Can you do me a favor? If you do see that the pan is bent between the bolt holes, can you try using permatex black rtv? The black stuff might be able to seal in this case since it calls for further tightening down the bolts to spec after the rtv has cured for an hour or more. The gray that Nissan uses is a rigid formula and requires close tolerances to work well, at least according to my understanding.

Also, did your motor make any unusual noises? Why do you think your guide was so worn? Maybe you ran it low on oil?

 

Awesome post man for the guy or gal who has the ability to do this themselves.Thank you

 

Got my new radiator today, installed it, filled the coolant, and bled the system. I then went out hoping to get a speeding ticket, lol.

The eBay radiator I bought looks pretty sturdy, light-weight, and for 65 bucks I think it's a great deal. Hopefully it will last awhile though, however, the only thing I didn't like was the nuts are not directly attached to the radiator so screwing the two hidden 10mm bolts was a pain.

I did the following before actually starting the car. Pulled the fuel pump fuse out the IPDM; I took my battery out to get to it. Then I cranked the car four or five times to help build up some oil pressure. Put the fuse back in and covered the IPDM (double/triple check the cover) they get destroyed by water easily. I've had two of them replaced under warranty and now that I'm out of it I'd be upset to have to buy one out of pocket.

Started the car up and no more squealing or whining.

This is how I bleed my coolant and it's worked both times for me. I fill the coolant with the bleeder valve open till it pours out. Stick my Lisle funnel on and fill it with a little bit, run the car at idle with heat on/off, rev the engine a little bit, and turn the car off/on. I repeat this for about 20-30 minutes. If I'm still getting cold heat at idle I then take the car out for a nice drive. By this time I have usually got ridden of the air bubbles in the engine block, but not the heater core. So, the car temperature stays constant while I'm driving and by the time I get home the heat is scorching at idle.

Before work:

After work:

I'm a little worried though while I was bleeding the new coolant this brown stuff came out once. I don't have any signs of a head gasket as far as I know, but will probably do a compression test and block cylinder test to see if there is any exhaust gas in my coolant. Otherwise I'll be real pissed off if I have to do this again, lol.

I'm going to do two oil changes within 50-100 miles and maybe add some SeaFoam. I had a lot of coolant get in the engine when I forgot to drain the block.

 

Definitely, I'll try the RTV and let you know if my pan ends up being bent or having any damage.

When I dropped the lower oil pan there was some fine looking debris at the bottom that looked like gravel. The upper guide had track marks I guess you could say from the teeth grinding into it. I also think my chain might have been slightly stretched a tiny bit, since it had a small amount of play near the crankshaft when it was tensioned. With the new chains and guide it tight as can be. But, I didn't notice any weird issues and if there were they were zoned out by the loud squealing and grinding.

 

I hope i never have to do this!! ha!

I got some questions though. I had a crack in my radiator and replaced it last night. I'm still getting cold air when at idle. I probably have a lot of air in my system.

Can I get the steps you used to burp/bleed the cooling? I should be getting my Lisle tomorrow or the next day. I just don't want to keep over heating while driving.

Also, where did you get your second hose that connects to the thermostat? I replaced my radiator hoses and was suppose to change out my thermostat(bought one with when I bought my radiator) but just getting my lower radiator hose, I had to cut the top end. I don't have another replacement for the second hose so I didn't swap out my T-stat. Thanks!

 

I think I found the second hose on the tstat...

 

It's definitely not fun, but this was my FIRST ever timing job or anything. I'm scared I might have a head gasket or head problem now. I will have to check it out in a few days and hopefully get at least 400 miles out of my car, lol. I bought the AAA extended warranty right before my water pump went out and they have a 1 month and 1000 mile waiting period, lol. I was at about 450 when all this happened.

This is how I bleed my coolant and it's worked both times for me. I fill the coolant with the bleeder valve open till it pours out. Stick my Lisle funnel on and fill it with a little bit, run the car at idle with heat on/off, rev the engine a little bit, and turn the car off/on. I repeat this for about 20-30 minutes. If I'm still getting cold heat at idle I then take the car out for a nice drive. By this time I have usually got ridden of the air bubbles in the engine block, but not the heater core. So, the car temperature stays constant while I'm driving and by the time I get home the heat is scorching at idle.

