Moderator: volvite
You should try and post some pictures if you have them or can take them of what you did. I think there might be alot of people who would love to see them.racerruss wrote:I have an '05 Pathfinder and I started noticing a coolant smell around the passenger side rear wheel well. I searched several times and even went as far as removing all of the rear interior panels to check the heater core and lines in there for leaks, to no avail. Finally, I found that the aluminum lines had corroded through next to the exhaust above the rear shock mount on the passenger side. After checking on this forum, I saw that this is a common problem where the vehicle is exposed to salt (truck spent first 2 years of its life in Pennsylvania) and is a very expensive repair. I decided to tackle it a different way. the lines in questions are 5/8" O.D. aluminum. After draining the coolant as much as possible, I cut the old lines using a small air powered saw in front of the rear end spring shock structure and then behind it. I was able to get the old lines out and then route standard 5/8" heater hose between the body and suspension hardware and make the connections. I routed and secured the new hose to make sure it would not rub or be pinched and everything seems fine. Kids would not have liked losing the rear heat in the winter.
Smart fix. Wonder if Nissan has thought about this but enjoys their $1200 repairs too much to do it this way.racerruss wrote:I have an '05 Pathfinder and I started noticing a coolant smell around the passenger side rear wheel well. I searched several times and even went as far as removing all of the rear interior panels to check the heater core and lines in there for leaks, to no avail. Finally, I found that the aluminum lines had corroded through next to the exhaust above the rear shock mount on the passenger side. After checking on this forum, I saw that this is a common problem where the vehicle is exposed to salt (truck spent first 2 years of its life in Pennsylvania) and is a very expensive repair. I decided to tackle it a different way. the lines in questions are 5/8" O.D. aluminum. After draining the coolant as much as possible, I cut the old lines using a small air powered saw in front of the rear end spring shock structure and then behind it. I was able to get the old lines out and then route standard 5/8" heater hose between the body and suspension hardware and make the connections. I routed and secured the new hose to make sure it would not rub or be pinched and everything seems fine. Kids would not have liked losing the rear heat in the winter.
I think the coolant runs around the whole system all the time, regardless of whether it's being called for by rear climate controls as mine is leaking from those damn corroded pipes even with all heating controls off! Perhaps your problem is with the rear heat exchange..maybe clogged up with sludge as seems another common Pathy issue!skinny2 wrote:Well I took a look under mine and the lines look fine and my coolant level appears good. Not totally clear how this works...does coolant run to the rear unit all the time or only when you're calling for heat in the rear? I assume if the lines are bad it will leak all the time and I should be low on coolant? I'm just not getting any heat from the rear vents. It's not really a big deal and if anything the front seem to work better when I'm not using the rear. Considering how goofy my front system is at time (temp fluctuates all over the place) I wonder if this isn't related to the same issue.