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Changing coolant, hoses and thermostat
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 11:18 am
by dawgn86
Hey folks
06 Pathfinder here V-6 with 115k miles. I am going to drive it from GA to Washington DC in about 3 weeks.
I have never changed the coolant, hoses or thermostat, although the coolant and hoses look good.
Is this a hard job to tackle? On my daughter's Xterra, it has a bleed screw on top of the engine to bleed out any air when refilling with coolant. Does the PF have anything like that? Is the theromstat hard to get to?
Thanks
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 12:39 pm
by disallow
I am not aware of a bleeder screw on the pathy, but that doesn't mean there isn't one.
The pathy is a challenge to get all the air out when you do a drain and fill on the coolant.
Also, if the hoses look good, I wouldn't bother.
t
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 2:25 pm
by doctahjones
disallow wrote:I am not aware of a bleeder screw on the pathy, but that doesn't mean there isn't one.
The pathy is a challenge to get all the air out when you do a drain and fill on the coolant.
Also, if the hoses look good, I wouldn't bother.
t
bleeder screw? never heard of those. on the beater cars i had growing up, i'd just fill it to the top, leave the cap off, start the car and keep "burping" it by squeezing the upper radiator hose for awhile. usually helped a little to have the car pointed up on a hill. then just check the level over the next few days after doing normal driving. bubbles always use to seem to work their way out.
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 4:21 pm
by smj999smj
Hoses last a long time on Nissans and you probably don't need to replace them. The thermostat and housing is a one piece assemble attached to the lower radiator hose. They use a metal gasket so R&R is pretty simple; only three bolts hold it to the front of the block. If you do replace any of those parts, I highly recommend you use genuine Nissan parts.
There is no need for a bleeder on the VQ40DE. Keep in mind that the reservoir cap is the pressure cap in the system and the radiator cap is used only for initial filling of the cooling system. If you start the engine without the radiator cap in place, coolant will blow out of the radiator. Fill the radiator to the top with coolant and install the cap and fill the reservoir to the "cold" or "max" fill line. Turn the heater to "max" heat. Start the engine and let it run. Top off the system as needed at the reservoir.