The Nissan Path

Well, I changed the thermostat and did the tranny cooler bypass on the wifes pathy this weekend. The bypass was cake by just switching the hoses around. The thermostat was a huge PITA. Whoever designed that thing needs to be shot.

But I got it changed none the less, my cold to normal idle time drastically reduced, but it's still taking upwards of 3-5 mins to idle down and the hot air is still blowing cold at idle. Any ideas? I've already burped the system as well, but still doesnt seem to be helping.

I'm taking mine in today i will let you know what the issue is. or at least what they will say it is.

Just brainstorming here:

1. Have you ever replaced your water pump? Perhaps the vanes are worn and not generating enough flow at idle... It may still generate enough flow in the cruising RPM to prevent overheating.

2. Heater core restriction - heater cores get plugged up after a time if coolant is not maintained. Is there a chance the restriction through your heater core is too high? Do you have rear heater? If so, is it cold at idle as well?

3. Keep burping - these trucks are notoriously hard to get the air out of the system, due to the rear heater lines. Knowing this, they should have designed a couple bleeders into the system, kinda like I had on my old Honda Prelude. That or instruct people to use a pressure device to fill the system, though this would have probably been avoided due to serviceability issues.

Just a thought, not sure on your vehicles age/mileage.

Thanks for the advice Terry.

It's an 05 SE Off Road 4x4, just under 100k.

As far as I know, the water pump. has never been replaced.

It has the rear heater, and he heater core could be all gummed up as well. Guess that will be my next project, figuring out how to resolve that.

Tzvier wrote:Thanks for the advice Terry.

It's an 05 SE Off Road 4x4, just under 100k.

As far as I know, the water pump. has never been replaced.

It has the rear heater, and he heater core could be all gummed up as well. Guess that will be my next project, figuring out how to resolve that.

Whatever you do, steer away from the cooling system flushes unless you are confident in the rubber components in the system. I ran flush through my first car (85 200sx) and kept finding new leaks for months after that, huge PITA.

I dont really think I'd need to do a flush. The fluid that I drained from the rad/hoses while doing the T-stat change looked almost brand new.

Tzvier wrote:I dont really think I'd need to do a flush. The fluid that I drained from the rad/hoses while doing the T-stat change looked almost brand new.

heater cores are probably OK then

eieio wrote:

Tzvier wrote:I dont really think I'd need to do a flush. The fluid that I drained from the rad/hoses while doing the T-stat change looked almost brand new.

heater cores are probably OK then

+1, and most likely your water pump is fine. You probably just have a persistent air bubble in there.

Or your new thermostat is not functioning properly.

disallow wrote:+1, and most likely your water pump is fine. You probably just have a persistent air bubble in there.

Or your new thermostat is not functioning properly.

yep
have you tried burping the system with the front end raised?
have you verified that it is the correct thermostat?
also, is it an OEM part or aftermarket?

Thermostat is aftermarket, oem spec from autozone. it is the correct one and functions as it should, as does the one i removed. I think it does have a lot to do with air in the system still.

I haven't had a chance to do it with the front raised (no jack or stands), but probably will this weekend. If it still has some issues, then I think I'll give this a try.

Tzvier wrote:I haven't had a chance to do it with the front raised (no jack or stands), but probably will this weekend.

this will probably do the trick

Well, after using the method provided by thenewx, the air coming from the vents is hot as can be.

Also got around to replacing the oil pressure sending unit, gauge works again, so I'm happy.

What method did you use? I'm starting to have the same cold air problem![/quote]

Dispatch8 wrote:What method did you use? I'm starting to have the same cold air problem!

I ended up using this...
http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=24370