I just noticed my coolant resovior has this nasty red color to it and it stinks very bad. I washed it and thought it was mixing oil or the tranny fluid got in it than I thought I had a blown head gasket. I looked inside of the radiator and It seems ok for now,Is there anything that could of caused this ?
Thanks.

Is it slimey and/or greasy?

It's more like it was greasy and red and it stinks.

vqmaxman, im hoping you dont have the same problem i had.
I was having the same symptoms as you are having, later to find out that i had a crack inside my vq, where the wall that separates the pistons and the coolant was. i had to trash the engine and put another one in.
Hopefully that is not the case. When was the last time you did a full coolant flush?
Do it, and check it out after a few weeks, and see if you see the same thing.
Good luck.

Really oh **** something I am hoping is not happing to me,but I just emptied the resovior and I will check again. I have to cahnge my oil so and when I was doing tune-up to my car I had oil in one of the cylinder rings can that be related.

having oil in one of the cylinder rings wont tell much about a crack.
do you have any kind of smoke from your exhaust...? white? blue? or any other color?
all i know is that right before i knew my engine was bad when i started to smell a burning coolant smell from the exhaust.
check out your coolant after a few weeks and see if there is the same problem.

The only color and smell I have coming from my exhaust is white and a little bit of oil smell that's about it. I will check the coolant again sometimes.

good luck, as long as it doesn't smell like burning coolant, you should be ok. check it out

I just had Nissan change my coolant 5 months ago. I hope Nissan did not fiddle around with uncessary things.

Check your oil, if your oil is milky looking or has a white residue, then the coolant is also leaking into your oil.

I just checked the oil and the color is all normal.

is it auto or manual? if its auto it might be possible that the transmission fluid line running through the bottom of your radiator has had it.

That sounds like power steering fluid...

Maybe they used an orange coolant?

How's it look at the radiator cap?

Dave

My coolant was green at the time I got it changed.

I just emptied the resovior and I see the same **** in the bottle it looks like some kind of oil or greasy fluid. I will take pic later If necessary. I am getting very worried at this.

Hopefully everything works out for you. Maybe you can get a 3.5 swap if the engine goes bad though. This is unheard of for me so I think I'll check on this thread later and see what I can learn.

Did you check your tranny fluid in case "Sinturion" is right?

I checked my tranny fluid it looks okay. I have been smelling some burning of the tranny fluid and I had Nissan Do a tranny fluid exhange about 3-4 months ago so I am thinking that the tranny line had enough. What should I do now if my tranny fluid line went bad? Is there any kind of test and any method to use to find out what went wrong? Is there any harm in driving the car like this i cheked my raditor it has a nasty dirty faded green like color, until it gets dumped in the resovior.

Have you checked your transmission fluid level (not just color)? as the transmission fluid is usually pressurized you'll find that its more likely that transmission fluid ends up in your coolant rather than coolant ending up in your transmission.

I should check the fluid when the car is cold than when the car warms up right? To see where the fluids is at. Is it possible that Nissan did not leave anything out.

The fluid looks normal and the capacity is normal.

Were you checking the level with the car idling and on a flat surface? there should be both hot and cold ranges on the dipstick.

I just checked It with the car on the flat surface and the car was not running and I am assuming the way I saw the fluid looks like the day i just got it changed. I guess I will run the car than check it probally tommorrow. Should I drive the car like this.

I change my mind I will check it now do, I have to have the car in drive and all the gears then back into park. I will warm it up first then shift in all gears.

I warmed up the car then I checked the bothsides of the dipstick. The cold side looks like it's in the normal range but the hot side it's right in between the hash marks it's okay. I think sooner or later if it's keep on dumping the fluid in the coolant I will be In the add range. The point is that my fluid is not where It was as It was 5 months ago. What's the soultion now blame Nissan for this or it's the pressure line that's failing.

That may be it: a leak in the tranny cooler oil lines. IIRC the maxima automatic embeds the tranny cooler lines inside the coolant passages of the radiator. A leak between the two will interchange fluids.

Dave

Is this the problem because the car is getting older or is it because Nissan did something wrong meaning they might of switched things or forgot something?

It could well be that there is corrosion or damage to the piping that resulted in a leak. Please check on this, but on many cars the auto tranny cooler is actually piping running thru the coolant passages of the radiator. My wife's Eclipse is like that. If that piping leaked, it wouldn't end up on the ground, it would end up in the coolant and vice-versa. So if the tranny oil would float to the top of the radiator cap and overflow tank like you see it, and any coolant that got into your tranny would sit in the bottom of the tranny pan. I still haven't looked up whether the Maxima uses this immersed design, and I'm at work right now. But it could explain everything.

Radiators fail. Heat, corrosion, and damage from bad handling are common reasons. If this theory holds true, you'll need a new radiator, a coolant flush, and probably a tranny flush. It doesn't mean the dealer did or did not do anything wrong.

Dave

I visited Nissan and they told me that the Radiator might of went bad and the cost will be $600.00 to install it all in. Does the radiator go bad if you race your car?

If the coolant gets in the tranny pan can I drain it out of the plug?

Sounds like corrosion in your cooling system - your rad is likely rotting from the inside out. I've seen some really nasty coolant that's orange and very stinky.

You can flush your radioator, replace it, replace the coolant, flush your tranny and replace the tranny fluid for under $150. And its a straight forward process.

I already did the tranny and coolant flush 5 months ago,unless I have to do it again and then see what happens. There saying the tranny line is leaking in the radiatior that's what I am assumming.

Should I just do the coolant flush again than see how things turn out than I should go form there.

I was looking at Nissan Courtesy site and I was looking at the OEM seal packing for the radiator that's for the bottom portion of the radiator. I also found this Kit called the tank kit radiator for the bottom portion for the radiator. I am wondering If Nissan can do any one of these parts on the radiator and which one of these parts failed.

Water is heavier, so yes it should drain out the plug first. Trouble is that if you find some coolant in the tranny, it may be all throughout the tranny too. That's why in this case I think paying for a tranny flush might be a good idea.

I'm a cheapass, if the tranny is shifting fine I would drain a qt and add a quart. Run the car for a day. I'd do it until I can't find any more coolant.

Dave

^^ Me to.

Yeah man, changing out the radiator in a maxi is an incredibly undercomplicated procedure, I would hate to see you shell out $600 for that job.

If you really can't handle it find a local .org member in your regionals section.

I am going to do the coolant flush and a mini-tranny flush, just to see what and how much coolant got in the tranny pan. I have posted here in the last post some OEM sealants and some tranny kit and I am thinking that can resolve the problem of installing the parts in stead of a whole new radiator. Is it possible that this can work out or I am just out of luck.

I think you might have some tranny fluid coming in.