Nissan Elgrand E52 Lowdown

I completed an oil and filter change a few weeks back and its actually very straightforward, nothing too surprising for any would be mechanic.  I opted for the Nismo oil filter which is part 15208RN011, it was £14 from eBay.  You can buy a standard replacement for £5-8 but hey I wanted the Nismo one on my E52. You will need to jack up the car either at the front or if its easier you can just raise the drivers axle.  First thing is to remove the plastic panel inside the drivers wheel arch. This should reveal the oil filter inside the arch.  Its quite a small filter compared to some cars. To drain the oil first, you need to just remove the head head drain plug from sump underneath near the drivers side.  The pic below shows the plug to remove.  Don't confuse it with the drain plug on the gearbox (which is the passenger side unit). Once its empty you can unscrew the old filter.  Mine was very very tight and fortunately I managed to get it unscrewed in the...

Welcome to the final week of my CVT service, if you haven't read the  intro  then I would recommend you take a look at that first. This week I am planning to drain the NS3 fluid again, replace the o-ring on the drain plug, fit a new filter and then refill. As this is my third week of working on my CVT gearbox, jacking the car up (see week 2 for tip) and draining was a absolute breeze!  My CVT was ready a new filter within 20 minutes of starting this week. You need to remove the passenger side wheel and also the inner cover directly behind the wheel to show the CVT gearbox filter which needs to be replaced.  The inner cover is held on by a few screws and some plastic push clips. (As per my earlier blog posts, you would be very wise to buy some of these clips before starting any of this work, you have been warned.)  The pic below shows the filter unit accessible, don't worry about the yellow shock being different to yours as these are an upgraded part that my car ...

Welcome to week two of my CVT service, if you haven't read the  intro  then I would recommend you take a look at that first. Well the second week was pretty uneventful as it was just a drain of the fluid from the CVT gearbox, and then a refill with NS3 CVT Fluid.  One improvement this week was that I purchased some ramps from Amazon so that the front end of my car would be raised 2-3 inches.  This makes it easier for me to use my jack even though my Rider is quite low to the ground. I followed the same steps as week 1 except this week it was a lot quicker as I knew what to do. I'll be back for week 3 which includes the filter to complete the service! CVT Service - Intro CVT Service - Week 1

Welcome to week one of my CVT service, if you haven't read the intro then I would recommend you take a look at that first. After reading a lot of Facebook and forum posts I am starting a 3 week process to fully service Elsie's CVT gearbox.  The E52 community recommend draining and refilling a number of times to flush all of the old fluid from the box, so this week it is only about a drain and refill.  Having never done it before I am hoping it will be an easy thing to do... The first issue for any of you who like me have the Rider model is that its quite difficult to jack up the car at the front, due to the front bumper lip being very low to the ground.  There is a plastic cover under the front of the car that is held in place by a number of press studs, so I removed the studs and the cover so that I could find a jacking point.  WARNING the studs break and so you might want to purchase some on eBay / Ali Express before starting this job. I previously purchased a low ...

When my E52 arrived at Southampton docks a year ago I was very enthusiastic about making sure the car was serviced and checked over so that it would last forever.  Once I began looking at the car it seemed that I had been extremely lucky and had bought one that had recently been serviced.  (I bought it from a Japanese dealer who wasn't even advertising the car outside of Japan, and not from an auction so found one that was well maintained)  My mechanic who checked the car over described it as 'mint' and when we checked the oil, it was the cleanest I had ever seen in a used car. Anyway, fast forward now and its 12 months later and now I am keen to show my car some attention.  The big headline item as I'm sure you all know, is the CVT gearbox.  Let me just summarize what I have picked up so far from the various Facebook groups and forums: People often claim the CVT gearbox is bad or prone to failure (especially E51 owners!).  I haven't seen one post anywhere ...

