ANOTHER COOLING ISSUE

[lisa350]

hi my 350 has sat a few weeks and i now have a cooling issue only cold air when ticking over but warm when driving and will overheat if left stationery long enough as fans have stopped working any ideas advice would be most grateful hopeing its not the fans as that is expensive thanks lisa

[Vik54]

Hi Lisa welcome to the forum.

When was the last service?

It likely is your fans - but don't worry about having to pay Nissan £800+ for them you can

[lisa350]

hi vik54 thanks going to try the thermostat 1st i think as the fans are £200 each although have found in usa for $200 delivered been told they good and no cutting of loom etc just plug straight

[Ken]

Welcome to the forum Lisa

[andlid]

you need to get the air out of the system, it's burping time had the same issue with mine, turned out their was bad mechanical skills at play (Yet again...) mine was sucking in air from a T piece cut off and molded shut with a lighter, and also some clips rear that where leaking too

 

Can you not get cheaper aftermarket fans? Like a set of mishimotos? I'm going to get some completely different ones for mine with a manual on/off switch

[andlid]

have a look here:

http://my350z.com/forum/forced-inductio ... tmare.html

 

Flush:

1. Ran car until warm.

2. Unscrew drain plug on bottom driver side of radiator (this was a KOYO but OEM is same I think)

3. Then, open top radiator cap to release any vacum

4. Drain all fluid into my driveway (doh!)

5. Screw drain plug back into radiator

6. Fill radiator from top with water.

7. Run car with heater on reving up to 3K for 10-20 second intervals

8. Repeated steps 2-7 until clear water was draining from bottom of radiator

9. Once cooling system was completely cleaned of old coolant I started steps 2-7 2 times using Prestone 50/50 mix. I'm sure extra water wouldn't help but I wanted the system to be completely purrrfect and this will ensure that the entire system will be filled with the right mix of coolant/water.

 

Fill System with coolant:

1. Put funnel on top of radiator and timed my dump to 1 quart per minute (very slow and very boring)

2. Emptied overflow tank of old coolant and completely filled with new coolant.

3. Once radiator was completely full of coolant Start car and once at temperature revved it to 3K RPM for 10-20 second intervals. With Heater on full blast (at this point my heater was blowing ice cold)

4. Let car completely cool and open top radiator cap and fill to top again.

 

Purge:

1. After radiator is completely full run car for 2-3 minutes with heater on full blasts revving to 3K RPM.

2. Make sure the Greddy overflow tank is completely full and slowly open the pressure release valve on the heater piping close to the battery. You'll need a screwdriver to do this.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/ ... f_plug.jpg

^ Image here, remember the lads in the us has the stuff on the other side

 

NOTE: Be very careful. Steam start blasting out of this combined with coolant spray and burned the SHITE out of my face! Also, if the hose is sagging you'll have to prop it up to make sure that valve is the highest point in the system to make sure all gases escape.

4. Once steam has escaped it starts bubbling coolant/air slowly. Shut Valve

5. Make sure your overflow tank does not empty or it will suck air back into the system (I actually had to crack the lid and squeeze a funnel in there dumping more coolant in making sure the tube never rises from the liquid).

6. Let car cool down completely and repeat steps 1-6 until only coolant was coming from the release valve without any air/steam blast. (heater was blowing hot now). Again make sure to keep that overflow tank full.

7. Went for a very spirited drive and repeated steps 1-6 again.

 

Future:

I think all the air is free but I'm going to try the funnel/bubbling technique once the kit arrives.

 

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

JAA

[lisa350]

hi ken, thanks andlid for the pointers will get the garage to double check for air i have found mishimotos that fit for £210 but you need to have wiring modified and dont really want that done as car is factory standard but the american ones i am told plug straight in gonna get a new thermostat fitted 1st plus double check for air lock but cant see why a air lock would stop the fans from kicking in???????

