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Aftermarket Radiator - Any Recommendations


Gaz-is300
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Just done my timing belt at the weekend and noticed the radiator is looking a little worse for wear,

I know its not leaking or anything yet but was looking for a replacement plan just in case.

Now i am planning on modifying the engine somewhat in the future and thinking i may aswell uprate it when i change it this time.

Is anyone running an uprated radiator? alloy/dual core etc?

Ive spotted a new Mishimoto one for a good price but can really only find one.

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  • 8 months later...
  • 1 year later...

This thread is quite old.  But just in case anyone is browsing.....

The original poster Gary (Gaz-is300) clearly has an IS300 - which I assume has automatic transmission.

Marcus (beard) who replied, mentioned fitting a Japspeed radiator to an IS200.  He doesn't say whether manual or auto.

It's important to note that IS300s, and IS200s with auto 'boxes, must have a radiator with a transmission oil cooler as well.  The oil cooler has two separate, additional, pipe-connections at the bottom (the oil cooler circuit is separate but the cooling tubes go up into the main radiator core).

It's possible to fit a radiator-with-oil-cooler (the one for auto vehicles) to a manual car:  you just ignore the oil-pipe connections at the bottom.  The radiator will work fine.  BUT it is not possible or sensible to fit a 'manual' radiator into a car with an auto box.

The Mishimoto welded high-performance alloy radiators, and I think the Japspeed one too, are engine-coolant only.  They have no tranny oil cooler.  So they should not be fitted to a vehicle with auto transmission - or if they are, then a separate tranny oil cooler has to be installed as well.

There are a number of alternative aftermarket radiators available at various prices (all cheaper than the Lexus OEM ones....).  Usual core diameter seems to be 26mm or 16mm.  Both apparently work well.  High-flow (40mm or whatever) is only needed for serious competition use.

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  • 1 month later...

I need to post a follow-up to my earlier message (above) of 20 October.  Since posting it I have gone ahead with the task of replacing the radiator - and the aircon condenser - on my 2002 IS300 Sportcross auto, and I have discovered quite a few interesting things.

  • the OEM replacement radiator (made by Japanese supplier Denso) is horribly expensive (£200-plus);
  • perfectly good alternative replacements can be got for around £120.  One of the better ones, according to my research, is made by Nissens, a Danish firm.
  • It can be confusing to source a radiator for an IS 300 versus an IS 200, as many parts-catalogues and websites appear to suggest that they are different.  In fact the same radiator will fit, and work, in either.  The thing to check is the core-diameter (26mm or 16mm).  Both can do the cooling job perfectly well;
  • the other thing to check is the auto-transmission oil cooler fittings - as per the details in my previous post.  However - see my story below.

My story?  I sourced a replacement from Euro Car Parts.  Made by Koyo, and (on special offer) under £70.  Labelled for an IS200, and with 26mm core.  I bought the one for an auto 'box, with the oil cooler fittings.  But..... when I got under my own 2002 IS300 auto to remove the old rad - surprise!  I found no auto-trans oil cooler pipes connecting into the bottom tank of the rad. The workshop manual and parts catalogue appeared to suggest that there would be oil-cooler connections into the rad.

I was a bit confused by the fact that a pipe came forward from the engine bay area and made a separate, independent cooling 'loop' in front of the a/c condenser (just behind the grille).  It seems that this is a power steering fluid cooler loop - but I need to double-check.

So I'm still baffled.  Why has my car got no auto-trans oil cooler pipes (or at least not visible below and behind the radiator?  Had the radiator already been previously replaced once before I acquired the  car, and a 'manual' rad fitted and the auto trans oil pipes cut or capped off?  Seems unlikely.

I replaced the radiator anyway, without having to mess with auto-trans oil connections, and the new one works fine.   But I still have this nagging worry - why does my auto box apparently not have an oil cooler circuit? 

The aircon - well, that's another story for a separate thread....

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