Are you talking about the large strips of foam that sit between the heater core and the radiator? The foam strip on the drivers side fell off when replacing the radiator and there appears to be no easy way to put it back. Do you really think that would affect air flow enough to do something like this?
By the way, I'm using pre-mixed 50/50 Prestone. Always have.
That's them. I don't know about these trucks, but previous vehicles I have owned have responded poorly to allowing air to flow around the radiator rather than through it and I think that effect is amplified at higher speeds. My truck had lost about 20% of the top foam and some of the side foam had fallen out of place. I saw no ill effects on my truck, but I only have 50k miles.
50/50 is the recommended I suppose. The more anti-freeze and less water, the less efficient the cooling, but 50/50 should be fine.
I can't tell where it is from the pic, but I have a pic of the bleeder I'll try to PM you; if that's doable.
OK, can't do that... here's the pic from my service manual...
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Jerry
2004 Frontier, King Cab, XE, 4x1, 4-cyl, 5-spd
Ok. I rigged together a funnel to accomplish the same thing and I find all that happens is coolant drains from the funnel and simply goes into the overflow reservoir. Do I need to allow the reservoir to completely fill up before this can be effective?
Like Jerry pic shows. Remove the bleeder cap when engine is cool. Then run engine till hot. Make sure you are a level surface too. If no coolant flows out of the bleeder then squeeze the upper radiator hose to see how low the fluid is. Then add some when engine cools off.
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2003 silver CC LB V6 SE non-s, leather, SPAL e-fan controller, nismo wheels, bed extender, alarm, e-fan, Nismo CAI, sunroof, nerf bars, knock sensor mod, interior courtesy lights, Rockford Fosgate Audio, oem trailer harness, Nismo CAT-Back, *My Best truck mod* children seats in rear.
Like Jerry pic shows. Remove the bleeder cap when engine is cool. Then run engine till hot. Make sure you are a level surface too. If no coolant flows out of the bleeder then squeeze the upper radiator hose to see how low the fluid is. Then add some when engine cools off.
Found it. Opened the bleeder valve and coolant is flowing out of it at a steady pace while idling. I'm not getting actual bubbles, just cooling seeping out. No air in there?
I forgot to mention that you should turn on your heat in the cabin too. That will circulate the coolant through the heater core and pull the air out through the bleeder. Sorry, forgot to mention that.
However, sounds like you are getting the air out. Take it for a test drive and see how it responds. If it acts up I would replace the thermostat next. I replaced mine when I flushed the coolant at 45,000 miles.
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2003 silver CC LB V6 SE non-s, leather, SPAL e-fan controller, nismo wheels, bed extender, alarm, e-fan, Nismo CAI, sunroof, nerf bars, knock sensor mod, interior courtesy lights, Rockford Fosgate Audio, oem trailer harness, Nismo CAT-Back, *My Best truck mod* children seats in rear.
I'd replace the radiator cap and go from there. With the engine at operating temp., shut it off, wait a while, and see if you can hear a "hiss" at the cap. Poor man's pressure test.
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Run it 'till it breaks and fix it faster!
The vehicle runs hot even during regular city street driving (30-45Mph) but it takes a lot longer to get hot than it does when I drive uphill or at highway speeds.
The temperature stays right around operating range IF I leave the A/C off.
I'm getting plenty of hot air when I turn on the heater and naturally, the system stays nice and cool as long as I leave it running. Of course, since I don't want to die of heat exhaustion, this isn't really an option.
Next step seems to be to look at the thermostat, I suppose.
Could it be a bad Radiator? Even if it is new, there could be an issue with the flow, Maybe bad quality control? It would seem that way to me if the heater is keeping it cool and the radiator isn't. Just because a part is new doesn't mean it it is good, I've scratched my head more than once with a new "bad" part.
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'09 Nissan Frontier PRO-4X, brand new and still stock,for now...
Could it be a bad Radiator? Even if it is new, there could be an issue with the flow, Maybe bad quality control? It would seem that way to me if the heater is keeping it cool and the radiator isn't. Just because a part is new doesn't mean it it is good, I've scratched my head more than once with a new "bad" part.
That possibility keeps getting closer and closer to the top of the list. That wouldn't be so terrible I suppose. I've got this drain/fill down to a science myself.
Loosen, and turn out of range, the micro switch behind the air flow selector knob. This'll let you run with the heater on and blowing on the windshield, w/o the a/c kicking on.
I once ran 18 months with the heater on to help a bum radiator. One summer of that was enough. It was a dry heat, tho.
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Run it 'till it breaks and fix it faster!
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