rlg999 Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 I am the proud new owner of a 95 pathfinder XE with 180K on the clock. When I got it home I noticed that there was a coolant leak from the rear passenger side head above the exhaust. I removed the heat shield and couldn't determine where the leak was coming from so I assumed the head gasket was leaking. Pulled the head and found that the rearmost upper exhaust stud hole had been drilled out and retapped with a larger bolt. Seems like the PO drilled too deep, and hit the water jacket. Therefore, the water was leaking around the exhaust stud bolt and dripping on to the manifold. I can see the rusty stains from where this has been happening. Anyhow, anyone know if it's possible to weld up the hole, then retap it for the correct stud? If I knew this beforehand, I would have tried removing the oversize stud, then put some sealant or jb weld back around the stud and let it go. But since I already have the head off, might as well fix it right. I'm doing the timing belt and water pump as well. Should I do the oil pump too, what is the life span of the oil pump on these motors? Thanks for any input. RG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 the heads are aluminum. The pressure in the water jacket is not very high so I would think some sort of repair could be made. I just threw away a set of heads about 2 weeks ago or I would have sent you one. As for the oil pump.... I've not had mine go bad and I'm over 200,000 miles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 How thick is the drilled through wall? Welding would be the way to go but you would want a skilled aluminium welder to do it as you need a good seal and minimal distortion. Oil pumps are usually not an issue with these motors but if you are there and it isn't a big deal, then it is cheap insurance as the motor should last 250-300k miles under reasonable use. Do you know what the pressure was before you took it apart? B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 Since you have the head off, if you can't find someone to weld it up for you, you could find a good used head from a junkyard or something. I had morons screw up my exhaust studs too but luckily they didn't hit the water jacket and was able to helicoil it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlg999 Posted October 10, 2013 Author Share Posted October 10, 2013 Well, I wound up getting a used head off of Ebay. Had it looked at by the machine shop, they surfaced the head and put in a new cam seal and valve guide seals. Installed it and it runs great now. Hopefully she will run another 180k miles before something else happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msavides Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 I have had heard quite a few people who had done the same thing. They have put some water pump sealant (rtv) on the end of the bolt and the threads. some have gone more than 100,000 miles with this repair. However since you already had the head off you did the right thing, As most of the hard work was already done. This way you know that you will not have any issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Yup, sounds like you did it right. Yes, it should last a lot longer than 180k, and the only thing that went wrong here is you having to fix what some careless PO did. It isn't like something failed... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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