My car was overheating a few weeks ago so I replaced the thermostat. I tested the old one and it was stuck closed so it was never opening to let the coolant run through the radiator. Its alot better now but still gets WAY to hot. During my hour drive home from work in 90 degree weather the temp going ALL the way to the top within about 30 minutes. Even quicker if I have the air on. It sucks cause im in rush hour traffic with no air conditioner It has plenty of coolant.
So what could the problem be? I don't want to pay the dealership to tell me its something simple.
It's starting to **** me off and the Misses doesnt really appretiate it She keeps calling my beloved Max a POS.
PLEASE HELP!!!

 

 

i REALLY need help people

 

When was the last time you had the coolant flushed? You may also want to have the radiator tested to see if flow is restricted inside it.

 

Some coolant systems need to be bleed of the extra air in the system after any work is done where coolant is drained. Call you dealer to check. I'd hate to think you blew a head gasket when it overheated, that would be big bucks$$$$$$.

 

hang on, you keep driving it even though its overheating? i dont see how you have not cracked a cylinder head yet. if you want to do it yourself, i would pick up a haynes manual and look under overheating and see what steps would cure that. if you cant figure it though, then i would take it in immediately even if to a local shop.

 

well i drained it all when i replaced the thermostat and refilled it with new stuff.

 

not that it would cause overheating, but what brand of coolant did you replace it with?

 

ok i didnt say this before. i never let it get all the way to the top line. if it gets close i pull over and let it cool down a little bit. i know better then to keep driving

 

i cant remember the brand. just some stuff i got at the auto store

 

I'm sorry dude, it was just so funny the way you stated what your wife said .
maybe if you are not sure what the problem is you should take it to the dealer before it does more damage.

 

its cool she *****es about it all the time. but she still loves it. i guess ill just take it to the dealership today

 

After you get the problem solved, get this stuff from redline called water wetter. It helps keep temps down, especially for hot weather vehicles.

Hopefully the headgasket isnt blown, that could cost a pretty penny to fix.

 

Could be a couple of things:

Hoses - are you sure you're not leaking?

Radiator cap - I doubt it's not holding pressure, but check to make sure.

Radiator - could be clogged

Fan - check that it's turning on while idleing

Pump - last recourse -----> Good Luck. Peace_

 

I flushed the coolant in my mom's old car a few years back, and it overheated like crazy. Radiator was clogged.
A month later, it started overheating again (and no heat came out, in the middle of November!!) ... water pump went.

Beware, some of those things can fail in a chain reaction..

BTW, mine has 31K miles, should I flush the system & change the thermostat? (I could probably do it myself, especially using flushing fluid, since at 31K it shouldn't have too much crap in there...)

 

On another thought, before the radiator was replaced and the car sat around 3/4ths on the temp gauge ("normal" on the Ford Tempo was around 1/8th, and that was even after a thermostat change), the floor heater vents were really toasty. Excellent for drying out shoes/socks/feet after getting them soaked in a cold November rain...

Haha, that's a sick thought. DON'T LET YOUR MAXIMA OVERHEAT!!! That old Ford Tempo was worth overheating for the sake of comfort, 'cause it was a piece of ****. (and my mom still drives it to this day, but I believe something's blown internally 'cause it loses coolant at a manageable-but-steady rate without any visible dripping...)
If you don't have the time/resources to diagnose/replace parts, definitely take it to the dealer...

 

hoses-not that cause ive check plus im not losing any coolant
cap- good
radiator-what im betting on. may also be an air pocket somewhere
pump-the dealership told me that those are internal and "never" go bad

 

Well the dealers giving you a load of crap. It's prob not your pump anyways. Sounds like your fan is malfunctioning. You overheat w/in 30 min.? Take it on the freeway to see if the temp goes down. If it does, check you fan!

 

correct, all of the components should be checked. They usually fail in a dommino effect.

 

i forgot that part. the fan is working fine. my whole drive is on the freeway and thats when it heats up. extented peroid of engine running at +2,000rpm. so when it starts to get warm i put it in nuetral and coast down hills. the engine not working as hard cools it down a little. im pretty sure it is a clog in the radiator or in the actual engine block preventing the coolant from flowing properly.

 

i would have it done, espically if its been over 2 years. i had mine flushed for the first time at about 31k for my 01. i also added water wetter for added protection.

