Still leaking coolant just went to Nissan (Solved)

Pathfinder101 · Postby **Pathfinder101** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 3:01 pm

Following up from last weeks post about leaking coolant and overheating.

So after being told I needed a new radiator I replaced it. Everything was fine ran it in the driveway for 1 hr needle didn't budge went for a nice 1/2 drive needle didn't budge however coolant was leaking from somewhere at the back of the motor. So I went to Nissan so I could finally figure where it's coming from. They did pressure test and told me the coolant bypass hose the aluminum pipe that goes from passenger side and routes behind the motor needs replacing part is $37.00 however the ONLY way to change it is to drop the Transmission to get to it

so that brings my estimate to $1982.00.

This is crazy I'm unemployed and was supposed to start my CDL driving school next week and now I can't due to this. Does anyone have any experience dropping the tranny themselves ? I can't see anytime soon having that kind of money to fix ontop of making the car payment and paying for insurance this could not of happened at a worse time.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

deermjd · Postby **deermjd** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 5:23 pm

Is this the part?

http://www.courtesyparts.com/11060-outl ... _6855_6858&

Diagram:

http://www.courtesyparts.com/pathfinder ... _6858.html

asgard · Postby **asgard** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 7:58 pm

So is the leak at the gaskets or the pipe itself. If it is the gasket I would try one of the water leak seal products

http://barsproducts.com/catalog/view/1- ... -10-oz-c16
It must be worth a try

Pathfinder101 · Postby **Pathfinder101** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:20 pm

Deermjd Yes that's the part. I'm pretty sure it's the pipe itself it's really hard to even see back there as its so close to the firewall. Im not sure if the sealant will work but I guess it might be worth a try as I can't drive it the way it is. I just don't want to risk damage to the new radiator I just put in.

I spoke with the technician that looked at it and he said this is the first time he has seen it on a 4.0L but it was an issue with the older 3.5. I just don't get why they make things so hard to get to on these. Just like if you have the issue with the rear HVAC lines you have to lift the body from the frame it's
Absolutely nuts.

I'm going to call some tranny shops and see what they would charge to do the work.

Postby **smj999smj** » Sat Apr 28, 2012 8:34 am

Estimate sounds a bit high. Labor time to R&R the trans is 9.5 hours. Even if they were charging you $100/hr., I can't see the rest of the job adding up to another $900! It's definitely worth getting a couple of estimates.

Pathfinder101 · Postby **Pathfinder101** » Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:28 pm

Spoke with a tranny shop today the guy was blown away by my quote from Nissan he said it really shouldn't be more than $400-$500 + parts. Dropped the truck off will get a real quote from him on Mon after he takes a look at it.
Keeping my fingers crossed. I really hope this works out

Thanks for the input !

Pathfinder101 · Postby **Pathfinder101** » Wed May 02, 2012 12:18 pm

Finally my coolant leak is fixed. So after shopping arround after Nissans rediculous $2000.00 quote. I ended up taking to a transmission shop that also does other repairs. They changed out the leaking coolant bypass pipe they did that for $650 since the only way to change it was to remove the transmission.
However after that was all done it was still leaking coolant from the oil cooler hose that enters the block under the intake. The hose had split and the clamp was also bad. I knew of this leak when I took it to Nissan and was told its a 1 in 2 million chance I have a leak there well I did. in order to fix this the entire intake had to be removed so all said and done and a $1000.00 later my coolant leak is fixed. Thanks Nissan for making everything easy to replace you guys rock ! I love my pathy but hate the way they put it together. It's a dealers wet dream when it comes to repairs. I owned an Infiniti Fx45 a few years ago and had to replace Tranny rt after the warranty expired at 45k it's like they knew exactly when it would crap out. the tranny shop I went to said they get at least 2 Pathfinder/Frontier Xterra A week for failed radiator issue.

deermjd · Postby **deermjd** » Wed May 02, 2012 12:48 pm

I'm glad you were able to get it repaired for much less than the dealer wanted but that sucks that the tranny has to be dropped to fix a coolant leak.

Wow there must really be a lot of these radiator/transmission cooler problems and most of them go unnoticed by us. For all I know for every problem mentioned here, there may be 100 or 1000 problems that aren't.

Pathfinder101 · Postby **Pathfinder101** » Wed May 02, 2012 6:14 pm

Nissan needs to take some customer service lessons from Toyota. At least they own upto and fix their problems. This will be the last Nissan I buy

dared3vil00 · Postby **dared3vil00** » Wed May 02, 2012 6:27 pm

Pathfinder101 wrote:Nissan needs to take some customer service lessons from Toyota. At least they own upto and fix their problems. This will be the last Nissan I buy

Yup, enjoy your Toyota's, goodbye.

eieio · Postby **eieio** » Wed May 02, 2012 8:14 pm

Pathfinder101 wrote: Everything was fine ran it in the driveway for 1 hr

you may have caused some of your problems by doing this

Pathfinder101 · Postby **Pathfinder101** » Wed May 02, 2012 9:00 pm

Not saying I'm buying a Toyota just stating with all the issues they had at least they fixed them. How many Nissan owners have layed out thousands of dollars for the radiator issue ? maybe when you have to spend a $1000 to have thesame pipe changed you may have different thoughts.

Pathfinder101 · Postby **Pathfinder101** » Wed May 02, 2012 9:04 pm

eieio wrote:
Pathfinder101 wrote: Everything was fine ran it in the driveway for 1 hr
you may have caused some of your problems by doing this

I doubt it since I already had the Problems before I even changed the Radiator. Last time I checked cars can run for longer than 1 hr so don't really understand your comment ?

FLiPMaRC · Postby **FLiPMaRC** » Thu May 03, 2012 7:31 am

Pathfinder101 wrote:
eieio wrote:
Pathfinder101 wrote: Everything was fine ran it in the driveway for 1 hr
you may have caused some of your problems by doing this
I doubt it since I already had the Problems before I even changed the Radiator. Last time I checked cars can run for longer than 1 hr so don't really understand your comment ?

He doesn't drive his truck for more than an hour

Still leaking coolant just went to Nissan (Solved)

Still leaking coolant just went to Nissan (Solved)

Re: Still leaking coolant just went to Nissan (Solved)

Re: Still leaking coolant just went to Nissan (Solved)

Re: Still leaking coolant just went to Nissan (Solved)

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