New Car Questions

[Dust]

I want to first say that the manual is on the way, but it's an 8 week journey here from England. So please bear with the timely questions that I need to ask.

First, oil filter location. I did a search on the board, and didn't come up with anything. The oil needs a change bad, but I can't find the filter.

Tranny. I get a really hard shift the first 1-2 shift of driving before the car gets warm. I have Dex 3, but I haven't been under the car to look for the pan drain plug. I will crawl under this afternoon and take a look around.

Coolant. She is drinking coolant. Only does it when the car gets up to around half on the cluster. I think I have found a holey hose, the bottom hose where it attaches the the engine, and I will get it fixed, and the tires replaced, as well as the belts and maybe the passenger cv joint. I have no steamy exhaust, but I saw some junk in the radiator, and there was a bit of green below the crack in the hose. I don't know if the junk in the radiator means a blown HG, or just the coolant that was replaced was cleaning up the probably abused cooling system.

 

[James]

Well I can help with the oil filter, its located under the throttle body and airbox at the back of the engine (roughly illustrated on this picture I just took):

 

[Dust]

I got the filter located, and I will be changing it in the next few days. I found the leak, it is coming from under the area that would probably be the water pump. When I am running the AC the car stays cooler, and she doesn't seem to leak too much, but without it, the temp will hover about half. I got the fluid changed out with Dex3, and will be trying to get the WP and tires done this week.

 

[Ian]

yeah the temp on all my K11's hovers around the halfway point, thats normal.

 

[Yom]

I got the filter located, and I will be changing it in the next few days. I found the leak, it is coming from under the area that would probably be the water pump. When I am running the AC the car stays cooler, and she doesn't seem to leak too much, but without it, the temp will hover about half. I got the fluid changed out with Dex3, and will be trying to get the WP and tires done this week.

If its not the water pump it is a large pipe thingo that runs along the side of the motor. THe little o-ring on the end of this will be shagged.

BLoody nissan australia doesnt stock this part anymore. Could kill em.

 

[Dust]

Next question, how many quarts does a pan drain on the tranny take. I haven't found a number, and the fluid I had had an accident so I couldn't get a good measurement. I got it around the hot mark while running and hot, is this correct. I have 12 qts of Dex 3, so I don't mind draining or filling more. Also, should I look into the throttle body resoldering for a 1.0?

 

[Dust]

If its not the water pump it is a large pipe thingo that runs along the side of the motor. THe little o-ring on the end of this will be shagged.

BLoody nissan australia doesnt stock this part anymore. Could kill em.

In reply, how do I go about checking for which one is problematic? We didn’t see any telltale signs of a bad water pump. I saw water sitting on top of what looked to be the water pump, but I couldn’t see the seep hole from the top, and didn’t see or feel any leaks in the hose that runs from the top of the water pump around to the other side of the engine.I also want to note a few things. The car runs much cooler with the AC running. It’s very surprising. Second, right after I got the car, I noticed that the radiator cap was sitting on top of the radiator, instead of screwed on. This means that I went about 16 hours without a radiator cap. I got the cap on, and got water in it that night, then coolant the next day when I could buy some. I got it finally topped all the way up, and with the correct amount of coolant/water, but I think this is what caused whatever problem has occurred. I wish I could see a diagram of the cooling system, and I wish that my manual would get here faster.

 

[Fordy]

Tranny. I get a really hard shift the first 1-2 shift of driving before the car gets warm. I have Dex 3, but I haven't been under the car to look for the pan drain plug. I will crawl under this afternoon and take a look around.

most of the time thats completely normal on older nissan auto gearboxs, changing the auto box fluid will help aswell for a while

 

[Dust]

most of the time thats completely normal on older nissan auto gearboxs, changing the auto box fluid will help aswell for a while

I changed the fluid, and the shift has gotten worse. The fluid is correct, but the shift gets better when she gets warmer. I am wondering if DEX 3 is not the correct fluid. Also, I haven't gotten anywhere on the coolant issue, but the consumption seems to be decreasing.

 

[Dust]

Alright, update. I cleaned the MAF with electronics cleaner, and it shifted better once. THe fluid level is correct, the the best of my knowledge the fluid type is correct. The shifts have gotten shake the car hard. I changed the fluid and it started happening. I can change the fluid again if anyone thinks it would help.

Coolant problem: The coolant doesn`t leak until the level gets up to halfway. With the AC going, and the aux fan going, there is no leaking problem.

Please offer any advice you can, I don't need a dead car after 3 weeks.

Also, with the key on engine off, I have a check engine light, I don't know if this means I have a code or not, but if I did, it might explain what the problem was.

At the battery I tested 14.56 volts at idle right after a cold start, so I don't think there is a charging issue to worry about.

Would resetting the computer do any good, maybe helping it to relearn shifting?