How to check main thermostat // Where to buy an original Nissan Thermostat?

[jalexquijano]

I wanna open the thermostat housing on my 1972 240z so i can check if my thermostat is 160, 170 or 180° degrees? Should i just remove the bolts of the cap that covers the thermostat and avoid spilling any coolant? Whats the correct procedure to remove the verify and remove the thermostat as i want to be sure its a 160° thermostat and not 180°. I would like to purchase an original nissan OEM 160 or 170° thermostat but its getting complicated. WHere do i buy one?

[psdenno]

Just unbolt the cover and lift out the thermostat.  You'll probably want to replace the thermostat gasket when you put it back together.  Be careful not to snap a mouthing bolt.  The current thermostat will be marked with the temp rating.  You can order a 160 degree thermostat from RockAuto for prices ranging from less than $3 to $6.  

Now, a question for you.  Why don't you EVER do a Google search for the items you're looking for?  I'm looking forward to your answer.

Dennis

Edited December 30, 2016 by psdenno

[siteunseen]

9 minutes ago, psdenno said:

 Now, a question for you.  Why don't you EVER do a Google search for the items you're looking for?  I'm looking forward to your answer.

Dennis

Your wife would have a field day with this young man. 

[psdenno]

1 hour ago, siteunseen said:

Your wife would have a field day with this young man. 

[Zed Head]

Changing the thermostat is super easy.  Get your thermostat at this place and get a new gasket too.

https://zcardepot.com/engine/cooling-heating/thermostat-160-degree.html

https://zcardepot.com/engine/cooling-heating/thermostat-gasket.html

 

MSA has them also.  Kind of hard to find on their site but they're there.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Zed Head

[jalexquijano]

i want nissan oem 160° made in japan!

[Dave WM]

 

 

[Dave WM]

what ever you end up with, test it 1st before installing. read up on removing old bolts, I snapped off on of the two bolts that holds the cover on. Ended up having to drill and tap it out. From the video you can see one of the main advantages is the larger diameter of the opening. Seems like that would flow better than the smaller stant.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Dave WM

[psdenno]

16 minutes ago, jalexquijano said:

i want nissan oem 160° made in japan!

Why?  Just curious about your thought process on this project.  

Believe it, or not, the coolant in your radiator won't know the difference between a Nissan OEM made in Japan and a Stant made in the USA.

Dennis

[Chickenman]

Reason why?  Because Stant ( and other aftermarket makes ) have taken a shite nose dive quality wise since the 1990's. Out sourced all over the world and quality isn't the same as when they were made in the USA. Even their premium line Stants have big tolerance variations now. Problem seems to be the same for all aftermarket brands now. Aftermarket parts just seem to be made of junk these days and have been for a long time.

About 15 years ago I stated seeing big fluctuations in thermostats from manufacturers I normally trusted. Venders like Stant and Robertshaw, that I'd used for decades.

Fought a fluctuating cooling problem for quite a while on my Hillclimb/Track day Camaro. This was on a car that had more than adequate cooling and NEVER gave me any issues. Drove me nuts for a while.

Long story short. It was the Stant line of thermostats I was using. Seems the quality control and tolerance for opening and closing points had been relaxed... a lot. This saved the bean counters money because now they had less rejects in testing. And what's 5 to 8 degrees here or there with todays modern cars that typically have  Gauges that are purposely inaccurate  so dumb arse drivers don't panic. ( Example: Typical Subaru engine temps can go up or down by 15 F and gauge won't even budge. Keep the brain dead drivers happy. ) Of course not being a typical driver I had decent mechanical water temp, oil temp and oil pressure gauges in the car. So a 5 to 10 F difference in thermostats opening temperature was easy to see.

Solution was to switch back to factory GM thermostat in car. Temps immediately stabilized and thermostat opened and closed EXCACTLY when it was supposed too. Several years later when I sold the car to a buddy, he started experiencing strange temperature fluctuations. Car didn't overheat, just temperature range was varying from what it normally ran. Guess what. During maintenance, he replaced the thermostat... with a brand new Stant.  Buying a new OEM GM stat instantly fixed the issue for him juts like it did for me.  He took great pleasure in pounding that Stant product flatter than a pancake with a sledge hammer. Like me he had been a Stant club member for decades.

Factory thermostat's, be it GM, Nissan, Audi, VW , Ford or Toyota still seem to be made of better materials with decent tolerances.  And you can be darned sure that an NOS Japanese Nissan thermostat is going to be a hell of a lot more accurate than the aftermarket crappola available today. I buy a lot of parts from my suppliers and Rock Auto. One of the few OEM parts I insist on these dyas is thermostats. YMMV... and just my .02c

 

 

 

[Chickenman]

BTW, I compared a Stant Premium replacement thermostat for my 280Z to the original Nissan factory unit that was in the car. Opening size on the Stant product was a good 20 percent smaller than the Nissan product... bought a new Factory Nissan stat. Dealer ordered it direct from Japan and it arrived within a week.  Dealers in Canada can still order parts direct from Japan and we're fortunate to have a group of Nissan Parts Managers who all raced together during the 70, 80' and 90's and still are enthusiasts. Mots of the old Pro's enjoy nothing more than scrounging thorough the old manuals and parts Fiches and seeing what they can hunt down.

Hint: For a Nissan 160 F thermostat, you may be able to find it at a Nissan Forklift dealer. The A series engine is still in production in fork lifts, and the A seriers thermostat is EXACTLY the same as an L-Series. I'll look up the part number for the Nissan 160 stat and get back to ya...

 

[Chickenman]

Nissan part number for Tropical stat is 21200-78502. Supercedes to 21200-F3160. Nissan Parts Deals is showing limited availability. I'd call them and check stock and confirm temp stamping.

https://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts/nissan-thermostat~21200-78502.html

 

Available on E-bay as well: Confirm temp rating is approx 71.5 C= 160 F  by question to Seller. Don't worry about application

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1979-1986-Nissan-200SX-280ZX-Pulsar-NX-Sentra-Engine-Coolant-Thermostat-OEM-/191579574572?fits=Make%3ANissan&hash=item2c9b08512c:g:ueoAAOSwBahVaOEk&vxp=mtr

Edited January 3, 2017 by Chickenman
added another link