Any cooling system upgrade for the 22-re and a couple other questions?

[roamingaz]

I took a long weekend trip to try out all the new stuff I had put on my truck. I had a lot of steep hills to go up and my truck was running hot, not in the red overheating but close, as soon as I made it to the top of the hill and was able to get some speed temp. went back to normal.
I have come up with a couple ideas why it would run hot;

The engine driven fan has been replaced with a electric fan, would going back to a normal fan work better?

I noticed that my aux. lights and winch control box blocks alot of the grill not allowing enough air in at low speed.

Is there a larger radiator available for a '90 pick up or one that could be retrofitted ?


Also what can I do to my gearing so I can climb the hills faster then 35?
I know my truck is heavy and a 4 cylinder engine with 31's and 4.88 gears is only going to go so fast, I just need so more gearing info.

 

[ntsqd]

I would put the engine driven fan, with it's clutch, back on. The only time that I've had over heating troubles with Patch or the turbo truck were when something else was falling down on the job. Like a radiator going bad, leaking head gasket, etc.

I don't think that I'd change the gearing if that's what you're thinking. Patch has the same ratio with 33-10.50's. When I first got the truck it had 31's on it with that ratio because the PO was too college poor to be able to afford to replace the worn out 33's. Fuel mileage was bad until I put the first set of 33's on it.

The V6 radiator might be an upgrade, but the hose bib sizes & locations would need to be checked. A radiator upgrade should favor height and width over thickness.

Does it get hot at speed only, when going slow only, or?

 

[roamingaz]

Fuel mileage was bad until I put the first set of 33's on it.QUOTE]

My fuel mileage sucks and I have been thinking of putting 33's on and maybe I can gain back 5th gear.

The engine only runs hot on steep hills, of course I turned the ac off and even turned the heater on for a bit and it help. I can drive all over the freeway in rush hour traffic with the ac on and it doesn't get too hot at all, that is why I am thinking it isn't getting enough air flow at low speeds with the engine under heavy load.
The electric fan was put on by the previous owner so I need to find a new fan and clutch, is there anything special about the fans and clutch?
I know on a old Blazer I put on a flex a lite fan that had more blades to move more air.

 

[java]

never had a issue with a elec fan on my 22-re, the v6 trucks have a 3 core radiator you can swap in, its a direct replacement.

 

[ntsqd]

Short of a wrecker I'm not sure where you might find the stock fan and clutch, but you do want a stock clutch in particular. The aftermarket clutch's are reportedly junk.

 

[roamingaz]

never had a issue with a elec fan on my 22-re, the v6 trucks have a 3 core radiator you can swap in, its a direct replacement.

Awesome, I will start looking for one. :victory:
What years did the V6 come in?

 

[java]

iirc 95 was the last year for the 3.0 v-6 with the 3 core, truck or runners are the same

 

[GreenToys]

Does that electric fan uses a thermal switch? mechanical or electronic? some have set adjustments for kick-on temp, maybe you can try and play around with that first. Also there is a company that makes adjustable thermostat, just can't remember the name and if you replace that, there's you're chance of flushing the old coolant and replacing it with fresh ones. These are like the simplest cost effective easy way to see if it will help the cooling problem. If that doesn't work, then as ntsqd had mentioned, an engine driven/clutch setup and pop it back in because the electric is probably not big enough to push air as with the original factory ones. At least the factory ones we know for sure they are within specs. As far as rads, I heard Proliance makes good aftermarket, try Summit racing, they might have it.

 

[BLKNBLU]

Just look up fitment for your 22re at Checker/Oreilly. They show an aluminum and a 2 row and a 3 row copper/brass. I got a 3 row years ago and use the stock fan/clutch system. No cooling issues since. Spec out the 3 row, keep it maintained, and you should be good to go. Good luck.

 

[backwoods]

Hi,

I have been lurking here daily for a while, and I just had to chime in on this one. I have a '92 extended cab set up almost just like yours with the exception of the RTT (it is even the same color ). I also have an extremely heavy custom rear bumper (150 lbs). I live in the southern US, so I endure pretty high temps. I have been following your build since there aren't that many on here like ours. I have an ARB Bull Bar with the winch solenoid mounted in front of the grille as well as lights. My grille is more obstructed than yours. I have never encountered overheating such as you describe, even when travelling out west in the summer. I will note that I have the original mechanical fan. I find your situation very alarming. I run 4.11's with 31's and can keep up with traffic on hills in fourth (up to about 70 mph). I don't have enough gearing to pull 5th in the mountains when loaded. This was also true even before my Toy dealer installed a new engine. You are geared better than I am for this amount of weight on hills. Going up to 33's is definitely not going to make 5th gear any better with the weight you are carrying. I hate to say it, but something is definitely not right with your truck. I would thoroughly address this issue before embarking on any long range trips. You may want to try toyotaoffroad.com as well as yotatech.com. There are more people on those forums that concentrate on the model of truck that you have. I have been posting on those boards for years. I will add that you have inspired me to get my truck ready to go on the road again. I went back to school to get another degree. Now that I am done, this site has me itching to "get out there" again. I never knew there were this many people in the US like me.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I run a V6 radiator, stock fan and clutch. I don't have a winch, but do have lights in the air path.

