The attached photo shows the old radiator. There is foam attached to the bottom. I suspect the foam is used to cushion the radiator to prevent squeaks. Will the new radiator come with foam (it is on its way). Do I need the foam?

 

Usually the purpose of foam around a radiator is to seal the radiator to all the components around it to prevent air from bypassing the radiator, that way you get the most effective cooling.

 

I'm not sure what the foam is for, but if you want to retain the foam, there is foam pipe insulation at Lowes/HomeDepot you could fabricate to fit, for less than $5.

 

I’m not sure about the foam being included. Home Depot has foam in a strip to seal the window mounted air conditioners. It’s in the weather stripping section.

Clint

 

@BLtheP is correct, the foam is there to seal the airflow so the air can only go thru the radiator, not around it. IIRC there was a foam on the top of mine as well (2007). The replacement radiator I installed never had either foam. It was not OEM, but a RockAuto offering. I used some self adhesive foam (window probably, as mentioned by @RamTest and @Clint) to fill the gaps. Don't know if it helped or not, but on the 100F+ days here in north Texas, I never experienced any heating issues.

Regarding the broken stud. This illustrates EXACTLY how brittle these plastic tanks get over the years. I am an advocate for replacing these plastic tank radiators every 10 years/150k miles. It's not terribly hard or expensive but can really prevent catastrophic damage and inconvenience later on.

 

@BLtheP is correct, the foam is there to seal the airflow so the air can only go thru the radiator, not around it. IIRC there was a foam on the top of mine as well (2007). The replacement radiator I installed never had either foam. It was not OEM, but a RockAuto offering. I used some self adhesive foam (window probably, as mentioned by @RamTest and @Clint) to fill the gaps. Don't know if it helped or not, but on the 100F+ days here in north Texas, I never experienced any heating issues.

Regarding the broken stud. This illustrates EXACTLY how brittle these plastic tanks get over the years. I am an advocate for replacing these plastic tank radiators every 10 years/150k miles. It's not terribly hard or expensive but can really prevent catastrophic damage and inconvenience later on.

This makes sense. I will forego the foam as my new radiator has not been fouled by wear. When it does, it will be long gone.

 

Parts are slowing coming in for my radiator repair. The upper radiator hose is noteworthy. It is a Dayco 71765 bought on Amazon at a good price. The attached photos show the old hose and new side by side and on top of each other. It seems the new one is not a perfect fit. It may be that perfection can only be achieved with an OEM hose. What to do? if push came to shove I can shorten the new hose and have almost a perfect fit. Or I can jam the new hose onto the radiator.

It seems to me that this hose is marketed for the Frontier but probably fits other vehicles. Perhaps this is how they can sell them cheaply.

 

the new hose appears to have sharper bends and may fit just fine, I would try it as is and then shorten if needed, a box knife should make quick work of it, my 2 cents

 

I'd shove it in and see if it fits. If it doesn't, just snip it.

 

Yep shove first then cut.

 

The new radiator was received today, see the attached photos. First impression is that the new one is lighter than the old radiator. The answer is in the side view of the two which shows the old and new side by side. The new one is not as wide. I'm short about 20% heat transfer area and probably lost 10% for the AT circuit. But I am not worried as new heat transfer surfaces are clean and will transfer heat much better than my 17 yo radiator.

The new radiator comes with AT nipples. Because I have an M, I don't need these. I can see them getting in the way of the shroud. What is the best way to remove these nipples. Just take the nipples off and leave two holes in the plenum? Or should I try and close out the plenum ports?

 

I’d just leave the holes. Not going to make a difference either way.

 

What brand is the replacement radiator?

 

It is APDTY brand. A no name brand.