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new cooling problem to discuss!

ElFenix

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
radiator exploded inside my car sunday night. should i attempt to fix it myself? or should i let the shop rip me off?



update: radiator was replaced.



i've noticed over the couple weeks or so (before the radiator exploded) that the fan has been coming on far more often than previously. today i was driving around and the fan was on constantly and the temp needle was creeping upward near to the danger line. the car wasn't doing this previously. it isn't a particularly hot and humid day for houston. (90, 55%)

03 nissan sentra (it'll be 5 at the end of this month) with 63K miles on the clock.
 
What kind of car? I can pull mine out in about 10 minutes. Two bolts, a few hose clamps, and a few wires to disconnect and its all done
 
Originally posted by: iamwiz82
What kind of car? I can pull mine out in about 10 minutes. Two bolts, a few hose clamps, and a few wires to disconnect and its all done
Click to expand...

nissan sentra, '03
 
Sentra is not that hard.

Juts get a new Rad from Advance/AZ/etc/...

Good time to replace hoses, rad. cap, and thermostat if the car has over 100k.
 
car only has 64K miles on it. it's a hecho en mexico POS.


i'm looking around at napa, advance, o'reilly, autozone, and i don't think any of them have the radiator for the 2.5 engine in stock.
 
Inside your car? Under the hood or in the passenger compartment.

That's awful low miles and years for that kind of failure.

Anyway, inside or outside?
 
Originally posted by: boomerang
Inside your car? Under the hood or in the passenger compartment.

That's awful low miles and years for that kind of failure.

Anyway, inside or outside?
Click to expand...

under the hood. the main radiator.


like i said, the car is a hecho in mexico POS. i really should have listened to the honda sales guy when he said, 'don't bother with nissan, they're nearly in bankruptcy and are cutting corners.'


the hard part may be getting it out of the shop that it was towed to. i told them to go ahead with it almost 2 hours ago. after looking around at how much radiators cost i called them back, but got a machine.
 
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Sentra is not that hard.

Juts get a new Rad from Advance/AZ/etc/...

Good time to replace hoses, rad. cap, and thermostat if the car has over 100k.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's when the quality started to lower. My altima is made in TN. The paint is peeling and the insides has gone to shit.
 
I believe there are two brackets holding the radiator in from the top. Unbolt them and you have to unbold the fan shroud. Remove the upper and lower radiator hose. You might want to drain the leftover coolant. If you neighbors have dogs they can sue you (LOL) if it gets all over the place. You also need to remove the transmission coolant lines on the bottom tank (if it's an automatic). There are probably many other steps you will find once you remove it. But it's honestly not that hard.

BTW. Where did the radiator explode. Is it one of the plastic tanks on the top or bottom? Is it the aluminum tubing?
 
Originally posted by: steppinthrax
I believe there are two brackets holding the radiator in from the top. Unbolt them and you have to unbold the fan shroud. Remove the upper and lower radiator hose. You might want to drain the leftover coolant. If you neighbors have dogs they can sue you (LOL) if it gets all over the place. You also need to remove the transmission coolant lines on the bottom tank (if it's an automatic). There are probably many other steps you will find once you remove it. But it's honestly not that hard.

BTW. Where did the radiator explode. Is it one of the plastic tanks on the top or bottom? Is it the aluminum tubing?
Click to expand...

i have no idea. it happened out on the highway, first the check engine light came on, then the temp needle almost pegged itself. i coasted off the highway and into a parking lot, popped the hood, and saw (and smelled) coolant sprayed on the engine block. then i called a tow truck. it's been at the shop since then.
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix
Originally posted by: steppinthrax
I believe there are two brackets holding the radiator in from the top. Unbolt them and you have to unbold the fan shroud. Remove the upper and lower radiator hose. You might want to drain the leftover coolant. If you neighbors have dogs they can sue you (LOL) if it gets all over the place. You also need to remove the transmission coolant lines on the bottom tank (if it's an automatic). There are probably many other steps you will find once you remove it. But it's honestly not that hard.

BTW. Where did the radiator explode. Is it one of the plastic tanks on the top or bottom? Is it the aluminum tubing?
Click to expand...

i have no idea. it happened out on the highway, first the check engine light came on, then the temp needle almost pegged itself. i coasted off the highway and into a parking lot, popped the hood, and saw (and smelled) coolant sprayed on the engine block. then i called a tow truck. it's been at the shop since then.
Click to expand...

I don't know does anybody know if the check engine light comes on when there is a coolant pressure drop or lack of coolant????

Sounds like something else. Did you actually see collant comming from the radiator?
 
Originally posted by: steppinthrax

I don't know does anybody know if the check engine light comes on when there is a coolant pressure drop or lack of coolant????

Sounds like something else. Did you actually see collant comming from the radiator?
Click to expand...

nope, it was dark out.
 
Radiators usually aren't too bad. I did one myself on my '91 Honda Accord. Where you might run into trouble is on the transmission coolant lines. The fittings can get rusty and they might be hard to get off without breaking them off. If you do break them you'll have to replace the lines as well so be careful with them. Other than that, take the hose clamps off, the mounting brackets off, the fans and shrouds and it should come right out. Some of them come out the top, other come out the bottom, so if you can find a procedure on it, it will save you some time.
 
Originally posted by: OS
would not bleeding the system cause it?
Click to expand...

not sure what you mean by that

<--- newb


(in my head i'm using the same meaning and use as bleeding the brakes, so shouldn't the shop have bled the coolant system when they replaced the radiator the other day?)


edit2: so it should improve itself as the air bubbles work their way out of the next couple of days?


edit3: dunno if this is related but the a/c didn't seem as cold as normal
 
yeah when you change or drain/fill the coolant, it leaves air in the system.
You're supposed to idle it with the cap loose until the fan comes on, thermostat opens or whatever, so the air can escape. You should look up the exact procedure.

the shop is supposed to do it, but shops are supposed to do alot of things.
they apparently didn't do something right.

ed, maybe you should check if there is coolant at all :\
 
heh, part of my confusion above is how i parsed what you wrote. i read would-not bleeding the system cause it, rather than would not-bleeding the system cause it.


looks like the procedure is to jack the car up, and run it with the cap loose, and then disconnect the lines from the throttle body to get the air from there into the radiator.
 
Have you had the system pressure tested too see if it is leaking pressure perhaps at the head gasket?Did you replace the thermostat and radiator cap?
The engines head gasket may have been damaged when the car overheated causing hot exhaust gasses to escape into into the cooling system(usually the coolant gets foamy or stinks like exhaust).
The thermostat may be binding and not fully opening.
The radiator cap may not be giving sufficient pressure for proper cooling system operation.
Also the temp sensor may be going.
Just a few ideals.Good luck on the fix.
 
i think the shop only replaced the radiator.



the compressor is definitely turning off in the a/c system. i wonder if this is done automatically in order to blow air through the heat exchanger. when driving home i had the air going through full blast at the highest temp to keep it from overheating. not pleasant in the texas heat.
 
did you replace the thermostat while you were monkeying around in there?

Edit: dangit, sorry. Didn't realize there was a page 2 with the same question.......durrrrr!!
 
so it appears there was at least one bad thermostat. both were replaced. had a heck of a time finding a thermostat that would fit, nissan dealers couldn't get one. ended up having to get the whole assembly for just the thermostat.
 
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