V37 Radiator removal

[Duncan]

So, this shouldn't be such a mission, but there were a few tricks so I thought I'd post up a DIY for it.

This was on a Q50 Red Sport but I doubt any other V37 model is very different (maybe just less steps for the intake heat exchanger hoses)

I pulled the radiator out to flush it because the car was running hot at the track, but obviously the same steps apply for changing a radiator for any reason including an upgrade.

If you are removing the radiator, you of course need to drain and refill, so have 5+ litres of blue coolant ready. You also need to drain the intake heat exchanger to remove the radiator so you will need a couple of litres for that as well.

You will also need something to deal with the auto transmission lines, I used 2x 8mm rubber caps on the radiator side, and a short length of 8mm pipe on the car side.....unless you can block these lines quickly you will loose AT fluid and it may be enough to hurt the transmission if you don't refill it.

2 other tools that really help dealing with coolant lines and spring clamps are

Bent Needle Nose pliers

Hose pliers

Between them they will reduce the frustration (and injury) potential by about 1000%

Other than that....lets go...

"First, jack up your car".

Yes really, and put it safely on stands. If you are not confident doing that you need to give this job to a mechanic

[Duncan]

To drain the Intake Heat Exchanger, there is a crappy drain plug in front of the driver's side front tyre:

You should use the largest headed phillips screwdriver you had, and in my case I needed vice grips on the hose above as the plug was tight (tighter than it needed to be, since it has an o-ring seal). 

After you have a tray down and open the drain, open the intake heat exchanger reservoir cap (drivers side one) and you should get a couple of litres of coolant

To get to the radiator, you need to remove the plastic engine undertray. It is held on with a series of 10mm headed bolts and some clips.

For the radiator, there is another type of crappy drain (kind of like a plastic banjo bolt) and you should attach a length of hose to direct the stream of coolant per this pic (otherwise the coolant hits the rad support and goes everywhere). The drain is on the rear of the radiator on the driver's side and a bit hard to find.

Put a big tray or bucket down (5l won't be enough) and slowly unscrew the fitting by hand. You only want to remove it far enough for coolant to flow, it you unscrew it right out the whole fitting and direction pipe will come off and you will get a coolant bath (yum!). Undo the radiator reservoir cap and it should empty about 8l

[Duncan]

Next you need to remove the intake duct (as with pretty much every job on these cars), it is a series of clips you gently remove with a flat bladed screwdriver. They do get brittle with time and can break, and I have not found a decent quality aftermarket one that fits (they are all too soft or flimsy and don't last either) but the nissan ones are a couple of bucks each (ouch).  Once the clips are off (either 8 or 10, I didn't check) you lift the intake duct out and will see the reservoirs

Undo the line into the radiator side cap (some bent needle nosed piers are awesome for spring clamps) and then remove the 4x 10m nuts that hold both in place. 

I didn't get these pics, but remove the line under the radiator reservoir (spring clamp again) then remove that reservoir.

Then you can get at the intake reservoir, same thing, spring clamp underneath then remove it.

BTW This is a great time to put in a larger (+70%) combined reservoir that AMS makes.....

https://www.amsperformance.com/product/q50-q60-red-alpha-coolant-expansion-tank/

They also make an Infiniti branded and part# version if that is your thing

[Duncan]

Next, remove the upper and lower radiator hoses, both are held with a spring clamp.

While you are under there, tackle the Auto Trans cooler lines.  Again both are held on with spring clamps, and as mentioned above you should cap them on the radiator side with an 8mm cap, and on the car side loop them with a length of 8mm pipe - this will stop you losing a dangerous amount of AT fluid during the rest of the job

If you've been meaning to add a sender for AT trans temp, this is a great time to do it; put a sender fitting into the passenger side line as that is the inlet to the cooler/radiator.

[Duncan]

OK, now we are ready to get started.

You need to remove the air boxes on each side for clearance. The cover is straightforward, undo the clips on the top and lift the front cover out of the rest of the housing. If it is tight you can remove the air filters first.

