Radiator Replacement?

I have found myself in an unfortunate spot. While driving my 2020 Tacoma a "coolant temperature high" alarm/warning popped up in the gauge cluster followed by a check engine light. Pulled over, turned the truck off, and popped the hood. The coolant reservoir was totally empty. ToyotaCare covered the tow to my local dealership (still under 25k miles on the truck)

Here is a picture of my radiator currently.


The dealership believes a rock hit it causing the damage and coolant leak. Looking at about a grand to have them replace the radiator.

Has anyone seen this before? Quick search of TW didn't find anything immediately. Just bad luck? Any suggestions of what to do moving forward? Hate the thought of paying $1000 for a truck thats barely 15 months old. I appreciate any input.

Thanks

 

1k dollars for a radiator? Are they serious?

 

OP, check out this link and see if you are comfortable swapping the radiator yourself. This link is for a 2nd gen Tacoma but it should give you the general idea.

https://www.yotatech.com/how-tos/a/toyota-tacoma-how-to-replace-radiator-416144

 

Ive had good luck with CSF brand radiators. Not that great of luck out of other brands

 

I’ve changed radiators on tacomas, tundras, and sequoias. It’s not very labor intensive. Remove the fan, remove fan shroud, remove upper and lower radiator hose, remove trans lines, unbolt four 12mm bolts, and that’s it. $1000 is crazy.

 

Can you take another picture zoomed out showing the damage location? A bit odd to see the radiator not obscured by the A/C condenser.

 

Swap it yourself, 1k is insane. Easily could do it yourself for ~$300 and a few hours of your time

 

Yep, very easy job; basic hand-tools are all that's needed. I'd call it a 3-4 beer job if you've never done it before. Two if you have.

 

we get this all the time. and it sucks. bad luck is all. sadly a rock puncturing a radiator isnt a unwarrantable item. we have had customers insurance companies cover it.. but if youre handy at all, the radiator is a pretty simple thing to replace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ha8vZOPqWE

 

Not sure have you tried to contact your insurance company to see if they will cover the replacement since it got hit by a rock ?
If not I would go to a independent shop and have it replaced or if you are mechanically inclined you can swap out the radiator yourself and upgrade to a better one .

 

I had it happen on my Tacoma about 10 years ago. It was a small rock ding and the only evidence I had was having to refill the empty radiator overflow tank once a week & no signs of a leak. Being under warranty, I took it to the dealership & was informed of the radiator damage which was not covered. Was told that the radiators could not be repaired & was quoted about $600 (if I remember correctly) total for a new one. I talked to the service manager explaining nicely how many new Toyota's my family had bought from them and asking for help with the price. He cut the price to $300.
I'm still curious about if it's true not being able to repair an aluminum radiator. I'd soldered patches in the old copper radiators before & it would seem that maybe someone with a TIG outfit could patch an aluminum radiator.

 

I had a piece of 3/4 inch pipe 2 feet long on the interstate stick in the front end of a pickup one time , didn't get a plate number and pulled over right away . Called insurance and the girl said right away you are covered under unidentified flying objects and no deductible .

 

The 2020 TRD grill is pretty open. More so than the first style. Pretty easy for a good sized rock to come flying in like that.

 

I'd like to see the paperwork on that claim. "Hit by UFO".

 

I'd buy the radiator from Toyota and install it myself.

I'd be very reluctant to install some CSF or TYC radiator in case of a warranty issue later on

 

Repairing a radiator is just dumb. They are incredibly cheap and you dont want one failing on you.

 

It's one thing to pinch a tube to get home, but I wouldn't be repairing it.

 

Yep.

 

It's absolutely possible to patch/repair an aluminum radiator, but it's much more difficult for several reasons, and ultimately, due to the cost of a new one, the time & effort make it not practical. You can't solder aluminum the way you can copper, so you need to weld it, and given how thin the tubes are, this becomes a very delicate operation. Adding to the challenge are the plastic tanks; very easy to warp/deform them if the wound is close to the edge. It's possible, but not practical.

 

Call a radiator repair shop. See what they would charge for the repair.

OP could pull the radiator, take it to the shop, get a quote for the repair. Then an informed decision can be made considering $$, time and effort.