Radiator Replacement vs. Bypass

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65Fastback
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Radiator Replacement vs. Bypass

Postby 65Fastback » Tue Oct 05, 2010 7:07 am

-I am one of the lucky ones, no coolant leak yet. ('06 w/ 53K)
-After all the research I have done and calling around, seams as if doing the bypass only limits my towing capacity in the future. I haven't towed anything *yet, but do not want to be limited in the future by my modifications vs. what I know the PF was designed to do.
-I am opting for a solution where I don't have to worry about anything (trans temp w/ the bypass). This would be done with a new updated radiator.
-How does one confirm that new PF radiator, if one were to be installed, is of the newer batch (not faulty product) vs the current installed radiator even if no current problem with existing radiator? Although it's the same design w/ sharing a radiator for coolant and trans, my thinking is the new radiator would be more reliable.
-AAMCO is calling me back with a price for a radiator swap for peace of mind, but as of now they can do a trans flush & filter for 172 (with the correct synthetic trans oil) and coolant flush for 109. I would want this done at the same time. They can also installa heavy duty trans cooler and do the bypass for 229 however as AAMCO says, I would still be limited with towing.
-Nissan is calling me back with the radiator price too, but so far 140 coolant flush, 325 trans flush.
-I want this issue to be done with asap. When I spoke to 1800Nissan1 this morning they said they haven't heard of any such problem. Riiiight... Consumer Reports has issues of this if you do any such search online.

-So, what do you find to be the safest, all around solution? I'm leaning towards a new radiator.


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Budrbean
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Postby Budrbean » Tue Oct 05, 2010 7:41 am

I dont think its ever been said that Nissan ever fixed the problem. So how do we know that a new radiator is a good fix?

That radiator cooler doesnt do much of anything to cool that trans fluid. Everybody freaks out over taking it out of the circuit. I say bypass and if it bothers you that much, just add an extra cooler. Way cheaper than a new radiator.

65Fastback
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Postby 65Fastback » Tue Oct 05, 2010 7:51 am

I was almost thinking of adding a secondary cooler. The thing is, my wife drives this car and I want it completely safe and with no worries. If I was driving it, I would know if something were to go wrong after any modification.

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pawjr74
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Postby pawjr74 » Tue Oct 05, 2010 7:55 am

This link on thenewx.org has documentation showing that the trans radiator cooler does in fact add a good degree of cooling to the system.

http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=30287

Have any Pathfinders after the 2006 or 2007 model been affected yet?

NVRDONE
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Postby NVRDONE » Tue Oct 05, 2010 8:07 am

Ok, I know this issue has been beat to death about towing and bypassing the in - radiator cooler.
I bypassed my cooler 2 years ago & I tow a 19' boat that weighs 4200 # wet on the trailer.
Sofar, the longest tows have been from Seattle to Spokane & Seattle to Portland. Both trips have been in the summer ( Not too hot in WA ) with no ill effects. I don't have a trans temp guage, but the coolant guage stays normal even with the a/c on. I have checked the trans fluid after each trip & so far it's clean & not burned.
I really beleive that the only thing the "cooler" In the readiatod does is bring the trans fluid temp up faster on cold start up.
I really don't see any issues with bypassing the cooler & towing.
Go for it.

skinny2
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Postby skinny2 » Tue Oct 05, 2010 8:18 am

I'm not sure what to do with this either. No problems found on my '08 but it's a concern I have. They changed the connections/hoses for '08 which makes me wonder if they changed anything else and maybe "fixed" this problem.

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jspitz
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Re: Radiator Replacement vs. Bypass

Postby jspitz » Tue Oct 05, 2010 8:26 am

I mentioned in the "OMG, Tranny Failed..." thread that SpectraPremium has a replacement which seems to be widely available. This forum also mentions Koyo, Silla, and Performance as well for the X:
http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/xterra/8 ... ssion.html

Carpartswholesale.com (never used these guys, just found them in a search) seems to have a bunch of 3rd party rads that fit, including the ones I mentioned above.

No idea if any of them are better or worse than oem, but I guess worse would be hard to accomplish. Based on my experience with the "fixed" fuel sender, I'm not going to bank on Nissan actually fixing the problem with updated parts.

I'm wondering if a custom aluminum rad from somewhere like here would be a good idea, or just insanely expensive: http://www.rondavisradiators.com/new_products.htm

I'd also like to know if Matic-J was the issue and Matic-S fixes the problem.
65Fastback wrote:-I am one of the lucky ones, no coolant leak yet. ('06 w/ 53K)
-After all the research I have done and calling around, seams as if doing the bypass only limits my towing capacity in the future. I haven't towed anything *yet, but do not want to be limited in the future by my modifications vs. what I know the PF was designed to do.
-I am opting for a solution where I don't have to worry about anything (trans temp w/ the bypass). This would be done with a new updated radiator.
-How does one confirm that new PF radiator, if one were to be installed, is of the newer batch (not faulty product) vs the current installed radiator even if no current problem with existing radiator? Although it's the same design w/ sharing a radiator for coolant and trans, my thinking is the new radiator would be more reliable.
-AAMCO is calling me back with a price for a radiator swap for peace of mind, but as of now they can do a trans flush & filter for 172 (with the correct synthetic trans oil) and coolant flush for 109. I would want this done at the same time. They can also installa heavy duty trans cooler and do the bypass for 229 however as AAMCO says, I would still be limited with towing.
-Nissan is calling me back with the radiator price too, but so far 140 coolant flush, 325 trans flush.
-I want this issue to be done with asap. When I spoke to 1800Nissan1 this morning they said they haven't heard of any such problem. Riiiight... Consumer Reports has issues of this if you do any such search online.

