you definitely can replace the radiator. i bought a denso one from rockauto.com and saved me a ton. i bought a toyota coolant too. very easy to replace on your own. i replaced mine a few months ago due to leaking radiator(bottom). now, it's as good as new. i'm now at 105000 miles.
Trouble on cold starts
- Thread starter fishtizzy
- Start date
fishtizzy
New member
I have done this before, but on a 4cyl Wrangler a couple years back - looks to be about the same. We just curious if there was anything odd ball to look out for (parts to swap over to new rad, etc.) I bought all the parts necessary except for a thermostat - cant find one people don't rip apart in reviews. Any recommendations? OEM?
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fishtizzy
New member
Replaced radiator/hoses/thermostat this weekend - fairly easy to do with your buddy on a Saturday afternoon. It was BAD:
Only odd thing, we could NOT get the lower hose to heat up. We had it up on ramps, burped the system for about 15mins (no more bubbling) and had it at about 2k rpm for 5mins trying to get it to heat up. Heat in the cab was really hot, but temp gauge never went past normaly position. We had a kerosene heater and oil heater in the garage keeping the ambient temp was around the mid 50's. Drove it 140 miles in 8-10 degree weather - no issues. I'm assuming that if the new (OEM) thermostat wasn't working I would have heat issues keeping the cab warm. Other threads/forums state not to always expect the lower hose to be hot - really have to be pushing the engine to get the thermostat to open when its this cold out - thoughts?
Only odd thing, we could NOT get the lower hose to heat up. We had it up on ramps, burped the system for about 15mins (no more bubbling) and had it at about 2k rpm for 5mins trying to get it to heat up. Heat in the cab was really hot, but temp gauge never went past normaly position. We had a kerosene heater and oil heater in the garage keeping the ambient temp was around the mid 50's. Drove it 140 miles in 8-10 degree weather - no issues. I'm assuming that if the new (OEM) thermostat wasn't working I would have heat issues keeping the cab warm. Other threads/forums state not to always expect the lower hose to be hot - really have to be pushing the engine to get the thermostat to open when its this cold out - thoughts?
greenninja
New member
Wanted to share a similar story of a issue I am also having. I was doing some research and came upon this thread.
I have a P0304, cyl 4 mis fire. The error that has been haunting me for a bit. We swapped coils, checked compression, replaced 2 of 4 oxygen sensors and finally, just replaced the spark plug. But after the spark plug strange part is the CEL and other lights came back on again...but then after about 30 miles or so, and a few starts later, all lights went off. It's been about 100 miles since so I am hopeful, but its never this easy
However, after reading this thread and doing some research on another issue, which is over heating. so about 10K miles ago I had a coolant flush done. Since recently, right around the same time the CEL\VSC lights came on I start overheating. I did have the thermostat replaced about 5K ago, but basically the radiator just starts loosing coolant. I bought the pink stuff, about a gallon...poor into the radiator and about a week later, empty again. Add water since I have no choice on the road to get me back home...but I don't think adding more oem coolant is helping. I had a oil change done recently and mechanic said oil looked ok.
I am baffled, HG?
I have a P0304, cyl 4 mis fire. The error that has been haunting me for a bit. We swapped coils, checked compression, replaced 2 of 4 oxygen sensors and finally, just replaced the spark plug. But after the spark plug strange part is the CEL and other lights came back on again...but then after about 30 miles or so, and a few starts later, all lights went off. It's been about 100 miles since so I am hopeful, but its never this easy
However, after reading this thread and doing some research on another issue, which is over heating. so about 10K miles ago I had a coolant flush done. Since recently, right around the same time the CEL\VSC lights came on I start overheating. I did have the thermostat replaced about 5K ago, but basically the radiator just starts loosing coolant. I bought the pink stuff, about a gallon...poor into the radiator and about a week later, empty again. Add water since I have no choice on the road to get me back home...but I don't think adding more oem coolant is helping. I had a oil change done recently and mechanic said oil looked ok.
I am baffled, HG?
fishtizzy
New member
If you're losing coolant, you're going to have to dig. Get under there and take the skid plate off, you will see where the pink coolant has dried if its leaking - like my pic above. Look closely around the front tow hook and cross member. I couldn't see it was leaking anywhere until I did that. You also need to check around the water pump for same dried pink coolant. If you don't find any thing I would start researching the HG. I never threw any engine codes on my cold starts so I didn't head down that road like you did. Good luck and keep us posted!
Joseph_Conrad
New member
Any more issues with cold starts since you last posted here? I might be having a similar issue, I pulled my runner out of the garage and then back in the day before I had a hard start, it stuttered and seemed like it was going to die, ran poorly with a really bad exhaust smell that almost smelled like something burning. It does look kinda white, I guess. Engine then smooths out. No cel. Mine is in the shop as of this morning. My issue sound like yours? Glad you isolated the radiator on your coolant disappearance.
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fishtizzy
New member
Sorry replying to this so late - got a new job that keeps me busy and off forums FTMP. I have not had ANY issues since I replaced the battery - she starts strong every time now. I also made sure not to do any short trips where the engine would not get warm enough to burn off any residual condensation in the motor. Tough to tell what actually caused it that one time. I'm also glad to report the coolant level has stayed the same - so its safe to say as of right now, no HG issues.
My new issue is odd shifting when its cold. In May of 2014 I made a huge mistake - I let the dealership flush the tranny @ 155k miles. Ever since then (more noticeable and frequent when its cold) she has trouble shifting from first to second under +50% throttle - it kind of slips/hesitates. It also doesn't like when i slow down from 4th gear speeds, don't come to a complete stop (10-15mph), then accelerate again and it has to find the proper gear to be in (I drive in heavy traffic) - it accelerates (spins up the motor) then shifts really quickly. Tech thinks that I might have gotten coolant in the tranny when my radiator went bad. Stated that all my issues were awfully close to that tranny cooler line that runs into the rad - see pic above. Further, he stated that ANY contamination in tranny fluid can cause irregular shifts and hesitation. Suggested a drain and fill to start fresh and see if the problems continue. Worth noting, since its been warm the issues arent as frequent - maybe because it warms up quicker now that its May.
