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Car Forum / Nissan / Nissan Cars / November 2007Mission Impossible: Thermostat change on a 98 Sentra GA16DE
So I changed my anti-freeze and was going to do the thermostat. I looked over the obvious locations and couldn't find it. I consulted the service manual and the diagram shows me that the thermostat housing is mounted right next to the water pump . . .behind the engine. Holy cow what a fantastic nightmare to try to reach it! Three bolts hold it in place, the 3rd one you can't even see and have to reach up to from under the car, going past the oil filter. Does anyone know of an easy way to get at it? I may just simply leave it and wait for when the water pump fails. Thanks CD If it ain't broken... > So I changed my anti-freeze and was going to do the thermostat. I looked > over the obvious locations and couldn't find it. I consulted the service [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > CD Agreed, Technicians rule #1 1. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. rule #2 2. Customers don't break/fuc* up their cars, The Technician does. > If it ain't broken... > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > > > CD > So I changed my anti-freeze and was going to do the thermostat. I looked > over the obvious locations and couldn't find it. I consulted the service [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Does anyone know of an easy way to get at it? I may just simply leave it > and wait for when the water pump fails. No easy way I know of - I agree that it's in a terrible place for access. A mirror helps. Also the coolant hose clamps in that area are a near impossibility. Don't forget the two bleed screws when refilling the system, one on the intake manifold - above right of the water pump, the other one on the head under/behind the distributor is easy to miss. Both marked with "don't remove when engine hot" stickers. The drain plug for the block is behind the catalytic converter. >> So I changed my anti-freeze and was going to do the thermostat. I >> looked over the obvious locations and couldn't find it. I consulted [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > "don't remove when engine hot" stickers. The drain plug for the block > is behind the catalytic converter. Thanks for the tip. I'm leaving it for when the pump fails. rusted out bolts added to the difficulty of getting at parts. Damned Northest weather. And for those who thought I was replacing it just for the hell of it, the thermostat was displaying classic worn out behavior: car gets warm, get on the highway, car gets cold. After 170K miles, my thermostat may not be broke, but it sure is tired, and I wnted to keep my car warm during the coming winter months. CD > And for those who thought I was replacing it just for the hell of it, > the thermostat was displaying classic worn out behavior: car gets > warm, get on the highway, car gets cold. After 170K miles, my > thermostat may not be broke, Yes,it is broke;the temp would not be fluctuating if it wasn't broke. > but it sure is tired, and I wnted to keep > my car warm during the coming winter months. > > CD you can't find a shop to change it for you? They have lifts and can get at it from underneath easier,and are usually heated shops,up north.  SignatureJim Yanik jyanik at kua.net >> And for those who thought I was replacing it just for the hell of it, >> the thermostat was displaying classic worn out behavior: car gets [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > They have lifts and can get at it from underneath easier,and are usually > heated shops,up north. I think that might be a good idea. From my experience, it doesn't seem to take much of an engine overheat for these alloy heads to crack. YMMV. > >> And for those who thought I was replacing it just for the hell of it, > >> the thermostat was displaying classic worn out behavior: car gets [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > From my experience, it doesn't seem to take much of an > engine overheat for these alloy heads to crack. YMMV. But my car is underheating, not overheating. If it was too hot, I'd have it in the shop in a second. It's been said that these thermostats, when they fail, fail open. Apparently that's what's going on here. CD >>>> And for those who thought I was replacing it just for the hell of it, >>>> the thermostat was displaying classic worn out behavior: car gets [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > thermostats, when they fail, fail open. Apparently that's what's going > on here. Probably right... but... I just went outside to take a look. Lever the wiring loom clip off the housing to give yourself more room if you need it. Leave the inlet hose clamp on. The bottom bolt isn't that hard to get at from above - it's just that you can't see it, but you can feel it, and can get to it with a 3/8 drive 10mm socket on a short extension. After you get the cover off, you should be able to turn it a bit to loosen the hose clamp with a stubby screwdriver if you can't get a socket on it. You only need to get the hose off if you want t clean the cover up before putting it back on. Page from manual here: http://i4.tinypic.com/8bjom54.png >But my car is underheating, not overheating. If it was too hot, I'd >have it in the shop in a second. It's been said that these >thermostats, when they fail, fail open. Apparently that's what's going >on here. Yep, you should ignore the other posts and fix it then. It will cost you comfort and mileage. >Does anyone know of an easy way to get at it? I may just simply leave it >and wait for when the water pump fails. The only reason to change the thermostat when you change the AF is to avoid a possible failure (and loss of new AF when you have to change it). Since the failure mode is not severe (your car runs cold until you fix it) and since the AF is not very expensive, I'd let it ride until it starts acting up. |
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