My brand new 2012 Pathfinder makes a gurgling sound in the dashboard area.
A Google search revealed that it is a common problem with Nissans in general, not just Pathfinders.
When I told the service advisor about the issue he asked me if it was happening all the time. I knew at that point that it is a problem and one they do not really like to work on. Can "hot spots" develop in the system with air bubbles present?

So, how bad is air in the cooling system? Coolant levels appear OK.
Do I let the dealer fix it? My concern is that they will make it worse or break something else in the process.

Answer #1: It never made a gurgling noise, but I can tell you that the engine cooling system can appear full at the reservoir while really missing 2/3 of its fluid. This happened to me after my radiator was replaced and the technicians did not do a proper flush and fill. Symptoms were slight overheating (temp gauge climbing and A/C shutting down intermittently) when climbing hills, when the fluid present would run back into the engine and not get into the radiator. Also, the dummy gauge wasn't stable, it would fluctuate quite a bit around "medium" where it's rock steady when the system is full.

Fluid was visibly low through the top cap. You could probably get it full yourself by filling the radiator, running the engine, repeat, but the best answer is to have technicians with a flushing station do it to ensure you get all of the bubbles out.

Answer #2: My A/C system made gurgling noises when I had problems with it. And there are components in that system closer to the cabin that you'd hear...

A lot of nissans do this. Most of them have proper fluid level and there is nothing wrong. I assume it is the design of the heater core. Not an engineer so It's hard to say.

Can a Pathfinder be gurgling free?
My truck is brand new with less than 700miles on it currently, so is this the best I can get it as far as gurgling goes?

impulsepath wrote:Can a Pathfinder be gurgling free?
My truck is brand new with less than 700miles on it currently, so is this the best I can get it as far as gurgling goes?

Mine didn't do it with 2/3 of the fluid missing so I'd imagine it can get better

If it's in the heater core like tlee_20 says then perhaps some kind of bubble at a high point resulting in a cavitating noise. Maybe a flush by the dealer using a vacuum system if you can get them to try that.

If it's the heater core you can drain the coolant and vacuum fill it. I can't speak for all the techs out there but this is the ONLY method I use. It's the only guarantee that 100% of the air in the system is purged

tlee_20 wrote:If it's the heater core you can drain the coolant and vacuum fill it. I can't speak for all the techs out there but this is the ONLY method I use. It's the only guarantee that 100% of the air in the system is purged

Wish they'd done it that way when I first had my radiator replaced...

tlee_20 wrote:If it's the heater core you can drain the coolant and vacuum fill it. I can't speak for all the techs out there but this is the ONLY method I use. It's the only guarantee that 100% of the air in the system is purged

What do they do at factory, vacuum fill?