Radiator/Timing Belt/Head Gasket Replacement

[zelseman]

My Gen 1 just ticked over 200k miles and it is starting to show its age under the hood. It is time for the timing belt to be replaced and I am planning on replacing it with the kit from Courtesy Nissan. It has been having some problems cooling recently and I have noticed that the radiator is starting to separate from itself a little bit, causing issues, so that will be replaced at the same time. I have also noticed that the overflow reservoir stays full, is that normal? The entire radiator can run dry of coolant (none in the driveway, BTW) and the reservoir is still full. This disappearing act by the coolant makes me think that there are head gasket problems as well, so I plan to replace those while it is down as well as resurface the heads.

My question is, what else do I need to replace while I have half of the motor apart? I am replacing everything that comes with the courtesy kit for the timing belt as well as replacing the radiator with a KOYO from the supercharged model and new hoses. Do any of the hoses under the intake manifold need replaced as preventive maintenance? I have done motor swaps and timing belts on smaller Honda cars, but this will be my first major engine work on my Xterra. Any help will be appreciated.

A picture just for kicks:

 

[Muadeeb]

Plugs, drive belts, coolant hoses, and water pump _should_ be done with the timing belt. Cap, rotor, and wires if you feel like it; if they're all original then I'd recommend it. Check the main intake hose for any cracking, especially if you've done the resonator delete. I've never had any issues with the PCV hoses, but check those for good measure. If you're still running the original heater hoses, you might want to preventatively change those while you're down.

Under the intake is all metal tubing, with only a couple of rubber pieces in back, and a few formed rubber pieces on the left side going to the PCV valve and such.

 

[KBC]

Do you have signs of coolant in the oil or under the oil cap?
I found a couple small coolant leaks under the intakes when I did my head gasket last year. One on the back end there's a metal elbow attached to one of the rubber coolant lines with a plate that gets bolted down and then the hard coolant line that runs front to back has a similar plate at the front of the engine. On both of them I put new RTV after scraping all the old stuff off. The rear one will need to be disconnected when you remove the intakes but the front one on the hard line I don't think you have to for disassembly.
Unless you have newer exhaust manifolds or headers it will be pretty hard to get away without having to replace them.

 

[bottobro]

I just did this lol. I upgraded the alternator, knock sensor, all upper gaskets, radiator to the SC one, new plugs, wires, and replaced hoses.

Sent from Nov. 5 1955

 

[zelseman]

I finished up the project this week and I have an interesting noise and a little bit of hesitation. I have included a video of the noise, I am hoping it sounds familiar to someone. I am afraid that my timing belt is a tooth or two off. I really don't want to tear into this thing again.