# How Do I change the Engine Coolant?



## HardlineFan (Jul 3, 2003)

I drive a 1996 Nissan Sentra GXE 53K.


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## azkicker0027 (May 31, 2002)

either loosen the lower radiator hose, finding the block plug, or the drain in the bottom of the radiator, or all 3, but yeah, try those.........


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## HardlineFan (Jul 3, 2003)

Do I need to jack up my car for this?


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## HardlineFan (Jul 3, 2003)

Do I need to jack up my car for this?


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## niky (Jul 20, 2002)

yes... at least so you can see what you're doing. There's a little screw center right side of the radiator... just pull that and let it drain, then lower the car to let the water in the engine settle forward and drain, too. Put the screw back in, then top her off!


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

Not that simple.Remember that you need to backflush the whole system first.The thermostat will be in the way of that, so you need to drain the whole system(engine off) and flush it with clean water while the engine is running.DO NOT LEAVE THE LOWER RADIATOR HOSE OFF WHILE DOING THIS!!! You can leave the petcock open though.Flush it by pulling a heater hose and sticking the garden hose in it .Do it with the heater on so that it gets full flow.Also leave the radiator cap off so that the water has somewhere to puke out of the engine.Once it flows clear, turn the engine off and let it drain.Now tighten any loose hoses and fill it with a 50/50 mix of distilled water and Dexcool approved coolant.It is intended for GM cars originally, but it lasts 150k miles without needing a change and is designed for aluminum radiators and heads(blocks) to be especially corrosion resistant.I use it in all my cars.


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## niky (Jul 20, 2002)

wow... guess that about covers it! can't flush my radiator completely that way... have electronic climate control... even on full manual, my heater is on intermittently at best... sucks when you're driving in traffic and the engine temp starts going up...


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

just put it on full hot.Or put the hose so that it runs through the engine first and the heater core will flush itself.The thermostat willcycle open and closed too.If you pull your thermostat,drill four small air holes around the edges(midway from the edge to the valve plate)to bleed air pressure while flushing the engine,make sure they are small-1/8 in at the most or you will loose thermostat efficiency.Niky, are you having that problem with your swapped SR20?I forget, is it turbo or N/A?If turbo then you should get a much bigger aftermarket radiator.Non turbo, get a factory replacement SR20DE unit for a B14 body.You may also need to properly bleed the air out of the cooling system, replace your pressure cap(radiator cap),and make sure you are not using too much anti freeze.Also, be sure the fans are engaging at the right temperature,the thermal fan switch may be bad.A car doesn't need the fans when it is moving most of the time because the air going through it at speed is more than enough to cool it.


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## HardlineFan (Jul 3, 2003)

Thanks for tips, is Distilled Water AKA Tap water?


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## niky (Jul 20, 2002)

*that i can answer*... NO. distilled is completely purified, no mineral content at all... tap my have stuff in it that could form deposits in your system... distilled water is best for your car.  . i try to use it as much as possible, but sometimes, when you're stuck in the middle of nowhere... just get the cleanest stuff possible. 

whoa..., hi'mile, that's a lot of work... yah, the engine is a bummer, but mostly because it's hard to get the associated parts here... 

the heater thing is because the climate control won't give me total control EVEN ON FULL MANUAL... i've hated this aircon since i got the car, it's cold, but it won't let you heat, it won't let you open the vents with the blowers off, it won't let you get to second base with your date... nothing 

i'll try it your way next time i have to change water... i'm trying to solve some rust and deposit probs, too!

i've actually got the heat problems down pat, have a (moderately) cleaned radiator plus some ghetto ultra-radiator fan upgrades (looks weird, but works!)... the temp sensor was okay... 

the car only started heating up on the first day... not enough water and and not enough cooling... now it's perfectly fine... i can actually open my radiator after a few hours driving without spraying superheated steam everywhere... (i know it's a stupid thing to do, but i vent it first to check... no over-pressure!)... that's not something i could do with my overwrought 1.6.

next up is the oil-cooler... i'm going for bulletproof as soon as i can. 

err, sorry for hijacking the thread, *hardline*... listen to hi', he knows his stuff!


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## HardlineFan (Jul 3, 2003)

UPDATE! I can't find the engine block drain plug. I did everything except that. No Wonder I overflooded the engine coolant/water everywhere. OUCH! about I guess 1QT. BTW my hands probably can't reach that engine block drain plug, if I was to find it.


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