Hey guyz, just found this site and i must say it is awesome! I just purchased a 1995 Maxima GLE on Friday. It seems to be fully loaded pwr everything , including heated seats, moonroof and rear spoiler. It has 144,000 miles on it but i think i got a great deal when i talked the guy down to $3000. Now for the bad news. When i was driving it home i noticed it started ti run hot and the smell of antifreeze started to occur. After getting home i noticed a puddle in the passenger side floor and right away i knew it was the heater core.Since i bought the car "as-is" i was surprised that the used car dealer said they would likely "pay 1/2" the cost. After researching the problem it seems like alot of work for a novice like myself. Taking the whole dash apart and de-compressing the a/c ? I think I will be out of my league. Have any of you guyz done this job and how much work does it really intail? I checked the sticky section but didn't see anything for this problem. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Anyone, done a job like this???

 

That's not a common repair. I don't think I have ever seen anyone post about it on this site.

Be sure to take lots of pictures and post a write-up when you get done. Thanks.

 

I figured that, but i thought maybe 1 person . The dealer wants $870.00 and R&S Strrauss wants $600.00. So i will be getting it done there, to say the least. They say it is about 6+ hrs of labor since you have to take the entire dash apart. I will try to take some pictures as the job progresses.

 

Wow, you are brave letting someone else do that kind of work. Not to worry you, but I would be seriously surprised if you get your car back with everything in perfect working order.

 

Well , the way i figure is if i do the work and mess something up i'm screwed! Where if i let a retail shop do the work and something doesn't work right, they are going to be doing alot more work to get it right!

 

What did they say is wrong with the car? I just bought a 95 and it is leaking antifreeze, too. Just wondering what they said they are fixing?!

 

If you got a manual and took your time I'm sure you could do it on your own if you have the tools and a little bit of knowledge. The part is pretty cheap I think but are you sure its the heater core and not just a hose going in or out of it?

 

When a heater core goes, this is usually what happens [leak in passenger side floor] I guess it could be a loose hose connection but either way it is still 6 hrs of work to take apart the dash just to get to it.

"The part is pretty cheap " - On the contrary, the part is $200 + or - a few bucks. And another $400 in labor. The Nissan service book say 6 hrs to replace, so for a novice your probably talkin about 8 hrs,upside down on your back 1/2 in 1/2 out of the car. I just got off the phone from the dealer i bought it from and they said they would pay $200 towards the cost so that will help. I would def take a whack at it but 6-8 hrs on a car i don't know too much about seems like alot.

"Sassy Girl What did they say is wrong with the car? I just bought a 95 and it is leaking antifreeze, too. Just wondering what they said they are fixing?! "

If it is leaking outside the car it is probably the radiator or a hose or even a loose drain plag. If it leeks inside it is about 99% sure it is a heater core!

 

The Nissan manual also quotes a couple of hours for replacing a knock sensor. Most of us can get it done in less than 15 minutes...

Just something to think about.

 

This is so true, and with the dealer paying for basically the price of the part i might take a whack at it. Only thing that scares me is "decompressing the a/c" that is what the repair manual calls for. And you have to be a reclamation center for that. I'm not that knowledgeable about A/C so i'm not quite sure what they are talkin about. I'm sure taking about the dash is more tedious then anything else. And if im thorough with everything it would be fine, but the A/C thing scares me a bit. Won't i have to recharge if i "decompress"

 

Yeah I didn't know how much the part was I had bought one for my Jeep that I drive in the winter and it was pretty cheap but we do have Maximas some parts expensive... Yeah the manual may say 6 hours but I bet alot of people on here can do it in alot less. I don't know anything about A/C... I know its a lot different but when I did my Jeep it wasn't much work and I didn't have to do anything just plug and play basically.

 

Any shop that does AC work can remove the refrigerant for you. Then replace the heater core yourself. Then take it back to the AC shop and have it recharged.

 

I'm going out of my mind! I bought the car almost 2 weeks ago and i have yet to even clean it. Like i stated above , i got the car home and the heater core went. It was sitting in my drive for 5 days and now been at the shop for the last week. I have been on these forums everyday since i bought it [15th] for most of the day [gotta love working for a school] and i can't wait to get my car back so i can check it out. 1 good thing is i have learned alot just by doing all this reading the past 2 weeks. Great stickies by alot of you guys, Thanx for the time and effort that went into some of them.
Love the detailing sections as well, some of the tutorials will be very helpfull once i get my car back! Anyways sorry for rambling on about nothing , just getting imaptient to get my car and start hookin her up!