The rear section of the airbox is trickier. On each side you need to remove the Air flow meter wiring which is held to the airbox with a clip; you need to get behind the clip on 2 sides if you want to remove it without breaking it - unclip the harder side and pull on the clip with medium force, then unclip the easier side and it should pop out

The airbox is held onto the intake hose with a spring clamp; you need to get a flat bladed screwdriver behind the spring on both sides and pop them outwards. When you have got them in the right unclipped place they will stay there and the airbox slips out pretty freely. Put a rag in the intake to prevent anything getting dropped in there, and also to prevent you seeing that the turbo seal is leaking oil (as they do).

Then.

The top of the radiator is held by a steel plate, it is secured by 2x10mm and 2x12mm headed bolts . Remove them and remove the plate

Also grab the bushings that hold the radiator to the plate on each side so they are not lost!

[Duncan]

OK, next the shroud needs to come off and there are a couple of tricks.

Firstly, there is a loom from near the passenger side headlight to the fans, coolant temp sensor etc and there is no plug to undo.  In my case I was OK to leave the shroud on top of the engine so I just undid the passenger side fan plug and about 10 of the clips which gave enough free wire to put it aside. The fan plugs were super tight, the trick I used was a small falt screwdriver to push down on the release tab, then a larger flat screwdriver to lever the plug out of the fan unit....be careful with how much force you apply!

If you need to remove the shroud altogether for some reason you will have to deal with all the plugs (tight) and clips (brittle)....good luck.

I removed all of the clips and replaced them with cable ties that I will just cut next time.

Also, in the Red Sport / 400R at least, the intake heat exchanger reservoir hose is bolted to the shroud in 2 places with 10mm headed bolts; so remove them (the hose stays in the car; no need to undo it at the t fittings down at the radiator lower mount.

Once you've dealt with the HX hose and the wiring loom, there are 3x 10mm headed self tappers holding the top of the shroud to the radiator; remove those.  

The shroud then lifts out of the bottom mounts where it sits on the radiator, up and onto the engine out of the way.

Simples

[Duncan]

Right, onto the second last trick.

The Air Con condenser is mounted to the front of the radiator and stays in the car when the radiator is removed.

There are 2x 10mm headed self tappers holding the top of the condenser to the radiator, remove those

The bottom of the condenser is attached to the radiator with clips. You need to lift the condenser out of those clips and clear (up, then forward).

f**ked if  could work out how to do that last bit with the front bumper on. I hope you can, and you share the trick.  Bumper removal probably deserves its own thread one day once I've recovered the will to live, but basically you need to remove the wheels, front inner guard liners (clips and 10mm headed bolts), the self tapper between the guard and the bumper at the rearmost point of the bumper (same as an R32 that bit), any remaining clips at the top/front of the grill, an absolute bastard design with a plate that holds the top of the bumper above the headlight each side (only 1 bolt which is tricky to get to, but the plate catches 2 places on the bumper and must be removed....carefully!) and push clips between the bumper and guard under the headlight. If you've done all that you will be faced with wiring for the fog lights on both sides and in ADM Q50 RS at least, 4 nasty tight plugs on the driver's side for the ADAS stuff.

So, the clips at the bottom look like this on drivers side (looking from the front)

And on the passenger side (also from the front), you can see this one is already out

Clearance on both of these are super tight; the condenser needs to move up but the upper rad support mount prevents that, and the radiator can't move down far because it is (rubber) mounted.

Once you achieve the impossible and drop the condenser off those mounts so it does not stop the rad moving, you are good to go

[Duncan]

So now we have a radiator with no attachments whatsoever. It lifts up with a particularly tight spot between the drivers side air box mount and the lower radiator outlet, but if you've got this far you will sort that too.

This is the lower mounts with the rad out so you can see where the rubber bushes go, it is a straight shot upwards

Done!

Assembly is the reverse of disassembly, with blood less likely to be shed.