- Location
- Covington, Va
We all have these two plastic pieces in our heater hoses that decay and eventually fail in one way or another. I'm not a fan of proprietary pieces like this that can leave you stranded.
First off, the tee in the line closest to the IPDM. This is basically a place holder for a fitting that came on Pathfinders with rear heat. On those vehicles, there is another pipe exiting the bottom of the tee that went to the rear heater. Why the felt the need to have it on the Xterra I'm not sure. This piece is easy to eliminate, you simply remove it and attach the heater hose directly to the heater core. I didn't bother draining the system to change this piece and I probably lost less than a couple cups of antifreeze doing it.
OE tee:
Hose directly on heater core:
You can see here that the plastic clamp holding the short section of hose on mine had broken and it was just a matter of time before it blew off on me.
Next we have to deal with the other plastic tee in the system. This is a little more tricky and requires a few pieces to be purchased.
OE piece:
You'll need to get a PEX 1" x 3/4" x 1" tee. Sharkbite part number UC418LF.
I also bought a Dayco 80416 premolded 90* 3/4" hose. This hose is quite a bit longer than you need but gives you plenty to make the jumper from the tee to the heater core as well as some spare hose for the tool box. I'm sure they make a shorter one, but this was what my local AutoZone had in stock.
For this you'll want to drain your cooling system. My antifreeze was due to be changed so I just did it all at once here.
Draining is easy, remove any skids or fairings in your way and using a large phillips head screwdriver, remove the drain on the bottom of the passenger side of the radiator.
Drain plug
With the system drained, take the pipe that runs along the firewall behind the engine loose. This is two 10mm nuts. Be careful not to loose the sleeves that are in the bushings in the mounts. One of mine kept falling out and rattling down through the engine compartment.
You can see them here:
With the nuts off and the pipe loose, take the hose off the drivers side end of the pipe. I found it helpful to pull it forward off the mounts to access the clamp with pliers.
Now that the drivers side hose off, the pipe will be loose and make it easier to remove the hoses on the passenger side. You may have to split the hose going onto the heater core tube to make it easier to get off. I found that a light twist with a pair of channellocks really helps to free it up after you get the clamps off.
The pipe can then be removed from the vehicle. Make sure to turn it up over your drain pan to remove any residual coolant from it.
Next cut the tee off the pipe just past the first bend.
First off, the tee in the line closest to the IPDM. This is basically a place holder for a fitting that came on Pathfinders with rear heat. On those vehicles, there is another pipe exiting the bottom of the tee that went to the rear heater. Why the felt the need to have it on the Xterra I'm not sure. This piece is easy to eliminate, you simply remove it and attach the heater hose directly to the heater core. I didn't bother draining the system to change this piece and I probably lost less than a couple cups of antifreeze doing it.
OE tee:
Hose directly on heater core:
You can see here that the plastic clamp holding the short section of hose on mine had broken and it was just a matter of time before it blew off on me.
Next we have to deal with the other plastic tee in the system. This is a little more tricky and requires a few pieces to be purchased.
OE piece:
You'll need to get a PEX 1" x 3/4" x 1" tee. Sharkbite part number UC418LF.
I also bought a Dayco 80416 premolded 90* 3/4" hose. This hose is quite a bit longer than you need but gives you plenty to make the jumper from the tee to the heater core as well as some spare hose for the tool box. I'm sure they make a shorter one, but this was what my local AutoZone had in stock.
For this you'll want to drain your cooling system. My antifreeze was due to be changed so I just did it all at once here.
Draining is easy, remove any skids or fairings in your way and using a large phillips head screwdriver, remove the drain on the bottom of the passenger side of the radiator.
Drain plug
With the system drained, take the pipe that runs along the firewall behind the engine loose. This is two 10mm nuts. Be careful not to loose the sleeves that are in the bushings in the mounts. One of mine kept falling out and rattling down through the engine compartment.
You can see them here:
With the nuts off and the pipe loose, take the hose off the drivers side end of the pipe. I found it helpful to pull it forward off the mounts to access the clamp with pliers.
Now that the drivers side hose off, the pipe will be loose and make it easier to remove the hoses on the passenger side. You may have to split the hose going onto the heater core tube to make it easier to get off. I found that a light twist with a pair of channellocks really helps to free it up after you get the clamps off.
The pipe can then be removed from the vehicle. Make sure to turn it up over your drain pan to remove any residual coolant from it.
Next cut the tee off the pipe just past the first bend.
