Transmission coolant line nipple polled out at radiator end. Can I fix it?

[pclausen]

2002 4runner with 195k miles on it. The tranny coolant line let go on the radiator end driving down the interstate. Pulled over and had it towed back home. Was able to drive into my shop although I probably lost another couple of quarts of tranny oil. Color was nice and red, not strawberry milkshake.

So here's what let go:

I can feel threads on both the radiator side and the nipple side although I can push the nipple all the way into the radiator with no resistance at all. Would it be worth it to just look for another nipple to see if it will screw on snug, or should I be looking for another radiator?

I'm pretty sure the radiator is the original one, so perhaps I should just replace it?

 

[thegipper]

If I were you, I would replace both the radiator and the nipple. Both those items should be more than 120 bucks or so. You said your radiator is original any ways.

I wouldn't take a chance on wrecking the tranny.

Should be an easy fix

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[pclausen]

Looking at the pic from amazon for the Denso, it looks like the nipples for the tranny coolant lines are already there. Is that not the case?

Looks like $102 out the door with Prime. Probably worth it going that route rather than try to mess with JB-Weld or something like that.

Now that I think about it, I might have replaced the radiator when I did the timing belt back at 120k, which was about 6 years ago now. Think that was a Denso as well.

 

[reelamin]

Just replace it and never worry about it again. Your really setting yourself up for huge potential issues with patching this. You just don't have the material and quality parts to ensure great fit. For a $100 to your door in 2 days and 30 minutes time your have a brand new radiator and nipple installed.

 

[pclausen]

Twisted my arm. Order placed. Forgot about tax. Ended up being $107.40. lol

Figured this will give me 2 days to clean up the shop floor and pull the old one out. Guess I'll be doing coolant as well, which has probably been 6 years...

 

[reelamin]

Twisted my arm. Order placed. Forgot about tax. Ended up being $107.40. lol


WTH?...I replaced my radiator after it blew up recently. I could not get that much to drain out if I tried. All of that from just the radiator, or was it running for a little?

 

[BrianK14]

Fluid mess

All that fluid was pumped out of the tranny with the engine running. You could have spliced together the output and return lines from the tranny at the radiator, temporarily bypassing the radiator, and avoided the big mess

 

[pclausen]

Yeah, there's an incline getting into the shop, so rather than mess with a come-along, I just drove it in there. I got the mess cleaned up using a bag of kitty litter. Worked great.

 

[mtbtim]

I'm experiencing some serious shop envy. Even if I wanted a lift, it wouldn't work in my garage. I'd have to buy a house somewhere with a big enough out-building and a high enough ceiling to add the lift. Oh well, I guess I'll continue to work on my back.

 

[pclausen]

Thanks, yeah I love my shop. Build it myself about 15 years ago.

So I got the old radiator out tonight. Turns out it was not necessary to remove the front grille although that sure would have made getting to some of the bolts a lot easier.

Turns out there was almost no coolant in it! Only about 6 ounces or so came out when I opened the drain screw. And nothing additional came out when I undid the lower radiator hose. This is the wife's DD and knowing her, it has probably been running hot for a while and the transmission line finally gave out.

Here's the old radiator. Now I'm thinking this is the original one from 2002.

And check this out:

Are these OEM numbers? (from top of radiator)

Figured I might as well pick up a new thermostat and hoses while I'm at it.

Hopefully there is no damage to either the trans or engine from this ordeal!

 

[mtbtim]

Thanks, yeah I love my shop. Build it myself about 15 years ago.

So I got the old radiator out tonight. Turns out it was not necessary to remove the front grille although that sure would have made getting to some of the bolts a lot easier.

Turns out there was almost no coolant in it! Only about 6 ounces or so came out when I opened the drain screw. And nothing additional came out when I undid the lower radiator hose. This is the wife's DD and knowing her, it has probably been running hot for a while and the transmission line finally gave out.

Here's the old radiator. Now I'm thinking this is the original one from 2002.

And check this out:

Are these OEM numbers? (from top of radiator)

Figured I might as well pick up a new thermostat and hoses while I'm at it.

Hopefully there is no damage to either the trans or engine from this ordeal!

Yeah, women and automobiles. Not the greatest match a lot of times.

When you replace the thermostat, make sure you put the jiggle valve at the 6 o'clock position pointing towards the ground. It makes a difference with your coolant temps. When I bought my thermostat on-line, it didn't come with a new rubber gasket. I had to pick one up at my local dealer.

 

[pclausen]

Got the replacement radiator today, but sure enough, UPS f'ed it up.

It would probably have been ok, but seeing how that vertical coolant pipe was hit, I figured I'd rather just get another one. At least Amazon makes the process very easy.

 

[JZiggy]

Order one through RockAuto like I did. It was similar cost to Amazon and came in bombproof packaging.

The PA66-GF25 means the endcaps are made of a nylon material called polyamide 6,6 and reinforced with 25% glass fiber for strength.

 

[ltsr]

Order one through RockAuto like I did. It was similar cost to Amazon and came in bombproof packaging.

The PA66-GF25 means the endcaps are made of a nylon material called polyamide 6,6 and reinforced with 25% glass fiber for strength.

Do you or anyone else here know if those markings came on the radiators from the factory?

I googled searched the same thing but still curious if that's the factory radiator.

 

[DK327]

Do you or anyone else here know if those markings came on the radiators from the factory?

I googled searched the same thing but still curious if that's the factory radiator.

I kept my OEM radiator I replaced at ~230K miles, will check and let you know.

 

[DK327]

 

[JZiggy]

Do you or anyone else here know if those markings came on the radiators from the factory?

I googled searched the same thing but still curious if that's the factory radiator.

I just replaced my factory rad with 225k and yes, it had those exact same markings.

 

[ltsr]

I just replaced my factory rad with 225k and yes, it had those exact same markings.

Look at the post above yours. I'm not trying to be a ball buster, just want to get to the bottom of this. It has the same markings and it says TOYOTA in a rectangular box next to it. Mine has the same "PA66" markings but does not say "TOYOTA" anywhere on the radiator. What i'm trying to get to is that there could be replacements that say "PA66" but not "TOYOTA" anywhere since it is an OE replacement.

btw, are you the original owner of the rig?

I don't want to detract from the main discussion here. Hope the OP gets a new undamaged radiator from Amazon. I looked at the same replacement, if you look at the reviews people are complaining about the same shipping issues.

 

[JZiggy]

Look at the post above yours. I'm not trying to be a ball buster, just want to get to the bottom of this. It has the same markings and it says TOYOTA in a rectangular box next to it. Mine has the same "PA66" markings but does not say "TOYOTA" anywhere on the radiator. What i'm trying to get to is that there could be replacements that say "PA66" but not "TOYOTA" anywhere since it is an OE replacement.

btw, are you the original owner of the rig?

I don't want to detract from the main discussion here. Hope the OP gets a new undamaged radiator from Amazon. I looked at the same replacement, if you look at the reviews people are complaining about the same shipping issues.

Here you go, this is how mine looked:

No, not the original owner but the records do not indicate the radiator was ever replaced until now.