Where under the hood is the heater inlet pipe?

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palmerwmd
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Re: Where under the hood is the heater inlet pipe?

Postby palmerwmd » Mon Feb 13, 2023 10:23 pm

VStar650CL wrote:
Mon Feb 13, 2023 9:36 pm
You're better off doing it yourself. I do it for my DGI customers with every new air filter, it requires exactly 1 teaspoon of tranny fluid (any kind). Warm up fully, pop any handy vacuum hose (brake booster on most models) and cap it with your thumb, have an assistant raise RPM to 3500~4000, dump or squirt the ATF into the hose. Voila, no more carbon.
That's it really?
I hear stories about crushed Walnuts or the like :oops:


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VStar650CL
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Re: Where under the hood is the heater inlet pipe?

Postby VStar650CL » Tue Feb 14, 2023 5:20 am

Carbon is like any other maintenance item, if you let it get out of hand it becomes repair and not maintenance. There are more extreme measures needed for that, and shell blasting is one of those. Dink the system periodically with some ATF and it will never reach that point.

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palmerwmd
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Re: Where under the hood is the heater inlet pipe?

Postby palmerwmd » Tue Feb 14, 2023 8:54 am

VStar650CL wrote:
Tue Feb 14, 2023 5:20 am
Carbon is like any other maintenance item, if you let it get out of hand it becomes repair and not maintenance. There are more extreme measures needed for that, and shell blasting is one of those. Dink the system periodically with some ATF and it will never reach that point.
So if I test drive a used one as long as it doesnt run rough it should not need exccessive steps?
(Hmm, this is all kinda a thread hijack maybhe we should open up a new thread on this)

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VStar650CL
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Re: Where under the hood is the heater inlet pipe?

Postby VStar650CL » Tue Feb 14, 2023 10:04 am

palmerwmd wrote:
Tue Feb 14, 2023 8:54 am
So if I test drive a used one as long as it doesnt run rough it should not need exccessive steps?
(Hmm, this is all kinda a thread hijack maybhe we should open up a new thread on this)
Yah, if it runs well I'd just give it a routine decarbon when you take possession. Breaking this into a new thread might be a good idea.

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Re: Where under the hood is the heater inlet pipe?

Postby ShipFixer » Wed Feb 15, 2023 1:05 am

Some good news - CSF is helping me on the radiator...

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palmerwmd
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Re: Where under the hood is the heater inlet pipe?

Postby palmerwmd » Wed Feb 15, 2023 8:30 am

ShipFixer wrote:
Wed Feb 15, 2023 1:05 am
Some good news - CSF is helping me on the radiator...
What is the nature of the help? 8)

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Re: Where under the hood is the heater inlet pipe?

Postby ShipFixer » Wed Feb 15, 2023 1:29 pm

A heavily discounted new radiator, to not much more than it might cost me to have a local shop cut out the existing drain plug bung and weld in a new one, etc. if it goes that far. I have a Duralast from Autozone in there now. I intended to have the CSF fixed so I could put it back in by summer, but this works for me. I didn't ask for it, I was just already talking to them about a new drain plug as this one was rounding, then asked them if anywhere in San Diego might have a VQ radiator in stock, or if they recommended any particular repair shops, etc.

So the irony is heater inlet, fan clutch, motor mount inserts, plus the stuff I did not too long ago (2nd go at timing chain repair in 2020) means the truck is solid for another 100K miles. I unfortunately got to verify the cooling system was pretty clean and is now really, really clean. I also have around 5,000 miles or so on some Michelin LTX tires. But I also don't see wanting to fix these things yet again.

Current Pathfinder doesn't do it for me. Pretty much everything before the current Explorer and really only the ST or Platinum big-engine models seem like a parallel move for the things I need (interior capacity plus some AWD, really). I no longer need any real 4WD capability for the next five years at minimum, and as it is, I did a bunch of things to make the truck better on the highway (stiffer sway bar bushings, Delrin steering bushings, Moog springs, etc.). The ST ticks a lot of boxes and has upgrade potential where the Pathfinder is kind of topped out...sway bars, intercooler, etc. And I've only owned Nissan products for three decades, so it's interesting to see a time where another manufacturer has something I might actually want and Nissan doesn't.

Well...I'd like the Armada, but it would be a tight fit in my garage and the Expedition smokes it for mileage if I went bigger. Which is not much of a concern for me, but it is a thing to think about. And the ST is waaaaaay fun to drive. (Regular four cylinder turbo is about like the R51, but sounds like a garden tractor.)

Don't get me wrong - I have stuck with this truck because I'm attached to it. I have had three deployments/overseas movements where this was the only thing waiting for me, it's been across the country five times and halfway even more, and I usually react very negatively to being told I need to get rid of it. But it would be nice to have something new that might not just choose to age out in the middle of the night in the California high desert someday, and has some of the newer things like the 360 degree overhead parking camera thing. So I will stick this out for at least another few months but I am looking at other things.

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Re: Where under the hood is the heater inlet pipe?

Postby palmerwmd » Fri Feb 17, 2023 5:37 pm

ShipFixer wrote:
Wed Feb 15, 2023 1:29 pm

Don't get me wrong - I have stuck with this truck because I'm attached to it. I have had three deployments/overseas movements where this was the only thing waiting for me, it's been across the country five times and halfway even more, and I usually react very negatively to being told I need to get rid of it. But it would be nice to have something new that might not just choose to age out in the middle of the night in the California high desert someday, and has some of the newer things like the 360 degree overhead parking camera thing. So I will stick this out for at least another few months but I am looking at other things.

When you do, please be sure to put it FS on here first.
And Nico too.

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Re: Where under the hood is the heater inlet pipe?

Postby ShipFixer » Sat Feb 18, 2023 2:14 pm

That's Plan A! Don't know that I will sell it this year, but it will be a pretty good deal for an older truck. Among other things, everything on the front of the engine except the steering pump is less than three years old, and that includes the timing chain and guides. And I've replaced a lot of the plastic and Cerakoted it while I go. Just don't know if I am super interested in doing it all a third time some years from now.

I look back at the last ~2 years and I think I am basically lucky as to when my 2002 motorcycle and 2005 truck decided to age something out. It's like they compete or something. Sometimes it's been a week apart from fixing one thing and it breaking on the other.

CRC11007
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Re: Where under the hood is the heater inlet pipe?

Postby CRC11007 » Fri Nov 10, 2023 9:19 am

Like clockwork…hit 198000 miles, and the plastic heater hose junction pops, in the exact manner the Shipfixer’s failed. Luckily I was close to home and pulled into the garage without the engine overheating.
I’m going to try the wholesale parts metal part, as it is currently on sale for $100 with free shipping.

TooMuchControl
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Re: Where under the hood is the heater inlet pipe?

Postby TooMuchControl » Mon Nov 20, 2023 4:43 pm

I think the Xterra may not have had the rear AC system, like the Frontier, as it's only a 5 passenger setup.


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