2008 V8 Radiator Bypass Done.

[RacerZX]

A picture is worth 1000 words, so here we go:


All I needed was a 5/16" hose connector and a couple 1/4" caps that forced onto the old radiator nipples nice and snug. Also I took the time to undo all the hose clamps and rotate the molded hoses into a nice path, and then added a 1/4" hole in the radiator shroud boss and zip tie for extra stability.

If you are squeamish about using a hose connector, please note that Nissan already HAS one in the line on the left of that image as it starts going up (away from the camera). Order the real thing instead of using a cheap plastic connector here:
http://www.courtesyparts.com/21533x-tub ... 31408.html
Also, for real sex appeal find yourself a couple larger and longer 5/16" nipple caps and then buy a couple nice Nissan spring clips to hold them on:
http://www.courtesyparts.com/16439c-cla ... 67618.html

All in all quite an easy job, dealing with all the 10mm fasteners holding the lower plastic trim piece and skid plate were more of a PITA than the bypass itself. Even after 90K miles the hoses were in good shape and supple enough to easily pinch off with a gently set pair of vice grips.

ps, leaving the skid plate and radiator caps off and driving around to get the last of the fluid out may seem like a good idea, but the amount of fluid that came out was much more than expected and totally goobered the under-side of the engine bay, yuck.

[RacerZX]

Okay, even _I_ thought that was a bit cheesy... A few days later I found a better stocked auto-parts store, picked up some 5/16th end caps and hose clamps, plus a nice solid brass 5/16ths male-male connector (in the air compressor tools section, it's an 'air hose repair' item):

[Kestral]

Nice job and heck did you do an oil change when under there that filter looks new?

[forgottenzone]

Good job Carl. Did you upgrade to larger capacity external cooler? I decided to go with dual core CSF all aluminum radiator, that has twice as big antifreeze cooled trans cooler as our oem radiator, on top of that i replaced the external Tru Cool trans cooler, which is almost exact size as oem cooler, but instead of 17 plates that oem has it has 45 plates, also i installed thermal Valve, that bypasses the oil back to trans untill the oil gets to around 160*, once it reaches 160* the internal valve opens and oil goes threw the external radiator.
The thermal valve is needed in areas where people get cold winters, to worm up the trans fluid faster.

Radiator with custom shroud and Spal fans.




Here is the cooler with the thermal valve. It fits perfectly in the same spot where oem cooler is, and mounts to the same oem points to the radiator support with use of the hardware, supplied with the cooler...

[V8Pathy]

I'm putting one of those new valued Nissan OEM radiator in mine.
I really love the Pathy so I don't feel like blowing a transmission.

[MANIMAL]

So I'm familiar with the threat of cross-contamination from the Frontier forums. I have an '11 Frontier; so, I just dodged that bullet by one model year. I recently got an '08 V8 Pathfinder and perhaps erroneously assumed because I had not heard of the Titans or Armadas struggling with this issue, that my Pathfinder might be similarly exempt due to the different powerplant and radiator setup from its V6 brethren. I have come here to try to correct that assumption on my part. Is there a risk to the V8 pathfinders as well due to the factory radiators? I'll look into this more. Thanks for any advice that anyone can offer.

[MANIMAL]

Reached out to Predrag. He actually sold me the M205 I now have in my Frontier. Anyway, he confirmed it's the same radiator as is found in the v6. I know what I'll be doing here in the very near term. Thank you once again for this great forum.

[smj999smj]

I think we hear less of the failures in V8 Pathys because there is a much smaller amount of them than the V6 models. While 08-10 models are included in the failure range, by far, the majority of the failures so far have been in the 05-07 range; years that did not have the V8 option in the Pathy. The Titans and Armadas have a different type of radiator failure; on those, the bottom tank of the radiator tends to crack and/or leak.

[offroad_path]

I was recently told something similar by a mechanic. Along the lines of V8s don't have the internal radiator cooler, so don't have this problem.
Can anyone confirm please?
I am thinking the possibilities are:
1. Mechanic is wrong
2. My car already had the bypass done by a previous owner so the mechanic is assuming that is how it came from the factory
3. The mechanic is right....?

Thanks in advance!

