Folks, I bought an 08 from out of state and had it hauled here. So far so good.Shot at Lowe's parking lot.
I was really trying to hear the engine on a cold start to catch any funky V8 noises, but things didn't work out with the truck driver, and I didn't get to hear that. He drove it to me at the parking lot we were meeting and it seemed fine. Sounds were OK, it felt OK to the touch and the exhaust smelled normal for an M as well.
I take this chit seriouslyThat was cool and all.
Anyway I zip it around town and about 20 mins later I have the hood open in my driveway and engine covers off, because I'm that kind of guy.
It's an Armorall fest down there
Upon driving off after pick up, I had noticed a little bit of water sloshing under the dash, which made me want to inspect what we had going on ASAP. When the car was cool enough, I checked some of the vital fluids and all seemed good, except the coolant.
When I popped the radiator cap, I noticed some thick mess on it. I did my best to wipe it off but it needed a screwdriver to be scraped off. The reservoir was below minimum as well so I had to jump into Walmart and buy some distilled water. I keep the concentrate at home, but I hadn't restocked on the H2O since moving.
I come back home, mix up the stuff while the car cools down and I decided to remove the reservoir because it looked dirty. The bottom half inch was full of this clay-like stuff. The consistency was like peanut butter or caramel and it took quite a lot of hot water to get it loose.
Video of cap and in-reservoir shots.
I managed to get it out:
a pic after pinching at it with a paper towel
The radiator cap and filler neck also looked like they had some of it caked on there, although I know I backflowed a little bit of brownness into it when I lifted the reservoir.
And this is where the temp needle is at idle. Does it seem a little low to you guys? Every single Nissan I've driven or been in tends to rest just a notch below the mid-point of hot and cold. Anyone with an 08+ M45?
And here, I have my previous 06 for comparison but I might be tripping and they really are the same.
Some facts:
1. The heat blows hot even at idle and the car not moving
2. The coolant looks green
3. No coolant smell from the exhaust
4. The oil, at least by the dipstick, doesn't seem contaminated or milky. But this only indicates the top quart and a half, which is new oil as expected. The level is good too.
5. I bought the car from a Ford dealership. I know it's GM that used orange Dex coolant back in the day, but my Jaguar XJ8 also uses Dex, and those were the years JLR was rolling in bed with Ford. I know mixing anything with Dex is bad, but it surely wouldn't get this thick, would it?
6. The odometer indicates 132K but the engine was replaced at an Infiniti dealership about 40K miles ago, which is one of the main reasons I jumped at it. No details of what exactly happened, but I felt comfortable enough with what I know about them (Plus the carfax and bodylines didn't indicate any accidents). Once you damage an engine, especially if you throw a rod, there are possibilities of secondary damage, but I can't quite see how this would escape anybody maintaining it for this long.
7. I went over the inspection/standard service for cars they receive, and no coolant system check was mentioned. I noticed the omission, but again I know these engines to self implode before any coolant issues happen, so I didn't push on it.
8. The car came with a complimentary 6 month/ 6K mile warranty. I remember seeing something like an offer for extension, which I might go for.
What do you guys think? I'm not trying to place blame, just trying to figure out what happened so I can spend more time staring thru the windshield instead of getting a view of the underbelly of this car.
