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Mine (heater hose on the passemger side going from the block to the heater core) just ruptured at pretty much bang on 100,000 miles. Huge cloud of white smoke behind me, at first I thought it was the head gasket. Ended up going to parts source and getting a replacement hose for $18 bucks. Took a lot longer than it should have as those clamps require a LOT of force and i didn't have great pliers. The oem part is actually 3 pieces and costs ~$100. Can i leave the parts source one piece hose in or should I switch it out? I doesn't have the plastic T connector just one formed hose.
edit so theres an identical mirror hose on the drivers side that a ticking time bomb? Great..
Last edited by Serge Mullen; Mar 31, 2019 at 11:55 PM.
If you have to buy something at a parts house just get a coolant backflush kit and install it in place of the factory TEE and bleed valve, it will function the same basically but is cheap and you'll be able to drive away that same day.
I just had the same hose fail, I was sitting at McDonald's drive thru at 3 am and window started to fog up and smelled like coolant. Luckily I was only 2 miles from home and drove home very slowly, temp gauge moved to high range and got a slight rattle from engine going up a hill (water pump noise)? I'm going to get it towed to independent shop, it's my second breakdown in a month (just replaced starter recently) but otherwise almost no problems in 10 years 89K miles. (2008 sedan)
Is this a relatively easy repair? Independent shop I use has two locations and I trust one location more than the other for complicated stuff (but farther away).
Is it safe to refill the radiator and start the engine again to confirm this is the only leak? (engine is cold now)
I have only replaced upper radiator hose to date, I will ask to go ahead and replace lower radiator hose. Are there any other hoses I should replace at the same time? I want to prevent any future cooling-related breakdowns if possible. (I wish water pump was easy but looks complicated, probably not necessary at 89K).
Originally Posted by cleric670@gmail
Your purge bleeder broke previously and someone replaced it with a plastic barbed coupling, there is supposed to be a cap between your two hose clamps that can be removed to purge air while filling but as you can see it's missing.
I personally like the replacement made by Z1 Motorsports because it's metal, it's SUPER easy to replace the coupling, all you need is a pair of pliars to squeeze the prongs on the clamps so you can slide them down the hose off the coupling.
The hardest part is burping the air bubbles back out of the system but if you add coolant very slowly (1 gallon per minute) instead of just dumping it in then it's usually not a problem.
Originally Posted by cleric670@gmail
This picture from the FSM is pretty much exactly what it should look like. I'd go take a picture of mine but I'm being lazy on the couch. The "air relief plug" is the bleeder valve, you don't have that piece
Originally Posted by greg_atlanta
Car is back now, $100 with new "heater hose connector" and coolant change. There are two heater hose connectors, one with a bleeder valve and one without. The one that failed on mine is on the passenger side and doesn't have a bleeder valve (near battery). The one with the bleeder valve is on the driver's side. I asked the shop to replace anything else that might break but they're kind stubborn and only replace what needs replacing. Like I asked to have lower radiator hose replaced and they said they usually last for 250K miles.
So I'll have the other heater hose connector replaced the next time I have a coolant change (if it doesn't fail before then).
Also, the guy at the shop (who's pretty smart) recommended against buying Infiniti/Nissan going forward since they're getting very cheap with the parts, like getting wiring harnesses from China. He expects a lot of complicated repairs on the newer models as they age.
Originally Posted by cleric670@gmail
Time will tell, they still source the capacitors locally in japan and that's the most important component.
I still think your bleed valve is on the wrong side though.
EDIT: Wait are you a RHD?
Originally Posted by greg_atlanta
No, but I think your diagram is RHD since it looks like the master cylinder on the right side.
Haven't visited this thread in a long time but the confusion here is caused comparing apples to oranges. Greg has a 2nd gen 08 sedan and cleric is referring to a first gen, doh…..
Garnet Ember G35X Sport EBC rotors LEDs GTR button Tail-as-Turn TBW undertray Alarm shock sensor
Just hit the 100K mark in the Red Shogun....And sure enough the crappy plastic heater hose union/splice (bleeder port was replaced by former owner?) decided to leak.
Luckily, I found it before it broke and dumped my brand new coolant. It took 2 hours and a 13" compound pliers to get those damn spring clamps off and clean out the remains of the plastic union/splice. I'm sure my neighbors learned a few new "phrases" in the process. Hint: pinch off hoses with small vise grips so the plastic bits don't end up in the heater core or the engine block.
I couldn't justify the cost of the Z1 bleeder part given it appears the engineers deleted the port from the G37 model altogether. (ie. bleeder port not needed and a reliability issue.) so I found an aluminum billet splice on Amazon for $6, waiting on delivery. Already had a set of worm drive hose clamps on hand. No way was I going to put another OEM plastic bleeder port on the car Or reuse those spring clamps.
NOTICE TO DIYers: The heater hose is 3/4 inch I.D. NOT 5/8 inch as someone suggested in another thread. So don't buy a 5/8" hose splice as I did originally.$@$%!
I don't know why the FSM doesn't have this little fact listed.
Update: the 2009 G37 shows the bleeder port so I assume DIYers have made the decision to delete it.
Last edited by Red Shogun; Nov 30, 2019 at 12:31 AM.
Car is back now, $100 with new "heater hose connector" and coolant change. There are two heater hose connectors, one with a bleeder valve and one without. The one that failed on mine is on the passenger side and doesn't have a bleeder valve (near battery). The one with the bleeder valve is on the driver's side. I asked the shop to replace anything else that might break but they're kind stubborn and only replace what needs replacing. Like I asked to have lower radiator hose replaced and they said they usually last for 250K miles.