 

i dont know if mine has ever been flushed. i got it in feb and havent done it. dont know if it was done by prevoius owner. it has 60,5000 miles so i should probably do that
thank for all the help guys
after i fix the problem im going to get this
http://www.kwickkool.com/whatis.html

 

Cool, will do. I'm confident I can do it myself @ home one of these weekends, so all I'll need is a bottle of Water Wetter, Flushing fluid, a Nissan thermostat & gasket, some silicone sealant and some decent antifreeze (I always use Prestone)... sounds good.

 

remember to "burp" out the air pockets. i think that may be part of my problem.

http://www.rx7turboturbo.com/robrobinette/flush.htm

 

Referring to keeping the radiator cap open & running the engine until it quits burping coolant, right? (I always do that...)

BTW, is the block drain plug easy to access? I've flushed radiators twice before and never drained the block (just ran some water through and ran the engine to dilute it until it came out fairly clear...)
I suppose draining the block would make the job quicker though.

 

well you are smarter then me i didnt think to get out the air when i did it. i dont know where the block plug is on ours. i know that when i removed the thermostat a **** load of coolant poured out. im pretty sure that was most of the coolant that was in the block.

 

I can post the procedure form the FSM for burping the air if you like.

Sounds like you have a flow problem, whether it is radiator, coolant thru pump, air air thru radiator....clean out your rad fins, take the front clip off if you want and get all those nasty bug bodies. Make sure both fans run with a/c on./...etc.

ARFF

 

i know both fans work. they are working VERY hard. when im ideling i can hear them working their a$$es off.
im thinking flow problem too. the coolant just isnt flowing right so its not cooling it off.
im going to completely flush it. i will clean out the radiator fins too
i will let everyone know if that fixes the problem
thanks again for all the info

 

Ooh, speaking of the FSM, I checked AlldataDIY -- for refilling the radiator they recommend some $197 tool made by SPX Corporation (contains a Nissan radiator cap adapter, and it somehow uses vacuum to prevent air bubbles. It also requires a completely empty radiator, and a container held above the radiator which contains more than the cooling system's supply of coolant.)

Surely the open-radiator-cap method (with the car parked uphill so the radiator's the highest point in the cooling system) should be sufficient enough for DIY'ers though...! I'm certainly NOT spending $197 just to flush my radiator myself

The model info on this device according to the scanned JPEG image of its brochure-

"TECH*MATE" J-45695 Coolant Refill Tool
Made by "SPX KENT-MOORE" (SPX Corporation, 655 Eisenhower Dr, Owatonna, MN -- 1-800-662-2001)

 

why dont you go ahead and get it and we can both use it

 

just talked to my service guy at the dealership (he has been ALOT of help in the past). He said to completely flush the system and make sure there is no air bubbles in it. he said that should do the trick. im going to do it when i get off work.

 

I think I've seen this 3 times on this forum already. When you guys are "flushing" a Max, you really really need to pull the drain plugs. Running water through it doesn't work on this system like it used to on older ones, just a funny way all the passages run. It is way too easy to get air pockets.

 

UPDATE!!!
ok im flushing the radiator as we speak. i put the flush fluid in and am running the car. im supposed to put the heater on full blast. well i did and just cool air comes out. NO HOT!! WTF?!?!? could it be the heater core? could that cause the overheating problem??
PLEASE HELP

 

Why not cut your losses and just take it somewhere??

 

Do you have the ac controls set correctly? (sorry, had to ask)


Still could be air. Follow the FSM procedure for air removal...you need it?

 

I've got this tool at the shop. The kit we have has adaptors to work on just about any cooling system. Jeeps are also prone to air entrapment which makes them overheat. It vacuums out all the air and whatever liquid is left from your cars cooling system. Then after you have a complete vacuum condition you switch a valve over to a hose which hangs in a supply of new coolant. The vacuum sucks the coolant into your engine and completely fills your cars cooling system with fresh coolant. No trapped air, no bleeding, it works great!

 

yes please.
well i finished working on it. there was LOTS of build up in there. its better but still not fixed. i drove it and it hot a little warmer then normal (about 3/4) but never went above that. i will work on it again tomorrow to see what i can figure out

 

Whoa.. your lady called your max a POS?
First step to fixing your max : Ditch the b1tch.

 

she was kiddin. she loves the car just as much as i do. but you know how chicks can get moody sometimes

 

and please dont call her a b!tch. thanks
only i get to do that