z00york145

hey guys

i went to check out a 99se today and it looked like it was in perfect shape, the only thing I was a little worried about was the radiator overflow was bubbling. The temperature gauge showed that it was not overheating or that anything was wrong, though the gas gauge was almost exactly at E. Any ideas? don't want to take it home then know there's a severe problem or something..thanks!

2da mizzax

iTrader: (4)

the resevoir shouldnt be bubbling, although it can if the cap is not making a proper seal allowing for lower pressure inside of the system.

maxprivate

iTrader: (12)

Do you know if only one of your fans where running?

z00york145

I am not sure. My dad said he was reading somewhere that it could be the headgasket? I can't see how it could be that, took it for a test drive went on the highway.. did a lot of stop and go's everything ran perfectly.

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

It's possible for a head gasket to blow but have virtually no driveability issues. It's possible that it's leaking combustion gases into the cooling system, but unlikely.

I really fail to see how one would blow the headgasket on a VQ30...

z00york145

I'm hoping it's the seal, I called my mechanic..I'm going to bring it down to him tomorrow to have him look at it, I'll know either tomorrow or thursday what's truly wrong..hopefully.

I'm also on kind of a tight budget, there is a 1,2, or 3 year warranty available for this car at the dealer. The 1yr I was looking at was something like $500. Should I try and negotiate him to lower his price from 4700 to 4700 with the one year included? Seeing as if it could be something as serious as a head gasket that could really suck for me.

streetzlegend

iTrader: (8)

Mine does the same thing, and yea its possible to have a blown or leaky head gasket and have no driveability issues. When i drive normal and civilized without getting on the gas too much, i stop and look at tank and u see a bubble like every other second. or actually every second. when i get on it, specially when i go into 10psi of boost I not only get bubles but i occationally have blown radiator hoses off lol. which basically means i have a leaky head gasket.

If i were you, i would get a new radiator cap first, or you can get a higher pressure cap. Or just ignore it, its not like the head gasket is going to blow, specially if your all motor. I would ignore it if i were you and not deal with mechanics and spend money trying to solve something thats not biggie. Just get a new cap and call it a day.

z00york145

the thing is, it's not my car yet but I was nervous about it because I was seeing things all over about head gaskets being blown and all different types of crap like that. glad in a sense to hear it's not such a big problem, hopefully it's the cap seal. I'll go back and look at it tomorrow. thanks guys.

2da mizzax

iTrader: (4)

fidn another max. unless the price is dirt cheap.

runyun972

iTrader: (7)

I had the same thing happen before... it was a slightly leaky headgasket in my case. Had to get the head machined and replaced to fix the problem.

Symptoms:
Drove and pulled fine. But once in a while the temp gauge would go up... turning on the heater helped lower the temp...

Could be a bad cap too

nupemaxima

iTrader: (2)

I ran into the same problem. First thought...blown head gasket. But no signs of overheating and the car was running better than normal. So I flushed the radiator to see if any oil was mixed in. I also changed the thermostat to make sure I was getting a proper reading. Still no signs of blown head gasket but I have bubbles. Talked to a machanic that said air needs to escape out of your cooling system (needs to pass gas) thats all. To do this just pop your hood, take the radiator cap off and start the car. After it warms up you should notice the air escaping out of the top of the radiator. I let my car run until I no longer saw bubbles (about 20 minutes). I haven't had any bubbles since doing this method. Good luck and hope this helps.

z00york145

here is the max if you guys wanna see it . It's got minor minor scratches and it's interior is beautiful. I didn't exactly want an automatic but seems I have to settle. All I could say is i'll bring my mechanic tomorrow, hopefully it's nothing serious..

btw:I know this is a bit off topic, but does anyone know the name for this color?

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

another interesting issue may be a poor seal in the radiator neck. my radiator neck is screwed up so whenever I try to use the pressure tester on it it just hisses at me.
For right now, I'll live like this and hope it doesn't repeat it's coolant loss like it was when I bought it.

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

Sounds like the plastic might be slightly cracked around the neck?

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

change the cap and check your thermostat!

z00york145

I do remember that the radiator hoses looked almost new, if they were blown, and the overflow was bubbling like that, is that more of a sign it could be a head gasket?

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

nope, it's inside the neck where the gasket seats. it's all trashed

DrPaulFlammond

Lakeshore Blue

I had one just like it, 99SE, beautiful deep color. Got totalled at about 90K miles when an old lady turned in front of me at an intersection. I miss that one. Inherited the wifes 96 after that and she got the new car.

Yes, for a while we had his and hers Gen4 Maximas

-DPF

clive

I personally wouldn't buy the car, not at that price certainly.
Another thing you want to do is to check the coolant with a test device to see what condition the anti-freeze is in. If combustion gas is escaping into the cooling system the water becomes acidic. Some anti-freeze brands have a color change system (e,g red / green) to detect this problem. Also note, when the coolant is contaminated with combustion products and acidic, it starts corroding the cooling system - pump, gaskets, rad, block passageways, and so on.

max ride 41

iTrader: (4)

at that year and mileage i would'nt worry myself to death over some bubbles in the overflow. cripes man, i got a 95 gle with 178,000 on her and i thought that was normal. i replaced my rad like a year ago and he said that was normal unless it was all the time. even then, it could be a bad cap or as simple as flushin the rad and new fluid. talk him down to 4,200 or tell him your hittin the road. good luck!!!!

z00york145

my mechanic couldn't go with me the past couple of days, and today he's off. hopefully saturday he could take a look at it in the morning. I negotiated with the seller a little, he said he'll do $4500 if everything checks out fine, if there is a problem he said he would go a little lower.

runyun972

iTrader: (7)

hell.. if it ends up being a headgasket, he better go a LOT lower

z00york145

If he even remotely thinks it'll be the headgasket I'm not buying..I don't need someone else's heartache.

z00york145

seems like i made a little mistake, what I thought was the radiator overflow was actually the power steering reservoir . I still had my mechanic take a look at it and make sure it was all good. He said it all looks good, the only thing that needs to be done is the brakes, but their still not that bad.. I should have the car by tuesday, wish the damn bank was open today . Soon I'll be a real .org'r ...(again ) thanks for the advice though guys!

B_Eaze

iTrader: (3)

Have a mechanic check it for like $20 or a 12 pack

MaxGordon7

iTrader: (36)

hahahhhahahahhahahahahahahhaah

z00york145

yah, i felt like an idiot when he told me that