What's a good, lower cost radiator for a MK III?

BillW · 12-09-2009, 10:12 PM

As it turned out, the Koyo radiator from Partsgeek looked ok (no leaks) after I drove the car a bit. What happened, I think, was I spilled some coolant filling the radiator, and after test driving I saw steam coming out of the radiator, and jumped to the conclusion the radiator was leaking. Duh. In my defense, I did have a coolant line that was bent in shipping, that I had bent back, and I guess this got me thinking the radiator had been damaged and was leaking.

Anyway, the Koyo from partsgeek.com works fine, about $180 total with shipping. The radiator includes the AT cooling lines. You just need to move the fans from the old radiator to the new one, and maybe buy a new radiator cap, upper and lower hoses, and AT cooling hoses, if you have AT.

The only issue with the Koyo radiator was the transmission cooling lines were something like .33" OD for the Koyo, versus .38" OD for the stock radiator, so I replaced the factory hose clamps with worm drive clamps, and tightened down on the clamps to really squash the hose onto the lines from the radiator. I didn't feel too great about doing that.

cre · 12-10-2009, 01:38 AM

I would go with a B&M cooler (I've got a large one as my engine oil cooler and another for my power steering), Perma-Cool should be fine (I've never used one though)... There's Canton who makes some excellent components, but their oil coolers look to me to be just rebadged B&M coolers (I don't know that that's the case but they do look identical). As I mentioned before, you need to figure out where you're going to mount the cooler and then measure to find one that will fit; Make sure you keep in mind that you also need to be able to route the oil hoses to it.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/?...20cooler&dds=1

If you're looking at a long, narrow space (like along the top or bottom of the bumper support) look for a "rail" style cooler.

With the oil lines I'd recommend replacing the stock lines completely, not just extending the them; Any barb used to extend them will most likely add a bottleneck. It's not the highest flow system though, so extending will undoubtedly be fine; It's just not my preference.

916MKIIIx2 · 12-10-2009, 01:43 AM

Nah this is for the daily driver and the car my girl uses most, so I want it to be done right and so it will last. I'll check the B&M ones they seem to have a large range of shapes and sizes. Think I'll go out tomorrow morning and check for places to mount it.

Will those oil coolers work for tranny fluid?

916MKIIIx2 · 12-10-2009, 03:22 AM

I Don't need an oil cooler also do I, I could have sworn the 7MGTE oil cooler is mounted up with the intercooler... I could be completely wrong, but I thought the only other seperate parts I needed were tranny cooler and hoses for connecting it.

cre · 12-10-2009, 03:32 AM

My system isn't stock; That's why I have a different oil cooler.

No, you don't need to replace the stock cooler... although I recommend it down the road if you're upgrading. The stock oil cooler system is very poorly designed; It's a pressure based system and not temperature... bad idea.

916MKIIIx2 · 12-10-2009, 04:17 AM

Yeah, I don't plan on doing anything to this one as far as power upgrades, if anything I will just put 3" exhaust on it. I still may however upgrade the oil cooler for those... long trips supra's hate so much

916MKIIIx2 · 12-10-2009, 06:30 AM

How many BTU's is the stock tranny cooler? Is pretty much any of the B&M ones better? They are all pretty reasonably priced from the site you listed.

12-10-2009, 01:43 AM	#3
916MKIIIx2 3" Exhaust Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: California Posts: 152	Nah this is for the daily driver and the car my girl uses most, so I want it to be done right and so it will last. I'll check the B&M ones they seem to have a large range of shapes and sizes. Think I'll go out tomorrow morning and check for places to mount it. Will those oil coolers work for tranny fluid? Last edited by 916MKIIIx2; 12-10-2009 at 02:07 AM.

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12-09-2009, 10:12 PM	#1
BillW Stock Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: East Brunswick NJ Posts: 16	As it turned out, the Koyo radiator from Partsgeek looked ok (no leaks) after I drove the car a bit. What happened, I think, was I spilled some coolant filling the radiator, and after test driving I saw steam coming out of the radiator, and jumped to the conclusion the radiator was leaking. Duh. In my defense, I did have a coolant line that was bent in shipping, that I had bent back, and I guess this got me thinking the radiator had been damaged and was leaking. Anyway, the Koyo from partsgeek.com works fine, about $180 total with shipping. The radiator includes the AT cooling lines. You just need to move the fans from the old radiator to the new one, and maybe buy a new radiator cap, upper and lower hoses, and AT cooling hoses, if you have AT. The only issue with the Koyo radiator was the transmission cooling lines were something like .33" OD for the Koyo, versus .38" OD for the stock radiator, so I replaced the factory hose clamps with worm drive clamps, and tightened down on the clamps to really squash the hose onto the lines from the radiator. I didn't feel too great about doing that.

12-10-2009, 01:38 AM	#2
cre Toyota Racing Development Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 5,038	I would go with a B&M cooler (I've got a large one as my engine oil cooler and another for my power steering), Perma-Cool should be fine (I've never used one though)... There's Canton who makes some excellent components, but their oil coolers look to me to be just rebadged B&M coolers (I don't know that that's the case but they do look identical). As I mentioned before, you need to figure out where you're going to mount the cooler and then measure to find one that will fit; Make sure you keep in mind that you also need to be able to route the oil hoses to it. http://www.summitracing.com/search/?...20cooler&dds=1 If you're looking at a long, narrow space (like along the top or bottom of the bumper support) look for a "rail" style cooler. With the oil lines I'd recommend replacing the stock lines completely, not just extending the them; Any barb used to extend them will most likely add a bottleneck. It's not the highest flow system though, so extending will undoubtedly be fine; It's just not my preference.

12-10-2009, 03:22 AM	#4
916MKIIIx2 3" Exhaust Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: California Posts: 152	I Don't need an oil cooler also do I, I could have sworn the 7MGTE oil cooler is mounted up with the intercooler... I could be completely wrong, but I thought the only other seperate parts I needed were tranny cooler and hoses for connecting it.

12-10-2009, 03:32 AM	#5
cre Toyota Racing Development Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 5,038	My system isn't stock; That's why I have a different oil cooler. No, you don't need to replace the stock cooler... although I recommend it down the road if you're upgrading. The stock oil cooler system is very poorly designed; It's a pressure based system and not temperature... bad idea.

12-10-2009, 04:17 AM	#6
916MKIIIx2 3" Exhaust Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: California Posts: 152	Yeah, I don't plan on doing anything to this one as far as power upgrades, if anything I will just put 3" exhaust on it. I still may however upgrade the oil cooler for those... long trips supra's hate so much

12-10-2009, 06:30 AM	#7
916MKIIIx2 3" Exhaust Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: California Posts: 152	How many BTU's is the stock tranny cooler? Is pretty much any of the B&M ones better? They are all pretty reasonably priced from the site you listed.