Wanted: New/Used Radiator

[TheDieseliminator]

I wanted to ask where is a good place to buy a NOS radiator for a 1982 Maxima diesel? Does anyone here have a good working, used radiator that they would part with? Like I've said in other posts I just got my Maxima diesel back on the road and the temperature guage has been running at the halfway point (in some cases a little above halfway). The radiator I have now is not the original to the car, but is a factory Nissan radiator for the LD28. It has an accumulation of at least 200,000 miles on it and I think it might need to be replaced for the benefit of cooling the car better. My dad and I thought for sure that the thermostat was no good, but we removed it today and it does open when boiled in a pot at 180 degrees. But, the thermostat doesn't open all the way like a brand new one should, so we are replacing it. I think if I install the new one, my temperature guage will read better than it did. For example on another vehicle I own, a 1982 Chevy LUV diesel pickup, the temperature guage has always read about 3/8 when up to normal operating temperature. It has never changed at all, even driving in 90+ degree weather driving down the highway at 60-65 mph. Usually in any vehicle I get a little scared when the temperature guage reads 1/2 or higher. I'd like the Maxima to be that reliable on the temperature guage too. If you can help, let me know. Thanks.

Salvy

[goglio704]

How close are you to Gettysburg? Bought one of my cars off of a guy in that area. He might have a used one. Let me know if your interested and I'll find you some contact info.

[Carimbo]

Temp gauge on my '82 diesel Maxima reads steady at 3/4 when fully warmed up. Does yours go higher for extended periods?

[glenlloyd]

Temp gauge on my '82 diesel Maxima reads steady at 3/4 when fully warmed up. Does yours go higher for extended periods?

Mine moves to horizontal, no further up, and stays there unless the car goes to idle for an extended period. Perhaps you have a higher temp thermostat then I do however. I think mine is 180F if I'm not mistaken.

SA

[TheDieseliminator]

Like I said my guage usually reads about halfway during normal operating temperature. But, everytime I do drive somewhere in the car at one point in time the guage does go up a little over 1/2, to like 9/16 I guess you could say. But then if I ease up on throttle I can get it back to 1/2. The standard type thermostat is a 180 degree, that is what my car had after I removed mine last night. goglio, Gettysburg is not too far from me, about 25 miles. If you are talking about who I think you are, you probably want to refer me to a guy who lives in Biglerville/Aspers, PA. Did you happen to buy a two-tone blue Maxima diesel sedan on EbayMotors a month or two ago? If you did, then you bought it from a guy named Billy, who my dad and I already know. That two-tone car he converted to diesel and 5-speed transmission. I could probably look up that car on a completed listings search on EbayMotors too. If you do own the car, it's a small world after all. Haha.

Salvy

[asavage]

the temperature guage has been running at the halfway point (in some cases a little above halfway).

Mine always ran exactly halfway between C & H, until the thermostat started getting whacko, and then it ran cooler. Replaced the tstat and it's right back to mid-scale. I think I shot it with an infrared thermometer, and it was right at 190, but I'm not sure on that number, it's been a while since that incident.

Above mid-scale would have me worried, but unless you verify the temp independently of the dash gauge, you're only guessing. Find someone with an infrared thermometer and shoot at the thermostat housing when it's warmed up. If it's under 195, it's fine and the dash gauge or sender is at fault.

[goglio704]

Yea Salvy, that is the guy. Definitely a small world. I've got an email address for Billy if you want it. Are there any good radiator shops in your area? You might do well just to get it cleaned or even recored if it is sound otherwise (no leaks in the tanks).

[TheDieseliminator]

Well, all of a sudden now I'm having cooling issues in the car. First noticeable problem is that my temperature guage reads inaccurately above and below 1/2 when up to operating temperature. I just replaced the thermostat about 2 weeks ago and the guage would read very accurate at the 1/2 way mark or just slightly below it. Up until now that is. Then, during a drive in town I notice the guage is reading 3/4, I arrived where I needed to go, and got out to see that coolant/water was leaking directly under the coolant reservoir tank underneath the car. Plus there is water around the end of the air cleaner assembly and on top of the green cap of the reservoir tank. This happened yesterday and after test driving the car another three or four times, everytime I came back from the test drive the coolant reservoir tank is filled to the top and the radiator is low on coolant. Back when my dad was driving the car to work (slightly over a year ago) the water pump blew on him, so that has been changed less than a year and a half ago. I checked out the heater core and I'm not seeing any leaks, so I think that it's fine. Like I said above, just replaced the thermostat and that shouldn't be the problem. I diagnosed today that it's not the radiator cap either, so my dad and I are thinking that the radiator is no good. It's a factory diesel radiator that has over 200,000 miles on it, but I think it has 250k-300k usage on it. Are the gas engine radiators the same? Are the top and bottom hoses in the same location between diesel and gas? Anyone know what problem I could be having with the symptoms I've described above? Thanks for any help.