-So, what do you find to be the safest, all around solution? I'm leaning towards a new radiator.

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Budrbean
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Postby Budrbean » Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:27 am

pawjr74 wrote:This link on thenewx.org has documentation showing that the trans radiator cooler does in fact add a good degree of cooling to the system.

http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=30287

Have any Pathfinders after the 2006 or 2007 model been affected yet?
It happens at 60,000+ miles so Im guessing not many 2008 and up have hit that yet. I agree with what someone else said, the radiator deal is mostly for warming the fluid in winter. Im sure to a degree it does some cooling. I may be wrong, but I dont think the in-radiator cooler is affected by the airflow of the cooling fins. As I have said before, I am running just the external cooler and my transmission never gets overheated. It normally reads 185 or below. The highest I have seen is 210 in stop and go traffic. But you are gonna see that regardless if your radiator cooler is hooked up or not.

Either way, like I said if it bothers you enough, put another cooler on it. Honestly, thats most likely what I will do before next summer. The fan seems quite useless to me, so I think I will omit it and either add a cooler or replace the existing one with a larger one.

Ofcourse this is all coming from someone with a Pathfnder thats sitting idle waiting for a new transmission. Not because I bypassed, just figured Id say that to stir the pot a little lol

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Tech
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Postby Tech » Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:01 pm

new rads fail too. lack of cooling system service seems to be a common correlation. I recommend the external cooler. The factory rads are otherwise nice quality. If you have the external coller and the rad f's up, change it then. Keep that $300.00 in your pocket until then.

WheatBread
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Re: Radiator Replacement vs. Bypass

Postby WheatBread » Wed Oct 06, 2010 6:23 am

65Fastback wrote:-
-AAMCO is calling me back with a price for a radiator swap for peace of mind, but as of now they can do a trans flush & filter for 172 (with the correct synthetic trans oil)
Careful with double A M C O, as I understand it there is no filter that can be replaced on our tranny's

65Fastback
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Postby 65Fastback » Wed Oct 06, 2010 6:33 am

Tech- The point of this discussion is that most people would rather either fix the problem through the bypass solution or spend the $300 for the radiator fix because the consequences are a $6K trans bill from Nissan to replace the trans if the radiator breaks. $300 is an easy payment when you consider what some have paid to fix the consequences of the factory radiator. Since one of the solutions requires a mod to the cooling system, the debate becomes which is safest and most effective because the owner is taking the matter in his own hands. If Nissan has not created a recall or admit there is an issue (which could be because the percentages are low for the failure), we just don't want to be in that category where if it were to happen to us, we would be s.o.l.

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jspitz
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Postby jspitz » Wed Oct 06, 2010 6:49 am

65Fastback wrote:...$300 is an easy payment...
Hell, $300 is hardly more than the trans flush ;)

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Tech
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Postby Tech » Wed Oct 06, 2010 8:06 am

'fastback - i agree, what i'm saying is that there haven't had any issues with the rads themselves as far as engine cooling just the trans cooler failure. so...

do the bypass, if you're worried about towing/cooling capacity - add the external cooler

DON'T mess with replacing the rad- there's nothing wrong with it - drain the resisdual fluid after the bypass and cap it off. Risk gone.

save $300.00 (rad $)- isn't that the most economical and safe solution?

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eieio
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Postby eieio » Wed Oct 06, 2010 8:27 am

Tech wrote:do the bypass, if you're worried about towing/cooling capacity - add the external cooler
add the external cooler where?

from my other post in a different thread:
"i'd consider an additional trans cooler in front of the left side of the radiator but that's where Nissan put the power steering cooler on the early models, and it doesn't look like there's any reasonable way to relocate it
and even if there was, blocking air flow to both sides of the radiator might not be too good an idea
sooo.............."

placing it behind the existing external cooler will likely restrict air flow to the radiator and the accessory cooler

08Datsun mentioned replacing the OEM external cooler with a thicker one, maybe the best option

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JAHBLESSINGS
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Postby JAHBLESSINGS » Wed Oct 06, 2010 8:37 am

[quote="Tech"]
do the bypass, if you're worried about towing/cooling capacity - add the external cooler[quote="Tech"]



isn"t the radiator just a warmer for the atf since the coolant is moving thru the fins and not the atf?
Last edited by JAHBLESSINGS on Wed Oct 06, 2010 10:17 am, edited 1 time in total.


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