So I'll have the other heater hose connector replaced the next time I have a coolant change (if it doesn't fail before then).
This same connector just failed again exactly 6 years later (to the day) at 133k miles. I'm on a road trip and left it at an independent shop in Charlottesville, VA (Cole's Imports). Hopefully they'll agree it's a simple fix and not over diagnose it.
It happened on the highway and I pulled over and turned off the car to let it cool down (temp gauge high), then drove about 2 miles slowly to a shop (temp gauge normal the whole drive). There was a sporadic rattling sound in the engine on higher engine load but I assume it was the water pump being starved of coolant. Could it possibly be a failed water pump too? Looked up replacement of that and it's very complicated, and might as well replace oil gallery gaskets at the same time (since front cover comes off).
I would just bypass that with some brass for now. Water pump can be done without pulling front timing cover but it’s not fun. not sure what the metal noise is. Investigate further?
So I got the hose connector replaced and a coolant flush but the fun continues. AC wasn't engaging but car otherwise running fine. By this time was in another city but called the shop in Charlottesville and asked what could be wrong, they said possibly blown head gasket from the overheat (though it was a brief overheat). But they did a pressure test and it checked out OK.
I had to add about 3 cups of water to the radiator over two days but I assume this was just air stuck in the system. No foaming under oil cap. I was afraid to use the bleed valve on driver's side since it's the same cheap plastic as the straight hose connector. Then the car started running rough while troubleshooting in the driveway 9but no check engine light) so decided to turn if off and get it towed to a mechanic. So far it shows a failed ignition coil on #3 (spark plugs replaced at 103K and now at 133K) but mechanic recommended replacing all six. But AC not engaging unrelated to that, but mechanic will troubleshoot that after ignition coils are replaced.
Now I'm leery of taking more road trips... but I'll take it to independent shop in Atlanta when I get home and tell them to rule out anything that could go wrong going forward (but they generally take the "ain't broke don't fix" approach.
I would just bypass that with some brass for now. Water pump can be done without pulling front timing cover but it’s not fun. not sure what the metal noise is. Investigate further?
Not on the second gen, unfortunately. Not sure what Infinit was thinking with this new design lol
Greg, you're probably already all set, but i would expect to start replacing all of the cooling hoses and connections sometime soon, especially the ones running above the exhaust manifold on the driver's side. It's a terrible design and these hoses will eventually fail. I would also check the one hose running above the trans/behind the engine. That one developed a pin hole and was spraying coolant out on me last summer.
Greg, you're probably already all set, but i would expect to start replacing all of the cooling hoses and connections sometime soon, especially the ones running above the exhaust manifold on the driver's side. It's a terrible design and these hoses will eventually fail. I would also check the one hose running above the trans/behind the engine. That one developed a pin hole and was spraying coolant out on me last summer.
I'm taking it to the independent shop this week to check the whole cooling system, only current problem is coolant is slowly being pushed to expansion tank but not getting sucked back to radiator (moreso on long trips but I mostly do short trips around town). All my freon leaked out in the fall and other mechanic thinks it's a bad condenser, and the condenser and radiator are one part so have to replace radiator anyways. But there's a small chance it's a minor head gasket leak and if that's a $$$$$$$ repair I may decline the work and just run it in to the ground (2008 136K trade-in value $2-3K)
I'm taking it to the independent shop this week to check the whole cooling system, only current problem is coolant is slowly being pushed to expansion tank but not getting sucked back to radiator (moreso on long trips but I mostly do short trips around town). All my freon leaked out in the fall and other mechanic thinks it's a bad condenser, and the condenser and radiator are one part so have to replace radiator anyways. But there's a small chance it's a minor head gasket leak and if that's a $$$$$$$ repair I may decline the work and just run it in to the ground (2008 136K trade-in value $2-3K)
i'm giving it almost a 0% chance it's your HG at this mileage, unless you've had a major overheat.
All my freon leaked out in the fall and other mechanic thinks it's a bad condenser
you need to find someone with the right knowledge and tools (i.e., a/c machine) to diagnose this instead of throwing parts at it. if it's a huge leak, it will be apparent right away. keep us posted.
it's back from the shop and they're pretty certain it's a very minor head gasket leak or small crack in the head, so it's blowing air into the coolant. they've seen this several times on similar infiniti and lexus models. but it could go on like this for years. also, AC compressor has a bad leak and need to be replaced. it would be $4K+ to replace head gaskets or $6K+ for crate engine and $2K+ for AC so not worth it given trade-in value is $2-3K at best (in working order).
i will investigate head gasket "sealers" like liquid glass or blue devil but only if it gets significantly worse.
so i'm going to keep the car and just use it around town, maybe buy or lease a new car (or maybe do rentals for a while for road trips). pretty sure honda accord hybrid is next for me (maybe camry).
2k+ for a compressor change? they're smoking crack... mine went out last winter and OEM unit off ebay is couple hundred bucks + an hour to install it and the necessary evac/fill. Maybe $500 (unless the evaporator is messed up) if you're not doing it yourself. I'd look for a better shop. Do not mess with the stop leak stuff. Just keep driving it until it gets worse and have plan B in your head. If it were me, i'd just pop a good low-mileage engine in it once the HG is done if you don't want to mess with the actual repair.
