Hi all,
Glad to have found this forum,
My boss had an old '87 Maxima just sitting at his house - he wasn't using it and was told by an old mechanic it was not safe to drive!! I went to look at it and can't find anything non-safe about it - so I bought it from him!
Granted I may sell it to make some $$ soon but b4 that I have some questions.

I can't tell if the car is an SE or a GXE. It doesn't have the air dam in front w/the fogs but it does have the adjustable shocks, 5spd and spoiler. No digital dash but does have the headrests with the holes in them.

Also, it is running a bit hot - not to the point of overheating - at least not yet!
Today I tried to change the t-stat but could not get the top back bolt to the t-stat housing loose - could not really get any good grip on it w/anything - I tired all types of wrenches etc.

Any ideas would be great,
thanks,
Mike

Mike,

I have an 85, and I recently had problems with it running hot. My problems were entirely the Radiator. The cooling fins were disintegrated. Just a word of caution when dealing with the thermostat. Be very careful. In order to even get to the thermostat, allot has to be taken off. There are three bolts for the t-stat housing. I think I finally saw all three once I had a good portion of the belts etc off. The problem is where the t-stat is located, it is very close to the timing belt. It would not be good it water got onto the timing belt. Once I cracked the seal, water went everywhere. Good thing I was planning on replacing the timing belt. I think this is what happened to mine (water on timing belt). I think the Water pump went out on the previous owner, unfortunately, he did not replace the timing belt. When I changed the timing belt, I discovered that the timing belt adjuster was rusty, seized, and as an added bonus, there were bearings all over! I would check the radiator and maybe spray it off. This was how I discovered that mine was bad. It runs much cooler now after replacing the radiator, I can even run the air!

Also, from what I have understood, your car would be an SE.

Hey Chad,

Thanks for the info.
I was thinking the rad. might be the problem. It has prob. never been changed in the 108K miles.
How were you able to tell your rad. was bad?
Looks like there has to be a lot taken off to replace the rad., no? Did you do it yourself?

thanks,
Mike

Hey Mike,

As far as I know the electronic struts were only available in the SE model. If you have a a black grille and body color door handles (as apposed to chrome) then you definitely have an SE...

Mike,

Last summer when the car was running hot, I thought I would spray off the radiator. I have done this to other cars to clean out some of the junk. So, I was spraying it off, and I thought "wow, look at all the dirt!". That was when I realized that it was not dirt... it was pieces of the radiator!

I did replace the radiator my self, it was not that difficult. The radiator was so bad, it actually fell apart upon taking it out. the mounting brackets along the sides of the radiator, just came off. It is time consuming to replace the radiator, I think it took me about 3 hours.

The worst part is having to take the cooling fans loose, there are five bolts that hold it in place. I had to disconnect the fans and move them out of the way. You will also have to loosen the fuse block for the anti-theft system. You will need the room. Like I said, not that difficult, just time consuming.

Hope this helps!

Chad

Hey Chad,

Thanks for the info. I'll try spraying off the raditor today or tomorrow. I'm bringing the car in for an inspection and a new muffler tomorrow and I'm gonna ask the shop if they can test the radiator.
I was looking at it last night and it just looks like there are a bunch of things that have to be taken off to get the radiator out - esp. the fan like you said. Then just rebolt them to the new one. Maybe I can get a new rad. from radiators.com if need be.

Also, when you were talking about changing the t-stat being near the timing belt - is your t-stat housing on the right side of the block kinda near the resonator w/a shield covering it?
I can see top right bolt in the back, just can't get a good grip on it w/anything, and that tube that comes off the t-stat housing tube that runs to the back doesn't make it easier!

thanks,
Mike

Mike,

I am not sure I am following you... I don't remember a shield covering the t-stat housing. I know that I had to remove all of the drive belts, cruise control unit, and the injector cooling fan tubes to get to it. I believe once I removed all that, and disconnected the hose, I could see all the bolts. I think they were a 14mm socket. The only hose that was connected to the housing was the large hose that went back to the passenger side of the radiator.

Is this what you are seeing?

Chad

>I don't remember a shield covering the t-stat housing. I know that I had to remove all of the drive belts, cruise control unit, and the injector cooling fan tubes to get to it. I believe once I removed all that, and disconnected the hose, I could see all the bolts. I think they were a 14mm socket. The only hose that was connected to the housing was the large hose that went back to the passenger side of the radiator.

