About a week ago my radiator started leaking at the top near the upper hose, where the plastic joins with the metal. Searched around and saw some people suggesting the TYC part from RockAuto as it is a rebranded Koyo. Ordered it, and received it today. The problem is that it has two little brass connectors at the bottom that are not on the OEM radiator.

Having done more searching I now see that these plugs are for automatic trans cooling and/or oil cooling of some sort. I see that every single radiator on RockAuto has these. Some descriptions (ie the Spectra/Cooling Depot model) say that this part of the radiator is sealed so if using for a manual trans there is no need to plug them; however, the TYC/Koyo does not mention this in description.

My questions are:
1. On the Koyo is that part of the radiator isolated?
2. If not, is plugging them feasible? How
3. For those who have plugged them, any sign of leaking?

I have pics if necessary.

 

Sounds like it's just the connections for trans lines, and would make that cooling portion of radiator isolated from the coolant portion. If you're very concerned, you could just plug the lower radiator hose outlet then fill the rad up with water and see if anything comes out those outlets, though I highly doubt it will.

 

Just ignore them. Cap them if you want to.
It's just made that way to be universal.

 

Yup, just ignore them. Most aftermarket rads come with auto trans cooler line connections whether you need them or not. They won't affect the operation of the radiator for your purpose.

 

Awesome, thanks guys I appreciate it. They did come with little rubber boots on them, but I figure those were just for preventing dirt from getting in there until installation. I will just leave those on and move forward.

 

Dont forget to bleed the system completly!run engine for a good 30-45 minutes with the rad cap off and rev it once in a while.

 

if theres no trans fluid going in, none is gonna come out lol. theres just chambers in the rad area to cool ATF, since you dont have a automatic the chambers just remain empty full of air. my Supras OEM radiator even has automatic trans cooling lines fittings, they just add them to make the rad universal to prevent 2 part numbers as said

 

Yeah I understand that now. At first I was not positive on the dynamics of it and thought that maybe somehow coolant was fed into the AT and returned so it was just a matter of understanding that it was AT fluid not coolant that goes through there.

After having ordered an aftermarket precat that I could not get to fit I had a bout of paranoia when I saw that

Will do full bleeding cjandura. I actually had to do that already a few months ago when I did the upper radiator hose which is why I am now only replacing the lower.

 

Nah, the only time that happens is on the frontier or xterra with an auto trans, the tank that holds the ATF busts then all the coolant mixes with the ATF, but even thats not normal.