Thermostat/Water Pump Please Help!

[Heath88Caprice]

Okay, well this car is pushing the limits of my knowledge. I pretty much have started to get American cars down and now I get this thrown at me. My girlfriend's 93 Sentra is overheating constantly. Originally we thought that there was some kind of leak because every time she would fill the resevoir, the next morning, it would be empty. I know for sure that it has an oil leak, but that's only a small part of the problem. I'm pretty sure that I can fix that. But we tried to run some of the new prestone cooling system leak fix stuff, but that didn't do anything, and it may have made it worse. After my buddy and I ran the car for about 15 min. It was plenty warm so we checked the hoses and there was no pressure. So we proceded to try to remove what we thought was the thermostat. Unfortunately we never found it. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the thermostat usually off of the top hose from the radiator, mounted in between the neck and the block? Now before we got a chance to do that we were running it the night before to check where the leaks were. And we found that after we turned it off the first time and bunch of water started to pour out of the car. More towards the front on the passenger side. I assume that is where the water pump is. Unless that was the A/C compressor. The people that owned the car before us said that the thermostat was on the back of the block, but that doesn't make sense to me because the bottom hose is the only one that even comes close to making it to the back. When we did pull what we thought was the thermostat housing off, we found nothing there but goop. There was no coolant in the engine. Any suggestions? Thank you very much in advance.

[Heath88Caprice]

I found that I guess where i was looking was the correct place for the thermostat. But I still am not 100% certain that the leak is coming from the water pump. I think it is, but I'm not sure if the radiator had any fluid in it.

[slideways...]

if the radiator itself is leaking...that happened to one of my old cars and you really couldnt tell what was leaking except the radiator was all fucked up. i replaced the radiator and it fixed the prob

by the way...a car is a car is a car
every engine works basically the same. especially such a basic one like the GA16. id bet that most 1993 and up american motors are more complicated

water pump, thermostat, radiator, hoses. thats it.
the water pump is belt driven, so its on the side where all the accessory belts are. the thermostat is on the upper hose next to the block. if the leak is under the bumper then its prob the radiator. id get new hoses also regardless.

[Andrewh]

Since the a/c is on that side as well, you need to figure out which on it is. Pulling the water pump is a pain. You might as well change the timing chain with as much as you are pulling off the car. Yes the thermostat and housing are on the back of the motor, about mid way up as I recall. Actually bolted to the water pump.

[Heath88Caprice]

Really? Are you sure that the water pump there on the 93? I thought that I had found it towards the bottom of the engine and on the passenger side near the front of the car. It's a little tiny thing. I did find the thermostat on the back of the engine. I've already got all of the parts, sealants and all that good junk. I just need tools now. Probably metric right? It kinda pisses me off that they spent $500 dollars on a car that ends up like this after under 6 months. Originally it just leaked some oil, then it started to run out of coolant, then it started to overheat. And she's only had the car since February. Of course it was fine all winter because it's cold, then summer rolls around and kills her car.

[slideways...]

maybe dont spend 500 bucks next time? sentras are great cars and very reliable but they are like any other car. all get used and some get abused so you have to choose them carefully.


yeah it takes metric
get a 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, socket and wrenches. that should be all you need

[Andrewh]

Well, it is possible I am wrong, since you don't say what engine. But if it is the 1.6 4 cylinder, then I do know that engine is the same from like 92 on up to at least 99, maybe even a few years further back and up.

[Heath88Caprice]

Yeah, it's the 1.6L I4. Sorry I didn't mention that earlier. I found the water pump and thermostat. I think. The thermostat is mounted right on the water pump and the thermostat is toward the firewall. Mounted so that you can only see one bolt. The water pump is basically in the middle of the the engine on the passenger side of the car, pretty much right behind the front passenger fender well. There is a neighbor of mine that knows cars really well. He works on all the cars in our neighborhood apparently. Which is pretty cool because he said he'd do it for half the price of the shop. So we're hoping that'll work out for us. Any other advice on the engine is truly appreciated. And thank you very much for the advice already given.

[Andrewh]

Yep thats it. Pretty much had to put the car on stands, yank the front tire, and lay under the car to get up under it for a few bolts. The thermostat one sucked. Can't remember how I got it out. Probably a combo wrench and a few universal joints on a socket.