Buying affordable Pathy, What to keep attention to? Advice?

Any topics related to 2005-2012 R51

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is it even a good idea to buy pathfinder at this high mileage?

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ikulichkin
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Postby ikulichkin » Sun May 24, 2020 11:10 am

smj999smj wrote:A lot of people like the Spectra Premium radiators. It's a Canadian company, but the radiator is made in China (as most are) with a 2-year warranty. Rockauto.com carries them and other choices, as well.
Great,
thanks for the tip. Any resource you recommend to compare what aftermarket radiator to choose?
Which one did you put on your truck?


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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Sun May 24, 2020 5:44 pm

There really aren't too many radiators that are still made in the USA unless you are talking about racing and/or all-aluminum radiators that cost several hundreds of dollars, like Griffin Radiators. Most of the plastic-tanked radiators (similar to the OE part) are made in China, with some made in places like Indonesia or Mexico. If you come across one, let us know! If you are looking for OE quality but don't want to pay the $450 or so for the "original Nissan part," Nissan does offer its "Value Line" radiators as a competitive option. I think you can get them for between $250-300, but whether they are worth double the price of an aftermarket unit is debatable.

The radiator in my 2006 is about 6-years old. At the time, it was $92 on Ebay. It wasn't a major brand, but it appeared to be built well. I had the option of a 2-1/4" single-core (like the original) or a 2-1/8" double-core, which is what I went with. I did notice the petcock threads were a different thread pitch than the original, but it came with a petcock so it wasn't any big deal. My 2008 has a Koyorad in it. I purchased it brand new in the box from a former member of these forums for $50; he had purchased it to put in his Pathfinder but then sold it before he got a chance. That's been installed about 5-years. I've had no issues with either.

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ikulichkin
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Postby ikulichkin » Mon May 25, 2020 7:55 pm

smj999smj wrote:There really aren't too many radiators that are still made in the USA unless you are talking about racing and/or all-aluminum radiators that cost several hundreds of dollars, like Griffin Radiators. Most of the plastic-tanked radiators (similar to the OE part) are made in China, with some made in places like Indonesia or Mexico. If you come across one, let us know! If you are looking for OE quality but don't want to pay the $450 or so for the "original Nissan part," Nissan does offer its "Value Line" radiators as a competitive option. I think you can get them for between $250-300, but whether they are worth double the price of an aftermarket unit is debatable.

The radiator in my 2006 is about 6-years old. At the time, it was $92 on Ebay. It wasn't a major brand, but it appeared to be built well. I had the option of a 2-1/4" single-core (like the original) or a 2-1/8" double-core, which is what I went with. I did notice the petcock threads were a different thread pitch than the original, but it came with a petcock so it wasn't any big deal. My 2008 has a Koyorad in it. I purchased it brand new in the box from a former member of these forums for $50; he had purchased it to put in his Pathfinder but then sold it before he got a chance. That's been installed about 5-years. I've had no issues with either.
I'm not as risky as you to go with radiator i know nothing about. My anxiety is already high from not getting the OEM :lol:

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Postby smj999smj » Tue May 26, 2020 9:26 pm

When I got the Ebay radiator, the SMOD issue was still in its early days, at least as far as the information we knew about it. There wasn't a lot of replacement options on the aftermarket as far as major name brands, so it was either go with the $550 Nissan radiator (there was no "Value Line" option at the time) or go with an Ebay unit., usually made in China as the majority of radiators still are. Koyorad, on the other hand, is pretty well known to Asian car enthusiasts. They are a Japanese company that have been around close to 65 years and make a number of cooling system products.

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Re: Buying affordable Pathy, What to keep attention to? Advice?

Postby ikulichkin » Wed Aug 26, 2020 10:00 pm

Hi guys, I thought I will post an update.
I bought 2009 76k miles SE v6 3 months ago and I love it so far.
I changed radiator per SMJ advice and have Spectra premium one.
Installed OEM skid plates.
Changed couple of gaskets and fully changed all brakes and rotors.
Also, the previous owner installed single din pioneer radio with Bluetooth calling and music.

It drives great, and to be completely honest I don’t notice much of the difference from my leased 2017 Grand Cherokee I had before. Obviously Grand Cherokee WK2 is more luxurious, but the drive feel isn’t that different. All that for around 4-5 times less expensive.
The only function I miss is the three blinks with a touch of turn signal.

The funny part is that as I have been seeing a ton of pathfinder all around New York, I found the least rusty ones in Brooklyn. Upstate New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut all were a lot worse. Weird if you ask me. I always expected the proximity to ocean to have a big impact on rust.

Overall, I absolutely love it. Obviously it does drive like a truck, but I personally like it better.

Can’t wait to close some deals to reward myself with upgrades like bigger wheels, CAI, exhaust system, manifold spaces.

Thank you, everyone for being active on the forum, so I was able to make a great decision!

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Re: Buying affordable Pathy, What to keep attention to? Advice?

Postby palmerwmd » Thu Aug 27, 2020 12:02 pm

Happy to hear it brother!

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Re: Buying affordable Pathy, What to keep attention to? Advice?

Postby smj999smj » Sat Sep 05, 2020 3:31 am

The CAI is a waste of money and you likely won't feel any performance advantage with the exhaust system mods as well; trust me, I've done both! The XTP plenum spacer and a performance tuner (Superchips, Bullydog GT) will make a noticeable difference and are relatively cheap and easy to do. Save the money on the exhaust and CAI and put it towards your bigger wheels and tires.


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