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'92 Sentra 1.6 Cooling System overhaul

The saga continues. The same car with all the other problems. Has had no maintenance in about five years. I want to change the coolant. While I'm at it, I might as well change the hoses, since at least one is bulging, and they all are old-maybe even original.

So- what type of coolant? Orange, green, or Nissan from the dealer? It has green right now.

Hoses- Upper and lower hoses, heater hoses, any other small hoses that should be done?

Water pump- I want to change all the belts, should I change the water pump at the same time, since the car has 173K and the coolant is *at least* four years old? I can get a new pump for $20-$40, so the cost isn't much. The labor wouldn't seem to be much either, and would make changing the thermostat easier. Or am I being to anal?

Anything else I should do to service the cooling system, or anything related while I'm at it? I'm trying to get the car serviced this year and not have to do anything else for a few years.

PB

Reply to
Plague Boy
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With 173K and if you have traditional green in there, yeah, change it.

Be safe, buy the Nissan Coolant or get an true equivalent. To find an equivalent, you'll need to do a lot of reading and learn more about coolants than colors... so it's simpler just to pay the dealer an extra $3 for the factory coolant.

Reply to
still just me

The coolant or the water pump?

Actually, I was out working on the car and changing the water pump doesn't look like fun. I had to tighten the PS belt and I had to do it from *underneath*. Had the car up on ramps to change the tranny oil. I think I stopped the *squeal* now.

I'm guessing the easy way is to remove the tire and plastic fender liner to allow access. Problem is that whoever worked on the car last broke most of the fasteners and didn't replace them. The ones that remain...aren't going to survive removal. By the time I gather all the parts I may have to wait 'till spring.

Only $3 more? I won't even need Vaseline :-)

Thank you for your reply.

PB

Reply to
Plague Boy

If you consider that the water pump's tough location will cause significant labor costs in replacing, that $3 extra doesn't sound so bad after all, does it?

CD

Reply to
Codifus

If I had known it was that cheap, I would have picked it up while I was at the Nissan dealer last time, and saved myself a trip.

Looking at the pump, I'm not really thrilled with the idea of replacing it. AFAICT there isn't anything wrong with it. since I would like to change all the belts and hoses, thermostat, and coolant I was thinking that that's a hearty percentage of the labor.

I'm sure the previous owner never changed the coolant, so it's had 3-4 years and 30-40K with old, tired coolant. I'm just thinking that the lubricants and anti-corrosive additives are long gone and the water pump may be at the end of its life span.

At this point I may just change the coolant. What would have been a tolerable weekend project might really suck in 30F weather. I'll probably be putting less than 1K on it from now until spring. So far, the heat is terrific!

PB

Reply to
Plague Boy

I stopped by the Nissan dealer and picked up a gallon of Nissan "green". It came to just shy of $20.00 with NYS tax. forgot to buy distilled water when I was at the market, though.

Since it's 15F now, I may just settle for changing the coolant and let the rest go.

PB

Reply to
Plague Boy

I made the same decision on my 98 Sentra. I found that the thermostat (and water pump) is behind the cam cover in a very tough location. I decided to just change the coolant and wait till the water pump fails and do everything then.

CD

Reply to
codifus

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