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Blown/Seeping Head Gasket?


onespiritbrain
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Oh shoot.. yeah sorry that’s the radiator filler neck!

 

When I rev the engine, bubbles and what appears to be almost a foam rushes thru the top of the radiator from the upper radiator hose.

 

It does:

-Bubble and almost foam from upper radiator hose

-cause slow (plub.. plub..)bubbles to enter coolant reservoir (while engine is running and also 5-10min after engine is off)

-water pump is making a strange 100-200Hz whirling sound(I didn’t think much of it until now)

 

It does not:

-overheat

-boil over into the coolant reservoir

-smell like exhaust in the reservoir

-smell like coolant at the tailpipe

-have oil in the coolant

-have coolant in the oil

 

I have decided against HG sealant. My next step it to buy a leak down test kit from the harbor.

 

 

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Edited by onespiritbrain
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My WD21 did this recently when it was cold. Is/was the coolant low? Mine was low enough that the water pump was cavitating and making foam. I topped it up, bled the system, and haven't had an issue since. It was also -35C when this happened so I didn't notice an overheat, but the temp would not be consistent. I had also added some (probably a bad idea), water pump lubricant that was white in color which may have contributed to the issue.

Edited by adamzan
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I just did a couple drain/fills and purged all the air and sure enough the bubbles ceased!!!!! Woo!!! I think the water pump stopped making that weird whirling/whining noise too!

 

Thank You Lord!!!!!

 

 

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Glad to hear it was something simple. I had a head gasket breech between the cylinder and the water jacket and it would force an overheat and blowing fluid out through the overflow. I nursed it home by driving for about 5 minutes, stopping, cooling, refilling radiator, driving another 5 minutes, repeat. Stealerships have something that can detect exhaust gases or something in the coolant and it confirmed my suspicions. It was obvious when I pulled the heads off and looked at the gaskets.

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  • 1 month later...

So I overheated on the trail yesterday.. I say overheated, I was looking at my bluedriver obd2 thing the moment it was happening and I cut the engine right at 232degF.

 

I was fighting disappearing coolant from the reservoir but that issue stopped after the air bleeding from earlier in this thread.

 

In the past couple weeks I have had to add some coolant to the reservoir, about half a gallon altogether.

 

After I let the vehicle cool down I drove as quickly off the trail as possible since I was barely moving along when the overheating occurred. I stayed around 208degF on the way out and when I got to the road it dropped to around 200degF.

 

I turned on the heat full blast and the temperature shot down to 185degF, which is where it usually runs while driving(185-195degF).

 

Now today I decided that the radiator might be the cause so I went to my job and grabbed the IR temp gun. I also grabbed some hydrochloric acid and a sump pump we use to pump the HCL thru our chiller evaps and condensers.

 

This is what the temp gun found:

 

...Before acid boil...

w/ heater: ΔT of 7

In.....165

Out..158

w/o heater: ΔT of 2

In.....179

Out..177

 

...After acid boil...

w/ heater: ΔT of 13

In.....167

Out..154

w/o heater: ΔT of 17

In.....181

Out..164

 

I did see about 200degF sitting at idle for 10 or so minutes. It looks like maybe its not going to rise past that. I just don’t know exactly where it used to run in all these different situations.

 

Here is what it looked like descaling:

https://youtu.be/2cxaqe2abCE

 

Also... it looks like my MAF is on the way out..

fe21bf7ae903dbef258b18bb270ddb4c.jpg

 

I do want to mention that I do not have a steady stream of bubbles in the top of the radiator. I checked it out really close today and if I do have bubbles in there then it must be a reaaaally slow seep. I did the spill free funnel air bleeding method and the only bubbles were when I squeezed the top radiator hose.

 

Anyway, I am desperately hoping this is not a lurking head gasket..

 

 

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That's one hell of an improvement from the acid flush! Very cool that you've got the tools available to get that kind of data. Interesting that it was shedding more heat without the heater on in the second test.

 

Hopefully the remaining coolant loss is just a pinhole in a hose or something. A friend of mine's van went a long time with a torn coolant hose somewhere that leaked but not enough to see (except when it overheated and vented steam). How's the rad cap?

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I was reading about overheating issues with a 20degF difference and also a brand new radiator having a 35degF difference. It was an R50 too.. and I also read many other complaints about overheating issues that persisted even after head gasket jobs..!!!

 

I had this exact issue with my frontier years ago. It would only happen in fast food drive thru lines/ heavy traffic, during the summer, and with the AC on.. but it would happen ever single time in those conditions.

 

With this JR50, before the engine replacement it did overheat just a little one time. I was in tall grass on a 95degF day with the AC on and I witnessed the temp rise to 3/4 of the gauge. I cut the AC, rolled the windows down, and revved the engine to 3k RPM and the temp shot back down.

 

Now.... I should also mention.... I am missing the lower section of my radiator shroud. It went away during the engine replacement. I was furious about how hard it fought me while I was trying to get it off so I destroyed it...

 

My radiator cap looks like it could be replaced.. I mean the rubber is still somewhat pliable and the spring compresses by hand but it looks very used. There are zero markings on it too so I assume it is a cheapo one.

 

I also saw this random spike in temperature today and I started thinking that this whole thing could be a mirage. Haha

 

23b2ef1609f759d1784c0a6e4b16440a.jpg

 

Sheesh that was long winded!

