Guest Chrislrob Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Okay, guys (and gals). I have a '97 Pathy that I bought a year ago. Yesterday, the engine light came on. Never happened before, but I'm past due an oil change so I figured I'd get that done this week. This morning, it was about 45 degrees outside so five minutes after I started driving, I turned on the heat. It blew, but cold air. That was weird because the temp guage was about dead center like it always is after the car warms up, though it did get there kinda fast.... 2 minutes later, it is still blowing cold and the temp gauge is pegging at the top. I immediately pull over and pull the inside hood latch. But outside, I can't get the hood up. I could stick my fingers through the grill and push the lever down but I'm pretty sure the inside hood latch is not releasing. Meanwhile, my girlfriend is fidgety because my midnight hijinks have already caused her to be running late for work. And now I'm standing out by the side of the road unable to raise the hood of my own truck. I could SEE the disappointment on her face through the front windshield. It said, "THAT is not a man. I don't know WHAT it is, but it is not a MAN." Luckily, we were near a bus stop so I sent her on her way. 10 minutes later I turned the engine on and heat came blasting out like the winds of the Sahara. I then drove home watching the gauge all the way. The heater stayed hot and the guage stayed pretty much at normal running temp. What happened? How do I unstick the hood? Do you figure something's wrong with my fan or thermometer? I couldn't even get under the hood to check if the engine was really running hot, although I assume it was since the heater should have definitely been blowing hot air. Any advice? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Bad thermostat maybe, not opening up and letting the cooland circulate. If that's it, you'll be happy cause its a cheap fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffri Posted November 9, 2004 Share Posted November 9, 2004 Thermostat is a PITA to get to though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted November 9, 2004 Share Posted November 9, 2004 I could stick my fingers through the grill and push the lever down but I'm pretty sure the inside hood latch is not releasing stupid question but mine pulls up, not pushes down. Are the 97's the same? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted November 9, 2004 Share Posted November 9, 2004 you could also be low on coolant if it is not the thermostat... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chrislrob Posted November 9, 2004 Share Posted November 9, 2004 I may below on coolant. Sure wish I could figure out how to unstick the hood so I could find out... I'm ashamed to take it to a mechanic just so that they can open the hood. It would shrivel up my one remaining testicle after not being able to open the hood in front of my girlfriend the first time! She keeps calling me saying, "Didja get it up yet? Why can't you get it up? tell the truth--is it me?" LOL! I love her anyway! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 Bang on the hood until it opens! hehe If that fails, use a big screwdriver and pry it open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 Maybe try and squirt the latch with some WD40 or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 First I'd have someone pull the hood release lever and see if I could hear, see anything move at the latch. Then I would have them hold the lever and try pushing down hard and releasing quickly/ pushing wiggling the hood around. Then I would try the same while they hold the inside lever and you hold the hood lever, all the while keeping a firm grip on the single shriveled remaining testicle so it doesn't desert you... Does the hood pop up then the inside lever is pulled ? Can you remove some of the grill so you can access the mechanism ?? Have you ever opened a car hood before ? Good Luck, I'd be pissed... Bernard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 Also try giving the hood a good hit just above the latch, like 88 said. I've had 2 vehicles where this would do the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chrislrob Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 Yes, I've opened a hood before! But dangit, this one's tough! At this point, I'm really liking the idea of just beating the hell out of the hood until something happens! Also suspect that my gauge may be faulty. At 20 miles an hour it will move from redline to almost normal temp in 15 seconds or less. Thanks for the tips. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TI RENagade Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 Just some general thoughts... To register any sort of temperature reading for your guage, your coolant sensor must see some coolant passing by. I agree you are probably low on coolant. It gets a reading then once in a while and then when an air lock passes thru your guage has a mind of its own. Accurate readings, you will not receive, young grasshopper. As far as the hood, learnt some of this from doing too many years of vehicle undercoating.... Lots of hoods to swear at! 1. Try the screwdriver approche. You should be able to get enough of the grill off to pry it open that way. But sometimes you chance damaging something that was never originally broken if not done wisely. Or... 2. Get somebody you believe to be smarter than you to pull the latch (perhaps a mecanic, for example!) while you bang on the front of the hood, near the edge where the latch would be. The trick is to try this for long enough that it still seems like you might get it(but don't), but not that you have given up. Before your ready to snap, you stop the mechanic and say "You're not pulling the latch at the right time." You then proceed to do the pulling of the latch while instructing the mecanic to bang the hood a bit. They see a lot of this stuff on all sorts of vehicles, so he'll (she'll) probably get it in no time! 3. Defcon 3 involves a cutting torch, some prybars and 3 pounds of back bacon! We really tried to stay away from step 3! Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vengeful Posted November 14, 2004 Share Posted November 14, 2004 Where are you located? Do they salt the roads heavily in winter? It might be what happened to mine, rusted together. My hood latch went bad and I'd have to bang the living crap out of my hood before it would open. Rusted together actually. It was a 2-man job to open that sucker. I'm in Rochester, NY, if you're close, I could help you. A replacement hood latch is only like $20 from Nissan, too. And it's a VERY easy job to replace. 3 nuts, that's it. As far as your heating issues goes, if you're not low on coolant, and the thermostat is good, maybe there's a clog in your cooling system somewhere. Happened on my Intrepid, and eventually worked its way into one of the coolant lines in the block, and blew the head gaskets.... If there is a clog, get it fixed immediately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chrislrob Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Hi all. Haven't been here for a while and just wanted to follow up. You all were right, I did finally get the hood open by having my girlfriend pull the latch as I lifted the hood. The hood lock is getting stuck. I'll replace. And took her to Pep Boys where they told me I have a leaky water pump and that is why I keep losing coolant and overheating. They also said that you should always replace your thermostat once your car overheats because it causes the thermostat to be forever inaccurate. They also said it would cost about $800 to fix the both of them! Anyone think this is a job suitable for my neighborhood mechanic? There's gotta be a way to get it done cheaper than that... Since it is also time for my 100,000 mile tune-up (my baby sounds HORRIBLE!) and my 100,000 mile timing belt change (I'm 420 miles over) , I am looking at living on beans and rice if I've got to do all of this! Any advice for a distinctly non-handy person like myself? Any particular order in which I should complete the above? Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 (edited) not familiar with newer models but that seems high. thermostat is normally under $10 and most of the time it's pretty easy. (10min) the pump can be expensive (<$200?) and PITA. it all depends. but it's basically a part of the disassembly for your TB anyway. so do it all at once. if you're not mechanically inclined this job may be too big. otherwise some patience and carefull study should be all you need. (well, some wrenches and a manual would help... ) Edited January 18, 2005 by mzxtreme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90seven Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 I could stick my fingers through the grill and push the lever down but I'm pretty sure the inside hood latch is not releasing stupid question but mine pulls up, not pushes down. Are the 97's the same? Hahaha, same here. Are you sure you're pushing the release level in the right direction. Mine pushes up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgly Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 2. Get somebody you believe to be smarter than you to pull the latch (perhaps a mecanic, for example!) That was mean... but darn funny. All jobs mentioned should be done at same time as all are on the way toward changing timing belt. Find a local mech to do the job - $500 - $600 sounds more like it (if that)... AND remember boys and girls DONT GO TO PEPBOYS for service... they completed a $500 brake job when all was said and done, after the third time I took the car back in - it didnt fix the problem (oh its a whole story) So dont go to dealers or PepBoys... use local mechanic or haynes/chiltons, elbow grease and bandaids Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chrislrob Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 Thanks for the replies. Dgly, are you thinking $600 bucks for everything INCLUDING the timing belt? If so, I'm driving to your neck of the woods! That is, if I don't overheat first... -thnkboutit- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgly Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 (edited) $600 should be for labor & parts (except h2o pump). The thermostat is @ $10, the timing belt should only be @ $30-40 (at least that was what I believe mine was)... didnt include price for water pump though - my '96 water pump was @ $120 - 200 (dont remember exactly). Trick is to find a local mechanic that is recommended to you, or that you trust... shouldnt be too much more than this. Edited January 21, 2005 by dgly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgly Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 If you want to save $$$ then you can do this yourself. I had changed by timing belt & waterpump on my '96 without much previous experinece. It took both days of a weekend because was all new to me but when all was said and done and the car started afterward I did have a smile on my face. You will need time, tools, manual, and some mechanical comon sense. Also there are some postings about his job - procedure and more importantly the tricks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 My water pump failed last winter and I had it replaced, along with timing belt and Tstat, etc. for $600 out the door with tax (8.8%). Its just a matter of checking around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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