New radiators required (UK)

Both coolant radiators in my 1KZ-TE engined van need to be rebuilt or replaced, Toyota no longer hold stock so I am looking to have them re-cored or perhaps manufactured from scratch in aluminium.  The existing items have plastic header and footer tanks and aluminium cores that are crimped on.   Does anyone in the UK have a suggestion where replacement or new radiators in aluminium can be obtained or manufactured?   Thanks, Ian

I phoned a company when I wanted my condenser repaired but then I discovered the air con was totally dead but I found the name on my note pad it was Aaron Radiators and they're in SE London up above Croydon so a whizz along the A23 would get you pretty close.

The man I spoke to said all I had to do was measure it up and send some pictures if I wanted a completely new one but i never got back to him.

Many thanks Nick for the suggestion, I will make contact with Aaron. Ian

Hello Ian C and welcome to the forum.

The main radiator in my 92 / 93 LH119 was / is brass and copper and I think it is original. I’ve had it re-cored (more later). It’s my guess that your plastic and aluminium one is not original, but maybe Toyota went to these types with ‘the refresh’, which I think was sometime around ’95. Hopefully someone might know for sure.

I really struggled to know what to do with the cooling on my van when I got it and I wrote a long post in my show us yours section (it’s after the bit about the rear brakes btw). Take a look and maybe it’ll also help you.

One thing I found difficult was trying to find an exact like-for-like main radiator replacement. As you know the packaging for the main radiator is very tight and coupled with the fact the cooling system has to be tip top in the Hiace I really struggled despite making lots of enquiries, speaking to lots of people (inc my favourite and other parts suppliers) and looking up lots of part numbers on many sites.

The main global supplier for aftermarket and OEM radiators seems to be Nissens. They seemingly make the cores for just about everybody and many companies badge Nissens’s products for OEM use. I spoke to their European sales team but they weren’t that great as fundamentally they could only offer a plastic and aluminium double core radiator. Their supply wasn’t great, neither was their availability and I quickly dropped getting a ‘standard’ plastic and aluminium replacement.

In the end I got my original, the original radiator re-cored and fitted with a 3-layer rather than the original 2-layer core. I used MRS Heat Transfer in Preston for my re-core and I also got them to do the front heater matrix later on. I’d have no problem in recommending them. I had a look at the Aaron Radiators company that NickZ suggested and they also look brilliant.

Something to bear in mind is that I don’t think you can get by with a re-core, as I don’t think you can re-core a plastic and aluminium type. I’m happy to be proved wrong, but I think you might need to get a new radiator made in aluminium, unless you can find a brass and copper one to get re-cored, or I’m wrong.

In the UK we don’t seem to have a very good aftermarket supply of things like radiators when compared to both the US and Australia. This, coupled to the paucity of parts available for Hiaces makes things even harder. There were and still are lots of Hiaces in Australia so you may want to think globally. The US doesn’t have a big history of Hiaces but does have a huge aftermarket industry including for Toyotas, which might be useful if you can find a correct part number. For both of these you might need to do your homework, including to check the EPC and other content in the first post in my show us yours section. It might also be useful.

Finally, I’m presuming your van is an auto and has a trans cooler built into the main (vertical) radiator. It’s worth considering whether you want to retain this or not? I used to think these were not the most ideal set up as they dump heat into an already slightly compromised cooling system (esp on the 1KZ-TE), but they do have the advantage of high specific heat capacity that is quite different to an oil to air cooler (also esp on the Hiace), plus this can actually more quickly warm the ATF from cold. It does make the radiator more complex and expensive and have to dump some more heat. Turbos burn more fuel when on boost and generate more heat as a result. From what I know the 1KZ-TE are also more fussy about remaining cool and have a lower temp acting thermostat than the 3L so maintaining tip-top cooling is super critical. I’m not sure about the arrangement of the intercooler on these engines but I expect this is places additional thermal demands. Is the intercooler a completely separate loop?

Not sure where this all leads, but I hope you find these thoughts somewhat useful?

Do report back what you do as it’ll help folks.

Good luck!!

Hello LH119V
I think my radiators are original so it seems Toyota switched to plastic/aluminium rads before 1996. I have received a hefty price from a specialist company that can make new radiators so will now approach Aaron or Coolex, hoping for a better deal. There is no turbo intercooler for my engine. My van is auto with a transmission ATF cooler built into the vertical radiator, it also has a supplemental ATF cooler stacked in front of the vertical radiator which to my opinion shrouds the air flow a bit through the vertical radiator - not ideal.
I will report back when I decide what option to go with, Ian

The cost of 2 new radiators made in aluminium was in excess of £1500 (various quotes) so I decided to seek alternative solutions.  I found that a Land Rover Discovery 1 with the 200tdi engine uses a similar radiator to my Toyota one, nozzles in a similar position and it incorporates the automatic transmission cooler too.   However, to fit it has meant quite a bit of work to modify the Toyota mountings, the hoses, the fan cowl and the oil cooler pipes.   I am in the middle of carrying this out so I will report back when I have it installed and working, it is not a job for the feint hearted or one that could be carried out without proper garage facilities such as a 2 or 4 post ramp etc.    I am hoping that I just need the main radiator as there is no facility to connect the horizontal one, I reasoned that the Land Rover Discovery has a similar power engine and is designed for towing, the new radiator is significantly thicker with 2 rows of coolant tubes and the good news is the cost, less than £150 new on eBay.

Sounds like a very good solution and I'll be interested to know how it turns out just in case I need one in the future because I'm quite happy about putting in bits from other cars. The horizontal radiator might just be the aircon condenser ( I scrapped mine for a fan, there's a post about it a bit further down this section ) but some vans have the condenser on top of another radiator like a sandwich.

Hi Nick, my van has both the A/C condenser and an auxiliary water radiator stacked together, so the auxiliary water radiator will not be re-installed.
If I find the cooling system struggling I will rig up another radiator somewhere under the van connected to the redundant pipes that I have which originally served a cabin heater under a rear passenger seat, my van originally being a minibus type. For future reference, the part number for the Land Rover Discovery radiator is BTP1823S.

Sounds like a plan and thanks for the part number, fingers crossed it all goes in well. I'm off traveling in my van and have no idea what will be available but I figure local mechanics will be more willing to mix and match than over here where they just run away if they can't get a direct swap delivered the next day.

It needed a lot of work but I managed to install the Land Rover Discovery radiator and now putting the front back on the van to test it all out.

Happy days, I took the van for a couple of 10 mile drives today and my engine overheating problem is now resolved.

Excellent.

Thanks for sharing the picture, too. Somewhat envious of your 4-post lift I have to say!!

It's really useful to know the LR radiator will fit. Could you post the part number, please? Just in case?

I'm guessing it would also be ok in the 4WD variants as I expect they share the same lower mounting points geometry, though the packaging for drive and steering below the radiator is even tighter.

Also great that you were able to plumb in the A/T cooler.

While I don't have an A/T, I've blown hot and cold (pun slightly intended) on in-radiator cooling for A/Ts. The pros and cons are fairly obvious. I just wonder if the packaging in the Hiace is a bit tight for dumping both engine (esp Turbo) and A/T heat. Several models (I think most A/Ts) also have the flat radiator that is, where fitted, sandwiched to the A/C unit. On mine (a M/T) this is just A/C in that area.

The EPC shows the various arrangements if you've not already poured over them.

Congrats on your work. I'm planning to fit better temperature monitoring. The dash gauge seems to have a big flat-spot between coldish and too warm and there are plenty of options out there now.

Thanks

Hi. I see the part number is in the post above. Thanks.