Removing Radiator from 32GTST - Air con piping??

[46n2]

hi all,

I'm going to be pulling my steering system apart this w/e and while I;m there i figured i may as well pull the radiator out and flush it (and as a bonus i'll have more room to work).

I noticed that the air con piping runs *through* the radiator to (well i think its called) the condensor. is there any way to take the radiator out without de-gassing the a/c system?

If i do have to de gas the system, how do i do it? what should i be careful of?

Any help appreciated

Thanks,

Michael

[SteveL]

Radiator can be removed without touching the aircon system - unless you have something unusual (ie not stock).

[46n2]

mine looks stock, but there is a gap (looks like it's by design) in the radiator code on the Drivers side, and one of the AC pipes run through that to the condensor. Seems like a stupid idea to me. I'll try and get a pic up tonight of what i'm talking about

[wizard2k]

i have 32gtst and all i had to do was drop the stone tray on the bottom of the chassis undo top and bottom radiator hoses the 2 mounts on the top of the radiator that goes to the front support bar and unclip the bottom of the fan shroud so it clears the rad fan and it should lift out untouching the condensor pipe work as this usually runs in a groove in the rad core design

hope it helps some

[Oosh]

Yeap, radiator comes out pretty easy, just remember to slide it and the fan shroud on at the same time when you put it back, if you bolt the rad in then attempt to put the shroud back on you'll have a hell of a time clearing the fan and not bashing up your rad.

[46n2]

thanks lads...I'll have a look at mine tonight, but to be honest i don't know what they've done. Pulling a radiator out should be a simple thing, but doesn't seem so here :confused: I'll get some some pics up 2 nite. thanks for your comments.

[The Dan]

The best way to remove the radiator is undo the 4 x 10mm nuts holding the fan on....remove the fan. Undo the 2 x 10mm bolts holding the brackets that hold the top of the radiator. Undo the top and bottom radiator hose clamps and remove hose from radiator. Disconnect green plug from drivers side of fan shroud. Slide radiator out from the top. Should take no longer than 10 minutes.

[46n2]

gah i feel like a damn fool there's something for the aircon sitting in front f the radiator, which is why there's a pipe going into it.

The raditator should be a piece of piss.

Thanks for all the help guys

[Oosh]

The best way to remove the radiator is undo the 4 x 10mm nuts holding the fan on....remove the fan. Undo the 2 x 10mm bolts holding the brackets that hold the top of the radiator. Undo the top and bottom radiator hose clamps and remove hose from radiator. Disconnect green plug from drivers side of fan shroud. Slide radiator out from the top. Should take no longer than 10 minutes.

Shit that's right, i forgot you need to unbolt the fan, that's what i was thinking of whne blathering about shroud and rad in one piece, need the fan in there too!

[SteveL]

GTSt's must be different to GTR's.........with GTR's there's no need to remove the fan. GTR's have a removable 'section' at the bottom of the fan shroud which unclips and once that's taken off the radiator can be lifted out with the shroud attached and it clears the fan.

[Jax]

My GTSt same as SteveL s GTR. 2 mounting bolts on top , drain water, remove one end of hoses, unplug wiring connector, lift out [ about 3 minutes. no removal of splash guard , fan, etc., etc. They must have kept changing their minds on the assembly line.

Takes longer to drain the water, than anything else.

[Oosh]

I think you're getting confused with the air-con heat exchanger, it sits directly in front of the radiator and looks a lot like it, I killed my rad last weekand pulled it out (found that half of teh shroud that unclips down the bottom) and it really is a simple exercise to remove.

Now i need to find a replacement radiator, i'd rather a new one, but might have to settle for second hand.

[46n2]

yeah that's exactly what i was confusing it with :Oops:

At a glance it all looked like one part, i pulled my radiator out last week (unclipped the lower part of the shroud, removed the hoses and upper mounts) and had no hassles

What's gone wrong with your radiator? leaking?

[Oosh]

yeah that's exactly what i was confusing it with :Oops:

At a glance it all looked like one part, i pulled my radiator out last week (unclipped the lower part of the shroud, removed the hoses and upper mounts) and had no hassles

What's gone wrong with your radiator? leaking?

Rubber mount up top had perished, I accelerated hard, radiator fell on to the fan and crunch! On stuffed rad, called Nissan and they wanted $962 for a new one, I can't see much point in a 2nd hand one, so i rang around some more and found and aftermarket one for $359 which is far more reasonable. Gotta fix that mount too so it doesn't happen again.

[46n2]

ouch... aftermarket for $359 though where from? bigger or same size as standard?

[Oosh]

Just went to pick it up and it was the wrong one, guy did some more ringing around and found the right one for $439, but there's a question makr over availability. Some Nissan diesel has the same top and bottom tanks but the core is too tall, might be able to make some Franken-Rad, just waiting for a call back.

Just thru a local radiator mob, Burton Radiators, pretty helpful so far but we'll see how it goes.

[yogi000]

picked up my new r32 radiator last week for $352 brand new......the brand was KOYO i think.....looks the same as the nissan one, it works.

[Oosh]

picked up my new r32 radiator last week for $352 brand new......the brand was KOYO i think.....looks the same as the nissan one, it works.

Yeah Koyo are supposed to be pretty much atleast as good as the originals.