DIY - 2000 Camry LE, Modifying the stock setup to secure a loose radiator

[ajkalian]

This is a straight forward, easy DIY that can be done with tools that most everybody has. It's also something that almost everybody with a Gen 3/4 Camry will probably want to do, once you check the bushings that are holding the radiator.

I was working on my car today and with the engine running I noticed that the radiator was shaking back and forth quite a bit.

I took a look at the way it was mounted and there was a pin cast into the radiator, and a rubber bushing attached to the body. The hole in the rubber bushing had become elongated and the radiator was moving back and forth within this now, oblong hole, quite a bit.



The part number is 16523-03010 and when I called up the local dealer they wanted $9.50 for one, and I needed two. And they didn't have any in stock and would have to order them. The good news was that they would arrive in a day or two. $20.00 for a couple of rubber bushings. Fooey to that.

The bracket that holds the bushing is easy to remove. A 12mm bolt is all that holds it to the frame. Once out on the bench I could see how it was made and then all I had to do was to come up with something to take up the slack in the hole. I thought of wrapping it with some tape, but that probably wouldn't survive very long in the engine compartment. I tried some brass tubing, and then some copper tubing, but nothing fit the pin on the radiator or the hole in the stock mount very well.



Then I found a 1/4" brass pipe reducer that I had left over from configuring a brad nailer. I measured the pin sticking out of the radiator, and if I drilled a 25/64" hole in the reducer, it slipped right over the pin on the radiator. Since the outside of the fitting was threaded, and it fit rather tightly in the hole in the rubber bushing, I grabbed a pair of pliers and threaded it into the rubber bushing. It fit very tightly and I don't think it will come out. I'll check it from time to time to see if it is backing out, and if it is, maybe a little RTV will probably hold it. But I don't think I will need to do that.

Here is the finished bushing installed on the radiator. Now the radiator is held securely and still can move back and forth a little bit, just like when it was new. But not flop around like it was doing before this mod.



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[fenixus]

originally from factory there is some sort of thick foam between the radiator and the bar (body). recently I have just washed it down when pressure washing the engine bay. perhaps it was supposed to dampen the rad vibrations.

but your solution is very good
only wondering if it doesn't cause some cracks on a rad's top tank (plastic) once the rad has been immobilized like this.

[ajkalian]

Originally Posted by fenixus

originally from factory there is some sort of thick foam between the radiator and the bar (body). recently I have just washed it down when pressure washing the engine bay. perhaps it was supposed to dampen the rad vibrations.

but your solution is very good
only wondering if it doesn't cause some cracks on a rad's top tank (plastic) once the rad has been immobilized like this.

It doesn't immobilize the radiator. The bushing can move within the bracket a little bit, and the rubber can be compressed some more. Think of it as the metal part has a 1" diameter hole it it. The rubber bushing has a 1 1/8" diameter groove in it, with a 1/4" overlap of the 1" diameter hole. This allow the radiator to move back and forth as needed.

Take a look at your radiator and the mount. Grab the radiator and move it back and forth from the front of the car to the back. Way loose. But if you take the entire mount off, and just wiggle the large washer in the groove of the metal piece, you will see that it is constructed in such a way that it has plenty of free play.

Although I haven't seen a new rubber bushing, I'm betting that it fits snugly on the pin and the groove is the only movement the stock one allows. But that is based on no fact, since I haven't seen a new stock one.

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[Mister_Perkins]

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