hey guess....im supposed to be pissed, but im not....so i was driving home form a dinner with relatives, like a 30 min drive....car ran great....didnt drive like a idot...then closer to my friends house, i took the car out of gear on crusie control, and it hit the rev limiter, just for like a second....nothing happened...5 min later, i pull up to my friends house, and i leave the car on, and we just chill for like 15 min, car just on idle....then my friends sees white smoke coming out of my hood...i look at my heat gauge, its all the way up there....so i turn the car off right away, and when i turn it off, there was a big BOOM. and smoke and colloant all over the place, and my friend (haha)....we open the hood when it cools down, and the top of the radiator is blown off.....now his brother owned 11 300zx, and this guy owend a couple nissans as well, so he says it could be that my fans were not working, cause we didnt hear them. but also, can it be the water pump?

i would love to hear any feed back.
right now, im going to try to fix it and sell it, and get another maxima....but guys, please help me what to do....tommorow, im buying a radiator, and seeing if that will help, also, gotta check the fuses for the fans....thanks in advance

EDIT: the car is a 1995 with 106k on it...it was hit in front, so i doubt that the radiator was OEM

 

i say get a new radiator(ofcoarse) and see how the car runs. From there you will be able(hopefully) to know what is working(fans,water pump) and whats not working.

 

yeah....i'll do that tommorow and go from there....but when i start it, the car gets to full temp, and the fans are supposed to turn on....i kinda know that, but how do i find out if the water pump works or not?

 

Replace the radiator and see if it still does it. Usually water pumps have a seep hole that it leaks from. If coolant fluid is leaking from the area the water pump is located then its the water pump or in that area. Your main concern right now is the radiator and your fans.

 

if you havent noticed any coolant dripping than its prob not your water pump.it coulda been just a cheap radiator. just replace it yourself its easy. you should flush the coolant system since your already halfway there you know. good luck.

 

(1)i took the car out of gear on crusie control, and it hit the rev limiter, just for like a second....nothing happened...5 min later,
(2) i pull up to my friends house, and i leave the car on, and we just chill for like 15 min, car just on idle....

Why would you do these 2 things, Sound like no fans, plugged radiator, or the thermostat stuck and over pressured a weak plastic tank,

 

that sucks, hopefully the car is still in good running condition once you fix it

 

1) accident
2) i thought i was going to leave but we were talking about wat to do tommorow, i was about to go anythime, so i left the car on....i admit it was stupid..


but anyways, i replaced the radiator, filled it up with water. got it to working temp....and the fans didnt turn on....but the temp stayed good...didnt overheat.....and then, little white smoke appeared....you can barely see it....nothing big like yestareday...by then, i had to leave, i turned the car off and left....
my question is this now....there are 2 fuses of the fans under the hood...and 2 realys...is there anything else?

 

You could take out the relays and with the car on, short the relay contact pins (in the socket) and see if the fans come on. Make sure you've checked which are the right pins.
While the relays are out, you could put battery across the coil pins and listen for them to click in and out.

That would be pretty definitive.

Fans don't kick in until the radiator can't cool enough.

 

Excessive pressure in the cooling system could also be caused by a blown head gasket. Radiators usually don't blow up, the cap should have releaved the pressure to the expansion tank well before a rad. blows. Do a compression test, if all is OK replace the rad. and make sure you get a new cap as well.

 

I would get a new radiator and check the water pump and see If it Is leaking If it is replace It and check the tailpipe to see If your burning coolant that's If your head gaskets gave up. If you did not hear the fans run on that means that was the cause of the erruption. The fans approx run form 5-15 mins when the car is idleling and It also might depend on the climate.

 

Maybe it might be a good idea to replace the fans if you cannot ascertain their condition and function (they might be turning, but are they turning fast enough?). A dealer tech volunteered to rewire my fan (because he says it was turning the wrong way), but he ended up grounding the wires (and burning up and melting the fan). I was three minutes away from the dealer when I noticed the temps up to the 3/4s area while running with only one functioning fan, and my OEM radiator developed a hairline crack as a result.

I replaced the radiator and the fan, to stay on the safe side. I've seen overheated Nissans suffer from a warped head (the cars', not the owners') and had to be taken to the machine shop for further work. Maybe after that you could look into the water pump. Unless you want to replace the water pump as a safety precaution as well, if your miles warrant it.

 

this happened to me also before. Was driving my car on the highway 3.5 swap done and about a week or so under her belt. I was on the highway, hit some traffic and slowed down, then it cleared up and I stretched 3rd gear out pretty far, dropped into 4th, and just as I got into 5th I felt a POP, I smelled that sweet coolant smell, and smoke started pouring out.

I was in the fast lane so I had to cross 4 lanes, and my power decreased a bit. My radiator cracked right at the top. I realized the radiator that was in the car was not an OEM radiator. I bought a used OEM radiator and havent had a problem since. I stretched out 3rd a few times later to see if I could duplicate the problem but no.

I also thought the radiator cap could be a problem also, since the crack in the radiator seemed to originate from there and spread outward.

 

I'm just curious, shouldn't the cruise control deactivate when you hit the clutch? Every manual transmission car I've driven so far deactivates cruise as soon as you touch the clutch.

Haven't tried it in my Maxima yet though.

 

Also possible to get the transmission out of gear without touching the clutch.

 

yeah....update guys...i put in the new radiator yesaterday, and today with my friend we started it and waited for the fans to turn on, and they didnt till we turned the AC on, but i drove the car home (6miles) and it was all good....i let the car idle for like 10 min, and it was all good....all of this was after 10pm, so tommorow i'll see how it works in the California heat...........

and about the crusie control, yes, it turns off when u touch the clutch, or touch the brakes.....but i just took it out of gear, without the clutch......pretty stupid i know....but its fixed now, so thank god and all you guys...i appreciate it

thanks.
Paul F

 

you also check the coolent temp sensor,

 

where is that? i cant find it....also, now that i drove it in the day, and driving was fun, and then i went into a bank, came back like 5 min later, and the gauge went up to almost the top.....so i turned the car off, it got to normal temp, turned on the ac, (so the fans turn on) and drove home....so the problem is my fan doesnt want to work sometimes...cause when io came home...kept the revs at 3k and the fans did turn on....

 

The fans really only come on when the car is stopped. For example, if you've been doing a lot of driving and stop, the fans kick on in a few seconds because the engine is still very hot and now there's no airflow over the radiator. If you're driving at more than 15 MPH or so (just a guess) they will probably turn off.

If you had the engine off for just 5 minutes and the fans did not come on immediately when you turned the engine back on, you've definitely got a problem.

 

well i left the car on when i went to the bank.....and funny thing is now the fans work, but i bet tommorow, they will have a mind of thier own again