Datsunawi Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 Whats up people? So Yesterday I flew down to Cali to pick up a beautiful 79 810. My planes were to pick up the car and leave back to WA, but unfortunately things are not going as planned. Now i'm stuck somewhere in Santa Clarita with a FUCKING clogged Radiator. The temp keeps climbing up as I start driving down the hwy. HRH advised me to check thermostat since the car sat for too long, changed that, but it doesn't seem to do the trick. Stopped driving cuz loosing time is better than blowing the head, I guess? IF anyone can help recore the Radiator or has an extra Radiator sitting, will pay for it, just need tools. Hit me up with suggestions. Quote Link to comment
Datsunawi Posted June 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 Will start moving again soon till I get to Bakersfield... Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 If any doubt whatever, remove the thermostat. This can be replaced later. Vehicle speed alone will cool the rad even without the fan turning. The water pump MUST be turning so check the bely condition and tension. Turn the air con off if you have it on. Turn the heater on full hot and fan. This will act like an auxiliary rad. If the heater is disconnected and the hose from the head to the lower rad hose looped, clamp it off with vise-grips or what ever to stop the flow. This is hot water that is by-passing the cooling system and must be stopped. Rev engine and observe the lower rad hose. Does it collapse from water pump suction???? This could be a worn out and softened hose... or the rad is plugged. Take the rad cap off and look. Is there hard water scale or rust showing?? Remove lower hose at the pump inlet (less chance of snapping rad outlet off) and flush with garden hose. Inspect the rad fins and tubes for dirt, bugs, leaves and other debris. Power wash usually blows it out. Excessively retarded ignition timing will waste heat out the exhaust ports where the cooling system will absorb it. A lean mixture will run hotter. Quote Link to comment
LenRobertson Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 I don't know if driving at night helps enough to keep you going. Unfortunately it is hot everywhere on the west coast this weekend. When you look down into the radiator do the top of the tubes look like they are partially blocked by mineral deposits? If they are then it is probably time time to change the radiator, but if they look fairly open then there is a slim chance of something else causing the problem. A soft lower radiator hose that can collapse is one thought. I had high temp reading on my L20B when I first installed it. Turned out to be an air bubble in the thermostat housing right at the temp sender. If you can find a shop with an IR temp gun (or buy one at an auto parts) you could be sure the gauge is reading correctly. But these are wild ideas. Probably the radiator is bad. I don't know if a 280Z radiator is the same. Might be easier to find one. I don't know the cost of renting a tow dolly and a truck to pull it, but it might be cheaper than screwing up the engine from overheating. Probably as cheap to buy a new radiator if you can find one. I don't know how soon you need to be back home either. Sometimes you have to spend money to save time. That is why the tow dolly might be worth considering. datzenmike just posted some good ideas, but I'll post what I wrote just in case it helps. Len Quote Link to comment
510farmer Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 I'm in bakersfield did you make it through I don't have parts because bakersfield is a Datsun dry county But I have tools Farmer Quote Link to comment
HRH Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 Info not included was this car was last registered in '09, and has obscenely low miles on it. However, that doesn't mean something couldn't have sludged up the radiator. I figured the thermostat more likely. One thing you should probably do, pull a spark plug or two, and see what the color is. If super white hot, you're running lean. Medium brown to tan is good. Dark nasty is rich. You can over heat from too rich or too lean. Too lean will cause detonation, too rich will cause excessive fuel waste and spatter out the tailpipe. If you have access to an infrared temperature gun (Harbor Freight), use that to spot temp the radiator and look for high or low points indicating a clogged system. And not to piss in your cheerios, but I do find it ironic that your 610 has a new 810 radiator in it. :D Sorry man, just couldn't resist. Quote Link to comment
Datsunawi Posted June 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 Aright, so couldn't make it Bakersfield because of the hills between LA and Bakersfield, which killed the poor thing. So I had to go back to Santa Clarita, I looked up Radiator shops and there seems to be enough in Santa Clarita so i'm staying till I fix it up. Datzenmike, I did check all of what you have suggested, and I have narrowed it down to two reason 1-bad fan clutch 2-plugged Radi. Both things are the reason for the problem. I couldn't see plugged passages, though I saw a big chunk of hard water scale right between the middle passages, so there must be worse than that on the sides and bottom of the Radi. Now, I did drive it with the heater all the way up, and now I stink like a dog! and it didn't help too! I've had the same problem with the 610, and these are the same symptoms + same radiator condition as the 610. The 610 even had a solid clutch fan and it used to over heat climbing up the hills and such. Len, about the 280z radiator I don't think it's going to fit cuz it's wider if I remember right. and thank you for the input bro :thumbup: Farmar thanks man, will keep you in the picture if something came up. HRH, hahaha thats real IRONY. Thanks all....WIll keep you posted. Quote Link to comment
Datsunawi Posted June 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 Thats how high it got going up the hill ^^^ I just hope nothing goes bad on the L24! Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 Not high enough. You're within the normal range, though slightly high in it. Run with the rad cap loose and carry extra water. Quote Link to comment
