Alright everyone, I am needing some help.

A couple of days ago, I was driving to the gym, and as I was going from a stop (Light turns from red to green) I noticed the car started to bog. At this very moment, I see my service light come on. I still continue to press the gas, and I keep bogging, and then begin to notice my temp gauge is getting hot quickly. As I start to head to pull over, I notice smoke from under the hood (antifreeze shot everywhere under the motor/hood) and turn the car off immediately so I don't damage the motor. I then leave the car at a friends house for a few hours to cool off. I fill the reservoir with water and try to drive it home, but the motor continues to get hot. I then leave it over night, and come back for the morning and get it home as fast as I can while the temperature of the motor stays normal.

So, today, I refill the reservoir again with water, seeing if I have any leaks, or if it's draining somewhere. I don't find any leaks, anywhere. I decide to drive it up the road, then noticed again, the car started to get hot quick. I get it home and shut her off.

*Now this is where I don't know what to look for. When I filled up the tank with water, when I get home, the reservoir is now GREEN?! I don't know if it's from old antifreeze in the radiator, or motor, or what? I leave the car off for a little while, crank her back on, and then see that the liquid in the tank is now half way down (when it was completely full to the top when I get the car home).

Do I have a bad or clogged thermostat, leak in a hose I can't see? What do you all think?

I don't believe it is a headgasket issue because I am not blowing any white smoke out of the exhaust. If you all can give me some input, it would be great. Thanks in advance!

 

You could just be low on fluid and seeing the fluid disappear into the system. Pull the codes since you obviously got a service light. Check for any leaks from hoses on the front and rear of engine. The shroud on the bottom of the car might be covering up the leaks since it is falling on the tray.

Couple things I would do if it was my vehicle. Oil change to inspect the fluid and see if any coolant got mixed in. Drain and fill coolant from radiator and engine block using drain plugs. Refill fluid and bleed till all air is out of the system. Use a lisle funnel and elevate the front end to help with bleeding. If you notice your temps are still spiking the next thing is to replace thermostat and testing temperature sensor. Stop using water to fill up the tank and use a premixed nissan antifreeze to replace lost fluid.

crackaddict.com/~flynn/howtos/samco.howto/samco.howto.htm

 

You can test the thermostat to see if it's opening properly by putting it in a pot of water on your stove. Faiz23 also has some good ideas. I would try those and see what you come up with. In for more info and updates when you get a chance.

 

You said check engine light came on?

What's the code?

 

OP do you have an update on this? my girlfriends car did the same thing last Friday. i was too lazy last weekend to check anything and yesturday just pulled the radiator to check for cracks or anything. the radiator seems fine with no cracks. the fins were pretty clogged up but thats about it. her car did exactly what yours did with the check engine light and everything. the closest auto parts store is about 3 miles away and don't want to risk driving it to check codes. is there a way to check for codes without a code reader? on my srt all i have to do is turn the key 3 times and it'll display the codes on the gauge cluster. let me know what you figured out.