Has anyone changed a radiator?

I have a leaking radiator on my 07 access cab v6 6spd manual with transmission oil cooler, I have to add coolant every 200kms. Pressure tested it and it's leaking out of a gouge on the back side. Is there a thread on radiator change on the 2nd gens?? Curious if there is anyone with some tips and roughly how much coolant I'm going to need to buy.

EDIT: No tranny cooler!

 

I think they hold 10 or 11 quarts total. If you're buying the Toyota pink stuff get 3 gallons.

 

Thanks a ton, I appreciate the info. Both engine and transmission cooler have a good bow in them. Only replacing the engine tranny. Will pick up the orange stuff.

 

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/61-2nd-generation-2005-2015/393435-coolant-change-1gr-fe.html

 

This should help you, I think there's a write up here on TW as well. It depends on where you live, but in most climates, most people use and recommend a 50/50 mix.

 

Awesome, thanks again, I live in northwestern Ontario in Canada, so it gets... Cold. We had nights of -40 Celsius last couple years, mild this year but best to be prepared. 50/50 will be best.

 

Is the oil cooler really for transmission gear oil in a 6-speed manual?

 

Wut?

 

I could be wrong... infact... now thinking about it, its too big to be a tranny cooler, its right infront of the big one. What would this be fore then????? Its pretty much the same size as the other one.

 

Get some distilled water and use in your anti freeze mix.

 

Get some distilled water and use in your anti freeze mix.

 

That would be your air conditioning condenser. Leave it alone, other than to clean dirt out of the fins once you have the old radiator out.

 

This

 

Yep... you are correct! haha, dont know how i missed that one, i wont be touching that like you said unless just to clean it. I guess i havent looked at the Air conditioning system too often, thanks!

 

I had something puncture my fins on the condenser and it needs to be replaced. One shop quoted me $600. Not sure about a diy on this one. I'm sure I can swap it out but with it involving freon and refilling the system I'm not sure if I want to do it. Any one have experience with this?

 

You could source a new condenser and R&R it yourself, if no special tools are needed, but you really need to have an A/C shop finish the job. They have to pull the whole system down on vacuum, and then refill to make sure there's no moisture trapped in the system or it could wreck your compressor.

 

I knew about needing an ac shop to do the vacuum and refill cause I'm sure oil will need to be added. Hoping to save myself a little money by swapping the condenser myself.

 

In the meantime I am thinking of somehow maybe with caulk or something trying to seal off the outside of the hole that was punctured. Hoping to keep any garbage from being sucked into the system. Any thoughts if this may be a bad idea?

 

Probably couldn't hurt. The condenser is only about $70 on rock auto, the work itself would save you a couple hours of labor cost just physically removing and reinstalling. A lot of that is where the costs come from, and the AC shops usually charge 2-3 times more for a condenser than you can find online. autozone/Oreillys sites say about $160 for a condenser - so there's $100 savings already.

 

You might want to blend 55% antifreeze to 45% distilled water, with the temps you experience in Canada. I believe Toyota-Canada sells this blend as a pre-mix. Check your owners manual, think this was mentioned in the do-it-yourself area, for Canadian vehicles.