2000 Nissan Maxima, has been overheating the pass couple of days, I noticed that white smoke came out of the Coolant Resevoir today and I dont plan on moving it anywhere until i determine what the issue is. Additionally after the white smoke incedent I noticed that my Radiator was completely drained and that the coolant in the Resevoir was boiling over and thats where the white smoke was coming from. I've read that it could be the thermostat, or perhaps my water pump is failing. Im not sure where to start. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Well my question would be where did all the coolant in the radiator go? For that thing to be bone dry that's a lot of coolant missing. I'd start by filling the radiator back up properly and then trying to figure out where it's all going. Either there's a leak somewhere, it's coming out the weep hole for the water pump or it's going into your oil.

So fill it back up and run the car and see if it heats up to a normal temperature and maintains it. After that, start inspecting the bottom of the car to figure out where all this coolant is going. Check your oil and make sure it doesn't look like it's filled with coolant.

 

Do what andrewmac says - fill the cooling system and look for leaks. Look around the radiator where the top plastic tank attaches to the metal section. They like to leak, especially near the upper radiator hose.