Radiator, 1990 Ls400

[glenmore]

I just put in a new radiator, 1990 LS400. Here are a few notes. The operating temp was fine, but I kept losing coolant. I noticed that the top of the radiator was wet all around where the top is crimped to the body. The fellow at a well known shop said that a Lexus core is excellent and usually what is needed is a new rubber gasket at the top, $250. I bought a knockoff from ebay for about $120. Overall OK fit except for two spots noted below. Removal is straightforward, just don't forget to unplug and plug in the sensor at the lower drivers side. Have two small squares of rags to plug the radiator when you unplug the tranny lines. You can position the long tranny hose to prevent fluid from flowing out. I tied up the short tranny hose. You might cover these openings with rags because when you pull the radiator, all sorts of crap, dirt, leaves, rotten foam goes flying all over the place. Something was seriously wrong inside my radiator. When I removed the banjo fitting that goes from the overflow tank to the top of the radiator, it was nearly plugged with bits of rubber. I cleared that out and I hope that no rubber worked its way back to the tank. After you transfer all the fittings from the old to the new, dry fit the shroud to the new radiator. There are two small "U" rubber bushings at the bottom where the shroud fits into the radiator. The fit wasn't great here, so fit the shroud and radiator together here and install as one unit. It is also tough fitting the nuts into the little slots that hold the shroud. Don't assume that the capacity of the new one is the same as the old. I returned all the coolant to the car but needed to drain some.

glenmore

1990 LS400