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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

New Auto Radiator...What a nightmare


AntD

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I can't bloody believe it.Left my car at the local garage yesterday to get a new Toyota radiator fitted and yes...its become a bloody nightmare.They first got a radiator that was too small from Toyota then they got one that just didn't seem right.Can anyone tell me if a new Auto radiator comes with a new transmission cooler[fan] on,because this new radiator didn't and the garage took the old one off the old radiator to stick on the new one...geezzz.They've even put GREEN coolant in after I explicitly told them that they need to get red Toyota Forlife or LongLife coolant.Now my old radiator is completely stuffed.Before I could still drive around without any leaks.I wanted it replaced cos the top pipe connection was cracked.Oh how I wish I waited for a Fluidyne upgrade.Does anyone have any info on connecting the transmission cooler kit when upgrading to the Fluidyne rad?

Oh yes and they wanted to charge me £400 for it.I'm not having it so I told the owner to sort it out tomorrow.I bet its gonna be even more expensive now,sheesh...rant over

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Jees mate that sounds rough !! just put a Brand New Toyota Radiator in mine (J spec TT Auto ) only took about an hour and a half (and i aint no mechanic !!) cost £375 with a 10% discount cos being a member of this club :D :D :D you only get the Rad and the Rad cap though all the cowling and fans just bolt onto the Rad

Hope this Helps mate

Cheers

Ian

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Is that an auto radiator you got fitted Ian,oh and if so are you saying that the old fan is bolted onto the new radiator?There seems to be a huge gap between the new radiator and the car whre its fitted.The old one had a sponge /foam lining to fill the gap.Should the new one not have it as well?

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That foam is important to seal the airflow, so that it only goes through the rad core

So does that mean I've got the wrong radiator then?I've just picked it up.Has anybody got a pic of how the transmission cooling fan attach to the radiator because there was no point on it to screw the top bit of the fan metal housing and they made a hole in the metal top arm to screw it in elsewhere.Also,before I couldn't clearly see this fan from the top when I had the old radiator,but now I can.I gave the garage the part numbers and everything,but I feel that they may have put the manual radiator in and just bunged the transmission cooling fan onto it.Is there anybody in/near merseyside with an auto TT and stock radiator so I can compare?

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The rad for a manual doesn't have the Auto trans cooler in the bottom of it. (Of course it doesn't, what am I saying? I mean that it's easy to tell an Auto rad and manual rad apart because of this difference)

If your existing rad cowling doesn't ft to the new rad it could be because you have now got a facelift rad. The later model Supras have a different Aux fan arrangement.

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When does the small auxilliary fan for the transmission start turning?I've let the engine idle for a couple of minutes in Park and it never moved.

Here are some pics of the new radiator.It just doesn't seem to be right.There is no foam/sponging on the edges either:rolleyes:

IMG_0748~1.JPG

IMG_0749~1.JPG

IMG_0750~1.JPG

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It's not correct. the RH picture, the frame for the fan should bolt to the rad, what is that sheet metal screw doing? Someone post up a pic of a correct stock top tank showing the fan frame please, it's too wet and cold for me to go pratting about outside at my age :)

 

But that's not a standard clamp position though is it? It looks like it has been added with a self tapping screw! I'm 99.99999% sure that mine doesn't have this clip.

 

Also, as the rest of it looks perfect why do you think its wrong (not aimed at you CW)?? It has the fixing for the air scoop and the fan shroud and has it's plastic locator tabs? Looks like you've managed to get it to fit pretty fecking well for the wrong radiator! :blink:

 

Edited to say that mine isn't an Auto though.....so I could be wrong.

Nice to see you stayed stock though, will keep some people happy......

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But that's not a standard clamp position though is it? It looks like it has been added with a self tapping screw! I'm 99.99999% sure that mine doesn't have this clip.

 

Also, as the rest of it looks perfect why do you think its wrong (not aimed at you CW)?? It has the fixing for the air scoop and the fan shroud and has it's plastic locator tabs? Looks like you've managed to get it to fit pretty fecking well for the wrong radiator! :blink:

 

Edited to say that mine isn't an Auto though.....so I could be wrong.

Nice to see you stayed stock though, will keep some people happy......

The fit never seemed right.Yes it is a self tapping screw they seem to have put in to attach it to the plastic cowling.I've just checked and the screw is not even in the hole they made...the hole is about 1cm in front of where the screw is,geez.

This is the first time this garage has worked the supra.They were normally pretty good when I took my cars to them in the past.It was only a radiator they had to fit I thought,but how wrong was I.Guess you could say someone has learned their lesson:( .I've got discs and pads and possible a Greddy titanium exhaust to fit next month...now to find someone who can do it:search:

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I'm convinced its the wrong radiator.Thanx for the pics John and the advise everyone.I'll speak to the garage owner tomorrow.He did say to return if there are any problems.Question is...will I cause any damage to the transmission driving the car like this as I'm sure the auxilliary fan is not working.Also ,is this the correct part number for a 1995 auto radiator:16400-46430 ?

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you can see quite clearly on Johns pics where that bracket is supposed to bolt up. do the n/a's have this smaller fan? perhaps its an n/a rad the've given you?
Neither of my Supras have that bracket or even the threaded hole in the rad.

 

Both my cars do have facelift rads though. They look the same as the one Ant has posted a pic of.

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If your existing rad cowling doesn't ft to the new rad it could be because you have now got a facelift rad. The later model Supras have a different Aux fan arrangement.
But the rads are the same, only 2 types, manual, and the auto one with the cooler in the bottom tank.

 

My auto rad is certainly different to the pic of John A's auto rad. Seems like the earlier non-VVTi cars have a single Aux elec fan on a metal bracket whereas the later VVTi cars have two smaller elec fans and a quite different bracket.

 

My money's still on Ant having been supplied a facelift rad by mistake. (or rather a rad from a VVTi, I guess the facelift but non-VVTi Supes had the earlier style rads)

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The fit never seemed right.Yes it is a self tapping screw they seem to have put in to attach it to the plastic cowling.I've just checked and the screw is not even in the hole they made...the hole is about 1cm in front of where the screw is,geez.

This is the first time this garage has worked the supra.They were normally pretty good when I took my cars to them in the past.It was only a radiator they had to fit I thought,but how wrong was I.Guess you could say someone has learned their lesson:( .I've got discs and pads and possible a Greddy titanium exhaust to fit next month...now to find someone who can do it:search:

 

Definitely the wrong rad. I wasn't aware that the VVTi rad was different to earlier Tt ones, but it may well be, i have never had to buy a VVTi one. It could also, as someone else has said, be a N/A rad. The extra fan is to help cooling of the rad and air con condenser when the air con is on. Switch the air con on, it should run. For 300 quid I'd expect the correct rad, and no bodges with self tappers... :)

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