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Max's 1986 Nissan 720 King Cab 4x4: "Big Bird"


MaxChlan

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My bias was showing there. To me, a truck with a canopy is like a stat5ion wagon minus the comfortable back seat. So I would not favor a canopy for my uses. But if you had one on, for sure the dog is going to want to stick his head through into the cab- if he doesn’t have shotgun privs.

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Over here we get lots of snow, so the dry space is amazing. And when it came with the truck why not use it? Also it is even more weight on the back wheels so you need less sand and straw bales (My 4wd was broken all winter).

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  • 1 month later...

I got a hair up my ass today and decided to see what a 720 hides behind it's slightly cracked dashboard and faux wood trim. I looked in the service manual and it said that it could be done in nine steps. Seems easy enough. The first steps were; package tray, steering column cover, cluster and all of its fun quirks (like the complete lack of slack in the speedo cable). Removing the eight screws holding the dash in place was fairly easy (except for having to use the smallest socket extension even to get the ones next to the windshield). The struggle was getting the cables from behind the radio disconnected. I had to resort to two pairs of needle nose pliers to get them apart, and it took me about ten minutes to figure out how to take apart the cigarette lighter. After all that was done, I hauled the dash out and disconnected the (I assume to be) antenna cable, as well as all of the HVAC stuff, which was the real reason why I was in there: I wanted to clean out the pipes and seal any leaks. 

 

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I've thought for a while that my truck did not have the greatest blower motor, but I had a sneaking suspicion that I had leaks as well. Turns out a did, as the AC and heater had disconnected and was causing a fairly sizeable amount of loss from the blower. A little duct tape fixed that: 

 

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Once that was done, I cleaned out all of the pipes with warm soapy water, and let everything air dry for a while. I adjusted the doors in the system as well so that they closed tighter when moving the switch; I think that will help a bit as well. 

 

Once everything was adjusted and cleaned, I went ahead and put everything back together. Putting the dash back in was a little bit harder than taking it out; getting the pipes to line up was the hardest. Getting all of the wires for the radio reconnected was a pain too, especially the long connector that holds a resistor of some sort. Once everything was back into place, the rest of the assembly was pretty straight forward (mostly because this was my fourth time taking the cluster out of my truck since I've owned it). Overall, I thought this was a good learning experience and some insight into how the lomb sits back there; this experiment will be useful when I install a new head unit or speakers in the future. For now, I will just enjoy my nice AC that smells like Dawn.

 

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Also, does anyone know what this blue wire is for? It is located under the steering column, and is wrapped around the ignition wires. 

 

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  • 2 months later...

Today I replaced the radiator, hoses, and thermostat in the truck. It was my first time doing it, so I struggled with getting certain parts off. All of the screws (why not use bolts?) that held the the fan shroud into place were rusty, and pretty hard to crack open with the small screw driver needed to even reach them. Of course, one of the lower screws was completely seized, and after lots of penetrating fluid and patience, it stripped out, so I had to get a M18 drill in there to drill it out, which was fairly annoying. Once the shroud unattached, I had a fun time getting it out without cracking it more (mine is already broken on the bottom from what seems to be the install of the radiator I was taking out). Once the shroud was out though, getting to the bolts for the radiator wasn't to bad. I had to do some funky extension combinations to get just the right length to work the ratchet, but I got it out. I thought it was irritating that the drain cock did not have a proper place to drain out, and just kind of leaked over a cross-member (with the skid plate removed, of course). The hoses were OEM Nissan and were a pain in the ass to get off, but after a few bloody knuckles those were gone too. They were completely filled with a film of corrosion, so obviously I did not reuse them. With the radiator out of the truck, I did a quick comparison of the two radiators to comfirm that they were mostly the same: 

 

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A quick look down the radiator confirmed that this shit was rusty as hell:

 

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Once I removed the water outlet, I had to take a pliers and haul the old thermostat out from its crusty tomb:

 

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I failed to get any meaningful pictures of the rest, but everything went together fairly easily, except for the new thermostat, which would not sit still to tighten down the new gasket. I had to hold it up with my fingers while hand tightening the bolts and then tightening them with a ratchet to get it to sit in the correct position inside the groove. 

 

The hoses I used were from Amazon and Autozone:

 

Lower Hose: https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-24099L-Professional-Molded-Coolant/dp/B000C9NLEG/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1505683816&vehicle=1985-67-2778-176-78-32-8-8-5140-1968-9-2-1819--3-0&sr=1-2&ymm=1985%3Anissan%3A720&keywords=Lower+radiator+hose

 

Upper Hose: http://www.autozone.com/cooling-heating-and-climate-control/hose-upper/dayco-hose-upper-/886523_0_10495_3918\

 

Gasket: http://www.autozone.com/cooling-heating-and-climate-control/thermostat-gasket/felpro-thermostat-gasket/68313_0_15298

 

The Upper hose was mostly the same as the OEM hose, but slightly longer on the end that goes into the water outlet. That was actually a good thing, and made it go on easier. As for the lower hose, it was a bit different from the OEM one, and had to kink slightly on the radiator side to fit. Once it was hot however, that kink went away. I would try a different one if I had to do it over again. The end result was the same however, and I am fairly happy with how it turned out. I ended up leaving the fan shroud off, because the screws would not fit in the new radiator. I might install it at some point, but I kind of like not having that bit of plastic in the way:

 

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You know how when you replace components that are under pressure, the next weakest link fails? I should have learned when I replaced the clutch, then the slave, and then the master in the span of three weeks, but nooooooooo:

 

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After my radiator job, a hose started leaking, and it is probably the hardest one to get to. Where the lower radiator hose meets the block, there is another hose that takes a 90 out of the block and goes to under the intake manifold. I'm pretty sure it is a feed hose for the heater core, and it is approximately 10 or so inches in length. Thankfully there is already a post out there for this, so I will just follow what is on there for the replacement. For those that like OEM, I think the part is 92422M on this diagram, which is found under the heater section on the Nissan Parts USA website:

 

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Fun fun fun

Edited by MaxChlan
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  • 3 months later...

Just a fun update: It was -15 degrees fahrenheit in Minnesota this morning, and I had to get home from a friends house. I do not think this truck has ever seen temperatures this cold in it's life (Cali truck), and it sure was not happy about it, but it did start without too much issue. Couple of pumps, turned the key and after a few wubs it started up. My biggest concern was actually the transmission oil because the transmission lever was very stiff as well as the clutch. After letting the oil warm up I took it very gently and just kept it in fourth gear the whole way home. The variety of conditions that this truck can handle considering its age amazes me. A question for the Canadians on the forum: Do any of you run those stick on oil pan heaters to keep the engine oil warm? I've been thinking about picking one up because as fun as it is to drive in these conditions, I know it's hard on engine components when the oil is that cold. 

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Not Canadian here but still gets cold in mass... I have a block heater on my chevy... it actually heated the coolant not the oil.. I like it a little better because you have heat when you get in the truck and it does also warm the oil because it keeps the whole block warm....

I like the idea of a block heater; i've never had any experience with them, and I am unsure if there are any options for the Z24 engine. I'd like to learn more. 

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I like the idea of a block heater; i've never had any experience with them, and I am unsure if there are any options for the Z24 engine. I'd like to learn more.

I don't think these are motor specific....

 

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I believe you insert this inplace of one of the freeze plugs on the block.... but I couldn't find diameter specs. You'll have to dig a bit deeper.... but they are nice for the really cold days....

My biggest concern with having it plugged in was remembering it was plugged in....

I would hook the extension cord over my wiper so I would remember to unplug it...

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So, the top one would require a fair amount of work for the Z24 (exhaust manifold removal I think), and the second option would require some shortening of hoses to make it fit, and it just heats the water in the lower hose and eventually the radiator when you plug it in overnight?

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Exhaust manifold removal takes 10-15 minutes?

I might try a water heater on one truck and a block heater on the other and compare.

 

Honestly I would rather remove an exhaust manifold that a lower radiator hose. But that's just me, and I have a garage.

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Exhaust manifold removal takes 10-15 minutes?

I might try a water heater on one truck and a block heater on the other and compare.

 

Honestly I would rather remove an exhaust manifold that a lower radiator hose. But that's just me, and I have a garage.

I've never removed a manifold before so I just assumed it would be more difficult than taking a hose off. I've had more experience with the hoses in this truck than I'd like to. Right now I have a mystery coolant leak that does not happen all the time, and is really starting to get annoying because sometimes it'll piddle a few drops and other times it'll take a piss all over the floor in the garage. I think it might be one my the freeze plugs, actually. There was so much corrosion in the old radiator...  <_<

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Yeah I am not a fan of the lower radiator hoses either. The manifold is just 8 12 mil bolts so its not difficult at all (I have way too much experience taking off the manifolds :) ), might be good just to replace the gaskets. If you have bolt on hangers it makes things way easier if you remove one of the hangers.

 

I had a coolant leak, but that was just because someone else used a ton of RTV instead of a thermostat gasket. Smh

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So, the top one would require a fair amount of work for the Z24 (exhaust manifold removal I think), and the second option would require some shortening of hoses to make it fit, and it just heats the water in the lower hose and eventually the radiator when you plug it in overnight?

I think the 2nd one is the easier install but you bring up a good point of the radiator.... I would think the one in the freeze plug would be better since it heats the coolant in the block first before the heat eventually gets out to the radiator...

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I think the 2nd one is the easier install but you bring up a good point of the radiator.... I would think the one in the freeze plug would be better since it heats the coolant in the block first before the heat eventually gets out to the radiator...

My thoughts exactly. What's the point of heating coolant outside if the thermostat would be closed and not preventing flow? I do not think it would help with cold starts either. 

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My thoughts exactly. What's the point of heating coolant outside if the thermostat would be closed and not preventing flow? I do not think it would help with cold starts either.

I think it would still heat the coolant in the block through the water pump but I agree I don't think it wouldn't work As well as one installed in the block....

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Does anyone have a Z24 out of their truck and could measure the diameter of the left rear freeze plug? I'm looking at this block heater. Amazon says it fits, but obviously doesn't tell me which freeze plug it would fit in. I say the left rear because that is the one on my truck that is having some leaking issues, and if I can replace that one with a block heater, it would kill two birds with one stone. If you happen to have the freeze plug off, I would also like to know the depth from the edge of the hole to the cylinder wall, because it would suck if the element was too long. 

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