yunuy Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Hi All, It all starts with the accident I have a month ago. And Following got replaced. Front Bumper Windshield fluid tank Excessive Coolant tank (replace due to safety reason) No leaking of coolant at the time of accident. Note: Right after the accident I drove back from LA to SF without any coolant problem. After a month I finally got the pathy back from the shop. But I encounter following problem. On my way driving it from SF to LA, I stopped to get some food, and coolant start to leak from the bottom of the radiator. So I drive it and start monitoring the temp guage and stop and check every 100 miles. No more coolant leaking after 200 miles and I am able to drive home without any change in tempature. Overnight, the coolant start leaking again, I open the raditator cap, and did not see any trace of coolent from it, but there are coolant in the excessie tank 2 inches above the max line. I fill about 16 fl oz of drinking water to the radiator. Every since I do not see any more ltrace of coolant on the ground. I have also drive the car locally 20 to 30 miles for 2 days includes 6 miles of uphills. Yesterday, I am driving from LA back to SF, Everything was fine untill that uphill after the Valencia before the Fort Tejon. When I just nearly reaching the end of the uphills, the temp gauge jumps from 4 to 6 (lines on the gauge). Therefore I stopped on the shoulder of the road, and pop the hood, and seeing all the coolant are flow to the excessive tank and overflow to the ground. After 20 mins of cooling , I saw the coolant from excessive tank drops to the same level of 2 inches above the Max line. But as I open the radiator cap, there are no trace of coolant. So I started following test on my way drive back to SF. First happening(as above) 80 mph 4k rpm AC on at 70F outside temp 73F temp 4 to 6 lines uphills 70 mph 2.5k rpm AC off outside temp 73 F temp 4 flat 80mph 3k rpm AC on and off outside temp 73 F temp 4 to 5 flat for 2 miles. Furthermore, I have stop at every 100 miles, when I open the hood, I can see the trace of coolant burst out, around excessive tank. And splash inside the hood, headlight. I have waited 20 min to let it cool down and open the radiator cap, same no trace of the coolant. I have add 2 bootles of drinking water. As this morning, before I drop the car to the same shop who did the replair. No trace of coolant in the radiator, level of coolant in the excessive tank is below the MAX line. Furthermore, the location I saw coolant leaking from the readiator does not leak anymore. Now the fun starts, the shop said all the coolant level is good (><.... I added it as I do not want to fried it) I show them the place where still have undried coolant on the frame and hood, they BS me that it is from the time I had accident (one month ago, and shop cleaned in 3 days ago). Now the best part: after they tested drive it, they said the tempature is fine, AC set to 60F and drive on freeway, the temp is alittle over 5 lines which is normal, and as long as the temp is within the blue line it is fine!!!! Even above 5 lines. And I told me that since I own the car, it never exceed line 4 till you repaired it. As I insisted they need to check it, they said they will leave the car overnight and check tomorrow morning to see if irt is cause by air pocket. From what I feel, there are some kind of leak, hole, or crack, somewhere. As the pressure in the system is not correct, coolant is flowing back to excessive tank but unable to flow to the radiator. From what repair has done ,I know shop has only take off the excessive tank and put it back. So all the rest of the pipes, raditator are untouched. Please advice. Also I do not think shop will check tomorro, but I will track them down. YunuY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 water pump? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yunuy Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share Posted October 10, 2006 water pump? I am not sure, I do not think water pump will fail this early or stage. Currently only have 18.5k miles for 04 pathy. As for my 92 maxima, I did not replace the water pump till 190k miles. Thanks for the advice. YunuY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 t-stat in the wrong way? air in the rad? have you ran the heat to relieve the "overheating" problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yunuy Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share Posted October 10, 2006 t-stat in the wrong way? air in the rad? have you ran the heat to relieve the "overheating" problem? Hi mzxtreme, For t-stat do you mean thermo stat? If it is, how do I know if it is in the wrong way? what is ran the heat to relieve the overheating problem? Please advice pathy is in the shop now as they want to let it cool over night and check for possible air pocket in the rad. Thanks YunuY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 If your rig is starting to run hotter than nomal.. lots of uphill stuff... you can turn the AC off and turn the Heater on... This will also bleed off some of the heat in the cooling system... It is also an indicator if the motor is hot and no heat coming out the vents that your low on coolant.... Pathfinders tend to develop air bubbles in the cooling system if they are ran hot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yunuy Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share Posted October 10, 2006 Hi Casey, Thanks for the clarification. So what can I do to get rid off the air bubbles? I thought there would be something wrong as temperature goes up even on the flat road. As temperature gauge was always at 1/3 or 4th lines for the past 18k miles I have when I was traveling the same road. thanks yunuy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Hi mzxtreme,For t-stat do you mean thermo stat? If it is, how do I know if it is in the wrong way? what is ran the heat to relieve the overheating problem? Please advice pathy is in the shop now as they want to let it cool over night and check for possible air pocket in the rad. Thanks YunuY hi yumuy, t-stat=thermostat, heat=heater you have to run the heat when you're refilling the rad otherwise you will have an air bubble, almost guaranteed. if it's not fixed, open the rad and run the truck for a while and see what happens. how does the engine oil look? and you're welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 burp the radiator. tell your "guys" that these are pressurized rads so they need to leave the radiator cap ON and open up the bleeder valce a bit and burp her while running until she stops burping.... i live in Lathrop (near stockton) and work at u haul in modesto.. bring yer pathy by one day when yer passing through! -bounce- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 there are a few different "burping" bleeders on these trucks.. not sure what's on yours.. this is what i do on my truck.. top off the rad... start engine.. keep topping off.. turn heat on... keep topping off.. when the water in the top of rad is getting warm.. kill truck.. top off the rad.. close it.. fill to fill line in the expantion tank. have a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 bleeder is visible here: (please see black arrow to right) (that's on my '92's motor) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 bleeder is visible here: (please see black arrow to right) (that's on my '92's motor) i wonder if that's where mine is.. (dr side r?) LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 i wonder if that's where mine is.. (dr side r?) LOL are you kidding me? lmao. