Looks like my rad has failed

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disallow
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Postby disallow » Wed Oct 28, 2015 4:53 pm

you are bang on as usual. They copped up to picking the wrong part. Got it sorted today.

Thanks!
t


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disallow
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Postby disallow » Fri Oct 30, 2015 5:54 am

Good morning all!

Got the Pathy pretty much wrapped up last night. Still need to get get some self tapping bolts for the ones I broke and had to drill out. But looks as though I have successfully burped the system, and have taken it on 3 longer drives (more than 10 miles) while watching my Superchips for the Engine Coolant Temp variance.

First time I fired it up, the coolant temp got to 180 and stabilized. At that point, there was no hot air coming out of the vents, though, so I knew there was plenty of air in the system still. The air must have percolated to the top of the system, because suddenly the ECT spiked up to about 220F. I shut down, and topped off the rad. Started it again and ran to 190F, and shut down and called it a night. (it was 12:30am) I left the pressure cap and rad cap half way off, to allow more air to move. Also left the truck on ramps overnight.

Last night I topped off the rad before starting, and once again ran up to about 195F. Shut down, opened the pressure cap, (heard a bunch of bubbles in the rad at this point) and then the rad cap, and topped off. Did this about 3 times, then took it for a spin (about 5 miles). Got back, let it cool while I did the engine oil and transmission fluid change. Topped off again, and took for a 10 mile drive. Got home, and the level was good. Checked this morning again before heading to work, and the level was still good.

Will check before I leave work today to see if any more air has worked its way up the system, but the temp on my superchips was pretty stable at around 188-195F the whole way here (about 25 miles highway and last 5 miles city) so it looks like I've finished this task.

New fan clutch comes in next week, although after putting the old one back on, for some reason it seems quieter now. Pretty sure this is the original clutch, so will be changing anyways, along with front and rear brake pads and rotors either Monday or Tuesday. That should be the last of the stuff I need to do before winter maintenance wise.

Note that I used Honda Type 2 premix as my coolant (I had some in my garage for my other car). This is what I had in the Pathy's system before, and I've had great success with it. The old coolant I drained still looked great, so it has done a good job of keeping the system clean. Perhaps will be doing a quick PH test on it to see whether its gone acidic, and to what extent.

Thanks again SMJ for the input on the thermostat.

t

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disallow
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Postby disallow » Fri Oct 30, 2015 7:48 am

One note regarding the rad installation.

There are brackets that need to be swapped from the old rad to the new one. The bolts were pretty rusted, and therefore not practical to remove while still in the truck, although doing this would make removal of the rad easier due to interference with transcooler and HVAC lines. I still made it happen with minimal effort.

However, putting it back in is another story, as you want to be really careful with the new rad, and not damage the condensor.

What I ended up doing is putting the driver side channel onto the new rad. I could then drop the rad into its mount, and mount the condensor to that side. Then I installed the other channel on the passenger side while in the vehicle and swung it into place in the other mount. Worked really well and helped ensure I didn't damage either the rad or condensor.

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Fri Oct 30, 2015 12:27 pm

I don't know why they had to make it such a PITA! Older generations are a piece of cake to R&R the radiator!

ShawnTRD
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Postby ShawnTRD » Thu Nov 05, 2015 2:26 pm

My radiator should be getting replace thanks to the deer last week. Still at the body shop waiting for a estimate.

https://goo.gl/photos/qa73baH89NpxZMhJA

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Postby ShawnTRD » Thu Nov 05, 2015 4:35 pm

just got the estimate emailed. Looks like they are replacing the Radiator support, but not the Radiator. That is part of the Radiator that is broke right?

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Postby eieio » Thu Nov 05, 2015 5:30 pm

ShawnTRD wrote:just got the estimate emailed. Looks like they are replacing the Radiator support, but not the Radiator. That is part of the Radiator that is broke right?
you might hop on down to the body shop, and have them show you what they have in mind for your truck

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Thu Nov 05, 2015 7:39 pm

Well, that pin that broke off the top is part of the upper radiator tank. So, it needs a radiator.

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Postby jester125 » Thu Nov 12, 2015 7:19 pm

I just got my new rad in from Amazon(good reviews) yesterday with a new cap and thermo. I'm planning on doing it over the weekend, its been raining for 3 days now and I dont have a garage so my driveway is I'll perform the surgery. How was the removal/install and how long did it take? The service manual makes it look pretty tedious but a youtube vid I found makes it look a lot easier.
thanks, Chris

06 SE V6 4x4
146K+ miles

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Fri Nov 13, 2015 5:36 am

I believe book labor time is 3.0 hours for just the radiator. The biggest pain is the side brackets on the radiator and trying to maneuver then around the A/C lines.

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Postby jester125 » Fri Nov 13, 2015 12:20 pm

Ok just finished replacing the rad. It wasnt too bad and took about 4-1/2 hours for me. I filled it up with water for now to check for leaks and let it run, it gets hotter than before and no heat, does that mean it has air and/or needs more water/coolant?

thanks
Chris

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disallow
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Postby disallow » Fri Nov 13, 2015 12:49 pm

Yes there is air in the system. See my comments above regarding how I got rid of it.

Don't let it run low on coolant. You don't want to cavitate your water pump.


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