Introduction

[nc-grayson]

Greetings All,

I wanted to make a thread to officially introduce myself as I've been quietly lurking in the background for a few months now. I must say I'm a member of many car forums as I've had a handful of them over the years, and none compare to the quality and quantity of DIY projects on this forum. So much great stuff on this forum that others just don't have.

I purchased my 2000 Milennium Silver SR5 Sport on June 6, 2014. My roommate from college had owned it since 2003. When we first met I told him if he ever sold his 4Runner, I wanted it. Well it came time to sell last year so he called and asked if I wanted it. I flew up to NJ that weekend and drove it home to NC. 149,XXX on the clock when I bought it, $4,500. This truck is now my weekend toy, as my DD is a VW CC. I live at the beach so most of my 4x4ing will be there, but building a rig for weekend camping getaways will be in the works as well.

I've since used the crap outta the 3rd Gen Buyers Guide thread and have done some basic maintenance. I've done Seafoam, K&N Filter, PCV valve, spark plugs and wires, and an oil change. Preventative maintenance and upkeep is my priority now, as I plan to keep this truck for a long time. There are plans for the fun mods down the road, but for now, I'm enjoying the satisfaction of keeping this truck running like a finely tuned machine. I've spent a lot of time at the local pick-n-pull as well finding goodies

Tomorrow I will eliminate the potential Pink Milkshake fiasco with both a new radiator and a B&M tranny cooler. I opted for the bigger 70264 because well, why not.

I've got everything planned and my process laid out. My only questions surround the tranny cooler built in to the radiator. Since I am installing a brand new radiator, and planning on completely bypassing the cooler built into the new radiator, what should I do with those respective hose barbs on the radiator? I can't imagine leaving them open would cause any catastrophic damage, should I just cap them off with a loop of hose? Or just do nothing and leave 'em open to the elements?

I'm glad to have found such a great, informative community like this. Not sure if it's the fact that our trucks are 15-20 years old now, or the offroad community itself, but I've found people here are much more informative and willing to help. I hope to one day contribute to this community as I've learned tons in the few months I've been here.

Thanks for having me!

-Grayson

 

[ranbar02]

Welcome to a great addiction. I'm kinda partial to the color you got myself. Let's see some pics of it.

 

[nc-grayson]

Welcome to a great addiction. I'm kinda partial to the color you got myself. Let's see some pics of it.

I'll snap some pics tomorrow during the install. Hopefully everything goes smoothly.

Everything just arrived from Amazon today. FWIW, in case anybody is wondering about the current status of the TYC/KOYO radiator question when ordering from amazon, mine came packaged in a TYC box, as a TYC radiator. I know lots have used this same link to order their radiators: some get the KOYO, some get the TYC. I got the TYC.

Amazon.com: TYC 1998 Toyota 4Runner 1-Row Plastic Aluminum Replacement Radiator: Automotive

 

[nc-grayson]

So I put my new radiator and external transmission cooler in today. I flushed the entire cooling system as well which was the most time consuming part of the process. I got started at 10 this morning, and just sat down with a cup of coffee after a hot shower at 5:00. Seven hour job for me. I'm happy with that considering it's my first cooling system job and I took an hour or so for lunch.

I followed multiple threads here for the help, and everything was really straightforward. I drained my old radiator, filled with distilled h2o, ran the truck for 15 minutes, and repeat. Two cycles of distilled water and it drained real clear...PO filled with OEM Red with TB job 10K miles ago. Replaced old rad with new rad. Filled with 50/50 new OEM red/distilled water.

The holes on my TYC radiator lined up perfectly with the factory mounting positions on the truck. The fan shroud bolts all lined up as well. I know some members have said the TYC holes are all screwed up, but mine weren't. I will say it took some wiggling and finesse to get everything lined up, but if you're smart about your bolt threading and tightening, it'll all work out.

B&M 70264 got mounted directly on the AC condenser with the zip tie/foam pad through the fins method. It's the most efficient mounting location as far as cooling and a viable attachment option via B&M, so it was good enough for me. I did have to bend some fins on my new radiator and that was a mental stretch, but after the first zip tie, game on.

Routed the new tranny cooler lines as most on here have done with the multiple DIY's. I completely bypassed and ignored the built in tranny cooler on the new radiator. Also bent the bracket for the passenger side horn a few degrees to make everything with the new lines kosher.

All in all it was a satisfying day. I'm happy to know my engine will stay cool and transmission will shift smoothly for years to come. The only thing I have left to do is go get some more ATF tomorrow morning to replace what I lost from the swapping of the lines. About a quart I think. Success.

Thanks to all who have helped make this community great.