Radiator Cap Problems

[Jared]

you are acting like its a huge deal trying to warrant a report to nissan. its just a friggin radiator cap.

[Learjet]

Originally Posted by Jared

you are acting like its a huge deal trying to warrant a report to nissan. its just a friggin radiator cap.

If the cap is cheaply made, which it is, and leaks again after being replaced. Then yes, it is a huge deal and warrants a report to Nissan to get them off their *** to make a better cap.

[DRTYAZN]

the OEM cap is a POS!... around 15k miles, I noticed the stench and spotting of coolant... I checked all the hoses and when I looked at the cap, I noticed the sizzling water and vapor... took it into the stealership, the service manager (who is also a POS!) told me, "the coolant fluid was overfilled..." so I told him, "You're fahking guys did the service, so they must've overfilled it and jacked up my cap! What you going to do to fix it???" When he figured his guys did the fk-up, he replaced the cap and had the manuel laborers spray out my engine compartment, but the spots that were burnt in are still stuck, so it really didn't help anything... I have since purchased a Nismo cap, and boy does that thing ever seat and seal... My advice... if your stealership will not give you a $3 replacement cap, get the Nismo cap or equivalent, it's worth the money to not having to worry...

[Pops]

Originally Posted by Jared

you are acting like its a huge deal trying to warrant a report to nissan. its just a friggin radiator cap.

Acting??? No acting here, it is a big deal to me. It is a big deal when it has to be repeatedly replaced and the Auto Stores don't know the right one to use and we're stuck going back to the crappy Nissan one.

Maybe it's not such a big deal to you in your pick-up but for me, this is my family hauler that we travel cross-country in. The last thing I want is to have the family stuck up in the Rockies to find out too late that the radiator is out of water. I don't know about you, but my truck stickered for $48k. Please tell me of another $48k vehicle on the market that needs the radiator cap replaced every 20k-40k.

You don't have to worry about it if you choose not to. Whether they do anything about it or not is another story and I won't lose much sleep if they don't because some of the guys here have great suggestions about just bending the tabs and so forth but it's still worth bringing to Nissan's attention.

When you have a family and you're the one traveling with them in the middle of nowhere and your Hot Temp light comes on while driving at 4am Sunday morning and it's 15 degrees outside so the family has to freeze a little just to give the engine time to cool down and if you can find a dealership, it doesn't open until Monday morning, then you can come back and tell me that it's just a friggin radiator cap.

I realize you're a Nissan Tech, don't you think that you might want to consider that there could be circumstances that can turn something very petty into a big deal???

[TitanLou]

Does anybody have a full copy of the TSB. Nissanhelp tells me I can't download it. I know it's just a bad cap, but my engine was spotless, and now it's freakin covered in antifreeze. It's all over my S&B intake tube. Grrrrr!

[Steve2]

The picture in your post is exactly how I found my engine compartment this morning. I thought I must have dislodged the cap somehow when doing some underhood maintenance. However, I can't see me inadvertently loosening the cap enough for this kind of leakage without noticing doing it. I'll be calling my dealership in the morning to see what they recommend.

If the NISMO cap is so superior to the Nissan cap, and the Nissan caps continue to have the same problem, I'm going to push my dealership for the NISMO cap...not that the cost is the issue. It's the principle of having properly designed components in a overall high quality vehicle as well as the issue of safety and potenial engine damage. The bottom line is..the cap is there for a reason, it has a job to do and when it doesn't do it's job, there's going to be consequences.

[eurohazard]

Originally Posted by Jared

you are acting like its a huge deal trying to warrant a report to nissan. its just a friggin radiator cap.

LMFAO

If it's not such a big deal, then Nissan should think nothing of just getting a proper cap to its die hard customers.

[tholmes]

I'm on my second radiator cap, this most recent one i had to pay for. They are pieces o' poo if you ask me. I think I'm gonna make schedule 40 steel nipple and cap mod. I'll let you know how that works.

[PiercerNC]

Radiator and new cap replaced today. No straight answer where the leak was coming from but I believe it was from the cap. It is a POS but I was told the nismo one aint worth the money.

[Beave]

Im on my second cap, its leaking just like in the pic posted. Its only 4-5 months old. I might try bending the tabs in like posted earlier.

[BHMTitan]

My engine compartment looks exactly like the previous picture. I've added this to my list of things for the dealer to address when I carry it in before the 36K warranty expires; I'm currently at 27K. Another thing I noticed this past weekend is a slight wetness at the right-rear wheel... looks like a rear seal.

[Arachnid]

I purchased a Nismo radiator and oil cap off of E-bay. Much better product, and it dresses up the engine compartment a little bit.

[madahajimoto]

Yep, i paid 24 bucks **** waiting hours at the delership. Thats when it had 5k on it. Now its got 12 k on my 06, took it in last week bc it started to leak again! They replaced the reservoir and main and it started to leak again!!!! I double checked everything with a pressure tester. Everthing is holding well, the new one they put on didnt even fit as tight as the one that was on their before. Im going to try bending the tabs before taking it in tomorrow. The delership sez they NEVER EVER HAD THIS PROBLEM YET, your the first. Fricken Mossy Nissan in National City. They need to make the rubber more thicker. Thats it.

[madahajimoto]

Originally Posted by bstephens

take the radiator cap off turn upside down bend the two tabs that lock the cap to radiator make the cap fit radiator as tight as possible.or hold cap in hand bend tab's with channel lock pliers. i did this to my cap fixed radiator never leaked again.the dealer ship not smart enough to do this.hope this helps.

Seems to work. Thank you sir.

[bobo993]

Experienced the same thing after showing off to my nephew in my truck. Revved the engine pretty high a few times and opened the hood to see a mess. I tried the quick fix but now I don't trust the cap for long hauls. Dealer is claiming ignorance. Does anyone know what a good replacement cap should have?