Elkins45
Site Donor 2026
Jump to 11:00 to discover why it failed. This is disconcerting because the Frontier was previously the number one choice were I to have to replace my Titan.
Nissan Frontier 3.8L V6 teardown
- Thread starter Elkins45
- Start date
I saw that the other night. That's a real shame, I always thought those Nissan V6's were great little engines. Sucks they didn't keep up with the access panel at least.
Thanks for posting. Its unfortunate they changed the water pump design on the VQ. It used to be pretty easy to change without taking the front cover off, not that they needed changing often, I have only seen 2 of those but they have a weep hole and you will spot it before any real damage is done.
The VQ has always had an internal water pump since 1994. It is a shame the access panel is gone.
Very sad they ended the easy service method, and then - it appears - cheapened the WP bearing.
If I'm not mistaken, he noted in the video that there was no trace of coolant on the weep hole, so the failure may have happened too quickly to catch.
Still, add it to oil pump belts on the list of 'features' I'll try and skip while buying a car.
Still, add it to oil pump belts on the list of 'features' I'll try and skip while buying a car.
I knew the lack of an access panel was a thing, but I've still yet to find more than a single failure.
I'm not sure where he is finding tons and tons of people having failures on them
I'm not sure where he is finding tons and tons of people having failures on them
I only watched the first 20 minutes, but he said at the beginning of the video that this is only the 3rd one he’s seen.
Not sure if he backtracked on it later.
I went and looked on clubfrontier. I found one water pump failure. A lot of complaining about different transmission things but only 1 water pump?
I don't think its a common thing - It would be all over clubfrontier by now if it were. This engine came out in 2020 - they put it in the old truck for 2 years. So there must be a ton out there with 100K+, so if it were a common issue it would be easy to find.
I still think they screwed up not putting a water pump access on the new engine. Guess I am keeping my old one.
I don't think its a common thing - It would be all over clubfrontier by now if it were. This engine came out in 2020 - they put it in the old truck for 2 years. So there must be a ton out there with 100K+, so if it were a common issue it would be easy to find.
I still think they screwed up not putting a water pump access on the new engine. Guess I am keeping my old one.
He did. At the end of the video he said he found a "ton" of posts and the reason the core was so cheap is because when it goes out it takes out the block.
I did see that.
And I went to ClubFrontier. I am a member but don't post much there anymore. I could only find one example there. Tons of other things - mostly transmission / plastic transmission pan, etc.
I didn't go to Facebook / Reddit - but I think if there were tons they would get posted at ClubFrontier - or people would re-post the Reddit / Facebook ones.
Don't know. The pump looks a lot like the VQ40 pump that was driven the same way and lasted forever.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
I've been following everything Frontier for about 10yrs, own one of these engines and also have a VQ40DE in the family. This is not a common failure. Given the amount of destruction in the water pump area of that VQ38DD, you'd think it had to be making noise or had some symptoms for some time. I really doubt this was an instantaneous, non-detectable failure. Like said above, Nissan VQ's with internal water pumps have been a thing since the 1990s. I don't see many, if any failure reports.
Also, was he using the correct socket on the bed plate bolts? He said E14 but isn't there also a "Plus" even on external torx? And there's also the special ones with no countersink, but I don't think that was his issue here?
Wonder if @The Critic has input? I may be barking up the wrong tree here.
I also feel like a hefty dose of the blue wrench right at the bolt flange would have got him there. The induction heaters don't hold a candle (pun?) to 30 seconds with a rosebud.
Wonder if @The Critic has input? I may be barking up the wrong tree here.
I also feel like a hefty dose of the blue wrench right at the bolt flange would have got him there. The induction heaters don't hold a candle (pun?) to 30 seconds with a rosebud.
That engine was doomed whether or not an access cover was there for water pump replacement. Current VQ38 does have weep holes that can be seen in the video when he removed the water pump.
I researched this extensively before I bought my current 2025 Frontier and found like two reported instances of water pump failure. So I do not know where he is getting this info of it being a common thing. Many of the VQ40 engines with the similar design went 300K+ before this was an issue.
I researched this extensively before I bought my current 2025 Frontier and found like two reported instances of water pump failure. So I do not know where he is getting this info of it being a common thing. Many of the VQ40 engines with the similar design went 300K+ before this was an issue.
I don't have a dog in the fight but he does point out the 3.8 uses a different water pump. Thus, I'm not sure 4.0 data is applicable....but I'm not an expert on these engines.
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In a design like that, how would you know the water pump is on its way out? No weep hole and no warning.
It has weep holes that drain to the exterior side of the block. The video does not really go into much detail of who the end user was but the evidence was there that maintenance was neglected and even if there was indications there was coolant coming out the weep holes it was ignored.