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 unfortonately, nope.. couldn't ever find it.. no worries though.. it runs steady cool... just water is the best by far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yunuy Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share Posted October 10, 2006 Hi Mzxtreme and Slick, Thanks for the info. I will try it when I get the pathy back, also check the engine oil. My pathy is 2004 LE 3.5L. 18.5k miles I will try it if guys from shop can not resolve it. Also do I need to drain all the coolant first before refill ot not? One more question, so the air in rad will cause the overheating problem? Even they are just replace the expantion tank? Slick, I will definitely come to you and have you take a look if I can not get this fixed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 well, also look at the coolant while you're at it then tell us about it. dont forget the oil. no need to dump to refill but do run the motor with the cap off.. need to know why the blowback... something is really fishy here. and yes, big time HOT if air in the rad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 ahh.. it's a '04.... then your bleeder/burper may not be in the same place, i have a 91 & 92 pathys. either the coolant is not flowing through the block at all (h2o pump) or there is air in the rad.... let us know what happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yunuy Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share Posted October 10, 2006 well, also look at the coolant while you're at it then tell us about it. dont forget the oil. no need to dump to refill but do run the motor with the cap off.. need to know why the blowback... something is really fishy here. and yes, big time HOT if air in the rad. Hi Mzxtreme, Just want to be clear on the steps open the rad cap turn on truck turn on heat, set to 80? top off the coolant as coolant become warm kill the truck and top off close the cap fill the expantion tank. So if there are air, when I fill the coolant, it will be burp out the air. Also is it ok for me to open the rad cap to check when truck is cold? And there should be coolant in the rad anytime correct? Thanks YunuY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yunuy Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share Posted October 10, 2006 ahh.. it's a '04.... then your bleeder/burper may not be in the same place, i have a 91 & 92 pathys.either the coolant is not flowing through the block at all (h2o pump) or there is air in the rad.... let us know what happens I will keep you updated. How do I know if it is water pump fail? If it is the water pump, I will need to go through dealer as I still have one year of warranty. Hope it is just air in the rad. Hated insurance and dealer. YunuY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 squeeze the hose leading to/from the pump.. you should feel some pulse. the air will get burped when the coolant has a chance to be circualted thruout the system. it should then displace all the air. if you have the burp screw somewhere do that also at the end.. truck running. the dealer uses a big funnel that keeps the coolant level well above the rad while it runs to warm up and recirculate.. i found no need for that as long as your expansion tank has some coolant in it. when the truck get's hot it should spit out any more traces of air and then refill itself upon cooling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yunuy Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share Posted October 10, 2006 Hi Slick and mzxtreme, Just got pathy back. Per Shop, they remove the air bubbles. I opened the hood, all the coolant residue in side the hood are being wiped clean. Engine oil are clean. As for coolant, coolant level at expandtion tank before start the truck is above max line and level at half of the MAX letter. Open the rad cap , see the trace of the coolant. I started the truck and drove back to the office, about 5 miles freeway drive, set AC to 60F, drive about 60 and 70 miles, temp gauge needle barely touches 4th line. Check the level of coolant at the expandtion tank when I reached office, it is leveled at top on the MAX letter. So I will check the rad again before I left work today. I will also find some uphills and test it out later in the week. Thanks YunuY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 ok, hope they fixed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 It occurs to me that there could have been a hairline crack in the radiator from the accident that only leaks when cold, due to the crack widening(from expansion/contraction)...but if it's fixed, I wouldn't go looking for anything yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yunuy Posted October 11, 2006 Author Share Posted October 11, 2006 It occurs to me that there could have been a hairline crack in the radiator from the accident that only leaks when cold, due to the crack widening(from expansion/contraction)...but if it's fixed, I wouldn't go looking for anything yet. I also suspect that in the first place, as it starts with leaking form the sims. But it was gone afterwards. And no more leaks when it is cold afterwards as nothing was on the ground. I am guess probably some dirty stuff sets down and ceal the leaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 well. my advice... don't keep taking the cap on and off.. it lets the pressure out.. and air in... i dunno how the 99's are. but if i keep doing that to my 92. she gets all "gassy" and i have to burp her again.. vurry fussy she is. glad you got the issue fixed :cool2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now