Noticed the coolant overflow tank was close to empty in my I35 last week. Topped it off and noticed it was low again today. Peaked around and saw dried and fresh coolant residue all along the upper seam, just like in the pic below I found of another I35. Some coolant has also dripped down onto the sides of the radiator and near the cooling fans. Interestingly, the radiator isn't low on coolant and the car isn't overheating or anything. Heating works fine, too, albeit with a sweet scent of coolant. No clue how long the seam's been leaking like this.

Anyone recommendations for radiators? I hear good things about Koyo Rad. As much as I'd like to do this job myself, I just don't have the time at the moment and will probably take it to my indy, along with some Zerex Asian coolant.

 

Change the radiator, Koyo is a good replacement for sure.

Every radiator that goes bad on these cars (that I've seen) have all leaked somewhere from that top seam.

 

Have the mechanic replace the upper and lower rubber mounting grommets while he's at it. the originals are probably dry rotting by now.

 

I've never seen bad lowers. The uppers wallow, but it's not going anywhere.

 

Just did this last month because I had the same leak - and really bad. Koyo is the way to go for sure. They shipped me the radiator very quickly.

 

I have. My 94 and 97 Maximas had lowers that were in worse shape than the uppers. My 97 had the worst ones. My 2000 didn't need any, the originals were fine.

The only sad part is that I had to replace the radiators on all 3 Maximas. And let's not talk about the Bose radios.

 

Lol Dennis, we all share these lovely features all our maximas have....rad, bose, ps hoses, maf...

 

1-800-Radiator...for fast service!

https://www.1800radiator.com/

 

spyware?

 

contact#....

 

^^

Classic george..

What would this place be without him

 

Ah. I haven't owned any 4th gens. It sounds like the 5th gen ones are a lot better.

 

Thanks everyone for the helpful info. Although a long shot, I tried swapping out radiator caps just in case that was leaking and causing coolant to pool on top of the radiator. No dice; as the car idles, I actually see the coolant leaking out of the seam. Now I know for sure I need a new rad. If I drive around the city, the coolant level in the overflow bottle barely drops but highway driving empties the sucker out completely every 4-5 days. Made an appointment with my indy for the weekend.

 

It literally takes like 30 minutes to replace the radiator. I've replaced them on both my maximas. You could reconsider doing it yourself.

 

I concur. I've done it too not long ago. Pretty sure there's a writeup here somewhere...

 

A little off OPs original topic but has anyone had an problems with a non Koyo product? Koyo is a bit harder and more expensive to source here in Canada. I can get a TYC with a new Gates upper and lower hose for about half the price of just a Koyo.

 

^
I used a TYC one form RockAuto after the front end accident. No problems yet

 

Just did mine yesterday as well and I got the spectra radiator from rock auto paid $89 and took about an hour to replace and it was easy.