I brought my Z to the dealership to swap out the stock radiator for a new Mishimoto one. Not the double walled racing type, just an OEM spec replacement. Also swapped out the thermostat and gasket, both were Nissan OEM.

Drove the car home, noticed the fans would kick on when they didn't before. Then I noticed there was no heat coming from the heater. It also reeked of coolant. Temp gauge was in the middle which I've never seen before, it's always been just slightly below it. Popped open the hood and found coolant leaking from the clamp on the radiator overflow hose. It's a mess in there.

I'm going to bring it back tomorrow, but does anyone have any idea why this might be happening?

 

Update: I brought it back to the dealership. It was just a leak in the hose at the clamp. They tried to blame the age of the hose and the size difference between the Mishimoto and OEM radiator overflow hose connector. BS!! - they overtightened it and didn't double check their work.

Anyway, they literally snipped 2" off the overflow hose and reclamped it. They had to bleed the system again too. Good to go now.

 

Dealerships tend to have some of the worst techs.

All of the flunkies from my shop classes always ended up at dealerships or stop n live shops.

I don't take my car to the dealer unless I absolutely have to under warranty. Find a REAL good private mechanic. Also for the fact dealerships charge 10x cause people just assume it's better.

 

I haven't found that dealerships charge more. Actually, they're about half the rate of a race shop. I usually go to the dealership because they give me a free rental. Drop off mine, leave in theirs and on with my day.

I agree, the mechanics that you get there are hit or miss at best but they're usually quick to warranty their work. In this case they at least admitted it and fixed it.

 

How much did you pay to get the radiator replaced at the dealer?

 

About $150 with the coolant flush. I had them do it along with replacing the alternator, so I was out of there for around $300 with a free rental for the day.