Revived

I've read in a couple places that it might be best to drain coolant from this hose instead of trying to open the radiator drain plug (especially if it hasn't been opened in a long time....like mine sadly). I want to change my thermostat and drain prior to doing so, Can someone please help with a pic maybe?

LeX2K

Left hand side of the car, area below the battery. it is probably easier to crack open the drain plug the rad hose fuses to the radiator and will require some effort to break the bond.

Revived

Ok, that makes sense. Is the radiator drain plug in a similar location as the '97-'01? It's getting hard to find specific images/videos for a 1995.

LeX2K

About the same place towards the right hand side of rad as you face the engine. For some reason Denso likes to make it so the wings on the plug face the worst possible position, hard to get a twisting motion with your fingers.

How many miles on your car? Rads on these cars tend to last about 200K miles before the tank cracks and fails.

Revived

208,000 miles

LeX2K

Consider replacing the radiator.

Revived

Yeah, I'll get the Denso on Amazon and a non-aftermarket thermostat from my local dealer (unless you think I can get it online)

LeX2K

With shipping likely won't be worth buying from an online Toyota dealer. That could change if you decided to throw in upper and lower rad hoses. The Denso on Amazon is $20 cheaper than on Rockauto that's unusual.

booboofoo

By sheer chance, I recently replaced the radiator on my 1992 ES300.

I was lucky enough to find a genuine OEM radiator for sale by a mechanic who was happy to sell it for next to nothing.

So here's what I can tell you about changing the radiator on a 1992-1996 ES300.

If you're not careful it can be messy... because you'll be disconnecting not one, not two, but THREE fluid sources.

Firstly, you'll be disconnecting the obvious engine coolant hoses.

Secondly, you'll be disconnecting the high pressure power steering pumping connection to the hydraulic motor on the radiator fan, and you'll also be disconnecting the low pressure "return" hose from the fan too.

Thirdly, you'll be disconnecting the high and low pressure Automatic Transmission cooler connections at the bottom of the radiator.

As you might imagine, the hydraulic hose connections and the Automatic Transmission coolant connections will potentially be VERY messy.

I strongly recommend lots and lots of sheets of cardboard to catch the inevitable spillage under the fan area.

But like most things automotive, the sense of satisfaction for a job well done is worth it at the end.

LeX2K

I didn't disconnect the hydraulic fan motor/lines worked around it. Shorty after that the line going around the back of the block and to the fan motor started leaking, that is a difficult part to replace.

booboofoo

Yep, had the same problem myself.

As part of my car's "major maintenance" in 2019, we dropped the entire engine while still mounted to the subframe out from under the car and we replaced a whole bunch of stuff while we had loads of access. Including all the hydraulic lines you mentioned.

All of which confirms a fundamental truth about the 3VZ-FE and the 1MZ-FE engines... the power steering pump is in a dreadful position isn't it?

LeX2K

110%. But they had to put is somewhere. The hydraulic fan setup is the most complex system I've seen on any car not only does it have lines going around the back of the engine there is a cooler line as well going the other way to the front of the radiator.

booboofoo

Indeed, so complex it requires it's own separate "engine cooling ECU". From a "Power Steering fluid leak on your garage floor point of view", there are so many possible points of failure. I can fully understand why the designers went for an all electric dual fan setup on the 97-02 cars.