he should be fine if he's used to working on cars he should have no problems. if really unsure or worried pick up a $7 haynes on the maxima or search for the FSM online for the car. should be very EASY to find...as i'm sure there will be something in there other than how to replace a thermostat that he will need to lookup while you own the car.schaery wrote:I have a 1998 Maxima that is running hot. No mechanics open today, so I'm on my own. Thought I might try changing the thermostat - well, not me, but my husband. He' not much into working on foreign cars so I need some help. I guess the most obvious solution would be to first change the thermostat. If anyone can give me the simple version of changing the thermostat I'd very very grateful. (The version for "53 year-old men who only like to work on older American muscle cars because there's so much room under the hood and parts aren't turned sideways and upside down, and it's pouring down rain outside"). Thanks in advance.
thx. i figured they were on here but i'm new and didn't know the link. nice ride man.MinisterofDOOM wrote:Actually, the FSM can be found right here:http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/maxima/1998/
schaery wrote:Well, it wasn't the thermostat. Drove car around the block and needle went up to 3/4 (like 3/4 tank on gas gauge) within just a few minutes. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Don't have much money to play guessing games with a mechanic. Has plenty of oil, coolant, and new thermostat.
schaery wrote:I gave up and took it to the mechanic this morning. He called this afternoon and said he fooled with it for several hours and it never ran hot. (It ran hot just driving the 4 miles from my house to the shop)!!! The only think he did was added about 3/4 gallon of water. My husband put a gallon of antifreeze in last night. Mechanic said that maybe there was air in the line and so the radiator really didn't get full, or maybe there's a leak so he's keeping it overnight to pressure test it in the morning. Maybe my Maxie was just having a bad morning.
He "glanced" at the gunk on the engine and said that it looks as though the valve gasket might be leaking like many of you have said. He suggested that I just leave it alone unless I'm just dying to spend the money. NOT dying to spend the money!!! Do ya'll agree with him? If it's really no big deal right now, I'll leave it but I don't want something major to happen 2 months from now because I don't fix this today.