 

 

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0297d80ed54b563898596c429eb7e14c.jpg

 

So I am wondering now whether these spikes are an electrical anomaly or the result of steam pockets or even exhaust gasses heating the temp sensor briefly...

 

I already ordered a bunch of suspension parts from Rockauto and had to cancel all of it with this revived head gasket scare...

 

I really want to get back to feeling confident about my vehicle.. I’ve always had to worry about my vehicles overheating..

 

My plan is to replace the fan clutch, fan blades, and entire shroud. I plan to hit pullapart this weekend.

 

 

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Wow.. so I just checked the temperatures and I had a crazy 13degF rise at the bottom of the radiator... so I checked the transmission oil temperatures and it was 221 degF going in and 212degF going out!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!! What in the world is going on?!?!?

 

 

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Happy Resurrection Day!

 

I went the the junkyard yesterday and got:

.radiator fan shroud upper/lower

.fan and thermal clutch

.MAF from Nissan Quest

.coolant temp sensor(wrong one.....)

.practically brand new Hayden trans oil cooler

 

I was using an IR temp gun which takes an average of the temps it sees across its field of view and the cooling lines are quite thin so you could probably add 15-20degF to the temps below.

 

Before trans oil cooler with spirited driving @ 65-70degF ambient temps:

221degF IN

212degF OUT

 

After trans oil cooler with spirited driving up hills @ 70degF ambient temps:

148degF IN

134degF OUT

 

The driving coolant temps are about the same on the OBD2 with spirited highway driving bringing temps up to about 210degF, however with the integrated trans cooler bypassed the temps come down a lot faster. Also I the temps climb much slower.

 

Now I have hesitation or like slight jerking or missing under acceleration... I bought a timing light and set my timing with the FSM procedure and spec but now the power I gained from setting the timing by ear is gone and the previous condition has returned.

 

So I saw pathfinders with factory external trans oil coolers at the junkyard. I believe that if you don’t have one, it is worth considering. It was very easy to install and the results are a big drop in temps.

 

I’ll post pictures up in a little while.

 

 

 

 

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e89c8dd14016f831f403b1986034692f.jpg

5f15114d9d9a95a0e32ef614dc6856bd.jpg

 

I have a feeling that it may have something to do with the MAF. I got the Nissan Quest MAF in now and it is exactly the same part. It graphs smoother but I still saw a very large spike. I’ll post the pic of the spike below.

 

New (to me) MAF

15902fd398e5b1f0f5f1acfbc66737f0.jpg

Original MAF

3003c3507c8d64da481e86298e7eba87.jpg

 

I think either I have a wiring issue at the plug or somewhere in the harness or I actually did get water on the ECU at Sheeps Wallow.

 

You're right, it does use the CAS to determine the position. The base timing doesn't matter for spark because the ECU has an algorithm to determine where 15 BTDC is no matter where you adjust the distributor to. If you put the distributor on backwards you will not only cause the ECU to get confused but you will screw up the injection pattern too. Your muffler probably filled up with just enough gasoline to blow up. Essentially the distributor will do its job as long as it's installed in the correct orientation. You want to keep the base timing at 15 BTDC because the injectors will fire at the right time then and give you the best fuel economy. The only thing that has a direct effect on spark retardation is the knock sensor.

I don’t have any pinging as far as I can tell (loud tires....) and I guess the above might be why. I am currently at about 22deg advanced and it is some what better with slight hesitation... ‍♂️

 

There was also a post about installing the dizzy 1 tooth of for a 7deg +- so 22 - 7 is 15! Maybe it seems better because it is.

 

Anyway this has been quite a headache but I think I am walking away in better condition than I was before since my transmission is going to be spared from some serious heat, especially as the summer approaches.

 

 

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I'm not seeing a MAF trace on either of those graphs. The intake air temp sensor (looked it up, turns out VG33 trucks have one of these, news to me) line on the second screen is peaky, and those peaks are mirrored in the timing on a slight delay. That tells me the IAT is failing or the wiring is loose and it's cutting out and randomly telling the computer it's sucking in 216° air, which causes the computer to pull timing like crazy. There's no way that's not making it run weird.

 

What's odd though is that the IAT spike in the first screen is slightly led by a spike in the TPS, and isn't mirrored in the timing. Maybe goosing the throttle rattled something in the sensor or wiring, but the reading didn't stick around long enough for the ECU to bother doing something about it? Looks like the engine was running a little higher than idle at the time, maybe that has something to do with how it's calculating advance.

 

Anyway, I'd have a look at that IAT sensor.

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Dude wow! I thought the MAF calculated temperature somehow! Thank you very much!

 

That is definitely a phantom signal from the throttle position. I actually didn’t notice it until you mentioned it right now. I have a spare TPS so I will pop that on there and I will also dig into this IAT sensor.

 

I tell you what... one of my favorite parts about having this Pathfinder is this forum.

 

 

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I bought a new radiator today and it’s fairly conclusive that the radiator was no good.

 

I took the radiator loose at the parts store and felt around a bit and the whole middle of the radiator was cold to the touch. The outer sides were scalding hot and the coolant temp was like 210degF.

 

I slapped a new radiator on tonight at work and on the way home I couldn’t get the temperature above 189degF and that was on a giant long hill and even then it barely hit 189 for literally 2-3seconds and then it was back to 185 the moment the hill leveled out.

 

The majority of the time the temp stayed at 183degF!

 

Yaaayyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!! I’m so happy! Thank the Lord!

 

Tomorrow we’ll see how it does with the AC on and on the blacktop :)

 

 

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