My 88 max is having a problem. To me it seems like the car is way to hot when Im running it. I can feel the damn heat while im driving just smothering me lol.(well not that bad but it feels bad lol) I can really feel it bad when Im driving in the city and you constantly stop n go..I feel the accel get a bit softer and not as tight as it is when its running cool. I really hate this..its full of liquid even in the other small palstic tank is full. Ill change the fluid to be exact but not sure if itl help none. When it sits for about 2 hours i think it was ..it still seemed a bit warm for 2 hours of sitting. I really need help I love this car and I dont wanna blow the engine.

 

as long as your temp gauge doesn't hit the H side, coolant is circulating and you'll be ok. mine used to run just under halfway.

both my 88 max and the sentra I have now have a tendency to blow hot air through the heater core and ductwork with the fan turned completely off. I think that's what you're feeling. even with the switch completely off, I can still feel a nice blast of warm air when the car's moving. I think it's annoying as hell but I don't wanna tear everything apart to fix it. plus, my blower motor resistor is bad, so my fan's either off or on full speed. try moving the temp control lever to the far cold side, and set the fan to floor or defog and see if you feel it then.

if that's not it, then it might also be your radiator fans blowing hot air off the engine towards you. just watch the temp gauge and make sure you're not running too hot. as long as you're near halfway, you're in good shape.

hope this helps.

Dan
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"racing a honda is like racing in the special olympics. it doesn't matter if you win or lose, YOU'RE STILL RETARDED!"

(as seen on the back of a lowered Ford Ranger)

 

My car also normally runs on the hot side. But it never passes the mark before the H. So you should be fine, unless the gauge is going all the way H.

S

 

My Max also runs a just a bit hotter than half way. It always ran in the middle but then I had the thermostat and hoses replaced, then it started running that little bit hotter.

I think it's normal for a little bit of air to "leak" through the vents even when the fan is off. My Max does that, always has, and my g/f's 97 'Teg does too. I don't think there's a little valve that shuts off air from the outside so air can come through.

 

Thats the thing though..I have no idea if Im overheating. The only thing on my digi dash that works is my RPMs. Exactly why i was looking into a conversion from digi to standard.

 

Your coolant isn't boiling, is it? Can you hear the fans come on? If so, how much are they on? The fact that your heater is working suggests that coolant is flowing and the thermostat is functioning properly. How does the coolant look?

 

ok, this may sound dumb and I am sorry if its a stupid reply. But do you have your climate control set to fresh air and the cabin thermostat (if thats what it is called) set all the way in the red (hot)? Just a question because I do this intentionaly (sp?) when I just want some heat with out turning the heater fan on.....if this is the case you will def. feel the heat from the motor while you are riding around

 

here's where I step in. I just blew the weekend upgrading the standard warning light-only (oil light, temperature light, generator light) cluster in my blazer to one that had gauges for all this stuff. so having done this, I've become a little bit of an expert on instrument cluster conversions.

conversion may not be worth it. a lot of times, reconditioned digital instrument clusters are available. it'll save you a lot of hassle in the long run. the biggest issue is your speedometer. the analog ones are driven from a cable. I THINK (could be wrong) that you'll need to add a speedometer cable. the wiring harnesses might be physically the same, but I guarantee the layout of the wires will be off. furthermore, you may end up replacing the oil pressure sending unit and the thermal transmitter (I could also be wrong here). you'll have to find the commons for all the gauges, if you even have them - you may not, and if you don't, you'll have to add some wiring. and then find out which wires operate which lights - beam, brake, turn signals, oil, tail/stop, whatever lights you have. you'll need to understand how these work. going from a standard no-tach instrument cluster in a 94 sentra to one with a tach seemed pretty straightforward, but to my surprise all the wires were different, even though both clusters had the same features and same harness. it is possible to do the conversion though. you'd hafta do what I did in the blazer: look at wiring diagrams, look at both clusters, write down the physical layout of the wiring harness and which wires operate which gauges and warning lights, and probably cut and re-arrange the layout of some wires. I had to switch over the oil pressure switch from one for the warning light only to one for a gauge, and the same with the water temperature sending unit, and run new wiring from them to the new panel. no, it wasn't easy, it was very time consuming, and I did mess up on several occasions. but it CAN be done. now that I'm done, I'm happy now, knowing that I have gauges I can rely on rather than a light that's simply on or off.

moral of the story? it's ultimately your decision. you can probably get a reconditioned digital cluster off e-bay or something that might even have a warranty. it might run you about $100 or more, but it's as easy as taking the old out and putting the new in. if you decide to take on the conversion, we're here to help. I can scan any diagrams you need out of my '88 FSM.

Dan

 

I can't verify the accuracy of this, but I was once told that Nissan digital dashes rarely go bad. What does is the control box for them. Like I said, I don't know if this is true, but it might be worth looking into.

 

Yeah, I'm unsure of the accuracy of that as well.

S

 

question... when you feel this heat, can you smell coolant too?

Dan