Cracked radiator

[Shady]

Hey guys new on here. Just bought a 95 series prado with the 1kzte and driving on the motorway just cruising and the radiator has cracked.

What's the deal, no sign of overheating on the dash gauge.

Reading up looks like they are common to crack heads. Mines only done 207kms.

Advice please..? I've just bought a radiator from Fenix to put in? Am I gonna need a new head? What else am I gonna have to do to stop this happening again. I like my cruiser and wondering is this thing gonna turn into a money pit.

 

[AdventureWagon]

Nasty! Did it lose all its coolant? If some was still able to circulate then maybe the temperature was OK. Or if all/most was lost, then the sensor will not be able to tell - after all it's just a coolant sensor not a measurement of the block directly. If there's no coolant, it won't sense or will produce a false reading.

As to why it cracked, maybe the radiator cap pressure relief broke and didn't vent excess pressure back to the coolant reservoir?

As for the head do you know there's damage there for sure?

Remember if you've got an auto you'll also need to change over the trans cooler lines at the bottom of the radiator plus top up ATF to make up any losses.

207kkm is nothing for a 1KZ - there's plenty out there with 500kkm+!

 

[Shady]

Thanks for the reply mate.

Lost a lot when it went pop. Pulled over immediately and haven't started it again yet. Will replace the radiator first. Top up then run it and check for bubbles in the coolant. Believe that's a sign of head cracks. Any other recommendations to prevent overheating or other issues like this.

I've read doing the exhaust can help a lot.

 

[AdventureWagon]

I'm not too experienced with the diesel, but yes I think that's a reasonable plan. Definitely do not re-use the radiator cap. There will of course be bubbles for a while in the coolant whilst you purge the system once re-filled.

I have experienced a similar issue in my car (Mitsubishi 4B11 petrol engine). It suffered an explosive loss of coolant due to a mechanic not putting the cap on correctly. The car has no temp gauge on a needle, it's one of the computer screens. First I knew was a chime and alert on the dash indicating overheating. Managed to get to a side street and turned off about 30 secs later. Got towed home and refilled with water and it was fine, and has been fine for a while (this was maybe 40,000km ago).

 

[Shayne]

That's an unbelievable place for it to fail !

Only thing i can think of might cause that much pressure is a jammed closed thermostat coupled with a failing radiator cap , but still i have to wonder why it didn't just blow a pipe off ?

 

[tonytoyota]

Hi I have a new radiator for one of them if sum one is looking for one .

 

[diggerdave]

Bizarre! You may just be ok (hopefully). Better a sudden loss of coolant that you notice right away and can take action.