Third gen radiator autopsy.

[TonyN]

Just a thought, given that its in the rad which is full of hot water, and given its small size, could we be looking at this wrongly and its actually an oil warmer not a cooler ????? surely if you had half a brain a cooler would not be immersed in hot rad water but in the airflow out front ????? so when you fire up and the temp increases it slowly warms the trany fluid to make it less gloopy and work better..... when you tow you over heat the trans fluid dumping the heat back in the engine..........

Nah, trannys with run far hotter than engine temps without a cooler, and get hotter far quicker. The ideal temp for running is similar to coolant temps, so running it through the rad near the outlet is ideal to cool it to its ideal running temp.

Its a financial thing, it far easier to build and fit coolers in the rad, virtually every manufacturer does it.

It only become an issue when pushed hard, or you have other cooling issues, I wouldn't write it off for the average truck doing averge things.

My truck only started not being able to cope after fitting 33" tyres and towing far heavier trailers than its designed to.

I can still get my engine hot when loaded up with no cooler in rad at all, so its not just the AFT cooler that does it, but fitting an auxi or stand alone cooler goes a long way to helping.

[Ploddit]

Have LC 80's got the same set up?

[TonyN]

Have LC 80's got the same set up?

Dunno, probably similar, but same age 3rd Gens and Colorados have the same rad. A newer LC120 I recently worked on had the tanks on each side instead of top and bottom, and the cooler in one side.

It's not 'bad' I wouldn't panic, can be improved on easily if you're going to push the limits.

Vince's rad in this thread is from a petrol 2.7 remember, but looks similar to oil burner 3rd Gens from pics.

Its much better than 2nd Gen Rads, which the cooler actually obscures the output, but the 2nd don't suffer from cooler to rad leaks like has happened to a few 3rd Gens. 3rd Gen tanks are plastic and crimped to cores, not soldered.

[Koi]

[QUOTE=Paul1566;729330]
Just a thought, given that its in the rad which is full of hot water, and given its small size, could we be looking at this wrongly and its actually an oil warmer not a cooler ????? surely if you had half a brain a cooler would not be immersed in hot rad water but in the airflow out front ?????QUOTE]

Have you ever felt the very bottom of the rad when the Surf's been run?

[Apache]

Thats mine on my old 2nd gen under the left headlamp. Never had any issues in 3 years of use, and AFAIK, the new owner's had no issues in the few years he's owned it.

Worked well with a fully loaded truck keeping things cool on long hot Pyrenees mountain climbs too.

[Paul1566]

[QUOTE=Koi;729403]

Just a thought, given that its in the rad which is full of hot water, and given its small size, could we be looking at this wrongly and its actually an oil warmer not a cooler ????? surely if you had half a brain a cooler would not be immersed in hot rad water but in the airflow out front ?????QUOTE]

Have you ever felt the very bottom of the rad when the Surf's been run?

Mines "kin hot" at the top and "bugger thats hot" at the bottom.....

Still not convinced, think its a stupid idea sticking it in there..........

need to read up on thermodynamics, its easier to heat than cool i know that by just rubbing two sticks together.......

[ROMEROTECH]

I've spotted these two coolers on fleaBay.

I'm leaning towards the 2nd (£60) cooler just because it's bigger (bit more efficient) and looks like the length and diameter of the tubing offers good cooling/flow characteristics. I can see me bolting a thermostat and manually operated leccy fan to it for those long uphill struggles with a loaded transporter trailer. Installing a temp gauge is a distinct possibility too.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Verdicts/opinions please

[LemmingLegion]

It seems that No one has thought about the Actual Size of the radiator,.. and that the physical size is what the problem is, and because of financial reasons, (but not for the same reasons mentioned earlier in the thread,) mechanics and other folk aren't aware that this is a real problem.
Recently on a recently purchased 3.0 3rd gen, it's radiator was Re-Cored,.! Not replaced.
Because it was after we had already purchased a replacement, that we then compared it with the existing one, and subsequently discovered that, it's core wasn't the same, it wasn't the same thickness at all!. Even though it was the corresponding part no.
So after having the heating problems as described by countless owners here when towing, (Because this IS a Very Common Fault!) and re-coring the rad. It's clear, that there's no need for expensive, and complicated systems and cooling modifications, as described here previously.
Just an adequately stupid, (THICK), radiator.

!

[BUSHWHACKER]

It's the EFI diesel engines (2.4 and 3.0) that cause the overheat problems, not the radiators.
I had a standard 2.4 radiator cooling my 4.0 V8 for three years no problem, and there are a couple of other Lexurfs driving around with standard 2.4 rads too.

Never have any overheating problems with my 2.7 when towing, the transmission tunnel never gets warm either.

Only the diesel's, transmission tunnels seem get hot from normal driving and especially towing.

[KERRSURF]

The biggest issue would be overcooling. Some kind of temperature controlled shunt would be prudent, if the whole radiator exchanger is by-passed.

I think fitting a cooler inline but infront of the rad cooler would be a better option, if the ATF is over-cooled it will be brought back up in temp in the rad.

[mj1226]

Third gen radiator autopsy

This is an awesome read. Thanks so much for putting this up.
Even more amazing is how this applies to my case.

I got that same "strawberry milkshake" thing going on.
And I am wondering where the leak is coming from?
help, please?


My mechanic, who is my neighbor too, a korean, we do sign languages by pointing and gesturing.

I can't speak korean, he can't speak english. Apparently he used to be part of hyundai's engine design dept. These pictures here will be great when we will talk again, as I will show these to him.

He ordered a transmission fluid cooler, which is great.

I am certain that he is right to get an aftermarket ATF cooler and bypass the one within the radiator and never use that mingy thing.

Where I am, there is no scare of overcooling because its so darn hot here. But it's humid which is ok if you've got skin. If you're metal then, getting the best possible cooling is key.

I'm worried because I feel that there is a leak or fluid merge somewhere which we have not solved yet. Or am i just over thinking it and worrying too much? maybe? He may have a plan to fix that merge or leak or I don't know if he has a plan. I want to think of the latter.
We don't know yet how he's going to solve that fluid mix riddle or he's figured out a plan already?
But what we haven't touched on is where the ATF or Water merging is happening thus resulting in the dreaded "strawberry milkshake".

I'm thinking of removing the radiator and sending it to a workshop and find a hole in it to plug?