I also notice you don't have your IFS skid plate on. I've been thinking about that on mine, since I have a Budbuilt set that does not have the cool louvers and extends back under the truck farther. My engine bay with headers seems really, really hot. Bottom line, I wonder how the skids plates help or hurt cooling.

That also reminds me, I have an ARB as well, which has a couple of ducts and fins to compensate for the loss of front openings, pretty slick. That might be helping me, too.

 

[corax]

might not be your cup-o-tea, but here was my solution for overheating while pulling long grades with the trailer on the back bumper (until my recent massive upgrade)
Home made Radiator Mist

That however will consume water in order to work, which is precious in your neck of the backwoods - definately shoot for the V6 radiator upgrade, that way you know it isn't a corrosion/flow problem. A cooler thermostat won't hurt either to get teh coolant flowing sooner - I used a 165 degree one specified for some kind of Ford and used a file to take 1mm off the circumference to get it to fit (IIRC 56mm vs Toyota's 54mm diameter t-stat).

How is your elec fan mounted? There should be little to no gap between the fan and radiator. Some people swear against mounting the fan with the through-the radiator-ties, but I've been doing it that way for years with no problems - - the type of mount that uses the springs on the ties will minimize fan movement/rubbing on the radiator.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

How about adding an engine oil cooler? You could get real high speed and put a small cooling can on it if you want.

 

[roamingaz]

some pretty cool ideas!
As for my cooling issues after discussing it with our fleet mechanic I failed to mention a few important things.
My engine is a 22-re with a TRD cam, LC engineering head and exhaust, about 75K miles on professionaly rebuild.
My headers, combined reduced air flow, a lot of extra weight and it was 115 degrees out this weekend most likely is the culprit. As I mention in another post, I can drive in city traffic with little or no movement in the temp gauge.
The problem I have encountered with this truck is the previous owner was the origanal owner but he and his dad were both factory trained mechanics and own a Toyota/ lexus repair shop in Mesa. All the work done on this truck was very professional and every part has only been replaced with genuine Toyota parts includeing oil, anti freeze, and spark plugs but they also did a lot of oddball stuff I am not familar with such as my MAF sensor was adjusted "3 notches" and for whatever reason the entire bottom of the air box has been cut off, that coud explain why it idles rough.
I am sourcing some parts and I plan on replacing the electric fan with the mechanical fan/clutch, I am also looking for a good air box and maybe I can figure out how to re adjust the MAF sensor( didn't find any info in FSM)
I am a bit confused on the gear's now..
The previous owner told me he put 4.88 gears in so he could make the hills without downshifting (he drove to California a lot), I can make most of the steeper hills but I have to downshift to 4th and sometimes 3rd. I do have a lot of weight- RTT, camper, winch, bumpers, 16gallons of water, 2 fuel tanks (35 gallons), 3 Optima batteries, fridge, very heavy tool box, and I wiegh around 250, so no matter what I do as far as gearing the 4 clynder is only going to go so fast when fully loaded pulling a steep hill. Now if I change to 33's what would I benifit? fuel econamy increase would be worth it
Would I get 5 gear back on the freeway? When I drive to work I hit 5th gear before I even reach the freeway and cruiseing around 65-70 I am at 3200 RPM's

 

[kletzenklueffer]

4.88's are basically a match to the original gearing of 4.10 with 28-29" tires. It should give you 5th back, but I wonder how much weight you're carrying. (ever go to a landfill with the vehicle scale to see how much? Some options would be to reduce your carrying weight. One way is to reduce the amount of water you carry. Each gallon is about 7 pounds. You could buy/build a water filtration that is on board or get a larger camp sized filter system. Another option that is more drastic is to swap to another engine. 3.4L Toyota swaps are becoming popular (190HP) or the 2.7L 4 cylinder with around 150HP. Then there's the 4.3L Vortec at 180-210 depending on configuration.

Something on your cooling, have you checked the thermostat? Toyota made one that has a hole in it so that if the t-stat stuck shut, coolant could still flow. Also, check all of your lines to the heater and then some when it's hot. Maybe a radiator flush is in order too (cheap and may be the ticket).

I had an 86 4Runner with the 22RE and it had cooling issues one after another. I had problems before I put on an ARB bumper and after. Most of mine were from corroded clamps that would crack and cause a leak. Thing is, it would get hot enough that the coolant evaporated quickly and the only way I could find it was to keep it running so the coolant was under pressure. Oh yeah, check your radiator cap too. Mine eventually got hot enough to blow a head gasket and warp the head.