I by-passed my in radiator tranny cooler

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bhull3
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radiator replacement

Postby bhull3 » Thu Dec 15, 2016 8:45 am

So if/when you replace the radiator, do you still route the tranny lines through the new one, or still keep the systems separate?


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eieio
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Re: radiator replacement

Postby eieio » Thu Dec 15, 2016 8:54 am

bhull3 wrote:So if/when you replace the radiator, do you still route the tranny lines through the new one, or still keep the systems separate?
if you are confident in the quality of the new radiator, you can utilize the transmission cooler component inside of it

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bhull3
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New radiator

Postby bhull3 » Thu Dec 15, 2016 1:51 pm

Thanks for the response. I haven't had any experiences with any radiator brands. Shoot, in 2005 I would have had complete faith in the Nissan OEM radiators. Can anyone suggest a reliable aftermarket radiator for the Pathfinder that they would trust to run the tranny lines back through? Has anyone rerouted their lines back through their new radiator? Thanks in advance!

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Fri Dec 16, 2016 4:46 pm

I haven't heard of any cross-contamination issues with any of the aftermarket radiators nor new Nissan regular and value line radiators. I've had an Ebay made-in-China unit in my 06 for five years and a Koyorad in my 08 for 2 years and have had no issues with them, utilizing the radiator's integral cooler. Most aftermarket radiators are made in China. Spectra Premium has been a very popular choice in the plastic tank radiators. Stillen offers an all-aluminum radiator that is really nice, but is three times the cost.

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underworld1001
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Postby underworld1001 » Wed Jan 04, 2017 8:31 pm

I believe this is the Stillen one made by CSF. I have a 2011 and it says it's incompatible, but whatever. Unless I'm wrong, I'm pretty sure nothing changed between 2010 to 2011/2012.

https://www.stillen.com/csf-racing-radi ... -7029.html

Used to have a Spectra Premium I bought from Pep Boys on a 2003 Xterra 4x4. Gave zero issues. SMJ is right in stating that most are made in China. For example, I believe Spectra is a Canadian company, but they source their cores from China.

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Wed Jan 04, 2017 10:38 pm

underworld1001 wrote:I believe this is the Stillen one made by CSF. I have a 2011 and it says it's incompatible, but whatever. Unless I'm wrong, I'm pretty sure nothing changed between 2010 to 2011/2012.

https://www.stillen.com/csf-racing-radi ... -7029.html

Used to have a Spectra Premium I bought from Pep Boys on a 2003 Xterra 4x4. Gave zero issues. SMJ is right in stating that most are made in China. For example, I believe Spectra is a Canadian company, but they source their cores from China.
It should work on the 2011 & 2012 models...but, those model years didn't have problems with radiator cooler failures.

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Postby Superlunchbox » Mon May 22, 2017 4:35 pm

I've got a 2011 with about 90,000 miles on it and I've read that the 2011s didn't have this problem. Is that true or should I just bypass and move on?

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Postby Kestral » Tue May 23, 2017 4:23 pm

Superlunchbox wrote:I've got a 2011 with about 90,000 miles on it and I've read that the 2011s didn't have this problem. Is that true or should I just bypass and move on?
From what I understand the change was made sometime in 2010 so you should be ok. I have not seen or hear of anyone with a 2010 yet that had any issues.

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Postby evilhomer3k » Tue May 07, 2019 9:50 am

I have a 2008 that has smod. I did the bypass and replaced the transmission fluid. At this time I don't know if the transmission is gone at this point. I've flushed the radiator with water about half a dozen times. I haven't gotten much of the milkshake out. The most success I've had getting it out is to take the cap off the reservoir, run the engine, and let it ooze out the top. That's messy and a pain. When i drain the water out of the radiator it comes out as mostly water. Then a little bit of the milkshake will come out. the water never seems to get warm either.

Any suggestions for getting the milkshake out of there?

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Postby palmerwmd » Tue May 07, 2019 10:21 am

[quote="evilhomer3k"]I have a 2008 that has smod. I did the bypass and replaced the transmission fluid. At this time I don't know if the transmission is gone at this point. I've flushed the radiator with water about half a dozen times. I haven't gotten much of the milkshake out. The most success I've had getting it out is to take the cap off the reservoir, run the engine, and let it ooze out the top. That's messy and a pain. When i drain the water out of the radiator it comes out as mostly water. Then a little bit of the milkshake will come out. the water never seems to get warm either. [quote]

You need to do multiple ATF replacements... there are nooks and crannies in a transmission where stuff stays.. even a small amount of coolant remaining will destroy the transmission.

