tacoman

I had the exact same one break about 3 years ago. Here's how I fixed it. Since then I have had exhaust manifolds off and replaced them all. Did not remove the exhaust manifold. Cut the head and about 1/2" of shank off a bolt the same size as the stud. Just long enough to fit trought the maniford and down inside the stud hole. Took a couple of tries and a grinder to get the length right. It was not broken deep enough to thread into the stud hole. Trickest part: centerdrill the head and shank of the bolt the you just cut-off. I think it was about a 3/32" or 1/8". You will need to do this on a drill press. I would start with a small a hole as possible. You can always make the hole larger. Used the head and and shank as a drill bushing to centerdrill the remaining stud embedded in the block. Had to use an angle drill but there was plenty of room for that particular stud. Drilled into it about 1/4 to 3/8". Just deep enough to get the ez-out to bite. Use a sharp drill, only about 30 seconds of drilling is needed. Used the recommend square ez-out for the size of hole that you drilled. Let me stress the concepts: square ez-out and recommended size. Might want to use penetrating oil if stubborn. Do not break off the ezout in the stud. That is disaster. If you feel you are putting a lot of torque on it, soak it in penetrating oil and/or go to the next size ezout. Maybe even run the engine to get the aluminum head to expand and give the bitch up. Aluminum has 3 times the expansion rate of steel. If you break the ezout it may be there forever. Mine came out without any hard twisting. Finger tight plus a little. As a matter of fact, when I removed (at a much later date) the remaining studs they all came out pretty eazy. None were bound. All were pretty clean. I don't think I live right. But I do think Nissan installs with antiseize. Install new stud. Torqued stud, the existing gasket was still good enough to seal. This method is a lot less risky than trying to do it free hand and you do not have to take the manifold off. Even if I removed the manifold I would still use a bushing, it would just be much shorter. Total time was about an hour. I heard the dealer wants $700. I laugh out loud in their faces. If I had the bushing pre-made it would have be a 15min job. By the way, I looked for the bushing and could not find it. Will take another look later on. I am sure it was put away safely. Tacoman

Nissan recommends using two types of sealants, each in a different location, when reinstalling the tranny. KP510-00150 and KP610-00250 (or equivalent). Does anyone know what the real world equivalent to these goops are? I suspect one is silicone and the other is some kind of non hardening greasey stuff. Tacoman

There is a bleeder near the back of the engine on the top on the driver side. It is not on the block (its on some kind of box) and it does not look like a bleeder. I believe it is a 10mm hex head. At first glance it does not look like the box has coolant circulating. It is impossible to bleed the system if you don't use the bleeder. That engine will trap a lot of air. The bleeder should show up in the manual. Also fill with the heater on. Does the heater work? If not its a sign of low coolant or no flow. The moisture under the valve covers is probably condensation. If you can find one, put a pump pressure gage on the radiator. Stant makes one that replaces the radiator cap. They are kind of expensive and I think you will need a adaptor for the Nissan. Start the engine if the needle jumps its leaking exhaust into the coolant. Pump the pressure up when it is not running (hot and cold). It should hold pressure for 20 min. Check for external leakage, leakage into the cylinder or crankcase. If it is a bad leak it will move a lot of coolant prior to losing pressure. It should be obvious where it is going (like filling up a cylinder). Plugs look good. Tacoman

Found it! Anyone know of a good on line source? Tacoman

Does any one know the Nissan part number for the new and improve exhaust studs? I know that I have seen it in the forums somewhere but now I can't find it. Thanks Tacoman

I have noticed that my oil pressure is a little low. Happened slowly. I have run the Catipiller oil analysis on it about every 4 th oil change. It all looked normal except the oil viscosity was reported as being slightly lower than the reference sample. I was using low cost oil (Chevron 5-30). The was the reference sample was the same. Went to 5-30 Castrol and it seems to have helped. Question how could the oil have been deluited? Only thing I can think of is fuel but from where? Leaking injector? No water, metal or antifreeze in the oil, just low visc. Anyone with the same experience? Tacoman