Found my coolant leak

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dawgn86
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Postby dawgn86 » Fri Sep 09, 2011 5:57 am

My 2006 Path has the rear A/C..I crawled under it last night and saw those lines and the clamps...mine looked good though..but now its something Im going to worry about as well


khaosduke
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Postby khaosduke » Thu Feb 09, 2012 2:49 pm

I'm going to have to do the same thing, do you guys know the type and size of the tubing used for this fix? Thanks!

khaosduke
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Postby khaosduke » Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:09 pm

Got some 5/8 inch heater hose and clamps. Going to cut the pipe today and replace a section of the line with the heater hose. Hopefully with post with the results!

mbiasotti
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rear coolant leak

Postby mbiasotti » Thu Apr 18, 2013 4:18 pm

First time poster. I have a 2005 Pathfinder and this problem just happened to me. It is no surprise either since approx. 5 years of it's life was back in Massachusetts (where they salt and sand the roads in the winter.)
Anyway, I read the posts here and decided instead of the enormous amount of labor to replace the entire line that I would try the cut and patch method. Actually, the rest of the 11' lines going forward to the engine compartment are in good shape given that they are well protected from the road because they are on the topside of the frame. It is just this one area in the rear where they decided to put the rubber strap that failed - due to the theory that many of you have suggested. Being an engineer, its easy to see why this potential design flaw could have gone unnoticed given that it would take 50K of miles to discover it. Aluminum is a good choice but yes, they should have designed a different boot for his area or a more slim and loosely fitting strap.
My question to the group is that this is just a radiator coolant line and return line right?
Anyway I cut the affected areas and then replaced with heavy duty 1/2 I.D. hose and hose clamps. I just did this but have no idea whether it will go the distance and whether this is a good solution.
Following is a before and after picture. The first is with the rubber strap removed showing the areas that are corroded thru and the second is the solution that I applied.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12634107@N ... hotostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12634107@N ... hotostream

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Thu Apr 18, 2013 7:17 pm

It's actually coolant lines for the rear heater core. There are several repair kits on the market to repair these lines more "professionally." Dorman Products makes such a kit. The heater hose will work; my only concern would be how close it is to the exhaust pipe.

mbiasotti
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Postby mbiasotti » Fri Apr 19, 2013 9:17 am

smj999smj wrote:It's actually coolant lines for the rear heater core. There are several repair kits on the market to repair these lines more "professionally." Dorman Products makes such a kit. The heater hose will work; my only concern would be how close it is to the exhaust pipe.
Hello - yes I'm concerned about that too (heat from exhaust) but they are not too close. Can you post the URL for that Dorman product?

thanks

Mark

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Fri Apr 19, 2013 6:08 pm


Cliff_Jumper
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I gave up...

Postby Cliff_Jumper » Mon Apr 07, 2014 11:58 am

I tried fixing the leak over the weekend and was able to fix the lines near the exhaust. However, during that process the one on top of the spring perch started leaking as well.

That one is a little harder to do, so I had the dealer fix it for $800! :evil:

On top of that, the whining noise (timing chain guide) is getting worse. I think it's time for a trade in and it will not be another Nissan.

b7evan
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coolant lines for the rear heater core?

Postby b7evan » Mon May 07, 2018 2:44 pm

Hi all

Just checked under my 05 r51 Pathy to find what looks like the rear coolant or AC lines bypassed with rubber hose.

Can anyone confirm??

Cheers

https://ibb.co/k2ipg7

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Tue May 08, 2018 12:34 pm

Yes, that's what it looks like, and it should be the coolant lines. The rear A/C lines run behind the interior side panel on the right side. Normally, if just the lines are leaking, you can repair the sections with rubber hose (although fixing them properly using an aluminum pipe section is the preferred way due to how close the exhaust is to the lines) and still run the rear heater, but, I'm wondering if they did this because the rear heater core is leaking, possibly?

b7evan
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Postby b7evan » Tue May 15, 2018 10:56 am

smj999smj wrote:Yes, that's what it looks like, and it should be the coolant lines. The rear A/C lines run behind the interior side panel on the right side. Normally, if just the lines are leaking, you can repair the sections with rubber hose (although fixing them properly using an aluminum pipe section is the preferred way due to how close the exhaust is to the lines) and still run the rear heater, but, I'm wondering if they did this because the rear heater core is leaking, possibly?
Would make sense as the heater does not seem to work in the rear of vehicle.
:?:

lebowski
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Re: Found my coolant leak

Postby lebowski » Wed Apr 07, 2021 7:41 am

Can't catch a break from this car. Had since ever a rattling noise at 1000rpm. Found out that the muffler was the source. A new one from the dealer was around 450 euro ex vat. So ordered a walker aftermarket from rockauto (88US +106US postage and taxes). Still half the price. Changing an exhaust is a dirty job so I left it to a local shop. Everything rusted, stuck like hell, bolts breaking. In the process of removing the old exhaust the rear coolant hoses started to leak, looks like i'm not the first :evil: . Easily fixed with some spare coolant tube.

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palmerwmd
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Re: Found my coolant leak

Postby palmerwmd » Wed Apr 07, 2021 2:59 pm

lebowski wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 7:41 am
Can't catch a break from this car. Had since ever a rattling noise at 1000rpm. Found out that the muffler was the source. A new one from the dealer was around 450 euro ex vat. So ordered a walker aftermarket from rockauto (88US +106US postage and taxes). Still half the price. Changing an exhaust is a dirty job so I left it to a local shop. Everything rusted, stuck like hell, bolts breaking. In the process of removing the old exhaust the rear coolant hoses started to leak, looks like i'm not the first :evil: . Easily fixed with some spare coolant tube.
I think its cool when folks maintain a car with parts from abroad. yes its not cheap but you gotta pay to play :D

lebowski
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun May 05, 2019 1:56 pm

Re: Found my coolant leak

Postby lebowski » Thu Apr 08, 2021 1:57 pm

palmerwmd wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 2:59 pm
lebowski wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 7:41 am
Can't catch a break from this car. Had since ever a rattling noise at 1000rpm. Found out that the muffler was the source. A new one from the dealer was around 450 euro ex vat. So ordered a walker aftermarket from rockauto (88US +106US postage and taxes). Still half the price. Changing an exhaust is a dirty job so I left it to a local shop. Everything rusted, stuck like hell, bolts breaking. In the process of removing the old exhaust the rear coolant hoses started to leak, looks like i'm not the first :evil: . Easily fixed with some spare coolant tube.
I think its cool when folks maintain a car with parts from abroad. yes its not cheap but you gotta pay to play :D
True, true :D

lebowski
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun May 05, 2019 1:56 pm

Re: Found my coolant leak

Postby lebowski » Wed May 19, 2021 11:34 pm

Mmh, looks like the last section of pipes (covered with a hose) going into the rear heater core are corroded as well. Before setting of for a big trip I want to fix this. Is it an option to bypass the whole rear heater section right at front passenger wheel well? That is to make an U joint at the bottom of the two vertical pipes (which I replaced half a year ago :evil: ) ? Or do these pipes branch of to somewhere else?

topic20733-15.html#p99795

Update: the plan is to bypass the whole system, by placing an U-Joint where the tubes encircled in red connect to.
Schermafbeelding 2021-05-20 om 12.04.26.png


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