Pink Milkshake: Highest Mileage with Original Rad

[fastolds]

I replaced mine at 216k miles. The only reason was it was out for the engine rebuild. Still looked like it could have gone another 100k. no signs of corrosion or intermix.
I bought one off of Ebay- thought it was a Koyo, but it was some other no name brand. I'll cross my fingers with it.

 

[BrianSD_42]

I swapped out my original radiator at ~ 185k miles. Nothing was wrong but I felt it was time.

 

[jreask]

I am changing mine on Sunday. 155K.. Can't see anything wrong. Just for peace of mind. New radiator, new toyota pre mixed coolant, sleep a lot better.

I buy and sell 4Runners as a hobby because I love to clean, repair and turn people on to them. I ALWAYS change the radiator if they have over 100K miles. Take NO chances. I don't bother with a tranny cooler , just install a brand new radiator .

 

[jdlarsen]

I swapped out my original radiator at ~ 185k miles. Nothing was wrong but I felt it was time.

Ditto. Almost the same mileage for the exact same reason.

 

[SJC]

Mine has 211,000 and im getting scared with it. What will happen if i get the pink milkshake does it **** out my engine or just make a mess?

 

[96743runner]

Changed my radiator at 70k miles, even though I bypassed it with an external cooler.

It is my opinion that regardless of mileage, it is better to be safe and at the very least, change out the original radiator. I remember reading a few stories over on YT a while back where the members had the milkshake under 100k, somewhere around 80k. It's just not worth the gamble.

 

[RonMAIDEN]

If you radiator is over 150k miles or much more than 10 years old you should change it anyway thus eliminating the pnik milshake for another decade and no need for the external cooler but when I do mine I'm going to add one anyway for better cooling.

What's funny is I posted in this thread I was going to change my radiator back in Sept. 2010 with 162k on my truck and now it's 22 months later and I'm at 173900 miles but it still needs to be done soon and will get done.

 

[lilsid112]

Im still on the original rad on my 99 4runner with 200k on it. Ill be replacing it soon since I don't have an external trans cooler. We've been good about always flushing the coolant every 30k since we bought it back in 99. Where are people usually picking up there replacements? I would like to stick toyota but koyo is the same quality from what Ive been reading. Its a 4 cylinder by the way.

 

[4RGeo]

I just bought a 99 with 170k miles. The radiator seems to be original. All service appears to have been done at the dealer. Nothing funny looking in the rad or tranny fluid (yet).

I'm wondering what the odds are for me at this point to have? What are my chances of having incipient pink milkshake?

Does it help if the coolant has only been Toyo red and DI water? (Not that dealer service guarantees that.)

Curious if you ever had to change the radiator after all these years.

 

[4RGeo]

never replaced since new 230K on a '99 no problems

Did you ever replace the radiator?

 

[RC57]

Curious if you ever had to change the radiator after all these years.

I changed it almost immediately after that old post with a Koyorad #1998. I dissected the old radiator and found signs of seal degradation between the tranny cooler and radiator. There was no evidence of mixing in either the tranny or coolant on this truck.

The seal that was failing was on the outlet with the bent nipple. It appears they bend the nipple _after_ they put it on the lower radiator assembly. (That way it's pointing the right way after tightening.) That stresses and deforms slightly seal junction.

 

[RC57]

By comparison here's the inlet. I'm satisfied this was a good time to change the radiator. The previous owner worked at a Toyota dealership and had service records of fluids changed at recommended intervals.

 

[thatoneguy]

Just bought a '99 with 203k miles, and the radiator appears original. Makes me nervous reading all these threads. I'll be hoping to change it in the next couple thousand miles, although there appears to be no consensus on what the best replacement radiator to go with is, either.....

 

[brillo_76]

Just bought a '99 with 203k miles, and the radiator appears original. Makes me nervous reading all these threads. I'll be hoping to change it in the next couple thousand miles, although there appears to be no consensus on what the best replacement radiator to go with is, either.....

Denso or lots of people like to bypass the internal transmission cooler. Most of the consenses is that 8 to 10 years is a good change interval for the radiator. If original I would replace it.

Sent from my SM-J337V using Tapatalk

 

[Chalkboss]

I've got 335k and I believe the original radiator. I'm going to be changing it out with the Denso soon. Rig has always been very well maintained, I know the family who owned it previously.

I just replaced the original alternator. I could have probably just replaced the brushes but went with a reman. She gave me a nice heads up as I was 200 miles from home out in the woods, battery light came on a few times. 40 miles from home it came on and stayed on. Got me home, battery was around 11.3 volts. I love cars that don't leave me stranded!!

 

[Endlessblockades]

235k with original radiator. New OEM going in this coming week. Along with TStat, gasket, hoses, clamps, and pink Long Life. Already got a new cap.

I was curious if anyone recommends a full flush or other magic snake oil prior to the swap?

 

[Skulking]

235k with original radiator. New OEM going in this coming week. Along with TStat, gasket, hoses, clamps, and pink Long Life. Already got a new cap.

I was curious if anyone recommends a full flush or other magic snake oil prior to the swap?

It's best to do a full flush before removing the old radiator so you don't get anything stuck in the new radiator from the flushing. Make sure that when you flush you get the coolant up to temp with the heat running so you flush the heater core. That also includes the rear heater if your 4runner is equipped with one.

 

[Endlessblockades]

It's best to do a full flush before removing the old radiator so you don't get anything stuck in the new radiator from the flushing. Make sure that when you flush you get the coolant up to temp with the heat running so you flush the heater core. That also includes the rear heater if your 4runner is equipped with one.

Oh yes, it has a rear heater, as I have been running the heaters at full blast during my trip up to Lake Tahoe this weekend to keep it running at 203' or lower depending on engine load. A sweaty, miserable driving weekend, indeed. Had to go because it was the last weekend of the season for bikes at the Northstar Ski mountain.

 

[Bad Luck]

Oh yes, it has a rear heater, as I have been running the heaters at full blast during my trip up to Lake Tahoe this weekend to keep it running at 203' or lower depending on engine load. A sweaty, miserable driving weekend, indeed. Had to go because it was the last weekend of the season for bikes at the Northstar Ski mountain.

I pulled the thermostat when I flushed mine prior to replacing the water pump/timing belt/thermostat/radiator/radiator cap. Flushed with distilled water 5 times with the front and rear heat on high.

 

[96RedRunner]

recommends a full flush or other magic snake oil prior to the swap?

I would and have, you have cast iron, aluminium, steel in system, Cast iron gets rust started it does stick to coat the other metals.
I use prestone or whatever with garden hose for treatment, flush with hose several times, drain flush with distilled, drain add coolant.