3. Fill radiator and reservoir tank to specified level.
I Use genuine Nissan anti-freeze coolant or equivalent
mixed with water (distilled or demineralized).
Refer to “RECOMMENDED FLUIDS AND LUBRICANTS”,
MA-11.
Engine coolant capacity (With reservoir tank):
7.7 (8-1/8 US qt, 6-3/4 Imp qt)
Reservoir tank capacity:
0.8 (7/8 US qt, 3/4 Imp qt)
I Pour coolant through coolant filler neck slowly to allow air
in system to escape.
4. Warm up engine to normal operating temperature with radiator
cap installed.
5. Run engine at 2,500 rpm for 10 seconds and return to idle
speed.
I Repeat two or three times.
Watch coolant temperature gauge so as not to overheat the
engine.
6. Stop engine and cool it down.
I Cool down using a fan to reduce the time.
I If necessary, refill radiator up to filler neck with coolant.
7. Refill reservoir tank to MAX level line with coolant.
8. Repeat steps 4 through 7 two or more times with radiator cap
installed until coolant level no longer drops.
9. Check cooling system for leaks with engine running.
10. Warm up engine, and check for sound of coolant flow while
running engine from idle up to 3,000 rpm with heater temperature
controller set at several positions between COOL and
WARM.
I Sound may be noticeable at heater water ****.
11. If sound is heard, bleed air from cooling system by repeating
steps 4 through 7 until coolant level no longer drops.
I Clean excess coolant from engine.

 

ANOTHER UPDATE
well i left for work and within a few minutes the heat went all the way up and the SES light came on i hate my car!!! she is such a B!TCH!! i popped the hood and alot of coolant had flown into the overflow resevoir. it was actually boiling over. so i turned the heater on full blast which cooled it down a little and drove home. i found the ONE place that is open late on sat and they are looking at it right now. they dont know what it could be since i have already replaced thermostate and flushed it. will post again after i pick her up.

 

And your fans are working? Might be the water pump or a clogged rad...let us know what happens.

JP

 

fans are working just fine. i took it to a mechanic yesterday. we looked at it for 2 hours and couldnt find anything wrong. they hooked the machine up to it and the pressure if fine so it is not a leak or blown head gastget. he had NO IDEA what the hell it was. im taking it to the dealership tomorrow.
i still think it could be a clog somewhere (maybe in the engine block) that is preventing the coolant from flowing through the system right. i will let you all know what the dealership says.

 

that's just weird. overheating isn't a very common problems for Maximas. how often did you flush your radiator? check the radiator for any kind of visual damage. see if it's leaking or dented somewhere.

 

My money is on a blown head gasket. The air is coming from your combustion chamber gasses blowing past the head gasket. There's no other reason why your car, at it's early age, should be seeing cooling system problems like this. The only thing that would cause your cooling system to do what it's doing is a blown head gasket.

 

ok just got back from the dealership. i have a guy there that is really cool and he looked at it right away. i told him all the things i had already done to try and fix it. this is what he decided it is...completely blocked radiator. he said it is blocked at the top so the coolant is not going through the fins. it is running through the sides and back to the block so it is never cooling off. the sensor tells the fans to cool it off but it cant since the coolant never makes it to the fins so the fans can cool it off. when the fans kicked on we put our hands between the fans and engine and it was cool air. so the fans were not sucking the heat away from the radiator like it is supposed to.
he said they had a radiator for $725 that he could get me for $450. he said there is no aftermarker since the car is so new. so does anyone know if there is??? im going to go to a radiator shop to see if they can open it and fix it.

 

GOOD !@#$ING GOD THAT'S GOTTA BE BULL****
I'd find a radiator shop for sure... they would HAVE to be cheaper than his offer...

Just for kicks, I typed in "radiator.com" and lo and behold, a site came up. They claim $189 for an OEM equivalent replacement radiator for the 3.0L V6, automatic, with Overnight shipping available.

 

well i found the same site i ordered it. it is only $175 total and will be here tomorrow!!!!
will let everyone know how the swap goes. it looks pretty easy to do. i will probably take pictures for a "how to" in case anyone else ever needs to do it.

 

BOOM! Glad you found the problem...keep us posted (again)...flush those rads boyz and girlz

arff

 

VERY TRUE!!! im sure if the person that owned the car before me had flushed the radiator this wouldnt have happened.
so everyone, learn a lesson from this.

 

I really hope you've finally solved your problem and it isn't a head gasket.

But the question remains, how did your radiator get so plugged up in the first place?

 

its not a blown head gasket. im not losing coolant and no coolant is getting in the oil. he said it got blocked over time and that he thinks the prevous owner never flushed it. he said if you flush the radiator every 20,000 it shouldnt happen.
so everyone
GO FLUSH YOUR RADIATOR RIGHT NOW!!!!

 

yup, how much does the dealer charge for the rad flush?
I'm a little paranoid with knowledge that these engines can get air bubbles easily... if the "burping" method (DIY flush/refill running the engine w/ radiator cap off, not using that $200 tool) is sufficient, I'll do it myself, but it's making me very paranoid... I don't wanna **** up my car

at 32K mi I'm definitely due for one...

 

just go to a normal auto shop and do it. they should do it for around $70. i think the dealership would be $150 or more
there is actually a bleed valve on the hose that goes TO the engine. it is right before it hits the engine block. unscrew that, then fill radiator till coolant starts to run out the valve, tighten it and that will take care of the air bubbles

 

Bleed valve... on the lower radiator hose? (assuming coolant travels from the bottom hose into the water pump and block, then out the thermostat and back into the radiator through the upper radiator hose)

 

its actually on the upper hose. the one going TO the block. when you open the hood and look at the engine, the hose on the right. i will take pictures of where it is and post it.
ccolant travels through upper hose (right side), through block, through thermostat, out lower hose (left side), and back to radiator.

 

How many miles and what year is your car? I didn't flush my 99 until it hit 50K and was 4 years old. Radiator looked like new inside, as it should have.

Your a 5th gen, your newer then me and prolly have less miles. So agian I ask, what caused your radiator to plug up?

Thats the real question here. If your getting a slight be it blow by your head gasket, it would definately contaminate your cooling system to the point your having major problems with it.

Sorry, I don't want to be the bad guy, but something just doesn't sit right here. A car thats only 2 or 3 years old should not need a new radiator due to contamination. It doesn't make sense, something caused that to happen. I think you need to find the Root Cause in order to really fix your problem. Replacing the radiator isn't the root cause, it's only a patch.

What is getting into your cooling system that was able to distroy your radiator in such a short period of time? Technically it's a closed system.

 

2000 with 61000 miles.
i have had the car since feb and never flushed the radiator. im pretty sure the owner before me didnt either. the guy who looked at it said that if you dont flush the system just a little bit a contaminant is in there and then it just builds up around it. he said once the build up starts its just a matter of time. he said the only way to prevent it is to flush the system regularly.
and again ITS NOT A BLOWN HEAD GASKET!!! people need to stop saying that thats the last thing i need. there is NO SIGN of that.

 

and since the thermostate went out that made it worse. the "bad dirty" coolant was just chilling (i guess not really ) it just sat there and built up. there was not a good stream to keep it clean.
im not giving up on her just yet. i still love her. we will make it through this

 

well my baby is officially FIXED!!!!!
life is good.
i replaced the radiator last night. it was pretty easy, took about an hour. it was alot easy cause my girl helped (gotta love that). after it was fixed i took her (the car) out for a spin. had AC on full blast and did alot of WOT. temp gauge never went above the middle.
i am so happy and releaved that i finally figured out and fixed the problem.
will post a "how to" soon.