[Carimbo]

Did the problems seem to start just after replacing the thermostat? Sometimes it's easy to install the t-stat upside-down; it will fit but it will not operate correctly.

[glenlloyd]

Well, all of a sudden now I'm having cooling issues in the car. First noticeable problem is that my temperature guage reads inaccurately above and below 1/2 when up to operating temperature. I just replaced the thermostat about 2 weeks ago and the guage would read very accurate at the 1/2 way mark or just slightly below it. Up until now that is. Then, during a drive in town I notice the guage is reading 3/4...

You know when I first replaced my thermostat the new one worked fine. Then after car sat for a week while I was gone it no longer worked correctly and like the original, was stuck open. That of course required another new thermostat, which seems to be working fine for the moment. What I'm saying is don't be surprised if it's the thermostat.

my .02
Steve a

[Carimbo]

OK, forget what I just said-- I just re-read your earlier postings on this thread. You probably cannot judge a radiator's condition based only on mileage. If somebody filled it w/ hard water or failed to flush/replace coolant every 2 years the radiator could start to clog at early mileage. Conversely, keeping up with cooling system maintenance could allow the radiator to outlast the rest of the car.

Somebody probably knows of a test that shows you the flow rate of the radiator.

What condition is the radiator cap in? Could it be letting the coolant overflow too soon?

[kassim503]

my gauge used to ran up to 3/4 when i used a stant superstat thermostat, at its open temperature it did not open enough to cool the engine. try changing thermostat brands, the superstat used some high tech design that restricted flow

[TheDieseliminator]

I didn't start getting this problem until about 2-3 weeks after I installed the thermostat. The car has run great temperature wise up until yesterday when I had the guage reading 3/4. Actually, I removed the thermostat today and ran the car without one to see if I would still have this overflowing problem and I still did. Also, I used a newer radiator cap I had on another vehicle's radiator today while testing out the car and running it. So, I'm pretty sure the cap is not the problem. And I know you can't really judge a radiator on the amount of mileage it has, but this one I have installed in the car probably sat for a few years on an unused vehicle, being like it wasn't really flushed or maintained often. I'm basically on the verge thinking that the radiator is to be the condemned problem in my situation, but it's very possible I still could be wrong. These past two days of working on the car has just convinced me that the radiator could be bad since I've eliminated other possible parts as being operational. I'm still curious though.

[asavage]

my gauge used to ran up to 3/4 when i used a stant superstat thermostat, at its open temperature it did not open enough to cool the engine. try changing thermostat brands, the superstat used some high tech design that restricted flow

Did you both read this post, and this one? The Superstat (sold under NAPA's name) does not appear to have the bypass cover plate -- if it's needed. It may be that the Superstat was opening fully, but hot water may have been bypassing the radiator due to the bypass port not being properly covered. Just a guess, but a good one.

A radiator isn't going to change from working for a week to not working for a while. It may be scaled up, but that only reduces heat transfer and restricts flow, and unless you're down deep south or towing constantly, your LD28 doesn't have a lot of heat to get rid of, this time of year. I would not be looking at a radiator unless it's leaking.

I'd look hard at that thermostat first. If you really think it's a radiator issue, try leaving the thermostat out for ONE test drive. If you're still pushing coolant out the reservoir, you have a blown head gasket, cracked head, water pump impeller is not turning or lost its fins, or split cylinder liner (in decreasing order of likelihood, IMO).

The Parts Catalog lists different part Nos. for the gasser and LD28 radiators, but the radiator comes from Nissan as an assembly with rad. cap, clips, and drain petcock. It's possible that there's not that much difference between them, but someone will have to do the hands-on research to find out.

The Parts Catalog lists one No. for all MT gassers, one for all MT diesels, three Nos. for the gasser AT (last one supercedes the previous two), and one No. for the AT diesel. So, by 1985 there were four active part Nos. that covered all Gen1 Maximas, covering the matrix of L24e/LD28 and MT/AT.

[TheDieseliminator]

Al, thanks for the informative reply. How can you tell if the head gasket is blown without physically taking the head off the engine? And about leaving the thermostat out, I tried that procedure yesterday when I test drove the car once and when I came back I still had coolant being released from the reservoir tank. Man, I was really kind of hoping it wouldn't be a bad head gasket because I wasn't looking forward to tearing into the engine just after getting the car back on the road. Is it worth trying to get another radiator (newer, in better shape than my current one) and trying to pop that in the car then test drive it to see if I'm still having this issue? Or would that be a waste of time, given my symptoms? Thanks again.