Ok, let's get a little more background to try to figure this out. Some questions may seem obvious but I haven't seen them answered in this thread...

1) How many miles on the car & how many have you owned it for? Have you ever flushed coolant or have records of previous owner flushing coolant? If properly maintained, corroded pump is much less likely and more likely something else.

2) Prior to installation of the new radiator, did you ever have cooling problems before? If head gasket was blown or if pump was corroded, overheating problems would have been a problem with previous radiator as well.

3) Why did previous radiator need to be replaced? Eat a rock, accident, spring a leak, cracked joint or corrosion? If sprung a leak, cracked joint or corrosion, possible corroded water pump and/or corrosion & all kinds of crap in coolant passages that reduce flow through motor.

4) Who did the radiator replacement? You, dealer or other qualified mechanic? Where did you source radiator and are you sure it is exact replacement? Were thermostat and radiator hoses and radiator cap replaced along with radiator? If replaced, did you use OEM hoses & thermostat? If didn't replace hoses, could be collapsed hose. If didn't use OEM hoses, could be mild kink in hose that reduces flow and doesn't allow proper flow. If didn't use OEM thermostat, could be wrong size/temp restricting flow.

5) Did overheating problem start right after radiator replacement (ie. driving home or 1st time going over 60mph) or has it been a couple weeks/months and did it just now start happening.

6) There isn't anything obvious blocking the airflow through the grill opening right?

7) Coolant was mixed properly using suggested water ratio right?

If everything above seems ok, it is likely air in the system...although one would think that the dealer would have bled the system.

Please respond to above questions and that may provide more clues.

 

Any updates? Been a while.

 

i had the same problem with my trans am if your mixture is not right , your antifreeze mixture you will get hot spots and it will happen at highway speeds .Also having your waterpump impeller that corroded is not good.I would have the radiator flushed again and make sure they put the right antifreeze mixture, good luck.

 

Hey guys, I have a 5th Gen Max 6MT, recent radiator & hose change (radiator had a leak at the top). Coolant has been flushed every 30K miles and now at 151,XXX miles, I am leaking water. I think it is also my water pump, but having a hard time finding the "weep hole". Does anyone know if I can follow this http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...teup-pics.html

for the 5th Gen also?

 

Yes, you can.

 

In General:

Factory Service Manuals are here http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/

Find your vehicle and year, then have fun. Look in the FSM before posting a question that can be answered by looking at the FSM. And yes the FSM has an index.

 

tedo007 please let us know what the problem was, my car is doing the exact same thing. I've replaced everything in the cooling system and it still does it when it wants to makes no since, is it possible the mass air flow is going out causing me to run lean/hot ?

 

I'm having a weird issue with keeping coolant in the reserve tank. Ive replaced the radiator, thermo, but not the hoses. Everything works great however coolant doesnt last in the reserve tank. About every few days or so, its near bone dry (filling tank to where is says MAX). I cant find any leaks whatsoever, but do smell a small vapor of coolant. Any thoughts? Im thinking that the head gaskets are leaking, but want to get other perspectives.

-Crossing fingers-

 

do you have bubbles in the overflow at all?

sounds like you're burning coolant if you smell it ...are you getting white smoke?

 

yea, i started seeing white smoke lately... its head gaskets isnt it??

 

I have an 02 maxima, I have already replaced the radiator, thermostat, water pump, and heater core. There is no pressure drop when I pressurize the cooling system and both my fans are working overtime when it starts running hot. There is no smoke coming out of the tail pipe and no coolant consumption. It runs hot as soon as I drive faster than 60mph or when I'm going uphill. I thought of getting a 2 row radiator but no one seems to make it for an automatic trans. I'm stumped, please help.

 

It looks like for some reason, your coolant is not circulating properly. Are both your radiator hoses - upper and lower - hot when the car overheats? (they should be). Perhaps you have not bled the system properly. Time to re-check.

 

The top Radiator hose is hot but the lower hose isn't. I thought this was normal.

 

Here you go. So, something is blocking or not opening/closing as it should. I would check the thermostat first, but have your eyes open - even if you recently replaced the part.

 

Did u replace the thermostat with an oem thermostat? If not that's a good place to start. Another thing to try is burping the system. Get front end up in the air on ramps. Open the rad cap. Turn car on heat on high let it run and try squeezing to rad hose and get any air pockets out. This is what is likely the problem. As the level of antifreeze goes down continue to top off.

 

Thank you very much. I didn't think it would be the thermostat, as I already replaced it, however, last night I took it out completely and this morning on my way to work, the car didn't over heat at all and both hoses are now hot. Today I will stop by the dealer and pick up a new thermostat and go from there. I guess the thermostat I bought at the local auto parts store was staying closed. Thanks again, I will post an update after I install the new thermostat and see what effect it has.

 

Since I replaced the thermostat last week, water circulates and the car doesn't over heat anymore, however, the coolant won't return from the reservoir tank. I ordered a new Nismo radiator cap. I'm hoping this will alleviate this problem.

 

Well, I continued to have overheating issues to the point where I eventually found a milky, chocolate milk colored, creamy, coat under the oil cap. I knew then that I had a blown head gasket. I removed both heads and sent them to the machine shop. I'm going a step further since I've put more than 200K miles on it. I went ahead and removed the short block so that I can replace the rear main seal and I'm also gonna change the rod bearings, piston rings, and deglaze the cylinder walls, then put it all together with a new timing chain set and go from there 👍🏼

 

[QUOTE="Jimbollo;9092195"]Well, I continued to have overheating issues to the point where I eventually found a milky, chocolate milk colored, creamy, coat under the oil cap. I knew then that I had a blown head gasket. I removed both heads and sent them to the machine shop. I'm going a step further since I've put more than 200K miles on it. I went ahead and removed the short block so that I can replace the rear main seal and I'm also gonna change the rod bearings, piston rings, and deglaze the cylinder walls, then put it all together with a new timing chain set and go from there.

 

[QUOTE="Jimbollo;9092195"]Well, I continued to have overheating issues to the point where I eventually found a milky, chocolate milk colored, creamy, coat under the oil cap. I knew then that I had a blown head gasket. I removed both heads and sent them to the machine shop. I'm going a step further since I've put more than 200K miles on it. I went ahead and removed the short block so that I can replace the rear main seal and I'm also gonna change the rod bearings, piston rings, and deglaze the cylinder walls, then put it all together with a new timing chain set and go from there.

 

[QUOTE=Jimbollo;9092197]"HR" swap time