P.S. mechanic says the radiator is the copper kind (NOT plastic). He's not sure if it's three or four row, but he'll find out in the morning. If it DOES turn out to be four row, copper, and high-efficiency, any reason not to jump on it? It's about 100$ less than Ability and will shave off 3-4 days of waiting. I don't want to make a bad choice here just to save a little time and money, but if all else is equal, does it seem like a safe bet?
If he knows where to get a new 4 row radiator that will fit the 4wd van, please find out where and let the rest of us know. For that matter, if he can get a new 4wd van radiator with ANY number or rows, please let us know. I'm guessing he hasn't tried to find one yet & doesn't yet know they are NLA. To my knowledge nobody makes the 4wd Toyota van radiators anymore (let alone one with 4 rows). Tim
will do, tim. he said he got a price and a 3-day ship quote, so he must have something. i'll post tomorrow when i find out more. i guess that means you think i should go ahead with it if it's true. if it's three row, should i get then even? or hold out for a 4 row?
I don't know. Everybody has their opinions. Some shops (most actually) will recommend you purchase through them mostly because they make money. Nothing wrong with that as we all need to make a living. I guess I'm questioning his motives.........does he really think the one he has is better, or is it only because he'll make some money? To my knowledge nobody has had any problems with the recored Yuba City radiators. I have however had problems with the new (thin) radiators. The last new Spectra I purchased had a leak between the P/S tank & the core, so I had to wait for a replacement & do the job twice. My personal attitude is new (compared to original) is thin & cheap.
Recored radiators get a bad wrap but I've always had excellent luck with them. I guess the quality will depend on the grade of core you get and who installs it. The only old parts used on recores are the tanks (everything else is brand new). I suppose there can be circumstances where corrosion causes 25 year old tanks to fail, but I haven't seen it. I rather doubt your tanks are corroded to the point of needing to be replaced, but I don't know as I haven't seen them. I have yet to see tanks on a new radiator that are better than the tanks of 25 years ago (even after 25 years of use). As for performance, stock/standard cores do not cool as well as high efficiency cores. On vehicles without inherent cooling system problems, this might not matter. The van however tends to run hot, so IMHO, I think high efficiency is the better choice. Of course there's the airflow issue, and if you don't get enough airflow it won't matter how efficient the core is. Example: If the airflow is only enough to dissipate 200,000 BTU's and the stock radiator is capable of 210,000 BTU's, then it won't do you much good to have a radiator capable of 300,000 BTU's. I have no idea what the actual numbers are, I'm just making them up for the sake argument.
Your guy might know more about this than I do, and if he really thinks you'll be better off with his radiator, then do what he recommends. If you want an expert opinion, go down to a radiator shop and ask the manager what he thinks. I'm really hoping your guy knows of a secret source of new high quality 4wd van radiators, but I'm guessing he's going to get a 2wd Spectra or CFS radiator, then find out it won't fit (4wd's have shorter radiators due to the front differential being in the way). Anyhow, that's just my .02 cents. Do what you think is best and let us know how it turns out. Tim
PS: If you go with new, save your old radiator and I'll give you whatever the core charge is + $20.
so the mechanic says it's from 1800radiators. i called them and sure enough he said "i show the same part for 2wd as 4wd." so sounds like it's bogus afterall. woulda wasted an additional three days to get it here and find out it doesn't fit. just gonna go ahead with the recore.
That sucks. When we moved I got hit by tweaker metal thieves. They got all my extra 4wd radiators I had stored inside one of my parts vans (along with several other parts). I was hoping I could score your core, then I was going to send it to Yuba City.
. Glad you got it figured out before going through the shipping/return hassle. Tim
so we're on our west coast road trip with our newly rebuilt engine. she's running really well...getting 21 MPG and feeling strong. i've attached a picture for fun. she is showing intermittent rad and engine lights. i'm chalking it up to quirkiness, as there aren't any other problems. there's been no use of oil beyond a 1/4 quart in the first 500 miles. the radiator is using about a 1/2 pint of coolant every 1000 miles or so. i did a high-efficiency 4-row recore with Ability, but is this normal/okay? it hasn't overheated at all and i know the rad light is due to a bad coolant sensor. any thoughts are (as always) appreciated.
happy new year, y'all!
The engine coolant circulates in a closed system, so if you're losing coolant then there's a leak. No big deal as long as you add prior to it getting low, just a hassle. It's not unusual for the coolant recovery bottle to leak from the bottom, so check that. There's a rubber grommet there that gets soft and falls apart. Unfortunately the only way to get that grommet is to purchase the coolant level switch & that sells for ~$100 from a discount Toyota parts site (MSRP is more). If your engine light is coming on that means there's a code stored. Put it into the diagnostic mode to see what it is. Tim
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Glad to hear the rebuild is working out. Am definitely interested in where the coolant and oil is going... Have fun!
My van is getting real close to being, "on the road again" and I can't wait.
Oh yes, congrats!1/4 qt in 500 miles is not abnormal for a new engine. Oil consumption will likely get better as the rings finish breaking in. Even if it stays the same, that's not terrible. Of course 1/4 qt in 500 miles is hard to confirm. Once you hit 2k miles on the same oil, that's when you'll know for sure. Tim
hey tim - checked the diagnostic codes and got a 12 and 25. seems like that leaves a lot of possibilities open...gonna take her in this week for final diagnosis. will have the coolant issue checked out too. the rest of the trip revealed absolutely no coolant loss for a 1000 miles than about a quart after about 400 miles. very strange.Originally Posted by timsrv
Code 12 is likely left over from initial prep for start. It's common to disable the ignition and crank until oil pressure comes up 1st, then enable & start. I'm guessing they disabled by disconnecting the igniter & didn't think to reset codes after they got it going. Code 25 can be several different things. Depending on what was included with the rebuild you could probably rule some things out. Did you get new injectors or have your old ones cleaned/tested? Due to the labor to access + age I started doing this every time there's access. Our injectors are pretty tough and might not need any attention, just a good idea to be sure. Tim
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