On my short drive home from work, my car overheated today and after pulling into the garage I noticed it was steaming a lot. I didn't notice my temp gauge until I got into garage.

There was coolant everywhere, I had a whole trail of coolant I left from pulling into garage. I let the car cool then popped the hood. Checked all hoses and seemed good. I refilled coolant and went for a short drive. I overheated after about 2 minutes and pulled off. When I popped the hood, coolant was pouring down the passenger side of the radiator.

Tonight I pulled the intake, coolant resv. and fan assembly out. I checked all hoses and they seem fine. I cant tell where the leak is coming from but I plan on putting in a new radiator assembly tomorrow. I dont know what else to check. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

The point of my post is: I cant actually find where all the coolant has come from? No obvious leaks...

 

Is it coming from the overflow tank?

 

Go rent a coolant pressure tester from Autozone or Advance Auto. That should show you where it's leaking from.

 

I thought about this and checked this. The level did not change in the overflow tank and it is definitely not coming from there.

 

I really wish I would have done this but I already took the car apart and I have a new radiator to put in tonight. Hopefully it will fix the problem.


Also, one side note. When my car was overheating, I turned on the heater in the car and it did not blow any hot air. I thought you were supposed to turn heater on in an overheating car? Is this a bad sign?

 

Might need a new thermostat too.

 

I just bought one from nissan for $31 not too bad. I am going to install an autozone replacement radiator.


Should I also buy new hoses while Im doing all this?

 

Why would you buy all these new parts without knowing exactly where your problem is? Buying parts from the local auto parts store (quality issues) isn't the best idea either! With the type of leak you describe it has to be major, either hoses or those plastic radiator side tanks. Find a radiator repair shop close to your home or the Nissan dealership for an evaluation before buying anything!
Gary

 

In hindsight I should have had it looked at first by a radiator shop but I've had radiator crack in my maxima before so after checking the hoses and everything looking good, I thought it must be the radiator if it is not any hoses. So I'm moving forward with thermostat and radiator replacement tonight. I bought a $31 thermostat from nissan and $200 radiator from autozone. You want to know what the delaer quoted me on a radiator only? $700!!

 

When I bought my 6mt sedan last year I ran into same problem with in 5 days of ownership.

Replaced the radiator and didn't have any problems even up until I sold it.

Had about 123k

 

Not sure if our radiators are metal with plastic tops and bottoms (haven't looked yet) but generally what fails is the seal between the two materials and it can be tough to figure out exactly where the leak is coming from.

 

UPDATE:

So my car overheated on way home from work, steam and coolant everywhere. I couldnt tell where it was coming from because all hoses look okay. I took out my radiator inspected it and didn't see any cracks.

I reassembled, refilled with new fluid and drove it. It drove fine for awhile, idled at middle normal temp. drove up the street a little more and the temp gauge went up almost to max within a minute. I shut it down and popped the hood. Once again fluid was spilling everywhere and this time I found the leak on VIDEO! It must be the top of the radiator passenger side. (I guess?)

So should I replace radiator and thermostat and hope that will fix it? I dont have time to mess with it any more and want to take it to a local shop, any idea on what I should pay? I think $500 cash for new radiator and I already have new nissan thermostat and gasket so maybe $150 for labor just for thermostat? Does that sound about right?



http://vid1182.photobucket.com/albums/x452/Bizorecordz/RADIATOR%20LEAK_zps7qkqfr9e.mp4

 

Go to rock auto and buy the denso radiator and thermostat. Don't forget to buy a thermostat gasket. Cost me about 140 shipped for everything

Had all 3 replaced when I got my radiator. Fixed my problem 100%

 

Thanks man! Im about to buy the DENSO and a radiator cap. I already bought a nissan thermostat and gasket.

Did you have a shop do the work? I'm not wanting to do the work all over again and I really dont have the time. If so----Do you remember what you paid for labor for install of both?