adjusting idle on '89 240sx,AND changin coolant

[nissilvat]

hello- no one flame me for this, BUT i dont know how to change the coolant in my car. if u are standin in front of the car at the bottom to the left is this valve with small clear hose comin from it. the valve looks like it is connected to the radiator. do i turn this to drain the coolant? also what else is needed?. ive heard somethin about a drain plug on the engine block underneath the exhaust manifold. does that need to be removed. please can someone give me a brief direct rundown on this. also my car idles kinda low, isnt there a screw or somethin to adjust it.????????

[wild_maxx]

on the bottom RIGHT side ( aka drivers side of RAD.) there is that small white valve witha clear tube comming out of it. yes you want to take that out and be ready with something to drain old coolant in. make sure you take off your rad. cap when doing this so it will drain out faster. then after its all drained out. run some clean water thro the rad and flush all the old stuff out. then do a 50/50 mix of distilled water and antifreeze and your golden after that. any more questions just ask here.

[benemorius]

You also need to remove the block drain bolt as you mentioned. It is under the exhaust manifold, about 3/4 of the way back and slightly above the middle of the block, between the rear freeze plug and the closest engine mount bolt. It's quite small and may be hard to spot, but is the only bolt in that area except the engine mount bolts.

[nissilvat]

aight man, sounds easy. i am gonna do that this weekend, cause i know it hasnt been done in a while, also i use castrol full synthetic 10w30 in my car, and it has 160,000 mi. on it. i dont think thats the right oil i should be usin with such high mileage huh?, u seem to know alot, what do u recomend?

[nissilvat]

ok , well my car idle kinda low, how do i tinker with that?

[benemorius]

Are there any more noteworthy things to be said of the idle? Is it rough? How low is it? RPM? Does it vary? What is it with the A/C on? Does it drive ok?

If you're running that synthetic with no major leakage you're in good shape!

[nissilvat]

yeah but after i drive it for a while, the lifters start tapping. i was askin cause someone told me synthetic doesnt hold up good in higher mileage cars. no i havnt noticed ANY oil leaks. as for the idle , when i start the car up in the morning it idles at 1000rpm then when the car heats up it idles between 650-800, then it'll just stall and trie to die on me. i nkow this cars got some problems, iam workin on tryin to find out every possible culprit to get this thing runnin like new again.

[nissilvat]

oh i never use a/c, plannin to remove it newayz, besides the car stumbling and jumping when it heats up, it does ok.

[sanioll]

for oil you better of with mobil1 0w-40 full synthetic, all season, depending where you live too.

for coolant. searchfor FSM in this forum, and download it. complete and correct insturcitons are there.

above instructions on changing coolant, really sucks. you have to fully flush the system for decent change. see FSM.