crystallinesheen Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 (edited) Oh man let me tell you I have spent so much money and time to fix this problem. A couple of weeks ago, my 93 Pathfinder overheated. The overheated water sounded like it was coming from deep within my engine. I stripped everything down and replaced everything down there... bypass coolant hose, hoses, thermostat, water pump and the timing belt while I was at it. So today I got everything put back and cranked up the truck with the upper radiator hose off the radiator (to bleed the extra air out of the system) but no water came out. I opened up the top of the radiator and could see no movement in the water either. What do you think the remaining possibilities are to my problem? Tomorrow I have made an appointment at the shop to do a cooling system diagnostic, so I guess I'll find out then... but if ya'll can tell me some things it might be, as well as a rough estimate of cost to fix? No matter what, I know it's gonna cost me big time, but I'd like to have a little more info on this before I take my truck down to the shop. Edited June 29, 2007 by crystallinesheen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 How long did you run it? It takes a few minutes to heat up enough to open the thermostat and allow the pump to circulate coolant through the radiator. Could you have possibly accidentally put the thermostat in backwards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmag23 Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 I had the same problem when I replaced all the hoses on my '87 Pathfinder. Left the upper radiator hose disconnected from the radiator and filled the radiator to the brim through the rad cap until coolant came out of the radiator at the upper hose connection. Started and ran motor to let it heat up and waited for the water to flow out of the disconnected upper rad hose to bleed out the air from the system. Never happened. Engine ran and ran, longer than I thought it should before water should have come out of the upper hose. I walked around to check the temp gauge on the dash and noticed that the gauge was pegged all the way over on hot. What I learned was that filling up the radiator didn't get water into the thermostat housing. I raised up the upper radiator hose above the level of the radiator cap and poured antifreeze down into it until the upper hose was full. Basically, that primed the cooling system. That got fluid to the thermostat housing and ultimately down into the water pump. Once I did that, it started pumping coolant and I reconnected the upper hose to the radiator. You might try that same process and see if it works for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystallinesheen Posted June 29, 2007 Author Share Posted June 29, 2007 All right, some replies! To 88pathoffroad: The thermostat is definitely in the right way...I let it idle about five minutes or so, I figure that would be long enough to see something happen! To dmag23, that sounds like a great tip! It is dark out right now, but I'll go try that and see if it works. I've never heard of "priming" the coolant system, but if it works, it works! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystallinesheen Posted June 29, 2007 Author Share Posted June 29, 2007 Eureka!!!! dmag23, you are &^%*@$# awesome!!!!!! I disconnected the upper rad hose, and poured water down it until it was up to the top, and when it did, it was pulsating, showing that the water was being pumped! I then secured the tube and looked at the water/coolant mix in the radiator top, and sure enough, there was bubbles and agitation going on. YES!!!! Unfortunately, a new problem has mysteriously emerged. Now I know that I have at least a quarter tank of gas, but I looked at my gas gauge in my truck and it was pegged at the bottom of the Empty side. I stopped the truck and restarted it, and the gas needle didn't jump to the middle like it usually does, it actually did nothing at all. Did I just solve one problem to have another? This is really weird.....why would this happen? Any ideas? Anyway, dmag23, you deserve a medal. I'll drive around some tomorrow to see if the temps stay down, but things are looking better than they have in weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 Eureka!!!! dmag23, you are &^%*@$# awesome!!!!!! I disconnected the upper rad hose, and poured water down it until it was up to the top, and when it did, it was pulsating, showing that the water was being pumped! I then secured the tube and looked at the water/coolant mix in the radiator top, and sure enough, there was bubbles and agitation going on. YES!!!! Unfortunately, a new problem has mysteriously emerged. Now I know that I have at least a quarter tank of gas, but I looked at my gas gauge in my truck and it was pegged at the bottom of the Empty side. I stopped the truck and restarted it, and the gas needle didn't jump to the middle like it usually does, it actually did nothing at all. Did I just solve one problem to have another? This is really weird.....why would this happen? Any ideas? Anyway, dmag23, you deserve a medal. I'll drive around some tomorrow to see if the temps stay down, but things are looking better than they have in weeks. perhaps your sending unit went bad. perhaps you have a bad connection to the cluster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystallinesheen Posted June 29, 2007 Author Share Posted June 29, 2007 perhaps your sending unit went bad. perhaps you have a bad connection to the cluster What exactly does that mean? How could that have been triggered, and how is it fixed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 The sending unit is on top of the gas tank. I would suspect that it's a wiring issue. I've had 2 sending units die on my truck, because of bad wiring. The 2nd time, I didn't replace it, simply rewired it. You can access the sending unit via the cargo area. Pull up the carpet and you should see an access panel there. Check all your connections on top of the sending unit closely, as they're small wires, and even a slight tear in one can cause major issues. 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