Dear all,


I have a Pathfinder R50 3.5V6 VQ35DE.
I live in Africa where the temperature never drop under 20 degrees Celsius (69F) even at night.
Do I really need the thermostat or I can run the car without any thermostat ?

Please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

More knowledgeable minds than mine can answer but I always understood it as an engine runs best at a certain operating temperature - well above ambient where you are, and a functioning thermostat left in place will help it reach that temp sooner.

fixer3 wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 13, 2023 9:22 am

More knowledgeable minds than mine can answer but I always understood it as an engine runs best at a certain operating temperature - well above ambient where you are, and a functioning thermostat left in place will help it reach that temp sooner.

Besides which, cylinder wall and bearing wear are as much as 8x greater at 90F than at 180F. The OP will do his engine no favors by removing the 'stat.

Thanks to all, well understood !!!

Now another question I read that the normal temperature is between 190 and 220 F when the engine running.
For me I'm always berween 210 and 230 but never at 190 or 200.... I have a scangauge III to check the temperature.
Do I have to worry about something ?
Is it because I'm living in a hot (almost always around 95 F) and humid area?
What do I have to check?

Thanks in advance!

On an '04 you have both a 'stat and a Water Control Valve, and they have radically different temperature profiles. The 'stat controls overall flow through the radiator and heads and cracks at 170F with full open at 194F. The WCV controls flow through the block only, and it cracks at 203F with full open at 226F. So under conditions where the block is fully warm, you'll practically always see temperatures above 203F. How high it goes above that depends on overall system efficiency, load, and (yes) ambient conditions. So I'd expect to see it run a bit warmer than that in 95F temperatures. I don't think you're seeing anything abnormal.

All right, thanks.

At what temperature do I have to worry or consider an overheating issue please?
Here often we are in traffic, driving slow around 20mph and start and stop often.

After that I have a problem with my original water temperature gauge. Is there a way to fix it or not really?
Does someone has a detailed operating mode to remove air bubbles in the coolant system please?

Thanks so much in advance, your help is much appreciated here far from everything !!!

Nissan doesn't actually give a spec for where P1217 occurs, but around 230F is probably the limit for most Nissan hardware. Damage is guaranteed at about 245F on practically any engine.