Alloyworks All-aluminum radiator-cap question

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smj999smj
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Alloyworks All-aluminum radiator-cap question

Postby smj999smj » Sun Apr 07, 2024 5:12 pm

Has anyone purchased the Alloyworks all-aluminum radiator and installed it on their R51 Pathfinder? The radiator is nice, but the cap they supply is incorrect for our vehicles. It has a 16 PSI rated cap with the spring and plunger on the bottom of the cap. As most of you know, it is the coolant reservoir cap that is the 16 PSI pressure cap for the cooling system on the VQ40DE engines. The radiator cap does not have a spring nor plunger on the bottom side, only a seal for the top of the radiator neck. While I suppose I could cut off the thermal spring and plunger from the Alloyworks radiator cap, a second problem arises in that it contacts the bottom of the hood when closed. Our factory radiator cap is the equivalent of a Motorad # TR3, which won't fit the Alloyworks radiator. A Motorad # T3 radiator cap is very close to fitting, but the engagement tangs on the bottom of the cap that catch the threads of the radiator neck when installing the cap need to be about 1/8-inch lower to properly install the T3 cap on the radiator. Has anyone found a cap that fits or a solution to this? Thanks!


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palmerwmd
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Re: Alloyworks All-aluminum radiator-cap question

Postby palmerwmd » Mon Jul 15, 2024 10:19 am

Sorry no one has gottne you an answer yet. Seems like its not a very common product... :oops:

silverarrow27
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Re: Alloyworks All-aluminum radiator-cap question

Postby silverarrow27 » Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:22 am

I have an aluminum CSF radiator and the same issue as the Alloyworks, it has the spring/plunger cap on the radiator. I think I ended up modifying one of my new Nissan oem radiator caps with a dremel to make it fit. If I get a chance tomorrow evening when I get home from work, I'll take the radiator cap off and show you what I did. Really tight fit, but it works and I don't have any issues closing my hood. I haven't seen an Alloyworks radiator in person to compare, but hopefully it'll help point you in the right direction. I do remember that when I tried cutting off the spring/plunger off the CSF radiator cap, everything just fell apart and the cap was useless afterwards.

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Re: Alloyworks All-aluminum radiator-cap question

Postby silverarrow27 » Wed Jul 17, 2024 5:15 pm

Comparison of CSF cap to Nissan oem. Don't be fooled though, I cut off the spring/pluger on the CSF cap and the rubber seal also fell off. I wasn't going to chance it.

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I had to trim both locking tabs on the factory radiator cap. Had to bend the tabs a bit via trial and error til it closed properly on the radiator.

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This is how high up the CSF radiator neck sticks out from behind the radiator core support to compare to the Alloyworks.

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smj999smj
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Re: Alloyworks All-aluminum radiator-cap question

Postby smj999smj » Mon Oct 21, 2024 11:32 pm

The rad neck threads on the Alloyworks radiator are a lot thicker than the stock radiator and CSF radiator. So, the locking tangs on the cap need to be a lot lower. I'll probably cut the spring and plunger off of the Alloyworks cap. I might still have to do some hammer work on the inside of the front of the hood to get some clearance.


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