I was coming back home when I noticed white smoke coming from the front of the engine while i was stopped at a stop light. My place was a mile away so i drove it home and opened up the hood. White smoke was still coming out and there was green fluid splashed(radiator fluid???) everywhere. I'm guessing my radiator is busted??? not sure what to do...can i still drive with it busted or just call a tow truck or else try and fix it myself? and if so, is it difficult?

 

same thing happend to me my radiator had a very small leak barely noticeable, there was fluid everywhere i drove with it for a week kept putting in fluid and then finally replaced it. its very easy to replace.

 

You overheated your engine. At the first sign of smoke, you should have pulled over immediately and shut off your engine. Now, you may have killed your engine. And no, you can't drive it with it still "busted".

First, diagnose why it overheated. It could be a bad/stuck thermostat, cracked radiator, cracked radiator hose etc etc. All of this stuff is easy to check/diagnose/replace. Also, do a compression test to make sure the engine is still good.

If you're not mechanically inclined, have it towed to a shop.

 

Alright...I checked the radiator and the hoses and the problem was a crack on the top part of the radiator...the black plastic piece. It's a really small crack...i was wondering if i can replace just the top plastic part or do i have to replace the whole thing?

 

It's going to be expensive to have a shop rebuild the radiator.....as radiators are not serviceable/fixable by your average do it yourselfer.

Buy a new one from one of the vendors here in the group deal forum.

Don't forget, your radiator may have cracked due to old age, or you still may have an underlying overheating issue which caused your car to overheat and the radiator to crack..

 

same thing happend to me, you have to replace the radiator, also check your oil to see if you got any antifreeze in their, if you don't youre good. yea you cant replace that piece you have replace the whole thing

 

While you should pull over immediately when you see smoke, seeing a little smoke does not mean that you overheated your engine. A small crack in the radiator will result in a small amount of white smoke/steam wisping up from the front of the car, as the coolant boils off of the engine block/other hot things.

Did your temp gauge show high temps? I doubt that it did, and I bet your engine is just fine.

Sounds like you found the crack in the top of the rad. It's pretty easy to replace a radiator. See the many threads discussing it, or my radiator replacement report here.

 

This may be true, but based on the limited information that was provided in the first post, and the fact he kept driving it after noticing the smoke, this leads me to believe he overheated the engine. How much he overheated the engine? Who knows.......and whether or not he damaged the engine is another story.

 

Yeah just make sure you try replacing your radiator sOOn.... Not recommended to drive wit trashed radiator....

 

I'm pretty sure I didn't overheat the engine...The smoke amount was like smoke from someone smoking a cigarette...not like billowing amounts of smoke...the temp gauge was normal and that's it...i haven't driven it since and i've been calling around checking out prices for a radiator...gonna go buy one later 2nite i hope...when my roommate gets home from work

 

coolant gone, now comes overheating.

 

Get a koyo from the GD forum.... Perfect fit and very high quality imo.... Great deal too.

 

Question, my radiator is busted and coolant is leaking from the top. So, in replacing...I have a 99 Maxima Auto and there are 2 radiators listed for Automatics. A Pre-3/99 one and a post-3/99 one. Which one do I choose since my car is sitting at home and I'm at work?

Basically, what's the difference between the 2?

 

yea replace it dont take a chance

 

All the radiators should be completely interchangeable (just make sure you get an auto).

 

i happened to have my camera ready when mine started acting up lol

 

Just what I needed to hear. Thanks!

 

This happened to my wifes 98 last week. She was smart enough to pull over and turn it off imediately. I brought some gallons of water with me, met her, filled it up and limped her home, stopping twice to refill with water. I hit up the autozone by my house and had that thing changed in less than a half hour. It was a direct replacement and It cost $140.

 

change the thermostat while the system is drained too, unless of course you have already dont it recently...

 

Do they make a lower temp thermostat? Nismo???

beware, I'm used to FWD SR20's.

 

i had the same problem replaced the radiator easy to do and flushed the whole coolant system. ez fix