Well, yet another problem as the result of the former owner of my car being a complete moron . . . he apparently put the 91+ radiator in it instead of the appropriate one for the MY (1990), and it didn't quite agree with what the hood thought its position should be. :-) (Translation: hood put a nice dent in the radiator, and eventually caused a pinhole leak, which is what I have now).
My questions are, 1. How hard is it to replace the radiator in this car?, and 2. Anything special I should keep in mind when I do it? I have the FSM, and it doesn't appear too hard, but "real world" tips are always helpful . . . thanks, in advance.
Radiator
radiator isn't too hard. most people get tripped up by the bleeding though.
1. dump the coolant from the radiator by uncapping the cap at the top, and unscrewing the bleeder valve at the bottom of the radiator2. undo the intake and move aside anything up at the top obstructing your moving the shroud off3. if you've an auto, now's the time to undo those two coolant lines at the bottom of your radiator and cap the lines.4. Take off the coolant hoses5. undo the lower part of the shroud around the fan, the part that is a big O.6. undo the 4 or so bolts holding the shroud to the radiator and lift out the shroud7. undo the top two brackets that hold the radiator in place8. lift out your radiator and take the little rubber caps off and put them on the new one, there's 4 total, two on top and two at the bottom9. reverse the order above for install10. pour coolant into your radiator, sqeeze upper and lower hoses to make sure you get as much coolant in there before starting the car up and remember to fill up the radiator. burp as discussed many times on the boards
1. dump the coolant from the radiator by uncapping the cap at the top, and unscrewing the bleeder valve at the bottom of the radiator2. undo the intake and move aside anything up at the top obstructing your moving the shroud off3. if you've an auto, now's the time to undo those two coolant lines at the bottom of your radiator and cap the lines.4. Take off the coolant hoses5. undo the lower part of the shroud around the fan, the part that is a big O.6. undo the 4 or so bolts holding the shroud to the radiator and lift out the shroud7. undo the top two brackets that hold the radiator in place8. lift out your radiator and take the little rubber caps off and put them on the new one, there's 4 total, two on top and two at the bottom9. reverse the order above for install10. pour coolant into your radiator, sqeeze upper and lower hoses to make sure you get as much coolant in there before starting the car up and remember to fill up the radiator. burp as discussed many times on the boards
pop the screw on the intake manifold that has the little yellow sticker and fill till the coolant pops out the top. cap that bolt, and cap your rad. squeeze your upper rad hose and it might help to have the front of your car lifted. undo cap and keep filling the the sucker's full. take her off the jack stands and start her up and fill more while squeezing the upper and lower hoses. turn off the car (don't run for too long) and wait for the coolant to cool down so you can pack in more coolant. repeat as necessary
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Dattebayo
- Posts: 33288
- Joined: Sun Aug 25, 2002 10:04 am
- Car: 2004 Nissan Frontier Desert Runner
- Location: NE DC
the only thing i know is that they are supposed to be the same radiator. maybe you have a s14 radiator in a s13 or something, cause i changed out (personally) my DOHC radiator when it was clogged with a radiator from a 1990 SOHC and it fit perfectly.
maybe you dont have the rubber pegs in the bottom lined up correctly or the holding straps on the top have lost the rubber things.
also, i was told by a dealership monkey that different colors of antifreeze should not be mixed (i.e. red w/ green). some of the different chemicals that make the color may cause a reaction and clog your radiator and/or lines up.
maybe you dont have the rubber pegs in the bottom lined up correctly or the holding straps on the top have lost the rubber things.
also, i was told by a dealership monkey that different colors of antifreeze should not be mixed (i.e. red w/ green). some of the different chemicals that make the color may cause a reaction and clog your radiator and/or lines up.
Noooooooooooooo it's not all the same stuff.....the orange is for the newer cars, usually with aluminum blocks.....if you mix the two you'll eventually get jelly
It definitely doesn't mix well
Using the green stuff in newer cars doesn't provide the proper protection needed for those engines, and they'll rust prematurely inside.
Can't remember exactly what happens if you use the orange stuff in an older car, but I know it's not good....
Bottom line, don't mix don't mix don't mix!!!
