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Over heating issues....


MAXPATH
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Hello guys, this happend twice since last week. My r50s temp gauge climbed to around 3/4 within 30 minutes of driving on hot and humid days like today(28 deg ). When it happend last week i ended up replacing the fan clutch oem from nissan and today it did it again so that fan clutch is not the issue and i wasted my money. From what i remember that last summer my temp gauge was exactly @ the 1/2 mark and now iam kind of nervous about going for a long drive till i fix the problem. The truck has 135,000 kms and the water pump and the thermostat was replaced last year with a fresh coolant at the Nissan dealer. I also replaced the rad cap but Rad is still original and have some kind of build ups outside on the fins facing the fan and the opposite side as well.

Thanks...

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Could very well be clogged somewhere. Mine needle always stays right below the halfway mark. On both my 97 and my 98. I would flush the system out really really well and see what happens.

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Take a pressure washer to the fins and try to clean them out from the front of the radiator and from behind it. If you don't have a pressure washer you can take it to a self car wash and use the wand to blow it out.

Edited by devonianwalk
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+1 on spraying out the rad, also I gotta ask, you have good coolant levels?

 

I only ask because my pathy pulled a fast one on me and had me fooled for bit, the resivour was lying to me.

Edited by clkindred
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Could very well be clogged somewhere. Mine needle always stays right below the halfway mark. On both my 97 and my 98. I would flush the system out really really well and see what happens.

Thanks, know what you mean coz my 03 Maxima with VQ35 always stays a bit below halfway no matter how hot it gets out there and so did my previous 91 Max. Since i owned my Pathy it always stayed @ 1/2 mark until this summer.

Take a pressure washer to the fins and try to clean them out from the front of the radiator and from behind it. If you don't have a pressure washer you can take it to a self car wash and use the wand to blow it out.

After posting this i went out and blew out the fins from both sides with a pressure washer and also used my air compressor to dry and test the air flow. It got no blockage from either side anymore. I idled the truck on my driveway for about 15 mnts and than took it out on the road in the rush hour traffic for about 15-20 mnts with A/C on and after 10 mnts it climbed to 3 1/4 again. I turned the A/C off and the needle dropped just a bit but still stayed above 1/2 mark.

+1 on spraying out the rad, also I gotta ask, you have good coolant levels?

 

I only ask because my pathy pulled a fast one on me and had me fooled for bit, the resivour was lying to me.

Its still @ the Max mrk on the reservoir and up to the neck in the Rad, dosent leak or burn much coolant. Getting little frustrated with this situation coz i never experienced overheating with any of my vehicles before. I did some research and found out that r50's are common for this but more of the 3.5s than 3.3s. Now my next guess would be internal blockage of the Rad tubes and may be shopping for a quality one from tomm, may try to get the all aluminum one if i can here in Canada. I would preciate if anyone have anymore thought on this or a good brand of rad for our trucks.

Edited by MAXPATH
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I know that the 3.3 is notorious for holding air bubbles in the system. Try elevating the front of the Pathy on a slight incline when the engine is cold. Start her up and let her warm up until the thermostat opens. Maybe you will see some air bubbles at the open cap?

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Hopfully my story can help you...

 

I just replaced my rad and was having no overheating issue at idle with the ac full on at 30+C.... no overheat either if cruising along on flat road.

 

As soon as I would have the truck work harder or drive long incline etc.. the overheat would start. Me too I was thinking about the fan clutch.... but then when it was passed the half way, I saw the temp gauge drop in one second... whitout doing anything.... then I knew...

 

Here`s what you need to try...

 

make the truck work hard, put the ac on etc... and once you know the truck is starting to overheat do this. (be prepared, because you do not have alot of time in front of you to do this without your truck overheating seriously and possibly doing damage...)

 

once the truck is starting to overheat (let`s say passed the halfway mark, near the 3/4 mark, park in a steep incline (no the kind of a driveway, but more of a dirt climb.. a good 10-15 degrees, then arm yourself with lots of shop towels, or special heat proof gloves, then while the truck is running, raise the hood and open the rad cap. You have to do this carefully so you do not loose control or burn yourself. You can safely turn half a turn without nothing happening, then as soon as you approach the 3/4 turn, you will see and feel the air come out. leave it like this until the coolant comes out. It can take up to 2-3 seconds...then retight the rad cap and go check your temp gauge. If it does like mine, it immediately went down to normal.

 

To finalize this , I make the same thing again, and it took alot more trying to have the truck start to overheat, and on the second time, a little bit more air came out. Now my truck is steady on the 5th line (small line) on the gauge, and no matter what I do with it, it refuses to go higher....

 

So all along, my issue was air eventhough I had no problem while being in traffic or standing still...

 

Hopes it help.

Edited by fleurys
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I know that the 3.3 is notorious for holding air bubbles in the system. Try elevating the front of the Pathy on a slight incline when the engine is cold. Start her up and let her warm up until the thermostat opens. Maybe you will see some air bubbles at the open cap?