Is this what you are seeing?<

Not really!
My T-stat is (or atleast where I think it is! if you were standing front of the car and the dash was say at 12 o'clock, I think my t-stat is about 3 o'clock)on the driver side of the engine. The big rad. hose comes from the front driver side of the radiator and goes back to the steel t-stat housing tube. I looked last night and I can't find one belt near my t-stat housing. For all I know maybe I was looking in the wrong spot - but it sure looks like the t-stat housing would be behind the long necked tube/housing coming from the top of the radiator. also, the bolts were 1/2 sizes.
You do have the 3.0L V6 right?
I guess I could always take a pic of the motor tonight and post it on my webpage?

Mike

Mike,

Ok... I know where you are looking. At first glance this is where I thought the t-stat was too. The big radiator hose coming from the drivers side of the engine is the upper radiator hose. the lower radiator hose looks like an upper radiator hose and is located on the passenger side of the car. There is a metal tube that runs along the side of the radiator to the bottom of the radiator. The hose that runs from the passenger side to the front of the engine is where the t-stat housing is located.

Let me know if this makes sense. What is your web page address?

Chad

Hey Chad,

Thanks bud, now I can look for where the t-stat really is located. From what you said b4, it seems I'll have to take some parts off to get to it. I also assume I have to drain a good deal of coolant so when I go get to the t-stat, I won't leak any fluid on the timing belt?

my webpage is:

www.geocities.com/stangman39/stangsho.html

no pics of the Maxima on there yet!

thanks again,
might be work it to change the rad. and t-stat at the same time,

Mike

I would drain as much as possible. Even after the radiator is taken off, there is a good deal of antifreeze in the engine block. When I took the t-stat housing off, antifreeze went all over. There is supposed to be a coolant drain plug in the area of the alternator. I can look in the repair manual tomorrow. Depending on how many miles you have on the car, I would recommend having the timng belt changed. They recommend changing it every 60k. Mine had over 100k on the belt according to the records in the car. So it went way too long.

Does your car have the "talking Lady" for the lights on... etc? I thought all of them did, but I guess some did not.

Chad

Does your car have the "talking Lady" for the lights on... etc? I thought all of them did, but I guess some did not.

Nope - not talking lady. Maybe I do and she has been muted!

I was just looking at the car...so if I follow the top rad. hose on the pass. side of the rad. back to where it disappears under everything, the t-stat housing is in there?

I'll have to check w/my boss to see if he ever had the timing belt done.
I'm not too sure if I'm gonna hold onto the car long. don't want to make it a major project.
You changed your timing belt yourself? how hard was it? I assume you have to take most of the pass. side of the motor apart?

thanks,
Mike

Mike,

>>>>>Nope - not talking lady. Maybe I do and she has been muted!

If you had this, there would be a switch on the center console that says "voice" on/off

>>>>>I was just looking at the car...so if I follow the top rad. hose on the pass. side of the rad. back to where it disappears under everything, the t-stat housing is in there?

Yes, follow the hose... it connects to the t-stat housing.

>>>>>You changed your timing belt yourself? how hard was it? I assume you have to take most of the pass. side of the motor apart?


Yes, I did change the timing belt my self. I did have a friend help the last day I worked on it. The only problem is the amount of stuff that has to come off. the upper timing belt cover, lower timing cover... the worst was having to remove the main pulley. My car is an automatic, so every time we put a wrench on the bolt, it turned the engine over. It did turn out to be a major project, but I think I saved about $800 on all the stuff I did. The parts are not that expensive. I would recommend buying a repair manual for the car if you decide to take on the timing belt yourself.

How many cars do you have? It looks like you have had quite a few Mustangs... All looked awesome! Do you still have the 91 SHO?

>I would recommend buying a repair manual for the car if you decide to take on the timing belt yourself.

I might have to look into that. The car is in the shop today getting a new muffler and inspection today. I asked them to check the rad. to see if it is flowing well enuf.

>How many cars do you have? It looks like you have had quite a few Mustangs... All looked awesome! Do you still have the 91 SHO? [/B][/QUOTE]

Right now! 3! The '68 GT Stang Fastback, the '91 SHO and the Maxima. I'm trying to sell the SHO and then possible the Maxima (if I can get it running cooler!) to buy a Mustang SVO.

Mike