Hello Everybody! I need your help. I was cleaning the interior of my car and so I turn it on for a while (20-30min) and then I heard a weird noise from underneath the hood, I turn of the car right away and when I walk out to the front I saw antifreeze from my radiator on the floor, i just pop the hood and see the coolant reserve overfilled and a spill on the floor, so there are two spills, my question is, is this because the bottom hose is broken? a few weeks ago I just change the top hose because It was leaking, so I think now the problem is the bottom hose but I don't understand why the reserve got overfilled, is this normal when the hose is damaged? what about the noise, it was like a whining but it's hard to describe, hmmm like the sound of a trumpet but not that loud, I haven't check anything yet, this just happen like 15 minutes ago and I'm waiting for the car to cool down so I can check the hoses and radiator and the First thing that came to my mind was asking you guys for advice.
I don't have much knowledge about this issue and I'm concerned if it could be something more serious. All input will be appreciate it! Thanks!

 

Sounds like it overheated while it was running, check all hoses & waterpump!

 

I just take a brief look under the car and the leak seems to be at the bottom where the top hose is, but I can't find anything yet (didn't lift the car), where is the water pump located? I just noticed that the bottom hose is at the opposite side(right) from the top one (left), so I believe is not the hose, it seems dry, the wet area is beneath the top Radiator hose, but this hose is brand new, I inspected and seems no problem at all. I'll get under the car later and take out a cover to see if I can find the culprit.

 

water pump is on the front of the engine (pass side) down in some stuff behing the timing belt cover. if its leaking, usually it leaks just a little at a time. if it blew water out the coolant tank, i'd say it overheated also. to identify your leak you need to clean everything real good. brake cleaner will clean everything real good and dry quick to help you identify your leak.

my hypothesis would go somethin like this just because i like hypothesises :0 one of your otherh hoses sprung a leak (2nd weakest link because you fixed the weakest with the upper hose). your car leaked water out of there till it lost so much water it couldnt leak out of there anymore. sinceit couldnt flow water like its supposed to, it overheated. so theres your overflow plus a leak. just an idea.

 

Could be a stuck thermostat..

 

In case the problem was the water pump, how hard is to replace it? you think DIY is possible? or better to take it to a local shop to get it repaired. Also how much do you think it cost the water pump and where can I buy it, i kind of tired to buy the crap the lotto zone and cheap boys sell.

 

there is a nice writeup for it in the how to's

i'm gonna do mine soon too

 

Look at Thermsat.

I had my top hose, blow off while driving because my Thermsat was "frozen" shut. Also was getting overflow from the reserve.

I have had the water pump seals go. First the minor drip, puddle on passenger side. Later a water just keeps coming out, generally with stream coming up underhood as water hit hot pipes lower.

Lastly a freeze plug had also gone on my car. "Same time" as the water pump. Minor leak with stream coming up underhood.

 

can't find the writeup! where is it? also, is the thermostat close to the water pump? any link or picture. Thank you for your time everybody!!

 

finally today mechanic came to check, and found out the temp sensor wasn't working, so my radiator fans didn't turn on and cause overheating, also the top radiator hose was loose a lil bit and cause a small drip over the water pump. Unfortunately he found out another problem the rear middle cylinder isn't working, or he said doesn't seem to have enough compression due a valve or a damaged head gasket, I'm wondering if is worth the change of head gaskets of is better to swap a new engine, it has 137k miles on it, Thank you all for the help!

 

Swap it if you have more money than time.

 

Yep, swap it out if you have the $$$!!!

 

Well I don't have the money right now but I can save some and better pay a little bit more for a low mileage engine, just one more question, maybe a dumb one, I have the VG, is it possible to upgrade to a VE if my engine bay was for a VG, I haven't take a detailed look for the room that a VE will take and hoses and everything, so I'm just asking if anyone knows about the possibility. Thanks again

 

1.The vg/ve maxima bodies are indentical,so the engine will physically fit,but not without major wiring work before it can go in.

2.The vg/ve swap is not a direct swap,the main wiring harness from the engine to the ecu has to be swapped...Major PITA..


3.It can be done,but it will not be as easy as swapping engines..

 

Thanks a lot greenmax, I guess I'll have to start looking for prices of a nice VE, and a reputable place to do a job like this, time to save some money, i guess I'll be spending around 1.5 - 2k right? unfortunately I don't have the knowledge or the tools to do something like this.

 

IMHO,it will be too much money/trouble to have the swap done,you would be better off finding a decent used maxima with the ve already in it..

Check the classifieds section of the forum,their are several for sale right now,and having one shipped to you is not as expensive as you would think..

 

Maybe is dumb but I have a deep fondness with this baby, that's why I would like it repaired, I know some day it will die but I think it still a lot of life on it, interiors are really nice, never involved in a big car accident, starter replaced two years ago, since then not a single problem, just a bad sensor and a hose a week ago, besides that, never need to spend a lot of money.
And If one day I have to move on and buy another car, it will be of course a Maxima but a 6th gen .

 

Just swap a good used vg engine into it...

 

All your opinions and advices make me think is better to swap a good used VG with low mileage than replace head gaskets on my current engine. Thanks for everything! I'll do that.

 

Too bad you don't live closer,i have a good used engine and would swap it in for $300..

 

A vg??? I don't live far, may need one someday. Almost 200,000!

 

Yeah,i got it off fleabay,the guy said it had 110,00 miles,it was pulled from a wrecked 94..