Hopfully my story can help you...

 

I just replaced my rad and was having no overheating issue at idle with the ac full on at 30+C.... no overheat either if cruising along on flat road.

 

As soon as I would have the truck work harder or drive long incline etc.. the overheat would start. Me too I was thinking about the fan clutch.... but then when it was passed the half way, I saw the temp gauge drop in one second... whitout doing anything.... then I knew...

 

Here`s what you need to try...

 

make the truck work hard, put the ac on etc... and once you know the truck is starting to overheat do this. (be prepared, because you do not have alot of time in front of you to do this without your truck overheating seriously and possibly doing damage...)

 

once the truck is starting to overheat (let`s say passed the halfway mark, near the 3/4 mark, park in a steep incline (no the kind of a driveway, but more of a dirt climb.. a good 10-15 degrees, then arm yourself with lots of shop towels, or special heat proof gloves, then while the truck is running, raise the hood and open the rad cap. You have to do this carefully so you do not loose control or burn yourself. You can safely turn half a turn without nothing happening, then as soon as you approach the 3/4 turn, you will see and feel the air come out. leave it like this until the coolant comes out. It can take up to 2-3 seconds...then retight the rad cap and go check your temp gauge. If it does like mine, it immediately went down to normal.

 

To finalize this , I make the same thing again, and it took alot more trying to have the truck start to overheat, and on the second time, a little bit more air came out. Now my truck is steady on the 5th line (small line) on the gauge, and no matter what I do with it, it refuses to go higher....

 

So all along, my issue was air eventhough I had no problem while being in traffic or standing still...

 

Hopes it help.

Thanks guys for sharing your experience and all the inputs. I didnt know that these motors can create air pockets on its own. I will try these procedure tomm and i hope this will solve the problem.

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Mines been doing this the last couple months. If i get out on interstate and run up around 75 to where its running at a higher rpm for a while it'll start getting hot. Also while pulling my boat this weekend i couldnt get over 60 or it would start to run hot. It started when I changed my front bumper and i figured it wasnt getting enough air flow. (had an old chevy truck that i tore the air dam off of and it ran hot till i replaced the air dam thats where the bumper theory came from heh). The pathy will be parked for a little while till i can get all these engine codes cleared up and the overheating fixed. Sad day.

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I know that the 3.3 is notorious for holding air bubbles in the system. Try elevating the front of the Pathy on a slight incline when the engine is cold. Start her up and let her warm up until the thermostat opens. Maybe you will see some air bubbles at the open cap?

 

Hopfully my story can help you...

 

I just replaced my rad and was having no overheating issue at idle with the ac full on at 30+C.... no overheat either if cruising along on flat road.

 

As soon as I would have the truck work harder or drive long incline etc.. the overheat would start. Me too I was thinking about the fan clutch.... but then when it was passed the half way, I saw the temp gauge drop in one second... whitout doing anything.... then I knew...

 

Here`s what you need to try...

 

make the truck work hard, put the ac on etc... and once you know the truck is starting to overheat do this. (be prepared, because you do not have alot of time in front of you to do this without your truck overheating seriously and possibly doing damage...)

 

once the truck is starting to overheat (let`s say passed the halfway mark, near the 3/4 mark, park in a steep incline (no the kind of a driveway, but more of a dirt climb.. a good 10-15 degrees, then arm yourself with lots of shop towels, or special heat proof gloves, then while the truck is running, raise the hood and open the rad cap. You have to do this carefully so you do not loose control or burn yourself. You can safely turn half a turn without nothing happening, then as soon as you approach the 3/4 turn, you will see and feel the air come out. leave it like this until the coolant comes out. It can take up to 2-3 seconds...then retight the rad cap and go check your temp gauge. If it does like mine, it immediately went down to normal.

 

To finalize this , I make the same thing again, and it took alot more trying to have the truck start to overheat, and on the second time, a little bit more air came out. Now my truck is steady on the 5th line (small line) on the gauge, and no matter what I do with it, it refuses to go higher....

 

So all along, my issue was air eventhough I had no problem while being in traffic or standing still...

 

Hopes it help.

Well guys i completed the burping procedure today after work. There wasnt much air bubbles at all in the cooling system but i did hear a Woosshh when i removed the Rad cap. After completing the procedure i took her out for a road test with A/C on and sure enough within 20 mnts the gauge climbed to 3 1/4 again. Turned the A/C off and it dropped down just a bit but stayed above 1/2 mrk. Whats the reason behind A/C to cause over heating of the cooling system. This time i wanna narrow it down to the main cause of over heating instead of just throwing a new part that may not be related to the problem. I am really leaning towards the Rad coz its still the original and never replaced. I can get a all metal Rad here for around $300. Also little confused with the difference between all metal and all aluminum but iam sure both are better than plastic tank Rad. Any other thoughts regarding this issue from anyone will be really helpful.

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The air conditioner runs off the engine, so it makes the engine work more. The more gasoline it uses, the more heat it generates. The same is true of the power steering pump and alternator, but you can't turn those off. (Also, the condenser coil for the AC, which cools the refrigerant, sits right in front of the radiator.)

