General question about cost of replacing radiator on 1996 2.4

FINAL UPDATE: Drove to NAPPA and found out:

1) There is a hairline crack at the top of the radiator (see photo).
2) Return hose was still ice cold, which means thermostat frozen shut.
3) It was not "snowin' and blowin' antifreeze, just small leaks at the top & bottom.

Here's what I'm going to do: Drive 10 miles to my favorite pub and have a burger & beer and if it spews antifreeze, I don't care, I'll pull over and put my free towing to use (my weekend is shot to hell, anyway, so why not?).

Temp gauge still does not go over half-way, and I got the heater cranked up max; I'm going to get a beer if it harelips everyone in Marion County (to quote Buford T, Justice).

Thanks as always to the great people here who always help me out time & time again.

Monday it's $300-$400 for a rental car for work while waiting for car to get fixed, then another $500-$700 for radiator, new hoses, and thermostat.

 

Wow $140.00 an hour .

Without knowing just what is wrong .

how many miles? This really plays into what might need replaced.

Auto or manual ?

What engine??

If it was a hose replace both the upper and lower .

If it was the radiator that plus the hoses and thermostat.

Paying list price for parts and $140.00/hr labor it might be an easy $500.00 or even more.

This is at best a guess.

 

Go to the regional forum that you live in and ask if there are any folks close to you who would be willing to help. You might turn up some new friends

I've never seen a water pump 'spray', so my *guess* is a hose or the radiator top tank.

You likely didn't see anything because either the system was no longer under pressure or it's too dry.

Do not drive the vehicle until repaired, or you'll induce bigger problems.

Good luck!

 

I'm in the same boat as you. Lucky for me I have a neighbor that will help me work on my truck sometimes.

 

IMO it shouldn't take a professional more than 2 hours to change a rad in these trucks. They couldn't be more easy.

 

Thanks for the advice. I will ask a regional peron for a local shop!

 

Where are you located? $140 is cheap where I live. Probably just a hose.

 

IF it was a bad hose....always at the clamp....it would just drip down.

With it being sprayed....most likely there is a small crack around the hot hose area on the plastic part of the radiator...
that's where they get the most heat stress.

ON 2.4/2.7 this is a super easy job.
I would recommend putting in a new thermostat at the same time.
If that was sticking, that could of accelerated the failure.


these radiator hoses are the devil....they can leak in between the plys right at the clamp.....again they'll just continue to drip after you cut off the engine...
That top hot hose I replace it every three years.


These plastic hybrid radiators are complete junk.....kinda like that starter cartridge you get with a printer...
Probably one of denso's best sellers....they're half or a third the price of a real one....
avg life is 5 or 6 years. If you use their red coolant, they've got you locked in...

Reminds me of the plastic water by-pass pipes they start using on the early 2000's model....

Reason so many of these are sitting in barns.....waiting on a head gasket.....

 

My last failure was a ruptured hose. My radiator is still surprisingly intact.

 

HA HA when I was 20 I pulled a huge steel radiator out of a 1979 Lemans and threw it in the trash can of NAPPA and drove off with my new radiator with the engine still warm, and a flood of antifreeze running down their parking lot. Probably took me 20 minutes with the engine still on the warmish side.

Now I'm 61 with fused spine, there is no super easy anymore lolz. Ya, the hose is bone dry. I'm going out in a minute to warm it up and see where it is spraying. But damn you should have seen the look on my face when I took off the radiator cap and it was still full to the damn brim!

 

Normally replacing that radiator is super easy.

However as these age and the sheet metal twists a little, realigning those bolts holes can be a pain..

On some trucks, I had to go get longer bolts there because those self tapers they used there dont have much grab....


Because of that cut out on the bottom of the fan shroud ....
its a lot easier to install that on the new radiator first before installing.....

also check your fan clutch....you need all the cooling you can get on these...

 

Thanks but I'm not able to do much more than change hoses and thermostat due to back issues.

 

Yeah I cringe at the thought of someone else touching my truck....

Once when I was in high school, one idiot mechanic used a block of wood between the engine and alternator to keep the belt tight on an old Mercury I had.....

make sure you proof read their work......

 

After looking at that again.....the leak could be from anywhere.
check that cap and around that hose....

Most likely tho, its leaking on the crimp right below the top return hose.....

Its that crimp is the reason I dump on these so bad....

with most here trading these off every few years.....probably no big deal....

 

Agreed on the return hose. Can't figure out why it is ice cold (frozen) thermostat?

It may be dumb, but when you're poor and only have one vehicle you have to dumb things...like drive a mile to NAPA to:
1) Buy more antifreeze.
2) Put my hand on the return hose to see if it is still cold. Then I'll buy a new thermostat for it if it's cold.
3) I'm sure it will be spraying antifreeze like holy hell by the time I get to NAPA, lolz. Sure AF going to identify the source of the leak then, but a dumbass way find a leak fer sure.

 

Wouldnt waste any more on antifreeze until u track it down...
I would just use gals of distilled water.....

and actually regular water would be fine, if you dont drive it too much...
its only corrosive if run at extended high temps....


It would be a good ideal to look around at the other water hoses on the truck..
Easily changed while the coolant is out......

Also while the radiator is out....check everything across the front of the engine,
check and tighten all the bolts......gently on the ones that go into aluminum....
pulley bracket bolts especially.


I would recommend getting the real toyota oem thermostat.
I bought one on ebay for about $30 last year...

You can find the gates hoses online for about half the price of auto store...
last time I checked Oreilys wanted like $35 for that top hose..ouch...

Put together a min order to get free shipping...wally world, autozone, amozon, ect....
My steer rack boots were half price on Amazon....

 

Its cold because the radiator is probably clogged. You should replace radiator hoses and thermostat just because how old it all is.