So I'm familiar with the threat of cross-contamination from the Frontier forums. I have an '11 Frontier; so, I just dodged that bullet by one model year. I recently got an '08 V8 Pathfinder and perhaps erroneously assumed because I had not heard of the Titans or Armadas struggling with this issue, that my Pathfinder might be similarly exempt due to the different powerplant and radiator setup from its V6 brethren. I have come here to try to correct that assumption on my part. Is there a risk to the V8 pathfinders as well due to the factory radiators? I'll look into this more. Thanks for any advice that anyone can offer.

[smj999smj]

Your mechanic is wrong. All Nissan trucks with automatic transmissions have a radiator with an integral transmission fluid cooler. You can see on the part diagram linked below the trans cooler hoses on the V8 R51 Pathfinder:

http://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts-li ... m=214_B001

And on the Titan:

http://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts-li ... m=214_A003

As far as the Titans/Armadas, they have a different radiator and do not have the cooler failure issues. What they have had is problems with the lower radiator tank cracking and leaking coolant externally.

[offroad_path]

Your mechanic is wrong. All Nissan trucks with automatic transmissions have a radiator with an integral transmission fluid cooler. You can see on the part diagram linked below the trans cooler hoses on the V8 R51 Pathfinder:

http://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts-li ... m=214_B001

Thank you sir for the info. Will get this sorted ASAP.

[offroad_path]

Your mechanic is wrong. All Nissan trucks with automatic transmissions have a radiator with an integral transmission fluid cooler. You can see on the part diagram linked below the trans cooler hoses on the V8 R51 Pathfinder:

http://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts-li ... m=214_B001

And on the Titan:

http://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts-li ... m=214_A003

As far as the Titans/Armadas, they have a different radiator and do not have the cooler failure issues. What they have had is problems with the lower radiator tank cracking and leaking coolant externally.

So I just had my Pathfinder checked out by two other transmission guys and got told something very similar to my original mechanic.
Basically, yes, V8 does have transmission fluid go via the radiator, but in a different piping system to the V6 engines, and not know to leak. I was also recommended not to "bypass it anyway" as it is used for warming up the transmission plus the more you mess with moving pipes around the more likely they will leak.

[smj999smj]

Is it that the V8 Pathfinders don't leak...or that there is such a small percentage of them compared to V6 models that we just don't hear about a lot of them failing? Also, the majority of failures are on 05-06 models, but there are still plenty that have failed on 07-10 models. I wouldn't be so confident that a V8 radiator "won't" fail since it is the same part as the V6 model. I'm not a big fan of the bypass, but did do it on my 08 Pathy for awhile until I got a great deal on a new radiator that was too hard to pass up. My recommendation would be to replace the radiator. They aren't that expensive and always better to be safe than sorry.

[offroad_path]

Is it that the V8 Pathfinders don't leak...or that there is such a small percentage of them compared to V6 models that we just don't hear about a lot of them failing? Also, the majority of failures are on 05-06 models, but there are still plenty that have failed on 07-10 models. I wouldn't be so confident that a V8 radiator "won't" fail since it is the same part as the V6 model. I'm not a big fan of the bypass, but did do it on my 08 Pathy for awhile until I got a great deal on a new radiator that was too hard to pass up. My recommendation would be to replace the radiator. They aren't that expensive and always better to be safe than sorry.

Well, the exact thing the second transmission guy told me was that the radiator core was different, at least on 08+ V8 models. The pipping just didn't "break" like the V6 models prior to 08.
The interesting thing to me was that both places told me NOT to do the bypass on my 08 V8, as you run more risk of something going wrong on the bypass, than internal on the radiator. That and the internal radiator part helps warm up the tranny in winter apparently (which isn't the end of the world if you don't have it)

Would love to hear what others have heard / found.

I think i will take your advice @smj999smj and just replace the radiator when a good deal comes up.

[offroad_path]

Is it that the V8 Pathfinders don't leak...or that there is such a small percentage of them compared to V6 models that we just don't hear about a lot of them failing? Also, the majority of failures are on 05-06 models, but there are still plenty that have failed on 07-10 models. I wouldn't be so confident that a V8 radiator "won't" fail since it is the same part as the V6 model. I'm not a big fan of the bypass, but did do it on my 08 Pathy for awhile until I got a great deal on a new radiator that was too hard to pass up. My recommendation would be to replace the radiator. They aren't that expensive and always better to be safe than sorry.

Just did some more "cold calling" and three places I called all said that even the V8s need the bypass.
Man this stuff is annoying. Anyways, booked into get it done on Monday