What's a good, lower cost radiator for a MK III?
 

I'm in the same boat as this guy if anyone knows a good low priced 7MGTE A/T radiator it'd be damn helpful.

depends on what you're looking for... I was pricing mk3 radiators for my 87 last week and found plastics for ~$120, metal for ~$200 and aluminum for ~$300... any of those, however, are cheaper than what the factory wants.. hope it helps. Also, my source was http://shopping.google.com

Please do be aware/keep in mind that the auto's radiator also has a transmission cooler built into the lower end tank. A replacement will most likely cost more than one without. You may install a separate transmission cooler however allowing you to use whatever radiator you wish.

Yeah my biggest concern is finding a radiator that will work with the a/t, and im pretty much limited to about $400 since im poor and already spent money on other parts for the project car earlier in the week. Any sites with price listings would be helpful ^^

CSF and Koyo are both brands I trust; I have not used OEM replacement radiators made by either though.

A "relatively" inexpensive upgrade (for those wanting to go that route) is the Koyo performance radiator for the 1JZ and adding a $40 transmission fluid cooler. Along with extending the transmission fluid lines I imagine that if you shopped around and did your own work you could do it for about $400.

The stock Toyota radiator IS rebuildable too. If the parts are available, ordering what you need along with new seals and having a radiator shop reassemble and pressure test it is going to be the mid-priced option.

The parts catalogs list a different part number for GE radiators and GTE radiators.. I do not know what the differences are there, most likely it's a capacity thing.

Yeah, I want to upgrade if I can for the same price as the factory radiator. I just don't want to order something online and get it, only to have it fail... sending that kind of stuff back has been a real hassle for me in the past. As far as the work goes, I plan to do all of it myself, so the price range is for parts only. Any trustworthy sites you know of that I can get the parts from would be much appreciated.

Well, for the transmission oil cooler I'd just order from Summit Racing or Jegs... you can probably get them for a decent price locally at a parts store too. You will have to extend the oil cooler lines and run them up to the new cooler.

Protect the hoses: Take some larger hose, slit it lengthwise, wrap it around the oil cooler hose and zip tie it in place anywhere that the hos might rub a rough edge.

The new cooler can be attached with these to the front side of the radiator, A/C condenser or the back side of the intercooler (if applicable). The coolers come in many sizes wo measure first and be sure of what size you need; if there is any doubt get one a little smaller.

I've been running a Koyo 1JZ rad for about 5 years now... never had a problem myself. Since it is for a 1JZ there is an extra threaded hole at the bottom (right next to the drain) which needs a plug (a radiator plug from a Subaru fit perfectly for me; don't remember what year and model it was from though). You also need cut a small piece of aluminum and bend it into a loose Z shape to firmly clamp the bottom of the fan cown on the left side. AND you need to trim the rubber bumpers which sit between the radiator and the frame down around an 1/8" or 1/4".

The transmission cooler is the hardest part, IMO. It only takes a couple minutes to get the radiator modded and mounted.

I bought my radiator on e-bay... I think it was just a hair over $300. The transmission oil coolers can be found for as little as $25. If you're up to the work, you can upgrade the system for less than a factory radiator costs. Don't forget there will be the expense and labor of making extension hoses.

Good info going to check and see all other options but its looking like im going to buy a seperate tranny cooler and mount it with an upgraded radiator, hopefully a direct fit... and I have an electric fan for a thicker radiator might just got big on the radiator and switch to an electric fan while im at it... god my gf is going to kill me, but ill be happy ^^

I am not a fan (no pun intended) of electric fans... they provide little to no benefit other than looks.

Alright found everything I need except an A/T tranny cooler that will work with the 7MGTE, if you know of a good one send it my way, I got about $150 left on my budget and I'd like to spend pretty much exactly that and get the best one I can. Also, I can't find the correct size for the transmission cooler lines, that info would be a god send.

As it turned out, the Koyo radiator from Partsgeek looked ok (no leaks) after I drove the car a bit. What happened, I think, was I spilled some coolant filling the radiator, and after test driving I saw steam coming out of the radiator, and jumped to the conclusion the radiator was leaking. Duh. In my defense, I did have a coolant line that was bent in shipping, that I had bent back, and I guess this got me thinking the radiator had been damaged and was leaking.

