Overheating issues with 3.5L pathinders and Qx4

[Ddflosrt]

Hey guys got some information on the overheating concerns on these vehicles. If you have gone through all the steps and nothing has fixed this issue then it's possible you have clogged coolant passages in the block. We ran into a few of them already and Nissan fix is to replace the engine. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. The engine from Nissan is over $7000.00. After the news customers normally trade it in. If it happened to me I would probably flush the engine as many times as possible to see if it can unclogg some passages. Hope this helps.

[Towncivilian]

I haven't encountered anybody having issues with clogged coolant passages in VQ35DE engines yet. Maybe everybody here just maintains their cooling system, heh! Thanks for sharing this info though.

Since you work at a dealer, would you happen to know what happens to those R50s condemned by the strut housing corrosion recall (if you're at liberty to discern such information, of course)? How many engines do you encounter with missing power valve screw(s) and damage as a result?

[Ddflosrt]

Well since Colorado doesn't have a lot of rust we don't encounter many. Only seen 2 I believe. Nissan gave the guy a rental for a month till they decided what they wanted to do. We had a meeting with the guy and they agreed on a price for the vehicle and Nissan cut him a check. Nissan really never told us what they do with the vehicles. I suppose they crush them but not sure. I don't see a lot of power valve screws either. I hear of alot of dealers seeing it but we really don't see a lot. The ones we have seen didn't damaged the engine but sure sounded like it at first lol.

[Towncivilian]

I see. If there was no engine damage (or at least no significant damage), how about cat converter damage? Did the engine start burning oil as a result of power valve screw ingestion?

I also asked my local dealer about power valve screws on VQ35DE Pathfinders, I think the service adviser said he saw maybe one or two cases of it but it was really uncommon compared to the Altimas & Sentras that were recalled for the same problem.

We've got a lengthy 15 page thread about owners' experiences with the strut housing recall, good and bad. It's nice that there isn't much rust in Colorado, good for the owners! It's a shame if they get crushed, there are so many useful parts owners could use.

[Ddflosrt]

The few power valves we had never went through the engine. So the cats were ok. One still comes in often and doesn't consume any oil. I'm sure though if it gets through the engine some damage would occur.

The ones we did see for the strut tower for death traps. Glad the customers brought them in when they did. The customer we had was irritated with Nissan because they took so damn long. Hopefully not every customer experience is as long. I would assume they crush them. They don't want anyone driving them and if they crush the vehicles themselves they know no one can resell it or drive it. But there again I'm not 100 percent sure on that subject.

[Towncivilian]

That's good news. Several months ago there were a couple QX4 owners on here with engines that ingested several power valve screws and had some cat converter damage and if I recall correctly, engine damage (severe oil consumption I think). I put red threadlocker on my Pathfinder's power valve screws as a precaution and they were all tight at 126,468 miles, never having been touched before. I really think Nissan / Infiniti oughta recalled the R50s for the power valve screw issue too, but at least the issue isn't widespread.

I'm not quite sure Nissan is at fault for taking forever to deal with the legal nonsense around condemning an R50 - it's Morley (in the USA) that seems to be the root of most complaints in that regard.

[zach7685]

I asked my friend that works at a dealer and he said they rarely see them aswell and we've got tons of R50's here