No air relief plug on heater hose - can't bleed cooling system
 

Hello all,

According to the FSM, there should be an air relief plug on my heater hose, but the hose is solid and there is no plug in it. I have visually confirmed the presence of the plug on other G37 cars, but on mine it is missing, just has a solid hose. Can you guys check on your heater hose to see if you have the plug there? According the FSM, it is a key step to filling the cooling system so that air can be released while filling the coolant.

In the picture, the heater hose is (2) and the air relief plug is (1).

Attachment 93923

I just got done looking at the procedure for the 370z, and they don't mention the heater hose air relief plug - perhaps they have phased it out for one reason or another...

Mine has it ('08). I know because I dropped it while changing coolant and couldn't retrieve it. When I went to a Nissan dealership to buy one, he had no clue what I was talking about. So I went to show him on a new 370Z on the lot. They don't have them. Weird.

Which FSM are you looking at? I know Nico club has up to 2010.

This was from the 2010 FSM, however, as early as 2009 some Gs come without the screw in the heater hose.

Word from one of the local master techs is that Infiniti decided not to put the air bleeder screw on some cars - for those vehicles it will be necessary to use the special Nissan cooling system vacuum tool to get all the air out without causing damage. I have found the procedure outlined for a 2008 Nissan Altima. My guess is that the procedure would be the same for the G37 models without the air relief plug in the heater hose.

Attachment 93924

Perhaps an alternative would be to install the air relief plug from a G35 since those can actually be purchased from the dealer... I will ask the 370z guys what they are doing when they change coolant.

Here is some more information on how to use the cooling system tool:

http://www.johnsonmfg.com/temp/AiLliftInst.pdf

When I bought one, it wasn't just he plug itself. I had to buy the entire assembly that has the whole plastic piece (I cannot for the life of me think of the correct word for it at the moment) that splices into the middle of the hose that has the plug in it. It wasn't too expensive, but I can't remember how much. I used the plug that I needed and threw the rest away. It's probably cheaper and easier than using the vacuum tool. Just cut the hose and splice in the piece.

I can't imagine why they would change this design to make it more difficult other than to force people to bring their car in for coolant service rather than DIY.

Dealer says that part has been discontinued, you can no longer get it.

On the other hand, the suggested airlift tool does look nifty - I might have to get one for the shop and try it out. Found a generic one on amazon for much less than the genuine tool - seems to be the same thing:

That's nuts and makes absolutely no sense. What happens for people who have that part and need to replace it because it gets damaged or lost?

The pic in the OP, is that looking from the driver side or passenger side? I'm having a hard time figuring out what angle they're looking at it from. What's the disc like object in the top right hand corner with the stud protruding?

Here's some pics I took from my 2012 that i've been meaning to upload. These are large (4MB+)

1 http://tinyurl.com/dy2hln8
2 http://tinyurl.com/cflsvkm
3 http://tinyurl.com/cybnqsg
4 http://tinyurl.com/d8noo4l
5 http://tinyurl.com/btp2owq
6 http://tinyurl.com/cjfak63
7 http://tinyurl.com/crfmt75

Doesn't look like there's any bleeder screws present here. I wonder if the clamp on one of the throttle body hoses can be loosened to allow air to escape... ?

Edit: In pic #6, on the passenger side (this is one of the heater hoses right)? Assuming so, there is a coupler there, not no bleeder. Probably be easy to install something on the driver side (pic 1 to pic 3).

Not sure what that object is, but it is in the brake fluid compartment area, we are looking at the driver's side of the motor in the FSM image.

Pic #6 looks like passenger's side, bleed valve should be in the same type of heater hose, just on the driver's side. The coupler you have there on the passenger's side is similar to the one we need on the driver's side, except that the driver's side should have a screw going into the coupler allowing for air bleeding.

look at photo #1, that's the heater hose that is supposed to have the screw fitting, but it's not there! :banghead:

http://home.comcast.net/~zx1100e1/g37/hood/Driver1.JPG