Anyway, the Koyo from partsgeek.com works fine, about $180 total with shipping. The radiator includes the AT cooling lines. You just need to move the fans from the old radiator to the new one, and maybe buy a new radiator cap, upper and lower hoses, and AT cooling hoses, if you have AT.

The only issue with the Koyo radiator was the transmission cooling lines were something like .33" OD for the Koyo, versus .38" OD for the stock radiator, so I replaced the factory hose clamps with worm drive clamps, and tightened down on the clamps to really squash the hose onto the lines from the radiator. I didn't feel too great about doing that.

I would go with a B&M cooler (I've got a large one as my engine oil cooler and another for my power steering), Perma-Cool should be fine (I've never used one though)... There's Canton who makes some excellent components, but their oil coolers look to me to be just rebadged B&M coolers (I don't know that that's the case but they do look identical). As I mentioned before, you need to figure out where you're going to mount the cooler and then measure to find one that will fit; Make sure you keep in mind that you also need to be able to route the oil hoses to it. ;)

http://www.summitracing.com/search/?...20cooler&dds=1

If you're looking at a long, narrow space (like along the top or bottom of the bumper support) look for a "rail" style cooler.

With the oil lines I'd recommend replacing the stock lines completely, not just extending the them; Any barb used to extend them will most likely add a bottleneck. It's not the highest flow system though, so extending will undoubtedly be fine; It's just not my preference.

Nah this is for the daily driver and the car my girl uses most, so I want it to be done right and so it will last. I'll check the B&M ones they seem to have a large range of shapes and sizes. Think I'll go out tomorrow morning and check for places to mount it.

Will those oil coolers work for tranny fluid?

I Don't need an oil cooler also do I, I could have sworn the 7MGTE oil cooler is mounted up with the intercooler... I could be completely wrong, but I thought the only other seperate parts I needed were tranny cooler and hoses for connecting it.

My system isn't stock; That's why I have a different oil cooler. ;)

No, you don't need to replace the stock cooler... although I recommend it down the road if you're upgrading. The stock oil cooler system is very poorly designed; It's a pressure based system and not temperature... bad idea.

Yeah, I don't plan on doing anything to this one as far as power upgrades, if anything I will just put 3" exhaust on it. I still may however upgrade the oil cooler for those... long trips supra's hate so much

How many BTU's is the stock tranny cooler? Is pretty much any of the B&M ones better? They are all pretty reasonably priced from the site you listed.

I heard back.

I sent him another message as I've still got a question about temperature regulation (on units without an included fan); I'll post more when I hear back.

Thanks Cre, I ordered the radiator and oil cooler, still waiting to decide on the tranny cooler, whether the 70 dollar no fan one or a 120 dollar fan cooler, I believe the two im looking at are 175 degree activated. I believe thats around the temp. im looking for, correct me if im wrong.

Also, the radiator I ordered a friend recommended me, its the Mishimoto Aluminum Radiator for direct fit with the 7M. If anyone heard anything good or bad about this radiator id be interested, as I didn't find any reviews that were done by people that know what they are talking about.

I don't think it's really worth it to replace the oil cooler unless you go the distance and replace the stock pressure based system with a thermostatic one.


As for the transmission cooler, I thought it was 180? but I don't know a whole lot about automatic transmissions. Anyway, the bit I was still waiting to hear back about was if the oil cooler needed a thermostatic bypass (or if it SHOULD have one added) or if the transmission has an internal bypass.

Okay, a thermostat isn't needed (not for the tranny cooler). As long as you mount the cooler somewhere with good air flow you do not need a unit with a fan. The fan will be needed if you place the cooler in a location with poor air flow such as behind the fog light.

I can't emphasize enough that you need to plan the placement and routing very carefully... it can be a pain. Have you thought this out already? I'd like to know what you've come up with.

Right now im working on putting in a custom front bumper bar as opposed to the heavy stock one, bolting that up today then I have to map out the new space ill have. But from my original planning I was planning on mounting the tranny cooler right to that bar and have it up front about 3-4 inches infront of the intercooler, the oil cooler will be put in its stock position, if anyone can think of a better spot post it up.

That sounds fine, I prefer having oil coolers behind the IC for added protection myself.



Off Topic: I was just thinking the other day about getting an aluminum bumper support built for my car.... heh, cool. How are you building yours? Is it steel or aluminum? Any numbers on how much weight you've managed to cut off?

