I Have just purchased my first Maxima. It is an 87 wagon with 138K on the clock. It was a 1 senior owner car and it is very clean for it age and runs great. My problem is it runs hot, the fans come on even when driving at 55 on a cool night. I replaced the therm with a new Nissan part and it helped. The condition of the radiator is maginal and will be replacing that tonight. I am very familiar with the Nissan V6 since I have owned a numer of 1st gen 300ZXs and a V6 pick up all of the same vintage as the Maxima. I have never had an over heating problem with any of them. this is driving me crazy. Any insight on the will be appriciated.

Mike

 

I hear ya. My 88 does the same thing. I've been looking for a lower temp thermo to replace in mine. Generally you can find one that opens at temps 10-30 degrees cooler than an OEM. Also, just a real good old fashioned coolant flush does wonders. Older coolant breaks down if its too old, and also a lot of older cars like ours build up a lot of crud in the lines that really bogs down the water pump. Then its not as effective.

 

Be sure to bleed all the air from the cooling system by removing 1 10mm screw on the back of intake collector. If you don't the system will trap air and will overheat. I think I have pics of it, I'll try to find them.

 

Yes make sure there is no air in the system the air bleeding valve is small and near the back of the engine I believe. If that pocket of air gets to your Water pump itll just stay spinning with the air in there and will ruin your water pump as well as over heat your car. Its very small and on a square just unscrew and wait for the green stuff t opour then tighten back up. It even says in small writing on it what it is and I think the tip is red.

 

Thanks for the info. put the radiator in last night. All fixed now. It was clogged up with crap. It ran cool all the way to work this morning. Still need to blead the system from the metioned valve. The radiator also had a lot of the fins corroded away.

 

So did replacing the radiator help? My 88 is really just a work car, but I took it on the expressway for the first time last night. Weather was really hot. My car usually runs fairly hot, and I thought highway would be better than stop and go. But it ran hotter than ever!! Couldn't believe it. It doesn't overheat, but is dangerously close. It's gotta be the radiator. Fans work, thermo works. If you can, let me know if the radiator replacement did the trick.