Hi Guys:

Am planning to do a coolant drain/flush according to directions from the motorvate guy's link. Does anyone know hot to open the valve in the heater core in a 2001 max ? The directions he gave on his link was for a 4th gen.

Thanks. Cheers.

 

I think the simplest way would be to turn up the heat to max while you are doing it and that would open the heating system. You can run it for a minute or two with no danger of overheating providing that the car is cold...

 

i have automatic climate control thou...

 

Turn the auto climate to the max with only the vent (no A/C). That is the same thing.

 

skip that section, not worth the hassle, just run the heater for 10 min, it should be circulated out.

You can fill and redrain with water 2 times if you really want to go after the amount in the core.

 

so just turn the auto climate to max, and run the heater for 10 mins ? without the engine on, i assume, just the fan, rite ?

 

The engine needs to be running to flush the coolant and the fan doesn't need to be on for the coolant to flow through the heater core. It just helps circulate the hot air.

 

a while back i used this procedure to change my coolant. Its a write up on the Motorvate.com site.

Partiall copy of write up;

Automatic Climate Control
If you have the Automatic Climate option (as shown below) you need to do the following to open the valve in heater core:

Turn the ignition switch from the "OFF" to the "ON" position
With in 5 seconds of being switched "ON" push the "OFF" button on the
climate control for at least 5 seconds.
Press the "HOT" button 3 times
Press the "DEFROST" button 2 times. Code 43 will be displayed.
Wait 10 seconds before switching the ignition to "OFF"

I located it on this site:
motorvate.ca v2.0 - *THE* DIY Maxima Website Please Support motorvate.ca
Good luck!

 

thx for the info digger01, i saw that on motorvate site as well. i don't have a 'HOT' button on my 2001, would that be the same as pressing the 'ECON' button ? U have a 'HOT' button your 2000 ?

 

years ago I flush my old civic with put the running water hose in the radiator (top in bottom out) and keep the engine run about ten minutes, no sign of temparature rising, maybe I am lucky not mess up the engine, what do u guys think? I might want to try it again on my max

 

Anyone know a linky to a write up on this for a 5.5 gen? Id seriously hate to mess this up...

 

Cobalt,
No i dont have a 'HOT' button - its a dial... I cant recall? but i think your right, after fooling w/some buttons the code appeared in the radio and you could here the remainder liquid trickle out into the draining pan- not much.

didnt have the guts to go after the drain plugs on the engine-figured i got enough
and didnt want to screw anything up!

 

i hear you, i don't plan to go after the drain plugs on the enginer either. i will just do the drain/flush/refill, easier. am plannining to use toyota red coolant.

 

let us know how it turns out-

I wanted to replace the hoses maybe even with colored silicone one's that would be on the next flush, I have 87k miles on this car

 

There is no coolant control valve for the heater core. Coolant is free to flow through the heater core anytime the engine is running. Temperature control of the air is accomplished using AIR control doors/flappers and the mixing of cold air from the evaporator and hot air from the heater core depending on the Mode and temp selected.

 

IIRC, when I was flushing my coolant out last month if you do the first two steps on the motorvate site a code will appear and then you can adjust three settings by turning the temp **** on the auto climate

Turn the ignition switch from the "OFF" to the "ON" position
With in 5 seconds of being switched "ON" push the "OFF" button on the
climate control for at least 5 seconds.

Except I didn't know what code meant what for the 5th gen, but i could here something opening and closing

 

You are not hearing this chaps. You are trying to open a non-existant coolant valve. The heater core coolant control valve was engineered out on the Gen. 4 and subsequent cars.