Radiator 100 Series L/C

[Neville and Kay]

Well here is another Question or Warning we have a Dec. 2006 L/C Sahara 198,000km always serviced, well yesterday we were heading up the Kuranda Range north of Cairns pulling Kedron 17.6ft. van almost to top & a hell of a bang steam every where managed to go 300 meters to pull over place at top, popped bonnet & the whole top of Radiator was blown off, water res. was only half full & still okay. Rob from Cape York Auto managed to get new Radiator & fitted it on side of road said he had never seen anything like this before & on closer inspection of plastic top it was perfect on exterior but inside it was all crazed & you could scrape bits off it. They have our car in Cairns going over everything to see if they can come up with reason for this to happen. The rest of Radiator is in great shape just like new inside. Rob said he will keep this in the memory bank & if any of his costumers are pulling loads with similar vehicles or older he will tell them what happened & they can make the decision as to what they will do, as you can not look at the interior of the top tank. I will keep you updated when we know the final out come. It will not be a cheap outcome.

Neville

[Bas]

Hi Neville and Kay

Not a pleasant experience. The fortune is you are close to where repairs can be made.

Is yours a petrol or diesel 'Cruiser?

Barry

[Andrew and Sally]

We have May 2005 LC100 Sahara with 155,000km pulling a 21' Topender so will be very interested to learn any more about what happened and what we should check for. Ours is a TD and we've never had any trouble with it at all.

Thanks for letting us know and best wishes on getting it all sorted ASAP.

Andrew

[Neville and Kay]

Hi Neville and Kay

Not a pleasant experience. The fortune is you are close to where repairs can be made.

Is yours a petrol or diesel 'Cruiser?

Barry

Barry

ours is a Turbo Diesel & we have never had any problems with it. It appears as if the Plastic Tank has failed from inside out as outside looks like new but when we looked under the top [which blew off]it was all crazed & you could scratch bits off. The pressure cap did not its safety, temperature was normal, over flow bottle was only just half full with rubber hose still attached, they think the plastic failed & there is no way of checking inside of tank through where Radiator cap goes. I still have not got final assessment. Will update on final out come.

Neville.

[Jacky Jacky]

Just a thought, you may like to install one of these. It has saved us on at least one occasion until we had the radiator replaced - no connection with the business other than a happy customer.

Engine Saver - http://www.enginesaver.com.au

[Bas]

G'day Neville

I had our 2003 100 series turbo diesel with approx. 150,000 kms in for a service the other day, and I had requested a coolant drain/flush/change. When picking up the vehicle, I mentioned the circumstances you encountered, I suggested to the service rep that this would be an isolated instance with this model. I was staggered when he replied that it was far from rare. When I queried as to how it might be possible to be pre-warned that the top tank might be on the way out, he advised it was not possible. Short of changing the radiator when all is going well, there is no way to avert what happened to you.

Perhaps Toyota should alert owners as to the possibility. A non genuine radiator with metal tanks might be a better option.

There has been recent forum discussion about Silverados, 200s 100s etc etc.

My 100 series used to struggle a bit towing the ATV but a custom made 3" exhaust system fixed that and 6 ks per litre can easily be achieved even when cruising at the legal limit.

With regard to suspension upgrade to increase the AGM for the 100 series, ARB, TJM and others do not provide one as it is not regarded as being necessary, whereas the 200 series has such little load margin and therefore an increase is readily available through any number of after-market suspension specialists. My 100 has rear air bags which I never inflate beyond 15 psi, and heavier rear springs, and the front torsion bars have been wound up to compensate for the slight increase in rear ride height.

The vehicle handles like a sports car.

Regards

Barry

[Steve and Kez]

Do you think these issues are caused by working the tow vehicle at its upper limits ???????

Just a thought (cat amongst the pigeons stuff really)

[Bas]

Hi Steve and Kez

My impression from the service rep was that it is a bit of a mixture of plastic related age and the vehicle working hard, and of course he threw in that only Toyota coolant should be used and that service schedules must be observed. As the incidence of radiator top tank failures appears to be greater than thought, have the failures all occurred with van-towing Cruisers?

Whether towing the van on a hot day up a long steep hill, or travelling on the flat on a cool day without the van, the temp of my Cruiser is the same according to the gauge. When is hot, hot?

Has anybody other than Nev had a radiator failure?

Regards

Barry

[Steve and Kez]

Sadly Plastic is playing a greater role in the auto industry at the expense of strength, all of which makes me believe the 4 x 4 market are only interested in making soft roaders.

Even the 200 series has lost a lot of strength compared to the 100 series and the 80 series and so on. But they are more refined to drive, that's the sacrifice ..................... unless you get a GMC ...................LOL

Cheers

[robjewel]

If towing a van the radiator needs to be flushed every four to five years and also the hoses all need to be replaced. This is a cheaper option.

When driving you should know your cars temp guage where it sits normally, so when it starts to increase you will know someone is wrong. Example when it gets to 3/4 stop and leave engine running let it cool. Make sure radiator is not leaking. Then when cool go again keep doing this until you get to the top. It should be okay then providing no leaks in the radiator or hoses. When the radiator gets hot it increases pressure in the radiator then which expand the radiator then the top or bottom radiator tank can come apart

It is only crimped on. Radiators cannot take excessive heat or pressure.

Toyota dealers do not do radiators go to a radiator specialist.

This happened to us travelling up the Toowoonba range we stopped twice going up. No damage done to radiator and the next day we had the tanks removed cleaned out as some of the cores inside were blocked.

We recommend Ioswich Radiator Works in Turley Street

He is one of the best. Phone 3281 8300 he does the work himself does not send it out to others .

These top and bottom tanks are getting older and brittle and some earlier models probably need replacing.

Hope this helps. We have a 2006 Toyota TD

Also a F250 used for towing our Topender

Happy towing

Rob and Jewel

[Jags55]

Just today been replacing radiator and heater hoses as a precaution on our 2005 LC 100 4.2 TD. All hoses have been in excellent condition and not really needing replacement, however doing it for peace of mind as a friend had a heater hose burst on his LC 100 a year or so ago.

I found though that the top radiator connection spigot was a bit crumbly on inside, so referred to Dr Google and found this thread. Now I am more concerned than before changing the hoses. Perhaps I'll pay a visit to Ipswich Radiator Works on Robjewel's recommendation above, seeing as I  live here. Would have been my 1st point of call anyhow.