Second bad radiator

I was thinking the same thing about the crossover pipe, hose or pump.

 

Crossover pipe, incorrect installation on second radiator or hopefully just a bit of bad luck on a second radiator failure. What concerns me is that you don’t see any leaks. I’d take a good hard look at the crossover pipe. Hopefully you don’t find any pink crusts. If not then, I’d take it and get a second opinion from the best technician in could find. Good luck keep us posted.

 

If it was a customer pay job (not warranty)...many dealers will use aftermarket parts on bigger ticket stuff like axle shafts, radiators, etc....When I was at the dealer we always did because back then the OEM radiators were about 6 times the cost of the aftermarket. We always gave the customer the option and I can't think of the single time when the customer opted for the $600 radiator over the $100 aftermarket, or the $400 axle shaft over the $65 reman.

 

When your engine is cold, pull the rad cap and fill it up there then use whats left to fill the coolant overflow bottle. A leak that significant would be easily noticeable

 

I have owned my 2016 from brand new and it currently has 164500 km's and I have just found that the 4th radiator has failed. All of them have leaked near the bottom of the core. The first 3 were all from Toyota and the last was aftermarket installed by myself. The original lasted 46000 km's, the second lasted 72000 km's, the third lasted 32600 km's and the last one has lasted 13800 km's. I thought that after 3 from Toyota, installing an aftermarket one would be better but that is not the case. I'm at a loss here because I would think a radiator should last 150000 km's. I do mostly city driving, I don't think rocks are doing the damage because the leaks are all near the bottom and the transmission cooler sits right in front of that area, no issues with that. Any other thoughts on why I'm going through radiators? This is giving me a headache and an empty wallet.

 

What’s going on with your radiator(s) I have a 2016 and changed antifreeze at 50,000 still under 100,000. Miles. But no sign of issues.

 

Have you replaced the radiator cap? A faulty cap can cause too much pressure which can lead to radiator failure/leaks.

 

Any accidents that damaged the front end? Sometimes if the frame isn't square between the headlights (bent or tweaked) the radiator can get dragged out of square and bend diagonally. And the seams can leak where the aluminum meets the plastic end-tanks

 

You can get a radiator pressure test kit for under $40. I’d try finding the leak myself before agreeing to another radiator.

 

If you're going to replace it you might as well upgrade it.


https://csfrace.com/csfs-high-performance-radiator-for-2nd-3rd-generation-tacomas/

 

That upgraded radiator looks nice but why are they going bad ? Something is being overlooked here . I wish I could help .

 

Facts

take a good look around for signs of a bent structure like chipped paint, crease or even a torn up/wallowed out body mount up front there.

 

My truck has not been in an accident so no front end damage. I did replace the radiator cap with the last rad, I didn't do a flush though. That was done when the third rad was replaced. I will check the body mounts, perhaps something is going on there. I have seen some videos mentioning electrolysis. I find that hard to believe but I am going to check that as well.

 

Well that eliminates that issue . Definitely like you said check the mounts , possible rubbing any where?
Look for areas that have tight clearance that don’t touch when not moving but could touch in travel .
It’s something being missed somewhere. What really makes me believe that is the fact it happened to a non OEM radiator. The whole thing is very strange

 

Wow! Yes, very strange indeed. Considering how many I see on social media just getting absolutely pounded on and none with leaky rads. Do you have a revengeful ex or a pissed off co-worker?

 

These things need to be kept refrigerated or they will spoil.

 

Figure out where it's leaking....is the tank cracking? Is it leaking as the seam between the lower tank and the core? Is it leaking out of a pinhole in one of the tubes?

Tanks crack due to age / over pressure. I had a Sienna years ago at the dealer that came in after 6 months or so with a split tank on the radiator....so we just replaced it and called it a day. At this particular dealer, we pushed services every 30K miles, so we also used green coolant, while the factory fill was red. The car came back a month later with the top tank split again, and I noticed that the reservoir was perfectly full to the mark with clean red coolant, while the stuff I was draining out was green. The hole in the hose fitting on the reservoir had been mis-molded and was closed off. After shutdown, the system heat soaks and the coolant temp will continue to increase for a while, raising the cooling system pressure. The cap is designed to vent this pressure to the reservoir, then as it cools, coolant is drawn back in from the reservoir to the radiator. With the passage to the reservoir blocked off, the whole system was overpressurizing during every heat cycle.

You might check that if you are cracking tanks. If it's leaking through a tube or from the seam, I'd suspect electrolysis. Do a good flush, use the correct coolant (I'd get the premixed stuff at the dealer) and start doing some testing for stray voltage. If you see a leak at the seam, bend all the tabs back and remove the tank....then clean/inspect to figure out what went wrong.

 

Thanks for all the great help. I will do some investigating but it has to warm up a bit here. I don't have an insulated or heated garage so it is difficult working in the cold.