[andlid]

hi ken, thanks andlid for the pointers will get the garage to double check for air i have found mishimotos that fit for £210 but you need to have wiring modified and dont really want that done as car is factory standard but the american ones i am told plug straight in gonna get a new thermostat fitted 1st plus double check for air lock but cant see why a air lock would stop the fans from kicking in???????

my fans seem to be a bit strange to be honest and don't kick in until it's almost to late! they're controlled via the ECU so not sure if that's got something to do with it, do you have any errors reported on the ecu? (engine light)

[tprice]

i assume you have checked the fuses first? also spin the fans by hand, are they seized?

 

just 2 simple checks that should be carried out first, before replacing components/bleeding cooling system

[Dblock]

I think cefro drifter spelling? idea on how to bleed was the best.

[jumping350]

could you not try a breakers??get a set off a rear ended zed???

ive been bleeding my stupid car for the past week with no joy yet im getting conflicting bleeding threads

dont quite fancy hot coolant and steam blowing in my face...

 

im no fan expert so these could be just cheap rubbish i dont know

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-350z-U ... 439bb1ec21

 

or this

 

http://www.funkypower.co.uk/catalogue.p ... oduct=5451

 

or this haha am on a roll for a sunday morning!!!though non beat your 200 bucks delivered price

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MISHIMOTO-03- ... 0360617541

 

check your fan relays...i think theres 3??and a contnuity test on the fan while your at it too ..cheapest way to rule the fan out

[lisa350]

no engine light on no codes present, dont really like the look of them cheap fans for £60 and as i said before with the mishimotos you have to do some rewire work which i wasnt to keen on ,i am hopeing its gonna be the thermostat cheapest fix cheers for all info

[andlid]

no engine light on no codes present, dont really like the look of them cheap fans for £60 and as i said before with the mishimotos you have to do some rewire work which i wasnt to keen on ,i am hopeing its gonna be the thermostat cheapest fix cheers for all info

cheapest fix will be fuse

[tprice]

and should be checked first!

[lisa350]

Thanks obviously checked fuses 1st but a fuse wouldn't affect the cold to hot flow on heating as thermostat would affect both heating and fan control so I am told by the mechanic hopefully get a definate answer tomorrow

[doctor austin]

The reason the fan motors fail is that the 4 carbon brushes stick in their holders..its a very easy job to dismantle the motors and 'dress' the carbon brushes with a needle file and hey presto they are as good as new........did it on my Zed, 30 minute to get the fans off then 15 mins each motor...simples!

[andlid]

The reason the fan motors fail is that the 4 carbon brushes stick in their holders..its a very easy job to dismantle the motors and 'dress' the carbon brushes with a needle file and hey presto they are as good as new........did it on my Zed, 30 minute to get the fans off then 15 mins each motor...simples!

good tip

[tprice]

Thanks obviously checked fuses 1st but a fuse wouldn't affect the cold to hot flow on heating as thermostat would affect both heating and fan control so I am told by the mechanic hopefully get a definate answer tomorrow

 

 

my fault i didnt read the post properly! sounds like thermostat will cure it then, unless you have an air lock, which when replacing the thermostat, you will cure anyway as the system will need bleeding afterwards! should be a straight forward fix

[andlid]

http://www.atozautolights.com/2003-NISS ... -7111.html

 

^ FYI 102$ thanks to the lad that posted in my 'radiator' size thread.

[lisa350]

excellent thanks andlid they look like the exact ones with same plugs to so no wire work required unlike the mishimotos i have seen at £200 and at a very good price thanks a lot

[lisa350]

removed my motors today from the shroud and they look like a sealed unit not sure whether or not they differ from model to model but no way of getting to the brushes inside ???????? still waiting on thermostat from nissans so hopefully know tom

[doctor austin]

Yep they are all the same..just pry where they are peened and the end comes off to expose the armature and commutator etc... trust me its easy and free or spend £200 if you prefer either way the fam motors have to come off

[lisa350]

replaced thermostat today but still no fans so will try and remove the rear caseings of the motors to clean brushes if not new motors it is

[andlid]

replaced thermostat today but still no fans so will try and remove the rear caseings of the motors to clean brushes if not new motors it is

I'm curious why did you think changing the thermostat would make any difference?

[lisa350]

I changed the thermostat 1st as so i am told they sometimes stick open or closed and if it was stuck it would not let the correct flow of water and send signal to the fans to work when hot ? or is that not the case ?