The radiator on my Prado required attention, preferably a replacement. Shopping for a Prado Radiator in my parts of the woods were akin to searching for hen's teeth and since I am also driving a 3.0 D4D, I compared the radiators. They both have the same width but the D4D is slightly shorter (around 45mm) but it incorporates a pressurized tank. The Prado had sufficient space and I in any case preferred the pressurized tank to the outdated overflow tank on the Prado.
Both are 3 liter engines although the D4D kicks butt with an extra 38odd kilowatt. The D4D radiators are plentiful and at a good price. As an additional bonus the D4D radiator has one additional core!! A bit more work to fit the Hilux radiator and I needed to relocate the Hilux water-bottle (mounted on the radiator) to original water-bottle position of the Prado (on the radiator bulkhead) due to imminent interference with an aircon pipe.
The conversion involved:
1. Had to manufacture new radiator support brackets that fit the radiator bulkhead, 430 Stainless 1,5 mm thick and added indentations to the top and bottom of both brackets for better fitment and chassis clearance ( I have a 3m straight folder for the bending of the brackets) Note; the Vigo radiator is 10mm wider than the Prado radiator, thus one need to work to close tolerances to fit,
2. I kept the top tank at the same height for the sake of clearance between the fan and its shroud, although in afterthought, I should have checked whether the radiator could not be lowered about another 10mm - reason being The air bleed screw on top of the Vigo radiator, touches the bonnet when closing it, thus I had to take a ballpein to the inside of the bonnet to provide the required clearance, (Note, the Vigo radiator is lower in height, (50mm) less than the Prado radiator and can thus move down without any dire consequences, keeping in mind that the radiator still needs to be higher than the engine for extracting trapped air in the cooling system. Here the Vigo water bottle will be a tremendous help since it feeds water to the lower radiator tank and has air extraction ports at the top of the tank, making this radiator a fully flooded system, unlike the old Prado radiator with its overflow catch tank,
3. The fan shroud must be trimmed on the bottom to fit the shorter Vigo radiator, this is "dead" area any way as the bottom part of the shroud for the bottom 100mmpart, is way to close to the radiator for any effective airflow to be induced by the fan,
4. The fill bottle has to be relocated to the L/H side of the Radiator, where the outdated KZ TE overflow bottle used to sit - reason being, there is too little space adjacent to the battery and and with an aircon pipe that will eventually cause leaks on the water bottle due to chafing, if I insisted in keeping the Vigo water bottle in its intended position.
5. The clearance on both sides is minimal with the 10mm wider Vigo radiator, so one need to work to close tolerances. This also where the radiator brackets need to be indented, allowing the brackets to fit closer to the radiator and also eliminating unnecessary air gaps that will hamper airflow
Both are 3 liter engines although the D4D kicks butt with an extra 38odd kilowatt. The D4D radiators are plentiful and at a good price. As an additional bonus the D4D radiator has one additional core!! A bit more work to fit the Hilux radiator and I needed to relocate the Hilux water-bottle (mounted on the radiator) to original water-bottle position of the Prado (on the radiator bulkhead) due to imminent interference with an aircon pipe.
The conversion involved:
1. Had to manufacture new radiator support brackets that fit the radiator bulkhead, 430 Stainless 1,5 mm thick and added indentations to the top and bottom of both brackets for better fitment and chassis clearance ( I have a 3m straight folder for the bending of the brackets) Note; the Vigo radiator is 10mm wider than the Prado radiator, thus one need to work to close tolerances to fit,
2. I kept the top tank at the same height for the sake of clearance between the fan and its shroud, although in afterthought, I should have checked whether the radiator could not be lowered about another 10mm - reason being The air bleed screw on top of the Vigo radiator, touches the bonnet when closing it, thus I had to take a ballpein to the inside of the bonnet to provide the required clearance, (Note, the Vigo radiator is lower in height, (50mm) less than the Prado radiator and can thus move down without any dire consequences, keeping in mind that the radiator still needs to be higher than the engine for extracting trapped air in the cooling system. Here the Vigo water bottle will be a tremendous help since it feeds water to the lower radiator tank and has air extraction ports at the top of the tank, making this radiator a fully flooded system, unlike the old Prado radiator with its overflow catch tank,
3. The fan shroud must be trimmed on the bottom to fit the shorter Vigo radiator, this is "dead" area any way as the bottom part of the shroud for the bottom 100mmpart, is way to close to the radiator for any effective airflow to be induced by the fan,
4. The fill bottle has to be relocated to the L/H side of the Radiator, where the outdated KZ TE overflow bottle used to sit - reason being, there is too little space adjacent to the battery and and with an aircon pipe that will eventually cause leaks on the water bottle due to chafing, if I insisted in keeping the Vigo water bottle in its intended position.
5. The clearance on both sides is minimal with the 10mm wider Vigo radiator, so one need to work to close tolerances. This also where the radiator brackets need to be indented, allowing the brackets to fit closer to the radiator and also eliminating unnecessary air gaps that will hamper airflow
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