[Mikees]

Guys, have been towing a 2.2tonne off-road van round Oz with a ZD30DI. So far so good. Noticed on the ECUtalk gauge coming through a mountain range in WA on a day of about 30 degrees, the water temp raised to 98 degrees C. Turned off the air conditioning and backed off a tad and it dropped down a bit, but with the air on and travelling at 90-95km/h seemed to regularly increase towards 98. Noticed the next day the coolant was not visible in the overflow bottle.

Had the radiator pressure tested 2 months ago without issue. The car was serviced by Nissan today and the dealer said 98 degrees was in the expected range and the likely cause of the loss of fluid in the overflow bottle was evaporation. They ran the car and tested the cooling system and said it was all ok. Read a few posts on this forum which suggested hot running can cause the coolant to boil into the overflow bottle causing the evaporation. Some suggested the issue was radiator cap related. If my pressure test was ok, I assume I don't have a radiator cap issue?? So just wondering whether a radiator rodding is worthwhile and if so, who to take it to in Perth. Or is 98 degrees ok? Car has done 130,000km.

We are working our way north so expect the temperatures to only get hotter and radiator places to reduce in numbers. Thoughts?
Thanks

 

[Edu]

Hi Mike,


Check this thread http://www.patrol4x4.com/forum/nissan-patrol-gu-gr-10/radiator-caps-63215/

I posted pics of my radiator cap, if in doubt replace.

Regards,
Edu

 

[outbackjack]

If it was me, I would replace the radiator, maybe a little radical. But my logic is car is 5 YO, done 100k odd kms and your heading into places where the last thing you want is a car overheating.

I did this with our courier. It had 80k odd kms, was 4 years old we where moving to the Cape. Never had any problems with it. But for peace of my mind over hauled the cooling system.

People should treat their cars like aircrafts. Once something has done the KM`s or age it should be replaced IMHO. A lot of mechanical failures can then be avoided.

People tend to let things go until it breaks, wears out etc. 9 times out of 10 this is when it is the most inconvenient time/place.

I have just brought a Nissan Patrol and am slowly getting parts together to do same. I will replace radiator, injectors, glow plugs, MAF etc etc. Car has done 250k Kms, is 10 years old and runs great. However it comes back to age and kms. Nothing is showing problems, but better to do it with the convience of a workshop, than be stuck on the side of the road......

 

[CJT]

Nat rad in Broome will service, rod and replace radiators.
If it pressure tested ok, the pressure relief system is good.. but if only a little fluid flows through core then cooling is restricted- (but pressure is OK) This would be a like having a very small working radiator in sufficient to cool the mighty ZD30.
Get it rodded before coming North.

 

[Mikees]

Thanks for all the replies and additional info. Booked it in at Natrad in Perth for radiator service/rodding $400 which includes flushing the engine etc. If you bring in the radiator yourself its only $130 without the additional services.

 

[truckster]

Thanks for all the replies and additional info. Booked it in at Natrad in Perth for radiator service/rodding $400 which includes flushing the engine etc. If you bring in the radiator yourself its only $130 without the additional services.

remove the rad yourself. its a 10-20min job! change coolant yourself.

 

[outbackjack]

Whats a new radatior worth? If it was around 300 or 400, I would take it out myself, put the new coolant, new hoses etc. Dont have to worry bout the cooling system for a while then.
Shouldnt cost you much more than if you took it to Natrad.

 

[Mikees]

Ended up being a warped head. Machined with the egr and all else advised as being ok