Replacing Radiator

[Viraf]

I am new to this forum and am hoping that someone can help me understand if there are any pitfalls that I should avoid before I start to replace my radiator on my 1993 GS300 which has developed a hairline crack in the radiator on the top surface.

The car heats up very fast and I can see the steam come out from the crack which is just under the casing for the airfilter which sits above the radiator in the center of the car.

Any suggestions on where I could buy the radiator and hoses. The car has 124k miles on it and so decided to replace the radiator rather than have it repaired.

Thanks .

Viraf

[VGR]

I'd try NAPA and ask for a Modine brand radiator. These tend to be most like OEM. Your hoses and hose clamps will still last another 10 years so reuse them.

[TurboGS300]

I just replaced mine because of the exact same thing. You think they would use a metal radiator on such an expensive car. I bought mine for $99 + shipping off of EBay. It was brand new and an exact replacement for the OEM. It took about a week to get to me. :D I replaced all my hoses as well but opted to get mine replaced by a local shop. I would check HOY FOX TOYOTA for the best prices. The shop that replaced my hoses used worm gear clamps. When I replaced the radiator I went back and redid all the hoses with T-bolt clamps as worm gear clamps suck and will lead to early hose failure. I also replaced the 2 short lengths of hose for the tranny cooler built into the radiator. I was able to pull the entire radiator out from the passenger side without removing the engine fan. The tranny hose clamps were a little bit of a pita to get to and get off the radiator. Make sure you have some plugs to keep the fluid from draining out of the tranny hoses. Also use some teflon tape on the temp sensor in the bottom corner of the radiator. You'll need to remove everything from the old radiator, except the tranny hose connectors to use on the new radiator.

[TWINTURBO619]

I too have a 1993 GS300. It was a !Removed! replacing the radiator. Putting it back together was easy though. If I do remember, there are to clips that hold down the cowels on the backside of the radiator, just remember that they are on opposite sides of each other. next thing is there is 1 bolt i think holding down something on the driver side part of the radiator... i forgot what it was, but there should be a bolt holding it down. before you start yanking the radiator out, just to let you know, your radiator has a trasmission cooler built in at the bottom, so your car will bleed a little bit. carefully remove the hoses then lift the old radiator out. there should be about 2 or three hoses. after that, just replace it and everything is a piece of cake after that. I did it without the book so yeah, it took a couple of hours. I used an IS300 radiator on my car. Works pretty good, haven't had a problem. Good luck with your radiator job.

I am new to this forum and am hoping that someone can help me understand if there are any pitfalls that I should avoid before I start to replace my radiator on my 1993 GS300 which has developed a hairline crack in the radiator on the top surface. 

The car heats up very fast and I can see the steam come out from the crack which is just under the casing for the airfilter which sits above the radiator in the center of the car.

Any suggestions on where I could buy the radiator and hoses. The car has 124k miles on it and so decided to replace the radiator rather than have it repaired.

Thanks .

Viraf

←

[Viraf]

Thanks to all that have responed to my request. I will put the radiator in Friday and wanted to know if there is any trick to filling the coollant and any special kind that i should use.

I was planning to add the coolant to the radiator and put some in the reservoir cap. Will that work.

Thanks again to all. You guys are awesome and give me a great deal of confidence to do this.

Viraf

[TWINTURBO619]

hey Viraf, good luck on the install. It was fun while I did it... just be prepared to get dirty. I suggest that you steam clean your engine first. Trust me, if you don't, you'll see all the years of built up sludge and stuff fall right to the floor of your garage... When I did my install, i had leaves, pebbles, bugs, all kinds of stuff fall out... lol, oh well, It's just a suggestion. Oh yeah, about the side clips on the cowel behind the radiator, becarefull with those things, they do pop out and are pretty hard to find... they're like a goldish color... so hold on to them when you remove the cowel. Have fun this friday.

[TurboGS300]

I used the orange radiator fluid and mixed per instructions on the jug. I also added some water wetter. I just filled uip the radiator from the neck and then started the car, adding fluid as needed. Turned the heater all the way up on low. Once it was full and had run for a little bit, I closed the cap and filled the overflow up to the line. <_< Oh yeah when doing the install or adding the fluid make sure the car is on level ground or a uphill grade, never downhill.

[Viraf]

Successs. radiator installed and the car is runing good.

Just wanted to share that to remove the hoses, the best tool was caliper pliers. Just rotate the hose slightly so it loosens and then they are easy to take out.

Thanks to all for your encouragment - that its not hard to do.

Viraf