Coolant leak

[psinsyd]

Welp, after the dealer installed my Stillen radiator, I have a slow drip on the driveway which seems beyond them to resolve.

First attempt was they found a clamp that wasn't "clamping to spec" and replaced it with a hose clamp.

Second attempt was that they put pressure in the system and put miles on the vehicle, and they think it's "residual coolant dripping", which ummm, no you don't smell residual coolant on the frame when the vehicle is hot.

This is the same dealership that said I had fluid on one of the skid plates from when I had driveline service done by a different dealership, only to find the transfer case drain plug hand tightened when I crawled under it.

Guess I'll be crawling under it this weekend to check things out. Any suggestions on where to focus on would be appreciated. It's definitely at the front of the vehicle towards the passenger side. I've done plenty of vehicle work but never really on the cooling system.

Next thing will be off to find a reliable independent repair shop. May be my first and last Nissan based on dealership service alone.

*rant over*

[eieio]

Welp, after the dealer installed my Stillen radiator, I have a slow drip on the driveway which seems beyond them to resolve.

First attempt was they found a clamp that wasn't "clamping to spec" and replaced it with a hose clamp.

Second attempt was that they put pressure in the system and put miles on the vehicle, and they think it's "residual coolant dripping", which ummm, no you don't smell residual coolant on the frame when the vehicle is hot.

This is the same dealership that said I had fluid on one of the skid plates from when I had driveline service done by a different dealership, only to find the transfer case drain plug hand tightened when I crawled under it.

Guess I'll be crawling under it this weekend to check things out. Any suggestions on where to focus on would be appreciated. It's definitely at the front of the vehicle towards the passenger side. I've done plenty of vehicle work but never really on the cooling system.

Next thing will be off to find a reliable independent repair shop. May be my first and last Nissan based on dealership service alone.

*rant over*

I'm surprised that they would install an aftermarket part at a dealer.
welp, I'd recommend:
thoroughly clean & dry all affected areas of coolant residue, crawl under & find the leak
find an independent shop to fix it (if you can't fix it yourself)
there aren't too many places it could be leaking from unless the radiator itself is defective
many of us probably wouldn't own Nissans based upon dealership service experiences
but in fairness, most dealership service departments (any brand) can be quite questionable in competence
BTW: did the Stillen come with the foam insulator pads on it, did you buy new ones, or re-use the old ones?

[psinsyd]

Welp, after the dealer installed my Stillen radiator, I have a slow drip on the driveway which seems beyond them to resolve.

First attempt was they found a clamp that wasn't "clamping to spec" and replaced it with a hose clamp.

Second attempt was that they put pressure in the system and put miles on the vehicle, and they think it's "residual coolant dripping", which ummm, no you don't smell residual coolant on the frame when the vehicle is hot.

This is the same dealership that said I had fluid on one of the skid plates from when I had driveline service done by a different dealership, only to find the transfer case drain plug hand tightened when I crawled under it.

Guess I'll be crawling under it this weekend to check things out. Any suggestions on where to focus on would be appreciated. It's definitely at the front of the vehicle towards the passenger side. I've done plenty of vehicle work but never really on the cooling system.

Next thing will be off to find a reliable independent repair shop. May be my first and last Nissan based on dealership service alone.

*rant over*

I'm surprised that they would install an aftermarket part at a dealer.
welp, I'd recommend:
thoroughly clean & dry all affected areas of coolant residue, crawl under & find the leak
find an independent shop to fix it (if you can't fix it yourself)
there aren't too many places it could be leaking from unless the radiator itself is defective
many of us probably wouldn't own Nissans based upon dealership service experiences
but in fairness, most dealership service departments (any brand) can be quite questionable in competence
BTW: did the Stillen come with the foam insulator pads on it, did you buy new ones, or re-use the old ones?

Thanks eieio.

Plan on checking it out this weekend. Couldn't tell ya on the foam pads. Didn't crack the box open before I brought it in for the install. Where should I look for the pads?

I'll poke around under the truck hopefully this weekend and update on findings.

[smj999smj]

The foam is on the forward side seam of the tanks. I doubt it came with them, but I wouldn't lose any sleep if you don't have them installed.

[psinsyd]

The foam is on the forward side seam of the tanks. I doubt it came with them, but I wouldn't lose any sleep if you don't have them installed.

Gotcha, thanks smj! I'll keep everyone posted with what I end up finding when I crawl under there.

[psinsyd]

Finally crawled under the truck over the weekend to find that the leak seemed pretty far up in the radiator and I didn't want to start tearing the front end of the Pathy apart.

Was able to get it into a different Nissan dealer near my office, and they found that the radiator, which is a CSF radiator, was defective. Went with the dealer-recommended aftermarket radiator, which ended up also being a CSF radiator. The factory radiator was ridiculously priced.

I'm currently working with Stillen and have sent pics of the bad radiator to them. They're working with CSF for a refund due to it being defective. No damage or anything visible where the radiator was leaking, but it looked to be leaking at the front, towards the lower left corner.

I'll continue to update here, and I'm relieved it's finally fixed with no more drops in the driveway, and I've found what seems to be a decent dealership so far.

Thanks guys.

[eieio]

I thought you had a Stillen radiator installed
What does CSF have to do with this?

[psinsyd]

I thought you had a Stillen radiator installed
What does CSF have to do with this?

The Stillen radiator is an aluminum radiator manufactured by CSF and sold by Stillen. Not a Stillen-made radiator.

[psinsyd]

I thought you had a Stillen radiator installed
What does CSF have to do with this?

The Stillen radiator is an aluminum radiator manufactured by CSF and sold by Stillen. Not a Stillen-made radiator.

Here's the thread where I posted pics when it was first installed and you can see the CSF sticker on the top along with the cap. I'll post pics of it out of the truck, where CSF is painted huge on the front of it too.

http://www.thenissanpath.com/viewtopic.php?t=11749

[eieio]

.......wow, what a hassle
who covers the labor the second time?
where is the CSF made?

[psinsyd]

.......wow, what a hassle
who covers the labor the second time?
where is the CSF made?

A hassle to say the least!

I'm on the hook for labor since the first dealership was worthless and kept being "unable to find any issues" even though I had a spot on my driveway every morning.

I brought it to another dealership that diagnosed the issue right away and got it resolved.

Looks like CSF is based out of Rialto, CA.

I'll keep updating this thread with status of the refund. I've supplied pics through Stillen who is relaying them to CSF, and am sending them the serial number of the radiator tomorrow.

[McMac]

I went with the CSF aluminum radiator from Stillen as well. Dealer installed today ($329) and will pickup tomorrow. The Stillen rep who I ordered from told me they are made in India.

[eieio]

.......wow, what a hassle!!!!!!
thanks for keeping us up to date on this

[psinsyd]

.......wow, what a hassle!!!!!!
thanks for keeping us up to date on this

Hassle indeed. Now it seems Stillen wants to go radio silent on the issue via email. I'm going to call them today and if I get no movement, let the credit card company deal with it, which I never do and really hate to, but if I receive a bad product from the factory, I at least would like a refund. I'm not asking for any labor costs or anything like that.

At this point, I cannot really recommend it but I'm hoping I'm the exception rather than the norm.

I'll continue to update this thread as I have further updates.

I can say though, no issues whatsoever with the CSF radiator the dealer installed.

[psinsyd]

CSF requested that the unit be destroyed on site and also requested pics of the damage. Did a good number to it, making sure there were some good holes in the unit, and sent the pics to Stillen.

Once CSF has the pics, they will offer a refund.

I'll be following up with Stillen to see where it currently stands.