[craiger28]

01 Pathfinder V-6 AT. It gets hot while running down the road or idling. I took the T-stat off and checked it, opened fine and closed fine. Did a pressure test and no leaking. Pleanty of water, no smoke/steam out the tailpipe, newer fan clutch, no oil/water mixture on the dip stick or under the oil cap. The only thing I can think of is the radiator is clogged up. Your thoughts?

 

[AndysLog]

water pump?

 

[craiger28]

How would it be the water pump? There is no leaks when I pressurize the system.

 

[pidge]

No impellar fins on the pump....corodded??? seized???? I dont know if the belt can still go around with a seized pump. I would start looking at the rad. In my 05's case the condensor pretty much covers the entire rad front and just looking at it from the front after a pressure wash you'd think it is spotless, but there lies the false "the rad is clean". I dont know how the r50's is set up, but I'd double check this. Hope it helps.

 

[franxalot]

In the '70s, GM products had same problem. Factory hoses delaminated internally and collapsed. External inspection looked OK-- had to disconnect hoses, flex them while looking inside.

Just a thought.

-Frank

 

[roastbeef]

1st gen is just plagued with a poor cooling system.

 

[craiger28]

pidge had it right, took the rad off and plugged up the top two holes and put hose in top, the water barely trickled out of the bottom. Found alot of metal shinny pieces - someone used Bar Seal at one time. Will get radiator cleaned or replaced and see what happens.

 

[chaz]

just hope that stuff did not plug up the heater core,give it a good douche with the hose
think its call a back flush

 

[TwoBills]

Pull the t-stat and reinstall the gooseneck. Run the water thru the system backwards (put the water hose in the top hose). Check out radiatorbarn.com for a new radiator. Good service, fair prices.

 

[lapriester]

How would it be the water pump? There is no leaks when I pressurize the system.

It doesn't have to be leaking to be failing. The impellar could be loose, worn or corroded. They are pinned or pressed on the shaft and do come loose or loosen enough to lose efficiency.

Larry

 

[lapriester]

If it's a plastic radiator there's no fixing or repairing them. The only right way is to just get a replacement. After installing the new radiator, to assure the heater core and engine passages are not plugged or contaminated, get enough distilled water to fill the system and flush it with a commercial radiator flush before putting in the coolant. leave out the thermostat when doing this. Then drain it, flush it and fill with 50/50 coolant and distilled water after the flush. You'll be set to go.

One other point though. I might tend to question the integrity of the water pump after it was working that hard or pumping the type of contaminants that would plug your radiator that badly. Decreased water pump flow might even be a root cause of the plugging. Just a thought.

Larry