Going with aluminum, but from what my instructors told me and from what I looked up, you don't even need the bumper bar, and I believe I managed to get out about 30lbs from the front taking out the big ass blast bard and brackets that held it. New bar is about 10 lbs, only problem with the alumi bar is it didnt really weld well to the frame work so we had to setup a bolt in system which added a little bit of weight. I'll post some pictures soon as I can.

http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/big_standart/scare3.gif Well, that's the kind of advice you get from asking a knitting instructor about car stuff. ;) I'm sorry, but either you weren't listening or they thought you were talking about a 'track only' vehicle. That bar could be one thing which would have saved your life in a severe front end collision. It's not just a matter of your driving skills but that of those you share the road with as well. Also, if you remove or modify (in such a way as to not meet legal requirements) safety devices which are required by law you give at fault parties a way to back out of paying for damages they do to you and your car... or at least you give them a way to fight the thing to the point of never paying you a dime.

Wait... "weld to the frame work"... what bar are you talking about here anyway? The bumper (the actual monstrous beast which absorbs impact is a bolt in assembly... at least on my car and the one from which my new bumper cover was pulled.

Post pictures, I'm lost now.

Aye stock is bolt, I wanted a stronger hookup but ended up using the stock bolt up... But what I meant about the bar was you don't need it for the frame to stay sturdy, but yes it does save your life ;p Which is why instead of ripping it out I had a lighter one made! Moved the battery to the back as well, you'd be amazed at how different just those two things made the front of the car feel, more response less understeer.

Alright the radiator got here last night and I went to bolt it on... Turns out I need some custom clamps somewhat like the ones used on the Koyo 1JZ radiator swap... anyone got instructions on that or something? ;p

I only had to make two or three clips from some 1/8" x 3/4" aluminum stock from Home Depot. They're only around 2" to 3" long and just have a bend in the middle to offset them... it was really easy. No pics though, sorry.

Thanks, I just needed the info you just stated... I know you had posted somewhere else already, just didn't find it so thanks again!

Using alumi bar on the front, I actually never weighed the old bar, but by feel I'd have to say the new one weighs about half the weight the old bar.

Slightly on topic, not sure if I already asked this but what size are the oil and tranny oil lines that go from engine/tranny to the oil cooler and tranny cooler, I went to take mine off and they litterally crumbled as I pulled them off.

For some reason I have it in my head that those hoses are around 10mm, but I haven't worked with them more than once; So don't go off of my memory. I'd measure the nipple.

Anyone happen to know a site that sales hose adapters, ya know like from one size to another? I need several adapters...

It depends entirely on the application... is this for coolant lines? IC piping? What? Also, what size to what size?

Alright its for the tranny cooler line, the connection on the tranny cooler is a female 1/2 in. NPT fitting, I either need to buy an adapter to attach the stock transmission oil line to the tranny cooler, or figure out what size the connection is at the transmission and buy a new hose and connections for both ends. So what type is the connection that connects to the tranny? Also... would an 8 -AN steel braided hose work for the tranny cooler lines?

Read that the thread size for the end that connects to the transmission is 12mm, can anyone confirm? Is that for the return and sending line from the transmission and cooler? Will I need 2 of whatever connector? Also can someone let me know if thats a female or male connection... and what type? This is pretty much the last bit of info I need to start this project. Also anyone with pictures of these connection points please post, I've seen pictures from only 1 person and they posted over a year ago on this same topic, just need to confirm a few things that were never confirmed in their posts.

Slightly off topic what diameter silicone hose should be used to join the throttle body and IC 3000 pipe together? mine is wearing

Any reference on torque specs for an adapter going into the ATF spot on the transmission? I'll check back in the morning for replies to my last 2 posts. I totally can't wait to start! Thanks for the help so far! :bouncy:

Is there a diagram that shows where the stock transmission cooler lines run? I want to remove those if possible and put in complete custom lines.

i was reading though this and wondering if it would be worth using a aftermarket a/t cooler or is the oem good enough?
where i live it can get pretty hot in the summer, i thought there might be alot of heat with the a/c on when stuck in slow traffic

It won't hurt, but I don't see the point in going to all the trouble of custom plumbing and mounting if you're not also replacing the radiator. In that case I'd just get the whole thing thoroughly flushed at a rad shop.