I was driving on the freeway to get dinner and suddenly the check engine light came up. The temp gauge was close to max.
I turned the AC off, took the nearest exit and parked. Saw some steaming smoke from the hood for a minute. The temp gauge was back to normal quickly.
From the moment the check engine light came on to parking, I would estimate it was above 2-3mins. But seemed like an eternity.

When I opened the hood, there was coolant leak on pax side. It was dark, cell phone flash light didn't help me find anything obviously wrong.
The radiator inlet and outlet hose were plugged in. Thermostat+hose looked good.

I am thinking this is a coolant leak, but not sure where to look.

Here's a pic. It didn't really come up like it looked. Thanks to the crappy camera.


coolant leak

 

could be water inlet pipe.

 

Looking at the spray pattern on the air box and intake, I'm guessing the radiator is cracked on the top along the seam. It's notorious on this cars with the factory radiator.

 

I was thinking that same thing even before I opened the post. That happened on my 97 Max and my 03 Max, I replaced the radiator with an OE one both times.

 

Thanks, Talltom.
I guess driving the car is out of question with a leaking radiator.
Would you guys recommend getting a used radiator from another maxima/i30 or a new one?

 

NEW.....rockauto is so competitive prices its not worth a used one.

prob only $50-75

 

Rockauto was the first place I checked. Express Shipping is $50-70. Ground takes about 2 weeks.
I got a radiator from local parts store (Allied auto), but the hoses are on the opposite side.
Make is APDI Radiator (Part# 8012329)
Back to square one.

 

2 weeks????? U must not live in USA. I get mine in 2 days.

if hoses are backwards then its the wrong radiator or u r looking at it from the wrong side and u need to turn it.

 

It was almost 2 weeks...Sep 22 delivery. I live in Norcal.
I did get a denso radiator. Replaced it, filled it with 1.5 gallons of coolant. Some of it did leak. About a cup was on the floor. Wasn't sure where it was leaking form.
Anyway, I did the radiator burp to get the air out. Took it for a test drive, everything looked ok. So I strated to drive home. But after about 6miles, the temp dial started to go high again.
Stopped and parked.
Can I assume it's not the radiator that's leaking.
No signs of leakage at
Radiator inlet and exit hoses.
Radiator exit to engine hose.
Thermostat hose

Does the radiator needs some break in time?
I was thinking of trying out some stop leak stuff.

 

If the coolant temp sensor malfunctions, will it result in check engine light?

 

why don't you do it the right way and get or rent a pressure tester, top everything off, pump the system up with pressure up to 16 psi or so and see where its spraying out from. You've replaced the radiator and hoses and still have a leak, from the way it looks, it's not a small leak so it should be easy to find. Have you checked the water inlet pipe that prophecy99 mention. Look in that area, plenty of small hoses in that area that can also be the cause of your leak.

 

Get new. TYC Radiator is the normal OE go to. It's $63 with free shipping from Amazon.

 

where is the water inlet pipe located?

 

in the middle of the engine area between battery and engine, below maf area generally speaking.

it was just a gasket at the water pipe going into the engine or something but they had to replace the whole water pipe etc. or something like that, sorry i didn't do it my self and its been a couple years dont remember all the technical words. i can look more into it tomorrow. maybe do a search around here too about the water inlet pipe.

 

There's a high temp thermostat under the water inlet pipe, the hose can be leaking or the gasket. Also in that area are all your smaller diameter hoses for throttle body. I had to replace the hose for the water inlet pipe a year ago on my 2001 max. My pinhole was pointed toward under the intake manifold so it flooded the galley where the knock sensor is bolted. To make things easier and also wanted to change out the knock sensor, I ended up having to remove the upper and lower intake manifold to get to everything.


The only pic I have is with everything removed, the water inlet pipe would have connected the thermostat to the top of the block