Took my titan in to the dealership around a week ago because i found a leak. Well i assumed it was just the transmission cooler line that runs to the radiator that was leaking just like it happened to be leaking a year ago from the same exact spot. After the dealership took a look at it the service writer said that i had a crack in my radiator and that i was leaking coolant and not trans fluid. In complete disbelief i said WTF when does transmission fluid smell and look like coolant so i took the truck home pretty pissed off, crawled underneath and could not find one bit of coolant and no cracks anywere. I then tightened up the hose clamp that i bought to put on that trans cooler line and ran it back and forth for about a week. Well this morning started the truck and notice it was dripping so i called the dealership again, brought it in, and they said the same thing. So really pissed off this time i drove home again and whenever i put it in reverse sure nuff, the tranny started studdering. I looked up and where i had stopped to put it in reverse there is a big brown puddle so i just parked it in the driveway. Popped the hood and the cooland resivor was overflowing. What looks to have happened is that the transmission cooler inside the POS plastic radiator busted. Started draining all the coolant and the tranny fluid and they are both contaminated. They are both brownish in color. I have already looked into a stillen radiator which are on sale right now. Has anyone else had this problem happen? I know that many people have had cracked radiators and that the coolant just came flowing out onto the ground but i have looked around at the posts and it seems to be like i am the first one. I do have the full service manual that the service techs use so i already looked up how to flush the tranny and plan on replacing the filters as well. I know that the radiator is not covered on the bumper to bumper 36 and 3 warranty because i am over it and it is not covered by the 60 and 5 drivetrain either. I just dont want them to find out that the tranny is contaminated because i just past up my 36 and 3 and i am still covered under my drive train. Any info is greatly appriciated and whenever i do the radiator swap and tranny flush i will be sure to take alot of pics.
boggs0214
Stillen Radiators are on back order... for two, probably three weeks, maybe longer according to their sales guy.
http://www.titantalk.com/forums/1454181-post7.html
http://www.titantalk.com/forums/1454181-post7.html
The Stillen unit is the way to go, but if you can't wait for the backorder, you can install a Koyo unit. Mine has been really good so far and it costs around $200; a lot cheaper than the inferior OEM unit.
It sucks that Nissan hasn't stepped up to the plate and addressed the numerous radiator failures. Then again, what do they care? When Dodge takes over, cracked radiators will be among the least expensive repair on the Titan.
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It sucks that Nissan hasn't stepped up to the plate and addressed the numerous radiator failures. Then again, what do they care? When Dodge takes over, cracked radiators will be among the least expensive repair on the Titan.
Called up Stillen this afternoon and they arent expecting to get any more radiators until mid Decemeber. If anyone else is looking for the radiator the part number is 401441. They are on sale for 359.77 and 9.95 for shipping. I explained to the lady on the phone that I am active duty military (Marine) and she said we can give it to you for 329.77 plus the shipping and tax. Not bad at 366.04. The only thing I dont like is that Stillen only warranties the radiator for a year which sucks and that they are on back order so i am going to have to wait. The salesperson i talked to said they would be in sometime in mid december. Hopefully they are just saying that and they get in by the end of the month. I also picked up some of the Super Tech Dextron V (5) at Wal-Mart for 3.77 a quart for whenever i do the transmission flush. I am only going to use it for the flush and then put Matic-J back in it. If anyone is looking for Matic-J though performancenissanparts.com has it for 7.50 per quart which is more than half of what my local stealership whats for it at 16.00 a quart. Once i get all the parts in i am going to start a new thread though. One on just the removal of the OEM radiator and install of the Stillen, then how to drain and flush the transmission without a flush cart. By the way the woman i talk to over the phone form Stillen said that she had already had 3 orders earlier this morning so if you dont buy your radiator now then you might have to wait cause the line is already backing up pretty fast.
