I have had the zinc plated pipes TIG welded with no issues. It could have to do with what filler he was using or he simply didn't clean the metal enough. I took mine to a wire brush for a long time to get rid of all the coolant residue.

 

I just wire brushed mine and MIG welded them. No issues at all, just had to grind them flat to make them pretty...

 

have you both pressure tested it yet. we were getting some pin holes under high pressure after welding it up...

 

I have not tested mine yet.

 

Been running it like that for over a year now and (knock on wood) no leaks yet

 

Same here, and we have done this on a few cars with no leaks.

 

Any pictures of the welds? I'm trying to decide how to best go about doing it.

 

I'll get pics as soon as I get the pipes back.........probably tomorrow evening.

 

http://www.jimwolftechnology.com/wol...AD_GASKETS.pdf

I was checking the Coolant Systems Diagram PDF by JWT which includes the Diagram of the 2000-04 R50 Pathfinder VQ35DE it shows the Coolant Bypass Modification For FI Guys, anyway this is not the main subject the main idea is take a closer look at the Digram and check the Oil Cooler in the Pathfinder its shown that the Oil Cooler is only for AT Models, so if you use some parts from a Manual Transmission Pathfinder, they will save the headache of the Oil Cooler Removal Process by replacing the parts by Genuine Nissan Parts, I HOPE that the Hard Coolant Pipe for the Pathfinder is the same as the G/Z VQ35DE :1

so what do you guys think ?

 

nice link. I like the info on how to make the HR head gaskets work on the DE.....interesting stuff.

 

I got the pipes back from the welder. He was not happy with how they turned out, but he's pretty sure they won't have any pinhole leaks. He thinks he may have a bad tank of gas (argon or argon/CO2), and that is what was causing the issues. any ways, he's some camera phone pics. As part of the oil cooler/warmer removal, I am also removing the the nipples/lines for the throttle body warmer and all the other small coolant lines. Additionally, I had -8AN fittings welded up on the coolant pipe and the heater pipe for the coolant bypass line. I haven't decided what I want to do with this yet. I may run a -8AN braided line behind the engine to make this coolant bypass more attractive, or I may just keep it capped off. You can see the -8AN Caps in the pics. I still have to have all these parts powdercoated gloss black before they get installed................

I almost forgot to thank Jeremy (Audible Mayhem) and Larry (JetPilot) for giving me the extra pipes and thermostat for my experiments! Thanks guys!

 

Looks good!

I really like your use of the NPT plugs!! Super clean IMO.

I actually finished my side coolant pipe today right next to the thermostat. I talked to my welder today and he stated that some of what you guys have been seeing could be do to the brazing material that Nissan uses on some of the pipes and that they are not not allowing enough time to burn it off.

Since I just got the pipe welded today and mentioned this to him he payed close attention to it. He said he could notice pin holes if he went quicker and didn't allow the metal to sweat out the crap from the coolant/brazing. all of my pipes look just fine though and I will be testing them very soon.

 

Lol. It looks like you welded a -10an weld bung onto that pipe and put a cap on it just like I did.

 

I went with -8AN fittings on the pipes. -10AN would have been better, but I was worried that a -10AN bung would be too hard to weld onto the heater pipe.

 

I milled mine down a bit so that I had clearance between the fitting and the other pipe. It turned out really nice. Should have pictures in my thread this week once I finish installing my other parts.

 

Check this out!!!! Looks like Nissan has put an end to the debate over whether the stock oil cooler/warmer is necessary on the VQ35DE........ Here's a pic, from the service manual, from a VQ35HR.......NO OIL COOLER! What I really like is that I can now buy a factory piece of threaded rod to connect my oil filter to the block. I just ordered the part that I have highlighted with a red box. Hopefully, I'll have it next week, and I'll post up the part number when I get it.

 

We have these on sale at Performance Factory now for ONLY $129.00 !!

 

Does that come with any free stuff, like a "ShamWow!"

 

Can I get three????

 

Nice find, I was wondering if HR's had Oil Coolers or not because from the pictures I've seen of them the hose routing is much cleaner. Now I know why.