Hilux 4x4 Forum

Requiring some thoughts and inputs of you experienced chaps. The radiator on my Prado requires attention, preferably a replacement. Shopping for a Prado Radiator in my parts of the woods are akin to searching for hen's teeth.

So, I also drive a 3.0 D4D and comparing the radiators, they both have the same width but the D4D is slightly lower (around 45mm) but it incorporates a pressurized tank (sufficient space) which I prefer against an outdated overflow tank on the Prado.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 can be had a good price.

You see where I am going... why should I not fit the D4D radiator, save for keeping it standard?

If it is 45mm longer does that mean that it will stick out under the cross member? Exposing it to damage while offroading? If it stick out under the cross member that is the only reason I can think of not using it.

pietpetoors wrote: ↑Sun Dec 27, 2020 8:50 pm If it is 45mm longer does that mean that it will stick out under the cross member? Exposing it to damage while offroading? If it stick out under the cross member that is the only reason I can think of not using it.

Thanks Pietpetoors, it is actually the other way round, the Hilux radiator is slightly shorter and about 10mm wider thus requiring custom radiator support brackets.
Great added bonus, thicker i.e. one additional core!! A bit more work to fit the Hilux radiator and I will need 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.

Feedback on this conversion:

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.

Will I do it again? OH YES, Definitely!!

The deed is done!

Some pics of the fitment process, the new radiator in place More pics to follow.

Some more pics, final assembly

Close -up of the fill bottle placement. The cap is also very close to the underside of the bonnet and it also showed that lowering the radiator by 10mm would have eliminated any interference. After final assembly, there is sufficient clearance between fan and should to have easily have accommodated to 10mm lowering of the radiator.
It appears that I cannot upload the related picture, possibly having reached some upload limit for now. I will try again later.

Well done!

There is no limit on the number of pics, but the size is limited to 800 x 600 pixels, you have to re-size the pics .... probably the reason why it won't let you up-load.

Mud Dog wrote: ↑Thu Dec 31, 2020 11:57 pm Well done!

There is no limit on the number of pics, but the size is limited to 800 x 600 pixels, you have to re-size the pics .... probably the reason why it won't let you up-load.

Thanks Andy, I had to download an app to resize the pics, (all pics are in excess of 3MB when taken) and had resized all the pics for uploading. I did find the error though. the pixel height was higher than the stated height so I just rotated the pic and re-posted with success, without any further changes.

Feedback on the mod, it is a great success!!! There is one further adjustment required however, after inspecting the fill bottle installation om the Vigo, I still need to add an additional support on the water outlet of the Prado fill bottle installation, as further support of the weight of the filled bottle (about one and a half liters full) to prevent future damage and problems. The Vigo has this support as part of the shroud and thus this has to be added to the Prado setup.

Hi. How is the cooling now compared with the OEM radiator

DELILA wrote: ↑Wed Jan 06, 2021 7:22 am Hi. How is the cooling now compared with the OEM radiator

Absolutely no movement on the Water temp indicator, once it has reached operating temperature, very glad I rather went with the Hilux radiator!

do you know what the length breadth and width of the hilux radiator is.

10 mm wider than the J90 Prado and 45 mm shorter. This is the Vigo Radiator dimensions from bossautospares: https://www.bossautospares.co.za/catalo ... w/id/11421