The Nissan Path

Blew the head gasket in my 97 Pathy. Gonna tear into it tomorrow. Anybody have any tips, or warnings, or "Hey, heads up!" type advice? Have done several on older Toyota four cylinders, no experience on a V6 really, but I'm not too intimidated. Any recommendations for a part source? Going to have to order a gasket kit and it sounds like some exhaust manifold bolts will likely break and need replacement. Thanks for any help, and wish me luck....

You might be okay on the manifold bolts; they were 10MM studs and pretty hefty. You do need to check the exhaust manifolds for cracks, however. I would replace the knock sensor since you'll have the intake manifold off. I usually go with Felpro gaskets and new head bolts. For the timing belt, I use Gates timing belt component kit with water pump. Rockauto probably has the best prices. If you can do a Toyota V6, this won't be any harder. If you replace the bypass hose, get it from Nissan. You might also want to replace some of the coolant hoses under the upper intake.

Hmmm, the timing belt was done not long ago, wasn't going to mess with it too much. New headbolts are standard for me. I have just read a lot of stuff where folks say "Be prepared to replace a couple of the exhaust man studs. Seems a common problem with these.

I rebuilt a 98 a couple years ago. Had no problem with any of the bolts. I agree with changing all the coolant hoses, they're hard to get at and you might not see them again until you're on the side of the road somewhere.

There is a lot more garbage in the way when trying to even get to the cylinder head. That's for sure. Gonna be quite a project.

Man, I worked at getting the upper half of the intake manifold off for a couple of hours today. Tore up my hands and my left arm pretty good. Still can't get that thing off. It is connected by one of the smallish heater hoses behind the manifold. That and one electrical quick connector that I can't reach to release until I get that hose undone. I hate whoever the sadistic sonofabitch is who put those hoses back in there like that. Terrible design.

I usually just cut the back elbow hose and replace it with a new one from Nissan. Yes, it is a PITA!

Awesome. This was the course of action I decided on after I quit working on it today.

Any suggestions for a brand or distributor of head bolts? Thought I'd order them with the gasket set and save some shipping charges.

FEL-PRO ES72194 head bolt kit.

Thank you much!

Do I need to buy two sets of head bolts or just one?

On the Fel-pro kit, it's one kit per head. If you are doing both heads, you'll need two kits.

Ah, makes sense. I'm doing em both while I've got it apart that far. Thanks.

I have given up and am giving this rig away.