# Off-Road Fun (and unintended consequences)



## ecrase2500 (Dec 31, 2004)

This Canada Day weekend, I hooked up with some buddies and went four-wheelin'. This is something I had never really planned on doing with my X-Trail, but having done it on several occasions before with different vehicles, I couldn't resist trying it out, especially with potential tow vehicles standing by. 

We took some trails near Barrie, and found a cool mud hole to play in. Here are a few pics:














































The X-Trail pulled through this deep mud hole several times, and impressed everyone with the traction available despite the lack of VDC and real A/T tires.

After the trek, we took a look at our vehicles' motors, and mine seemed to be the most caked with mud. 










We hosed them off a bit before we continued onto my friend's family cottage...



















...where we scooted around on their private beach. The thinking was that this would further rinse off the mechanicals (but mostly, it was a hoot.)

I'm pleased to report that the X-Trail was very capable off-road. It has plenty of ground clearance. The 2.5L also has a fair bit of low-end torque, so despite not having a low-range, it let me crawl along in 1st gear without stalling on the rougher stretches. I got stuck once in the loose sand at the beach; this was because I had stalled it and then dug it in with too much wheelspin when I tried to get going again. That's the nice thing about having other 4x4s with you - they pull you out when you get in trouble.

Anyway, there was no apparent damage (other than a bent license plate) after this adventure. The only sign of trouble was that one rad fan (the four-bladed one) wasn't spinning; it seemed to have been blocked with mud. I freed it, but it didn't start again. At first I thought the temperature wasn't high enough to activate it. The 5-bladed fan (that seems to be activated by the A/C was working, but making a fair bit of noise. I suspected this was only because it was working harder than usual, sort of like a vacuum cleaner makes extra noise when you put your hand over the end of the hose. I checked the fuse, and actually swapped the two 40A fuses for the fans to ensure they were both good.

When I got on the highway to drive home, everything was OK for the first few KMs, but then my temperature gauge started to skyrocket:










I got home by opening the windows and running the heater full blast. This kept the engine running at a normal temperature.

Once I had the X-Trail in my home driveway, I took a closer look at the rad. It was packed solid with mud. It occurred to me that I'd have some trouble convincing my dealer to cover this under warranty (obviously) so I decided I'd better see what I could do myself. I couldn't reach much of the rad with the fan shroud in place (and the A/C condenser in front of it), so I took everything apart. I removed the airbox intake, took out the fan shroud, drained the coolant, pulled the rad hoses, and took the rad out.

I then used the garden hose to spray all the mud out. It took a surprisingly long time before light shone through the fins again. Since I now had room to work underhood, I then pointed the water jet at the A/C condenser. Again, much water was sprayed before it was coming out clean on the other side.

While I had everything apart, I took the fan motor and tried running 12V directly to it. It didn't spin.

Which brings me to an appeal for advice: does anyone know if this motor has a built-in thermostat? Should it work by running current directly to it? If this fan motor's dead, I'll wait until I have a new one before putting everything back together.

Any help is appreciated.


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## Canada's Far East (Jun 15, 2005)

*Off Road Capability*

ecrase2500:

Sorry I can't help with your question for sure, but would be surprised if it's not "thermostatically" controlled.

Had to comment on your off-road adventure - I'm impressed with the performance - didn't think these things had this in them !! 

For those who might have been otherwise "faint of heart" this should give some encouragement.

Great pics :thumbup: 

Cheers = Roger


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## ValBoo (May 19, 2003)

FYI: The cooling fan motors themselves do not show any built-in thermostat on the wiring diagram.

If you tried connecting directly and they were not turning, then likely they just got flooded...

Sorry...


PS: put it this way, I am sure you will not be investing in a cold air intake if you enjoyed this trailing 




ecrase2500 said:


> This Canada Day weekend, I hooked up with some buddies and went four-wheelin'....
> 
> ......While I had everything apart, I took the fan motor and tried running 12V directly to it. It didn't spin.
> 
> ...


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## ecrase2500 (Dec 31, 2004)

ValBoo said:


> FYI: The cooling fan motors themselves do not show any built-in thermostat on the wiring diagram.
> 
> If you tried connecting directly and they were not turning, then likely they just got flooded...
> 
> ...


Thanks, ValBoo. That's helpful, if not exactly what I was hoping to hear.