Datsunawi Posted June 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 dup thanks for the pm. So to update and narrow it even more..Went out and replaced the fan clutch, which seems to cool it down a little in city, but once I'm on the highway it goes up like crazy, especially today since it's extremely hot. So I called it a day again, extended my stay and will see what tomorrow brings. Mike, I think I'm not with in normal range, because after it got to that point of heat, the car started smoking, I let the car run with heater all the way up, poured some water over the radiator till it cooled down a bit then shut it off for 10mins and that cooled it. Thanks all, and wish me luck... Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 Um...have you checked around for a radiator? Quote Link to comment
Datsunawi Posted June 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 i'm still digging online, but no luck...I did find newer 810's radiator (80-84) not sure if it will fit or not. but will ask HRH since he has them cars. Quote Link to comment
Datsunawi Posted June 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 Never mind, found the dimensions for 83 maxima radiator. (core height 16 7/8"- core width 25 1/2")..maybe it will work. will measure the one on the car and see? measured the one on the 810 its Core: height 14" width 24" Radiato from side to side: height 19 1/4" width 27 1/2" anything within that spec? Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 If it were me, I'd be at the LAPS finding anything with close input/output and will fit in the space, then grabbing a handful of zipties :P Quote Link to comment
Datsunawi Posted June 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 hahahah...That how it will eventually end Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 Clutch fan is only needed for stop and go driving. On the highway enough air is forced through the rad by vehicle speed to keep it cool. Do you have air con???? Is the air con heat exchanger blocking the rad???? Did you remove the thermostat like I suggested???? Did you remove the lower hose and flush with a garden hose like suggested??? Did you clean the outside of the core with a pressure wash???? Quote Link to comment
Datsunawi Posted June 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 OK Mike, yes it dose have a/c so yes heater is blocking the rad. Didn't really understand that the clutch is only for stops, you see, we have an Isuzu pick up back home, and whenever you going up the hill, or when its hot out side, the clutch would lock up and would hear the fan scream, so I figured the one on the 810 functions the same. as for removing thermostat, that will be done today when i'm swapping the 280z that dhp123166 has. it was extremely hot today, so I just parked the car and called it a day, since driving around is not my best option. lastly, I'm staying at a motel, I have no access to a garden hose in here hahaha. Though located a car wash close to here maybe will flush it, if dhp doesn't call or something. also found an other problem that I'm going to fix tonight as will. the black plastic fan housing was touching with the fan, saw it when I was measuring. so that might be one of the issues right there. (not sure of the name but hope u know what I mean) Quote Link to comment
HRH Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 The fan clutch should get harder to turn as the temperature increases. As Mike says, when the car is moving down the road, there's enough airflow going through the condenser and radiator that the fan clutch won't be turning full hard. At idle, the heat increases and the fluid inside stiffens up and causes it to act like a solid fan. In really hot temperatures it will be turning even at speed. Like today at 105, the clutch will be locked pretty hard even while going down the interstate. It's like running into a blast furnace. Not much cooling effect. Considering home is Saudi, your fan clutch would likely be running hard the whole time due to the ambient temperature being hotter than blazes. Quote Link to comment
Datsunawi Posted June 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2015 Update: Alright first thank you all for the great suggestions, without your help I couldn't have made it. And this is what made Datsun "Ratsun" Community different in the first place, is knowing people, working on cars and making the time useful in all ways. DHP123166: your help was highly appreciated, letting me use your place says a lot about you man... :thumbup: So, I after we flushed the radi and took thermostat out, test drove it and the temperature sat cooler than before, so that gave me confidence in leaving, then DHP suggested taking US101 route and that solved the problem of going up hills on the I-5. Left at around 1ish pm after 23 hours and 1100 miles I made it with no issues to speak of. It did over heat but that due to extremely hot weather around 104F. Once night hit i was able to drive at higher speeds with no issues at all... Again thank you all.. This at DHPs place... :D 3 Quote Link to comment
HRH Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 Mohammed and Austin showed up at NAPA today with the car. Pretty good condition, needs some vacuum leaks fixed and a few little things like deep dish 15's! :D Quote Link to comment
510farmer Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 Good to hear, kept checking the thread to see if they made it through my neck of the woods Than to find out they bypassed the hill all together Glad to hear she made it Thx farmer 1 Quote Link to comment
dhp123166 Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 Update: Alright first thank you all for the great suggestions, without your help I couldn't have made it. And this is what made Datsun "Ratsun" Community different in the first place, is knowing people, working on cars and making the time useful in all ways. DHP123166: your help was highly appreciated, letting me use your place says a lot about you man... :thumbup: So, I after we flushed the radi and took thermostat out, test drove it and the temperature sat cooler than before, so that gave me confidence in leaving, then DHP suggested taking US101 route and that solved the problem of going up hills on the I-5. Left at around 1ish pm after 23 hours and 1100 miles I made it with no issues to speak of. It did over heat but that due to extremely hot weather around 104F. Once night hit i was able to drive at higher speeds with no issues at all... Again thank you all.. This at DHPs place... :D Glad to be of service Mohammed. Thanks. I am happy you made it home okay. Once you get those vehicular issues sorted, you've got a sweet and complete Datsun! Quote Link to comment
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