its dark and cold outside and im too lazy to go look...how hard is it to change the themostat? its right on in between the top water pipe and its fitting correct? or is it in some PITA place...

alright2020 wrote:its dark and cold outside and im too lazy to go look...how hard is it to change the themostat? its right on in between the top water pipe and its fitting correct? or is it in some PITA place...

I've been told it's a huge PITA, like changing your heater core x3

i thought it was pretty easy to change mine just had to get stuff out of the way like the fan but overall seemed fast i guess you could use the cold as motivation lol but it should be on the top pipe if not mistaken someone correct me if im wrong....but just take the bolts off then pull the pipe nd it will be right there

make sure you have the correct amount of antifreeze, if its to low you won't get enough through the heater core to produce hot air.

If it's not giving warm air, it's often the thermostat that has failed. I see this in our shop all the time when winter rolls around. Run the engine and see if the top hose gets hot when it's cold outside. Does your temp gauge show about center on a cold day when the engine is warmed up? Does the gauge drop a lot when driving when it's cold out? The gauge should stay in the center no matter what the temp is outside. If not that's a pretty sure sign it's the T-stat.

Fan shroud, top rad & bottom hose off the pipes, T belt covers preferably and coolant pipes have to come off. It's easier if you take the rad out for more working space which is only a couple extra bolts and the lower hose. The pipes use nuts and Allen head bolt holding it on and is fairly hidden so make sure they are all off before you try to remove it with force or it will break. Also, only use a Nissan thermostat. Motor Rad and a lot of after market ones are crap and will fail in short amount of time. The few extra bucks is worth it.Make sure you clean the pipes well so the connector hoses will seal and replace the 2 short connector hoses with new ones.Not a huge job but a few hours for sure. If not that's likely the issue.

Good time to do the T-Belt and water pump if it hasn't been done.

*Look just below the center top idler pulley and you will see where it belongs




Modified by Zwicked at 7:43 AM 1/17/2010

yeah i figured it was easy just a pita to get to .... its warmer outside now so ill do it when i got some spare time. and yeah it was how you stated. temp gauges stays low when its cold outside