It definitely doesn't mix well
Using the green stuff in newer cars doesn't provide the proper protection needed for those engines, and they'll rust prematurely inside.
Can't remember exactly what happens if you use the orange stuff in an older car, but I know it's not good....
Bottom line, don't mix don't mix don't mix!!!
The FSM only recommends using something that's in this Prestone stuff; no other recommendation is made within the FSM, so I used it, I doubt I'll see any ill effect from it (or so I hope). I flushed the system pretty well, by leaving the radiator drain plug open with the car running, while adding water to the radiator until it started coming out clear, so I don't think I'll have to worry much about the mixing. Thanks for the reply!
Oh, and after doing some research on Google for "types of coolant", and a few reads later, it seems that the "orange" stuff shouldn't be used without doing a through flush and making sure you have an aluminum radiator (which I believe I have, haha). After that, Prestone says you shouldn't have any problems using the orange stuff, though I doubt I'll take it to the 5 years/150,000 miles that they say you can, and it will probably be flushed out within a year anyway. Thanks again for the info, it lead to a lot of other info, heh.
I flushed the system well, so there shouldn't be much of a concern there about it mixing. I did learn where the block drain plug was, but I couldn't find it still, haha, so I just left it. You might ask how I flushed the block without pulling that, but by leaving the engine running with the radiator drain plug out, and racing the engine while filling the radiator with water (to keep the thermostat open) seemed to flush it completely. Thanks for the reply though . . .
Yeah, I did, thanks man. I'm not sure what radiator the car had in it (it was installed by the last idi-I mean owner :-)), but I ordered what Levine Auto (local auto parts place) said would fit a 1989-1994 240SX, and it was the same one. Upon removal, everything looked fine, the rubber mounts were fine, et cetra, and everything went over to the new one just fine. The difference is the new one doesn't hit the hood, and I can check my oil without fear of killing the radiator. :-) Thanks again for the info, sorry if I didn't give you due respect before . . .
Now that the install is complete, I just had a question. Once I was done, I had the car idling for quite a while, just to see how it was working; the upper radiator hose was getting quite warm, while the lower one felt just fine to the touch. If I raced the engine for a few minutes, the bottom hose would get warmer. I assume this is how the system works, correct? In other words, the hot coolant would come in from the engine to the top of the radiator, become cooled, and come back out the bottom, and that is the point at which the temperature gauge's temperature is reflected? Just making sure, heh . . .
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ricebike
- Posts: 3381
- Joined: Sat Feb 15, 2003 7:03 pm
- Car: 1989 240sx se 5spd (donated to my brother in law)
2002 Quest
2005 Altima - Location: CNJ
elbles wrote:Now that the install is complete, I just had a question. Once I was done, I had the car idling for quite a while, just to see how it was working; the upper radiator hose was getting quite warm, while the lower one felt just fine to the touch. If I raced the engine for a few minutes, the bottom hose would get warmer. I assume this is how the system works, correct? In other words, the hot coolant would come in from the engine to the top of the radiator, become cooled, and come back out the bottom, and that is the point at which the temperature gauge's temperature is reflected? Just making sure, heh . . .
confirmed: yep it works that way...therm closed means engine still in "warm-up" period. hot coolant out from engine --top hose--radiator--lower hose--tstat--> till that wax pellet in the tstat expands & lets more coolant into the engine...
plus, I too have the infamous orange coolaid/distilled water mix in my car; i flushed mines out completely <3X> w/ taking that other drain plug on the block... kept it in there for the past 5 years & when I change it again <w/ new hoses,radiator cap & tstat>, the radiator/overflow was completely clean:ylsuper
I don't have to worry about the system for another 5 years, unless u got a crappy tstat
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ricebike
- Posts: 3381
- Joined: Sat Feb 15, 2003 7:03 pm
- Car: 1989 240sx se 5spd (donated to my brother in law)
2002 Quest
2005 Altima - Location: CNJ
elbles wrote:Oh, and 2BN, there was some sort of sensor at the lower hose, 2 or 3 wire sensor . . . maybe it was different on the E???
that "thermoswitch" works w/ the AC system to activate the electric condensor fan... hmm i better check if my electrical fan works by jumping some wires... <my phobia: to f something up, but i gotta learn about electrical sooner or later!>