Post by
DarylInDurham »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/darylindurham-u268216.html
Wed Oct 05, 2016 9:12 am
Hi everyone,
My son just bought his first car (he's 16). It's a 1988 Nissan Pulsar NX with the CA18DE engine and manual tranny. He bought it "as is" and without me getting a good look at it so of course the car has some issues. There's a few things wrong with the car but for now I'm asking for advice on the most important...we've got a fairly serious coolant leak coming from somewhere underneath the intake manifold. When the revs are mid-to-high it bleeds out about a litre of coolant in 20-30 minutes.
We've had no luck yet seeing exactly where the coolant is coming from, getting access to the area is proving impossible due to lack of space.
I'm unfamiliar with this car and engine so apologies if my questions are noob-ish...I'm a gearhead and my son is learning so we aren't afraid to get our hands dirty.
1) Can anyone provide a pic the underside of the intake manifold looks like? Maybe with the engine out of the car? I know there are coolant hoses (including a metal one?) running underneath there but would like a pic to see what at the moment I can currently only (barely) feel.
2) Is this a typical problem/weakness with this engine?
3) What's the easiest way to change the hoses underneath the intake, can we access all the hoses without having to remove the intake manifold or pull the engine?
4) Is there even room to remove the intake manifold without lifting the engine? Seems access to all the mounting nuts is impossible!
5) I'll probably want to change ALL the coolant hoses, where's a good source to buy a complete coolant hose kit for this car?
I don't have much history on the car, the PO passed away about 4 years ago and the car sat ever since. His widow (who knows next to nothing about cars) told me that the engine was changed a few months before the PO died so there are almost no miles on it (I think that's probably correct, the engine is super-clean and runs like a Swiss watch).
If there is anything else about this engine I should watch for or question I should have asked but didn't please feel free to let me know!
Thanks in advance for the replies.
Cheers,
Daryl