thanks guys but I am a total newb. I decided to do the thing myself since I will also be doing a tranny flush myself.. I haev ramps to lift the car...

I bought the car new, and have NEVER changed the coolant so the one that is in there is the original nissan coolant. I also do not want to use the hose but rather the plug but I have no idea what those things look like on the bottom of the car! Also I have no idea which hose I need to disconnect to do the tranny flush since one is a radiator for the coolant and another for the tranny fluid? Im very confused now. Are there any good pics out there to show me what I need to be looking at?

So let me just get the process down. Remove the drain plug at the bottom (when I find it) let all the coolant out (car has to be running meanwhile?) Also what about the 50/50 mixture thing? Or is nissan long life coolant already mixed?

 

zgrm -- since you are so new to this stuff, I suggest the following before you touch anything:
1) get a Haynes manual and study it.
2) download the FSM (in addition to the haynes manual) and study it.
3) read the stickies thoroughly, including all the links to motorvate, etc. and study the pictures.
4) get under your car a couple times and study it. compare what you see to the photos in the Haynes manual and in the stickies.

then, before you do anything, ask any clarifying questions you might have.

give yourself plenty of time to do things right.
coolant flush -- 3+ hours
tranny pan drop -- 2+ hours
tranny flush -- 1~2 hours

these jobs can be done much faster, but this is what you should expect your first time.

 

gotcha thanks so much man for being so helpful. I was reading the stickies and asking questions at the same time lo. The problem is that at least half of the how-to's dont work and I couldnt find pictures large enough to see what I should be seeing under the car...

Anyway here is what I plan to do:

1) Open the radiator cap on top of the radiator
2) Go under the car on the passangers side (there should be a whole in the splash guard for the philips head plug) undo it and let the fluid drain out.
3) Put the plug back in (didnt find this in the stickies but I assume this needs to be done right)
4) Fill up the radiator with distilled water all the way to the top...
5) Run car with heat on high for 5-7 minutes
6) Let car cool for 10 minutes
7) Repeat process until fluid coming out is all clear.
8) Once fluid is clear, drain it again.
9) Now fill up the radiator with pure coolant all the way to the top of the radiator. This should create a roughly 50/50 mix right? Since about half of the distilled water would be in the engine that would not have drained out of the radiator correct?

So is this a good process? Also I will be getting the nissan coolant and I only need one gallon of it right?

 

the pictures are in the haynes manual i think its like $20 or so here where i live, i am thinking to pick one up myself, but since i dealt with all the problems already i may not have to

u will need more than one gallon as far as i know

 

Haynes manual is a joke when it come to many important things. Follow my instructions if you intend to flush.

 

zgrn - I could almost promise you that if you are doing drain/fills like I did (upwards of 8x) then you are gonna be sorry doing the rad drain plug instead of the lwr rad hose like I suggested. Unless ya got a pretty new car it's gonna be older rubber and old seals just don't work that great once they are messed with...besides the fact that if it leaks then you gonna have to mess w/ that, too! You might get lucky, but I don't like to russian roulette seals..

Your choice...

 

guys so will my way work with just the radiator plug? If I follow my steps will I do a good job? I did a search and dint really find anything about letting the air out...

Also what about the reservoir tank? Does it get flushed out automatically while im doing all of this? And also, do I keep putting the drain plug back in after I drain it and proceed to fill it u0p with distilled water?

And lastly, do I need to open the radiator cap while I am draining on the bottom?
And do you guys see anything wrong with my list?

Michmax, I just dont feel confident disconnecting hoses right now. Ill do the drain plug and if it strips Ill just get a new plug. But can soemone please tell me if the process I posted will work?

 

My 2001 Nissan Maxima GLE is leaking radiator fluid at the top end corners of the radiator. What is wrong, do i need to replace radiator, if yes is it ok to use non OE parts?

 

See thread: http://forums.maxima.org/fluids-lubr...r-leaking.html Same issue for me. I think it needs a radiator replacement.

 

2012 bump. Good times.