Indeed, the factory air intake has proven itself useful. That being said, I don't plan on any more mud bogging in the near future. Cleaning the rad out is a pain in the ass.


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## aussietrail (Sep 24, 2004)

*Excellent stuff*

Hi ecrase2500,

Excellent off-roading :thumbup: 

It' always nice to see a soft-roader getting used to what is designed for 

My engine bay looked a bit the same after a mud hole crossing, but I didn't have any problems with blocked fans or anything like that.

I made sure that I didn't speed enough when doing this type of crossing fearing exactly that it would cause some blockage and also letting some dirty water through the air intake.

Did you open your filter box to see if any of that stuff got inside and flooded your air filter?

After my adventure, I had my engine bay professionally cleaned, it cost me a bit, but it looked as good as new.

I can tell you now, that you will be seeing chunks of mud and sand dropping from your exy for the next month or so while you drive, so don't be surprised.

Sorry that I can't help with you with blocked cooling fan question, but I would have swapped the wires between the A/C fan and the cooling one to see if that would do the trick and you can then isolate the problem. (that of course only if the wiring harness is the same)


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## ecrase2500 (Dec 31, 2004)

aussietrail said:


> Did you open your filter box to see if any of that stuff got inside and flooded your air filter?


Yes, actually. It would seem the airbox design is quite good at keeping water out; the filter had no mud in it whatsoever. The airbox had drained itself out.




aussietrail said:


> Sorry that I can't help with you with blocked cooling fan question, but I would have swapped the wires between the A/C fan and the cooling one to see if that would do the trick and you can then isolate the problem. (that of course only if the wiring harness is the same)


Yeah, I thought the same, but the connectors are different. The right-hand side fan uses a four-pin connector, and the left-hand side one uses a two-pin connector.

I'm pretty sure now that the fan motor is toast. It's got a bit of a burnt smell emanating from within. I've decided to put everything back together and try my luck getting a warranty replacement. Worst case scenario, they can at least sell me the new part, and I can install it myself.


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

cool pics! it amazes me sometimes what stock vehicles can do. i used to run my truck like that too. good stuff. 
have a line on the fan(s) yet?

www.car-part.com might be able to help you...


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## ecrase2500 (Dec 31, 2004)

AsleepAltima said:


> cool pics! it amazes me sometimes what stock vehicles can do. i used to run my truck like that too. good stuff.
> have a line on the fan(s) yet?
> 
> www.car-part.com might be able to help you...



I'm going to check today or tomorrow. Canadian Tire and Parts Source (open Sundays) don't carry many X-Trail parts yet. BTW, the URL above doesn't have the X-Trail listed. It must be a US-models-only site.


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## X-Traction (Dec 21, 2004)

Is it advisable to repack wheel bearings, etc. after this sort of immersion? If you get water in the bearings, wouldn't it be the sort of problem that would take some time to show up, but surely would? Does the manual say anything about this?


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

ecrase2500 said:


> I'm going to check today or tomorrow. Canadian Tire and Parts Source (open Sundays) don't carry many X-Trail parts yet. BTW, the URL above doesn't have the X-Trail listed. It must be a US-models-only site.


hmmm, interesting... they list a bunch of different regions in their listings. is there another vehicle comparable to the x-trail in nissans lineup? the pathfinder maybe?


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## patrick39 (May 24, 2005)

Probably not, because X-Trail is a car-based SUV while Pathy is truck-based and it is an all new design....... Pathfinder will be more comparable to X-terra or the larger Armada.


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

patrick39 said:


> Probably not, because X-Trail is a car-based SUV while Pathy is truck-based and it is an all new design....... Pathfinder will be more comparable to X-terra or the larger Armada.


ahhh, cool. i guess i should take the time to learn more about other nissans instead of just altimas, 240's and z's...


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## ecrase2500 (Dec 31, 2004)

X-Traction said:


> Is it advisable to repack wheel bearings, etc. after this sort of immersion? If you get water in the bearings, wouldn't it be the sort of problem that would take some time to show up, but surely would? Does the manual say anything about this?


There's a good question. I haven't checked the manual yet, but I'll take a look. One of the friends I was four wheeling with owns a lube shop, and he said most newer vehicles have pretty tight seals on anything that's greased.

Still haven't found time to make a service appointment yet...


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