Hi all

I need advice as the guys at Nissan workshop don't want to let out their secret. "Sorry sir, you will have to bring in the car so that we do it for you".

I bought a Haynes workshop manual for the family car. Nissan Almera (Sorry, don't know what they are called in Aus or NZ).
My problem is the following questions:
1. On what service is the radiator fluid, power steering fluid,brake fluid and hydrolic clutch fluid drained and replaced?
2. My mechanic friend said that power steering I don't have to replace ever because it does'nt get contaminated like engine oil.Only replace when it get's contaminated with water or a leak is repaired.I don't agree. It still gets old due to use and temp changes.

Radiator fluid. The book only talks about when services is neglected the radiator is flushed and also a drain plug is removed from engine block and also flushed. My car's antifreeze has been done on previous services but if I just flush the radiator with a hose pipe and put in Nissan antifreeze again do you think I need to flush the engine block aswell.Reason being that the block still contains the same anti freeze, so I feel it is not required.Is this done on the 90 000km service or also on the 75 000km.
Currently I must do the 75 000km.
Thanks

hi AlmeraMan, the service intervals should be in your owner's manual. If you are missing it you could purchase it or the factory service manual from Nissan.

Almera is N15 (Nissan Pulsar). We didn't get it here in USA, instead we got the Sentra (Sunny B14/B15).

30,000 miles is when we do a coolant flush in our shop (Nissan dealer).
The power steering and brake fluid seems to be more random and I don't see a lot of this done at specific intervals, but if it were my ride I would do them at the same time as a coolant flush.
One thing to note....if your vehicle has high mileage, and the flushes have never been done, I would be wary of doing the P/S and Brake flush...it may cause leaks, or so I have been told by my technicians.

my 2 cents worth

Kelmo

Have a look in your service & warenty book. Nissans usualy have a really good description of what needs doing.

Brake fluid should be every 2 years reguardless of KM.
PS fluid doesnt usualy get a mention but yes it sure does get contaminated!
Coolant depends on the manufactuer

Thanks to all who replied.
Just some more questions to add on please.
1. Coolant flush is fine with me, but my main concern is that there is also a drain plug on the engine block itself and a drain plug on the radiator bottom left corner.
Must I drain the radiator and also the engine block or will only the radiator do.According to the Haynes manual they only talk about flushing the engine block when coolant change has been neclected.So I don't know if I must drain the engine block aswell if it was serviced all the time by previous owner at Nissan and also if I am going to use the same collant as was used at Nissan.
We have a saying here that says "Don't scratch where it doesn't itch". So, I don't want to really remove the bolt on the engine block to drain unless it really is required reason being that it might leak afterwards or something else.

Power steering. If I use a different power steering fluid as what is currently in it, will it have a negative effect? I know that it is not good to mix different oil brands, but what about power steering fluid.
By the way, the car has currently 75 000km on the clock. (Sorry, don't know how many miles that is )

hi h, that's about 50k miles.

* you do not need to remove the engine block plug when changing engine coolant.

* you should use same kind of power steering fluid; do not mix different kinds

* you can use any brand you want, that is an old wives tale. It may have been true 50 years ago, but now we have standards so any brand of same kind (smeeting same standard) should be OK


Now, a car can go 15 years and 100k miles (160k km) with the same PS fluid and coolant, and still be "OK". So if you change it now, your parts should last a long, long time. Probably longer than the car itself will last. Good on ya.

P.S: In USA we have a similar saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". But it is a good idea to change fluids per the schedule.

an easy way is to reverse flush the cooling system by disconecting both of the radiator hoses at the radiator and sticking your garden hose up the bottom hose it turned up full ball until the water coming out the top is clear. to get the best results from this get a radiator flush product and put it on the radiator about a week before you do it. then flush the radiator too.
power steering we normally do when the fluid is discoloured, we have a machine that you put a flush agent in and turn the steering wheel lock to lock to get it mixed in, then put two tubes in one to suck out the old fluid, the other to put in the new stuff.
im not at a nissan dealer thats just what we do at out workshop.

Thanks again for the replies.

I also think that it will do just to drain the radiator, flush it with the hose pipe and put in the coolant with the mixture as specified.
I am anyway going to use genuine Nissan coolant. I can just imagine how tight that damn plug/bolt that is used on the engine block to drain is gonna be.That is also why I don't want to fiddle with it.

Power steering I will read how it is done according to the Haynes manual and see if I will manage.If not, I will take it to Nissan to change.

Some might think I can just aswell take the car to Nissan and let them do everything, but I like getting my hands dirty and also to know that it was done 100% correct and not by a possible lazy person skipping procedures.

Quote:Yes, I hear you. And if it's not done right, you'll know whom to blame. When my own work goes bad, at least I learn from the experience, instead of paying somebody else who doesn't even care about my car.

Draining the block is easy, and its not like its a 30yr old plug your removing, the first thing I normally do when I get a datsun is flush everything, new welsch plugs where you can reach them, they are real easy to do as well.

If your concerned about removing the plug (Old boy trick) get a socket of the correct size, place it over the plug head and give it a sharp tap with a hammer, that will free up the threads. Then tighten an 1/16 of a turn first to get things moving then loosen.

That applies to any pain in the butt bolt/plug/nut.

A little thread tape on the plug when replacing will keep it sealed.

That being said, if you don't feel confident touching it, leave it alone, at least then you can't go wrong that way.