I would use castrol import trans fluid. It says it can be used as matic-J. I've had it in mine for 20,000 miles and no problems. It's a bad idea to flush with one then fill with the other. I have flushed my system and there is no way to know if you got out all of the mercon V since they are both red. Good luck.
i have read up about it and if you disconnect from the transcooler....drain tranny.....then fill with 4qts.....put 4qts on the inlet side of the tranny (trans cooler line) and a bucket on the outlet side (trans cooler line) then it flushes the system. I know that i will not get every single little bit of the flushing fluid out before i fill with a different but if i flush like this.....then drain and refill with something else i will come pretty close.....i just cannot see flushing with 8qts of matic J whenever it is so expensive...........
That is one way. I would get a bucket with a lid and run a hose to it. When I did mine it splashed everywhere. It will save you a lot of clean up time. I don't even use matic-j anymore. I just use the castrol. I read on a different thread that some of the Nissan dealerships are using the castrol import.
WOW early FEB.....i talked to Jade @ Stillen whenever i ordered mine and she said it should be no later than mid Dec. Then i called yesterday just to check up and talked to a guy and he said they might be expecting them after Thanksgiving. Unless the demand got huge after i started the post and everyone started ordering radiators thats the only way that i figure that yours will be in around early Feb......and if that is the case they should give you some kind of a discount because that is just crazy.
There is likely a belt diagram some where on the radiator core support or the bottom of the hood.
Changing out the belt is the easiest part. As others mentioned, there should be a diagram either in the owners manual or on a decal.
Even if you forget how it goes back, you can break it down logically. The backside of the belt runs over the pulleys that are smooth and the ribbed side of the belt goes to the pulleys with grooves. Using that, you can figure out most or all of the routing without a diagram.
Even if you forget how it goes back, you can break it down logically. The backside of the belt runs over the pulleys that are smooth and the ribbed side of the belt goes to the pulleys with grooves. Using that, you can figure out most or all of the routing without a diagram.
i was reading on another post about changing the belt and once you take the tension off the belt with the tensioner, there are two holes to line up, one on the tensioner itself, and the other on the bracket. Basically line them up and stick an allen key or screw driver in it so it stays expanded. Another thing is that if you are going to pull your radiator make sure that you take the coolant fan off. You can still get the radiator out with it still being installed but it does help. Whenever i pulled mine i left it in and it pushed in a big row of the fins so whenever you go to install the new radiator it would be wise to just take the fan off to prevent this from happening. I am going to start on the thread of the radiator removal tonight whenever i get home......took a ton of pictures so it should turn out really good.
sry to bring this thread back, but i have to ask if anyone else had this problem and if so, what was done to correct it.
OEM rad went out - replaced with Stillen (great product, but very long wait)
trany fluid replaced (flushed with return line method - used 6 gal 2x)
there was some residual tranny (mixed with coolant) in the coolant lines, block and such. obviously, i tried to flush it several times but there's still some in there. i can see it foaming and clinging to the sides rad when i look down in it. since it's viscosity is so heavy, i'm afraid that it may be blocking coolant circulation. today i grabbed the lower rad hose after i got home from a 10 mile drive (stop and go traffic, so it was up to temp for sure) and the lower rad hose was only just warm. the temp guage on the dash was in the middle and there wasn't any pinging or knocking, so i don't think it was over heating.
so... did anyone else have this problem? what did you do to get the crap out of your new radiator?
if not??
does anyone have any suggestions to flush to get that crap out?
Thanks in advance!
rex
OEM rad went out - replaced with Stillen (great product, but very long wait)
trany fluid replaced (flushed with return line method - used 6 gal 2x)
there was some residual tranny (mixed with coolant) in the coolant lines, block and such. obviously, i tried to flush it several times but there's still some in there. i can see it foaming and clinging to the sides rad when i look down in it. since it's viscosity is so heavy, i'm afraid that it may be blocking coolant circulation. today i grabbed the lower rad hose after i got home from a 10 mile drive (stop and go traffic, so it was up to temp for sure) and the lower rad hose was only just warm. the temp guage on the dash was in the middle and there wasn't any pinging or knocking, so i don't think it was over heating.
so... did anyone else have this problem? what did you do to get the crap out of your new radiator?
if not??
does anyone have any suggestions to flush to get that crap out?
Thanks in advance!
rex
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