 

I've never heard of a radiator failing to radiate heat. The bad radiators I've heard of either rupture or slowly leak... I've never heard of one stop working in a way that didn't involve physically breaking and throwing coolant everywhere.

 

If it didn't do this until just now, unless it's losing coolant somewhere, it's not a bubble... all I can think of is a stuck thermostat.

Edited by Slartibartfast
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The whoosh you heard was exactly air bubbles...... Unless you rad fins are full of dried dirt or are broken/bent, then you need to redo the procedure. Like I said, I had to do it twice for the truck to be ok.... So you can be sure you made it better, because no air is suppose to come out of the rad...

 

If I were you, I would do it again...and make sure the truck is really hot when you do it and that you are at a real good incline...

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What about the little air bleeder screw on the upper manifold? Might that be another way to purge these pesky bubbles out? I seem to remember after doing my timing belt, removing that screw and filling the cooling system with fresh coolant untill it started spitting out the bleed hole (which was strange because it sits higher than the radiator cap) :wtf: Closed it up and have never had any troubles with air bubbles.

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The whoosh you heard was exactly air bubbles...... Unless you rad fins are full of dried dirt or are broken/bent, then you need to redo the procedure. Like I said, I had to do it twice for the truck to be ok.... So you can be sure you made it better, because no air is suppose to come out of the rad...

 

If I were you, I would do it again...and make sure the truck is really hot when you do it and that you are at a real good incline...

I would like someone else to do this procedure for me... lol. I just dont feel comfortable removing a Rad cap on a over heated engine coz i heard too many stories of steam burn. I replaced the Prestone rad cap that i had with a Nissan oem one today thinking the prestone could have been faulty opening up too soon to release the coolant into the recovery tank creating air pockets. Well tomorrow gonna be a pretty hot day here in Toronto, so i will find out on my home from work if its still over heating.

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What about the little air bleeder screw on the upper manifold? Might that be another way to purge these pesky bubbles out? I seem to remember after doing my timing belt, removing that screw and filling the cooling system with fresh coolant untill it started spitting out the bleed hole (which was strange because it sits higher than the radiator cap) :wtf: Closed it up and have never had any troubles with air bubbles.

This might be the next procedure i will try if it continues to over heat which i will find out tomm. I will keep you guys updated...Thanks

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Replace the rad, I went thru this with my dads old 2000 pathy and I have seen it on a few others. It started off as you described but as the rad gets more blocked it will fail to cool the engine even without the a/c on.

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:scratchhead: Stupid question... how does the rad get blocked up?

 

Scale and deposits build up over time in the entire cooling system. They will eventually flake off of the internal piping and clog up in the radiator plumbing as it is smaller in diameter than the rest of the system.

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Replace the rad, I went thru this with my dads old 2000 pathy and I have seen it on a few others. It started off as you described but as the rad gets more blocked it will fail to cool the engine even without the a/c on.

Well thats how it started ,without the A/C on which will make the gauge travel little over 1/2 and with A/C on it will climb to 3 1/4. My service advisor at the nissan dealer who has put over 20 years there is highly recommending the Rad also.

Edited by MAXPATH
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Well guys i just got back from a 40 mnt drive and the truck did the same thing. With the a/c on it went higher but a/c off it fluctuated between 1/2 and 3 1/4. So after all the opinions and answers i have made up my mind to replace the Rad. I found out that the all aluminum rad for our 3.3's have been discontinued, so iam going with all metal which has the brass tank upper and lower and a 3 core. If anyone here have any experience or opinions on the all metal rad please let me know coz iam going to order it on monday....thanks all

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...I found out that the all aluminum rad for our 3.3's have been discontinued...

Check with these people: http://www.sillaauto.com/home.aspx

Although the company we bought our Silla rad from does not list them anymore Silla lists them on their website.

We got ours installed last August, our desert temps are not kind to cooling systems and we are quite happy with ours.

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Usually when the cooling system's capacity to keep it cool under increasing load and outdoor temperature has gone down, it is the fan(s) or the rad itself. A new rad should solve the problem. I wouldn't worry about what the rad is made out of, as long as it's nice and big.

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Well everyone, iam happy to let you guys know that today i finally solved my over heating issues. I replaced the oem clogged up Rad with CSF all metal rad with aluminum core and brass upper and lower tank. While we were there we also replaced the thermostat just for a peace of mind. There couldnt be a better day to test the truck than today coz the temp here in Toronto is 35 deg celcius with humidex over 40. Took it out for over 30 mnts drive in the traffic with a/c on and the needle just stayed in normal mark which is exactly at 1/2 for my truck. Yesterday the needle started climbing within 20 mnts without the a/c on. So this confirms that there shouldnt be any more over heating issues and by the way when we looked inside the old rad with a light the tubes close to the filler mouth were all clogged up. Thanks all for your opinions and inputs...cheers.

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