Do the so -called poor mans flush several times (draining the trannies pan and then refilling)

Dont use expensive Nissan OEM fluid for this.. castrol multi car import is plenty good.

Here is how (do one of those drive for a day or two.. do again..)
http://www.thenissanpath.com/viewtopic. ... 7fbe5dab1c

As for the radiator.. just replace it once you know if you saved the transmission
Last edited by palmerwmd on Thu May 16, 2019 10:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Postby eieio » Tue May 07, 2019 10:40 am

evilhomer3k wrote:I have a 2008 that has smod.

Any suggestions for getting the milkshake out of there?
+1 on palmerwmd's post.
the residue in your coolant is the absolute least of your problem.
the coolant contamination wrecks the transmission, even a little bit will do damage.
flush the trans, flush the trans, flush the trans,...............

evilhomer3k
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Postby evilhomer3k » Thu Jul 18, 2019 1:54 pm

It's been a while but I've flushed the transmission several times now. I've still got some smod in the radiator and engine. I thought I had enough out to do some driving. I have been flushing the radiator with water and got it clean enough to drive it. I took it out and before I got to a mile the engine temp guage was up near the top. It never got into the red but close. I shut it off, let it cool, and got it back home.

I only had water in it but even with that less than a mile seems like a really short time for the engine to overheat. I have let it run in the driveway for 20 minutes or more and it never got above half. Is this an indication that my transmission is destroyed or is there something else that I should look into? Should I put actual coolant in the engine or is that a waste of time? Should I flush the transmission more?

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Postby palmerwmd » Thu Jul 18, 2019 9:43 pm

evilhomer3k wrote:It's been a while but I've flushed the transmission several times now. I've still got some smod in the radiator and engine. I thought I had enough out to do some driving. I have been flushing the radiator with water and got it clean enough to drive it. I took it out and before I got to a mile the engine temp guage was up near the top. It never got into the red but close. I shut it off, let it cool, and got it back home.

I only had water in it but even with that less than a mile seems like a really short time for the engine to overheat. I have let it run in the driveway for 20 minutes or more and it never got above half. Is this an indication that my transmission is destroyed or is there something else that I should look into? Should I put actual coolant in the engine or is that a waste of time? Should I flush the transmission more?
Just replace the radiator. They only cost like 100 bucks.
Its a lot of work though.... :oops:

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Postby ssobol » Thu Jul 18, 2019 10:29 pm

evilhomer3k wrote:....I only had water in it but even with that less than a mile seems like a really short time for the engine to overheat.
Most modern engines (or even engines from 30 years ago) will overheat quickly with just water in them.

The normal thermostat setting is about the same as the boiling point of water. So if you want to keep the coolant from boiling it has to be something with a higher boiling point (i.e. antifreeze/coolant). Most coolants boil in the 235-240 range (depending on the coolant system pressure).

Replacing the radiator in the R51 4.0 engine is not very hard. It takes a little time. While you've got the engine apart you could do a lot of other stuff which will add time. But it is wise to take advantage of the fact you've already got a lot of the stuff on the top of the engine removed.

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Postby smj999smj » Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:22 am

Running just water won't cause the engine to overheat quickly. It's excellent at cooling but the disadvantages of "just water" is that (1) it can freeze in temperatures of 32 degrees F. and below and (2) it doesn't offer any corrosion protection to the inside of the engine and other parts connected to the coolant system. Adding anti-freeze to water (50/50 ratio) will raise the boiling point from 212 degrees F. of just water to around 223 degrees F. The important part regarding the boiling point is the pressure cap on the system, in this case on the coolant reservoir. For every 1-pound of pressure placed on the system, the boiling point raises 3-degrees F. So, if we have a 14 PSI cap on the system, it increases the boiling point of the system 42-degrees.
If the vehicle is overheating on just water, I would seriously consider replacing the thermostat before putting anti-freeze in the system.
The problem with coolant in the transmission is even after you get the majority of the oil circulating in the coolant out of the transmission, often it (the "SMOD") can remain between the TCM and the valve body, which can create issues unless the TCM/valve body assembly is taken out, separated and cleaned.


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