and thinking of swapping out the radiator on my 2002 sc .
mine has a radiator cap on top of the rad like the ones in this thread , but most of the other uk sc seem to have no cap on the radiator , any ideas why there seems to be two different types ?

Harold57

So it was finally my turn, in that, my radiator’s water broke. Unfortunately, it did not give birth to another radiator…

I found it by investigating a check engine light, that had generated 3 smog system type codes: P0440, P0441 & P0446, which typically points to a loose vacuum hose. So I pulled the engine cover off and found the vacuum hose that was loose (on the driver’s side, thanks BGW70) and put it back on and tightened the other one. Then looked over and noticed that my radiator had a nice red line all around the top. It was not leaking enough to drip on the floor but enough to show up there. I had the same radiator failure as Antigeek did.

So I called around for estimates and they ranged from $951 from Toyota down to $450 from a small indie that I’ve used that typically has good prices. Enough of a sticker shock to make me reconsider doing it myself, especially considering the DIYs above that were available.

The guys above (LexBrett, BGW70 & AntiGeek), did a good enough DIY that I don’t intend to add to the process but can add a few other things. From their instructions, I was able to go in and replace my radiator despite the fact that the last time I worked on or replaced a radiator the following was true:

· Radiators were all metal and you could repair a leak in the top with a torch and solder

· There was lots of space between the radiator and the engine

· The radiator fan was mechanical (not electrical) and was attached to (& powered by) the engine

· Antifreeze / coolant only came in green and it was recommended that you replace it every year.

So I ordered the radiator as listed from the above posts from Rockauto along with a new radiator cap for less than $100 ($118 with shipping). I then bought 3 gallons of Zerex antifreeze/coolant. (Another shock for me was paying close to $20 per gallon of antifreeze which is diluted to 50%. Essentially only getting ½ gallon of antifreeze for every gallon purchased.) I was told that our system holds 10 quarts of antifreeze/coolant. So if you are going to a full coolant replacement, you’ll need to buy 3 gallons. If you are only going to drain the radiator and bottom hoses, you’ll only need about 1 ½ gallons. I wanted to have the full amount available just in case.

After all the parts came in, I went to drive the car up on my old ramps and discovered that the incline of the ramps is too steep for the SC430. So I placed a couple of 2x4s next to each other as a lead to the ramps but it was still too steep. Then I tried a stack of 2x4s that was two levels high and still too high. So I jacked up the car and placed a third set of 2x4s under the tires. (BGW70 says that he had the same problem and bought a pair of RhinoGear 11909 ramps from Walmart for about $40 and they work even for his TransAm.)

All told, it probably took me 3 or so hours (probably 2 or 2 ½ hours if you take out the fiddling around with the ramps and other things like that). My foam was not transferable either (like Antigeek), as it was too brittle to transfer, so I left it off. I'm still not too sure on whether that's a good decision.

So after I finished, I called around to see who would take antifreeze and motor oil (since I have a bunch of used oil laying around). I didn’t do an exhaustive check but did determine that most car parts stores and garages don’t take used antifreeze (some don’t take either) but Pep Boys not only took the used motor oil and antifreeze but they also allowed me to drop off my old radiator with them to dispose of, which I thought was great, as I didn’t want to see that go to the dump/landfill. (Sorry for the run-on sentence.)

All of that to say, if your radiator has never been changed, be sure to periodically check your radiator, don’t depend on puddles on the ground or your temperature gauge to go excessively high. If you want to save money, this is not a high skill level required job. It just takes time and persistence.

Wilson2000

LOL...Love your opening joke!

Good job on doing this yourself with limited experience. Thanks for all your insightful notes!

My County offers multiple, free, Household Hazardous Wastes disposal sites which take all kinds of automotive waste products. DIY'ers should look into their local County offerings. For anyone out there dumping used chemicals illegally...don't!

Would it have been a good idea to change your thermostat, as long as you were tackling your cooling system? I used to change mine every time I changed my coolant, but engine designers have been making the task more and more difficult. I haven't looked into changing my SC's t-stat yet, but would definitely look into it if I was changing my radiator. I'm less concerned with changing the radiator hoses as I have never had a Toyota OEM radiator hose fail, even in my 35-year-old MR2! If I do ever change my hoses, I'll use OEM hoses and clamps. BTW...never use worm-drive hose clamps on plastic radiators (use the stock spring clamps).