Oh yea squeeze the hoses coming out from the radiator being careful of course this helps free some air bubbles. You can also put the car up in the air to help, but I didn't do that. I also can get tell usually when it's safe to take a drive by feeling the hoses on the top/bottom of the radiator and the hoses coming into the cabin. The ones in the cabin will usually be colder then the others after taking it for a spin it should work itself out eventually. Just carry some coolant around with you for a week or two and top of as needed.

I bought the silicone master hose set from Z1 motor sports for about $198.00 bucks and it's well worth it. You can also purchase individual hoses as you need them and I think they're a sponsor on this site as well.

FYI - The thermostat is actually screwed into the housing. I'm still using the original one that is 7 years old, so if it works fine I would leave it in there.

 

The second smaller line on the TStat is also for oil cooler lines I believe. So if you were to replace it with say a Z1 silicone set you would want their oil cooler setup.

 

Thanks Coffeysm! I hope you don't have a head gasket issue! I love my car but it's about that time where everything is needing maintenance!

I am not a mechanic but I like to try and DIY a lot with my car.

I'm still waiting for my Lisle to come in and in the mean time trying to bleed the system without it. I've touched a lot of hot coolant in the past two days. haha.

thanks for the help!!!

 

Yea don't want to do that. I had the bleeder valve blow up in my face with warm coolant. I usually don't even open that after filling it anymore, lol.

I usually put a little in the funnel and rev the engine a few times. Just keep in mind the water pump is driven by the timing chain so more revs = faster coolant circulation. I then turn the car off for a couple of minutes and start again.

 

Just did my first oil change since changing the timing chain around 100-150 miles. The oil looked pretty clean and no leaks from the cover, new radiator, oil pan gasket, or any of the hoses I replaced. I think my oil cooler might be shot though; I replaced the gasket, but it's still leaking from the part where it looks like it connects together on the oil filter side. My oil filter was on snug also, so I don't think it was that leaking.

I didn't drop the pan I will probably do that in about 100-150 miles to verify the pan didn't bend it and reseal it with black RTV.

I was also worried about a head gasket, but I think I don't have anything to worry about that anymore. I pressure tested my coolant system with the kit from Advance Auto and used the block tester from Autozone to check for exhaust. I'll probably re-do those tests again just to verify my findings. I took pictures and can write up how to do it if anyone would be interested.

I plan on doing a compression test soon as well just to see the overall health of my engine. It does seem to respond a lot better now though after replacing my guide rails and chain. Couple of more nuisances I have to track down and this 7yr old 128K mile car rides like it's brand new again.

 

Just wanted to say everything is working good on my car. No head gasket issue apparently maybe just some residual gunk from the new radiator and when I changed the water pump. I'm currently tracking down an P0171 lean condition and think it's on of my A/F sensors gone bad. Then just need to track down some clunking noises from my suspension parts I replaced and car should be good as new!

I also recently purchased Sokie Tech hood dampers from eBay. Definitely worth the price and wish I had them sooner.

Dorman control arms and Deeza ball joints I replaced are also holding very well past three months.

Just need to change oil one more time and re-secure the oil pan and hope no damage was done from the gasket that Eugene said could happen.

Oil cooler wasn't bad either I think I had a defective oil filter that wouldn't seal properly. Put another one same brand and no issues as of now, I guess you get what you pay for, lol. Going back to Mobil 1 maybe tomorrow.

 

Great, I'm looking forward to finding out what the status is with the oil pan.

 

Hey Eugene,

Draining my oil now and probably going to pull the pan. Any quick tips to make sure if it's bent? Should I use a level is it usually noticeable from your experience? I plan on using black RTV to seal it regardless.

 

I don't think you'll have to look that closely to see if it's damaged, although a straight-edge may prove useful. From what I've seen there may be very obvious deformations on the pan, so look for those. If there are deformations, you might still be able to get away with using RTV (black) but make sure you don't tighten it fully right away. Follow the directions for tightening and you should be good.

let us know how it turns out and don't forget to take pictures.