Thermostat or air?

[G35Rican]

would air in the system cause the thermostat to malfunction?? the thermostat is new but came from Autozone. I recently changed the radiator and the a/c fan motor so added fresh coolant. But I keep getting overflow out of the reservoir tank even after bleeding with the valve by the battery, so I put my hands on the hoses while its doing that and top one is super hot to the touch and the bottom one is warm but not super hot. plus the secondary fan comes on before the drivers side fan does. Would air in the system cause this or do I need to change thermostat??

[elwesso]

Did the thermostat get installed the correct direction, with the jiggle valve correctly oriented? Have you turned the heat on all the way when bleeding the air out too? sometimes the air can be tough to get out, but normally if you're careful when you fill it up it's not that bad.. If that jiggle valve isn't oriented correctly, then if any air gets trapped on the engine side of the thermostat, it will never come out. Something I do when the engine is completely cooled down, is squeeze one of the radiator hoses with the bleeder open to "burp" the system.

[G35Rican]

the thermostat only goes in one direction and it was working fine when I initially installed it a couple weeks ago, but now I changed the radiator and am having issues with the overflow. I put the car up on towers as i read that makes the burping easier. The only reason i was thinking it was the thermostat was that the bottom hose isn't super hot like the top one, plus the primary fan isn't coming on while the coolant starts filling in the reservoir but the secondary fan does come on. But didn't know if an air pocket would cause the thermostat not to open when its suppose to???

[elwesso]

I would say that unless the air pocket is right by the thermostat it should still open eventually..

[G35Rican]

i went and bought the lisle no spill funnel, emptied the radiator and refilled using the new funnel. I'm on about the 3rd time of turning it on letting it idle and the funnel starts to fill up looks like when the thermostat opens up. I turn it off at that point and the fluid goes back down again once its off. I've opened the bleeder valve everytime in between and little bubbles have come out everytime I have opened it. So not sure at this point where to go from here?

For some reason i'm suspecting the autozone thermostat, as that bottom hose doesn't feel as hot as the top one. I'm assuming it should be at the same temp if i'm getting boil over.

[telcoman]

............the thermostat is new but came from Autozone. I recently changed the radiator and the a/c fan motor so added fresh coolant. But I keep getting overflow out of the reservoir tank even after bleeding with the valve by the battery,

What was the difference in price between Autozone and the Infiniti parts department?

do I need to change thermostat??

Would probably be the first thing I would do if bleeding does not resolve the problem

Good luck

Telcoman

[G35Rican]

at infiniti $67 at nissan $29, autozone was $20 but i had never called nissan till today.

So took for a drive and overflowed, so i refilled again on my driveway which is an incline. Topped it off, used the bleeder screw, had heater on full blast this time the heater was actually super hot, revved a couple times and the funnel did not fill up like it was before, plus the bottom hose was hot this time as well, so thought awesome hopefully i got it this time. So i tried with the a/c on and then went inside for probably 5-10 mins and the funnel was overflowing. also noticed that my secondary fan comes on before my primary fan, now is my thinking correct that the temp sensor is somewhere on the thermostat side and if its not opening than the primary fan wouldn't be coming on..

any suggestions??

[telcoman]

at infiniti $67 at nissan $29, autozone was $20 but i had never called nissan till today.

So you saved $47 with $100.00 of aggravation

Did you follow the instructions in the FSM?

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/G35/Coupe/2003/co.pdf
" Overflowing reservoir tank
Exhaust gas leaks into
cooling system"

Did you ever perform a pressure test and test the radiator cap?

any suggestions??

if the radiator is not from Infiniti that could be a problem as well as the water pump?

Take it to the dealer and use this as a learning experience.

Buy cheap, buy twice with lots of hours and hassle in between



Good luck

Telcoman

[G35Rican]

update: So i went and got a nissan thermostat this morning and swapped it out. At first started doing the same thing pushing back coolant through the lisle no spill funnel, but i kept opening the heater valve and bubbles kept coming out everything, so i left it open until they stopped and a steady stream came out, had to do it twice cause i untwisted to much and dropped the cap so coolant spilled but once i did it again alot, i mean alot of bubbles came out. A couple out of the funnel as well, and the bottom hose got hot and continued to stay hot. Took her for a spin with and without a/c and line never moved from below half and the reservoir tank stayed exactly at the full line. Thank you for the input everyone, very much appreciated.

[audtatious]

Yep, system needed to be burped. Somewhere there were trapped air pockets causing poor return. The dealership does not have this problem as they use a pressurized fill system, I believe.