I am not happy. The radiator in my 2000 SE started leaking around the upper radiator hose, so I replaced it.

Now, not three months later, the new radiator is leaking in the exact same spot... right under the upper hose connection.

I took a close look at both the new and the old radiators and found that a couple of crimp tabs that hold the upper tank to the core are not crimped right under the hose connection. And this is exactly where the leak is.

I took a screwdriver and a small rubber mallet and carefully bent over and crimped the uncrimped tabs. I did this about a week ago. I checked the radiator again yesterday and it was low on coolant. I found another leak, exactly like the first leak above the lower radiator hose where a couple more tabs for the lower tank aren't crimped.

I can understand why the big production tools can't get into these spots and properly crimp but why don't they have some way to finish the job properly????

This really makes me angry. I spend $100 on a radiator and it leaks exactly the same as the old radiator. What good is a warranty if I still have to replace the radiator twice a year???????

 

what brand is it?

 

Are you sure it's not the hoses?

 

I Bought mine from autozone 7 months ago and shes holding up....My OEM one never developed a leak it got clogged after 210k miles and 13years.

 

hoses

 

Check the hose clamps. They will need to be re-torqued after a few warm up and cool down cycles. I just replaced my radiator and had the same issue. Re-tightened all the clamps and it is good to go.

 

or rent a pressure tester and pressurize the system and see if you have a pin hole leak in hose.

 

If its brand new I wouldn't fool around with it. Replace it. It has a warranty doesn't it?

 

Warranty it.. If you can get store credit and buy a OEM replacement, do it...


You always get what you pay for! ALWAYS!

 

swap it for another one.

 

common problem with these cars..I seen it happen due to people slamming the hood down hard, and cracking the radiator right under the intake vent.

 

^This. I had a leak start up quite a few months after putting my new radiator in. I got the pressure tester and found it was leaking where the hose went onto the radiator. I tightened the clamp and all is fine.

It is also possible for a hose to go on slightly crooked and get leaks. This actually happened when I first put the radiator in and it would only leak when the system built pressure after turning the issue off.

 

$100 for a radiator? Did you buy it at the dollar store?

 

I can buy one for 60 bucks at advance for a 5th gen and it will work just fine.

I've installed multiple from there and have one in my Z.

 

If you are doing the hose changes yourself always take a sharp blade and vertically cut the hose at the radiator spout rather than using a screw driver to lift up the edge or just tugging on it. I learned this changing hoses on US brand cars. The spouts on US cars (73 to 85) were soldered to the radiator and would weaken if you were not careful. I'm assuming the same approach on Nissan's cars but I've had no experience doing this work on my Nissans.

Just a thought.

 

The guy never replied for a month so we will probably never know.

 

Yeah my bad. I always forget to ck the dates of the inquiries that I respond to.