 My Elgrand arrived with an interesting yellow colour bulb in the front fog lights, which neither look good or are useful on a dark or foggy night.  If you want to replace them you need H8 bulbs which you can buy from eBay or a parts shop. You have to remove two screws and a bolt in the wheel arch and then you can lever the wheel arch cover far enough out to get at the fog light fittings. You simply twist the black fitting where the wire goes into.  Either clockwise/anticlockwise to remove or fit back in place.  Then you can remove the bulb and replace with a brighter and better colour option.

For any of you UK residents you will be well aware that the UK MOT test for an imported Elgrand means that we have to fit a rear fog light.  Initially I got a dual bulb put into one of the rear lights, but I have now found the ultimate fog light option!  Wait just a minute though....you can only fit it if you are the proud owner of a Autech Rider model. Sorry Highway Star drivers 😞 On the rear bumper skirt of the Rider it has two circular reflectors, which can be removed and some red LED lights fitted instead.  This is my car at night with the new fog lights in place. Removing the reflectors is easy, just reach behind the bumper and unscrew the nut from the thread.  They should just push out once released.  You need to drill a small hole in the bumper to feed the wire through which you can see below, and will then need to find a rubber bung behind the light block (with the reverse/indicator/stop) to feed it through to the inside of the car. I also sourced a fog...

I have been driving my E52 a year now and thought that I really should get around to doing some service items on it. First up, the air filter which I have found out is the same as the one used in the earlier E51 model.  After searching online I decided that I would try the K&N air filter which in theory lasts the life of the car.  It is washable so should never need replacing again.  It does also claim to improve performance but that feels like it might be one those typical claims, and not sure you need a few extra horses on a V6 van.  K&N 3320312 is the filter you need which is this: On the E52 you can simply unclip the air filter housing which is located at the back of the engine bay.  One clip each side and the cover lifts up enough to remove and replace the filter. I have driven the car about 200 miles since fitting the filter and it doesn't seem to negatively affect the acceleration.  I am not sure I can feel an improvement, but you never know....

Hopefully this helps some of you E52 owners out there or potential owners.  I have found and translated the Elgrand brochure specifications that were published from Nissan. 2 Wheel Drive Drivetrain 2WD Engine VQ35DE QR25DE Model 350 Highway Star Premium 350 Highway Star 250 Highway Star 250XG Seats 7 Seater 8 Seater 7 Seater 8 Seater Model Code DBA-PE52 DBA-TE52 CVT with Manual 6 Mode X X X X X X External Dimensions Length (mm) 4915 4915 Width (mm) 1850 1850 Height (mm) 1815 1805 Internal Dimensions Length (mm) 3020 Width (mm) 1580 Height (mm) 1275 (1270 if sunroofs fitted) Wheelbase 3000 Minimum ground clearance (mm) 150 140 Vehicle Weight (kg) 2020 2000 2000 1920 1920 1900 Total Weight (kg) 2405 2385 2440 2305 2360 2340 Minimum turning radius (m) 5.7 5.4 Fuel efficiency 10.15 Test (kml) 9.4 9.8 11.6 10.15 Test (mpg) 26.555 27.685 32.77 JC08 (kml) 9.2 9.2 10.8 ...

One drawback for the new E52 Elgrand models is that they are not ideally suited for camping or camper van conversion.  The older E50/E51 cars have more flexibility in seat arrangements or seat removal which can provide a good big space to create sleeping space, or to fit units in.  Or do they!! I wanted to see how much space you could create in an E52.  By removing all 5 headrests from the rear two rows of seats you can actually make a relatively flat area.  Some E51 owners do the same in their cars and they place foam/board over the top and then a thin mattress on top of that. I am 6 foot 2 inches tall and I was able to lay stretched out in the 'flat' area in the back on my E52.  My E52 is a Rider and so it has different seats to the Highway Star model, and I think the HWS might actually be easier/flatter if you do the same. If you are camping and want to make the E52 into a bed, then it seems to me that it is possible after all.  Leave any headrests you d...