HELP!! I think I have a pinhole in my radiator

[followingnfront]

I know a few of you guys are mechanically inclined (ImStricken for sure)... I was driving today (did a lot of highway driving to NJ and back) and when I got back I noticed a slight puff of white smoke cross over in front of my hood when I would stop at a traffic light (only happened 3 times)... I thought it may be a manhole cover (not likely to happen 3 times like that at different lights) or maybe my brakes that are bad (again not likely).... But I watched the temp gauge and its been normal so I thought nothing of it...

I drove to the beach this evening and drove on the sand and over a couple of dunes and such, had some fun, and when I got back home, I noticed smoke in front of my headlight (again, faint)... But there was more of it.... I popped the hood and saw this:

A tiny pinhole in the front of the radiator sending out a tiny but steady stream of smoke... And there were a couple of drops of coolant on the bottom inside of the bumper directly beneath the radiator... The hole is right at level with the lower grill opening in the bumper so a rock or something must have hit it earlier today... (I should have put mesh behind the lower grill opening to block the radiator like I did my old Honda)..... I will now....

BUT, I'm going to take the car to the Nissan dealer tomorrow to see what can be done.... The hole is super tiny..... What do you guys think I'm looking at repair-wise and cost-wise?

[bigbank_A]

im not a mechanic but i say pay nissan to look at it find out what part or parts you need if so then order them online and bring them back for them to install it

[followingnfront]

I appreciate that... And I am going to take it to Nissan, but I'm asking for people who have dealt with radiator things such as this before for a heads up before I go to the dealership and they try to bend me over. They don't call them dealerships for nothing. I'm not going to pay them 110 an hour for something that may not be 100% necessary

[tsumeone]

It really depends on the dealer. I would imagine a lot of them would want to replace the entire radiator because that makes them more money and is also a sure fix. I'd personally try to use JB weld on the area where it's leaking, which would be a very inexpensive fix. Worst case scenario there you end up needing a new radiator anyway.

Whatever you do, don't use the stop leak stuff you pour in the radiator. It can plug up your heater core and then you get no warm air (or worse).

[followingnfront]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll make sure to stay away from those stop leaks. My dealerships Gm is a good guy so if I talk to him first, I should get treated well, but if he's not there and I get the service manager, it's hit or miss

[mikess]

I see you have a 2012 Rogue, get them to cover it under warranty. Don't tell them your stone theory.

[ImStricken06]

check the two large hoses coming off the rad (1 on top & 1 at the bottom). if they are not leaking, yea homie, that rad is done for. you cant patch it or repair it. radiators expand under heat & pressure and any patchwork will simply fall off.
its not uncommon. nissan for many years had the neck on the upper tank crack. its a shame yours cracked this early-on.

i would head to the dealer before it explodes. it will be a lot more messy than you think.

[followingnfront]

Oh crap, I thought the warranty was only 1 year/12,000 miles for non libertarian items... It seems it's 3 years/36,000 miles. Great! I'm going to try to get them to replace it under warranty

[mikess]

Any updates? Did the dealer fix it under warranty? Also, I was just checking my front lower grill on my 2013 Rogue and I think the ac condenser is the one in the front and the radiator is the one at the back, although I might be wrong. Can someone please verify that the ac condenser is the one in the front, so if any stones do hit, they would hit the condenser first?

[followingnfront]

I dropped it off at the dealer this morning... they haven't updated me with a diagnosis yet. I'll let you guys know as soon as I hear

[followingnfront]

Mikess you are right... It was the AC condenser. They just called me... They replaced it under warranty

[ImStricken06]

Any updates? Did the dealer fix it under warranty? Also, I was just checking my front lower grill on my 2013 Rogue and I think the ac condenser is the one in the front and the radiator is the one at the back, although I might be wrong. Can someone please verify that the ac condenser is the one in the front, so if any stones do hit, they would hit the condenser first?

yes its up front.

a mechanic could tell by smell, right off the bat if its r134a or coolant

[mikess]

When I look at my ac condenser from the front lower grills it seems there's alot of bugs etc., stuck to it, however, I can't get my hand/arm in there with a brush to clean it up or from the top where the hood latch is. Can someone tell me if that front top grill portion can come off without removing the whole bumper so that I can clean that area. Is the front top grill a part of the front bumper or can it be removed by itself only.

[ImStricken06]

When I look at my ac condenser from the front lower grills it seems there's alot of bugs etc., stuck to it, however, I can't get my hand/arm in there with a brush to clean it up or from the top where the hood latch is. Can someone tell me if that front top grill portion can come off without removing the whole bumper so that I can clean that area. Is the front top grill a part of the front bumper or can it be removed by itself only.

on my 08 the faux-grille and bumper cover are one piece

[mikess]

Ok, I just did some research and it looks like the 2011+ models have a separate grill piece and it indeed can be removed by itself as it's held on by clips only.

[ImStricken06]

take a garden hose and mist it through the fins. dont jet it, as that will bend the fins. you can take compressed air as well. you will see a TON of sand come out.

[mikess]

I just used a small flat head screwdriver to break of some bugs and straighten out some fins. I guess it's not that bad, after all the car only has 17000 kms on it. I was very surprised at how fragile those fins are. I would say that they can easily be bent even by some bugs hitting them on the highway. Even using a very small flathead screwdriver, it was hard to straighten out the few that seemed bent. I think they're better left alone as it's normal to have some bent fins and kind of pointless to try to straighten them as you will end up making it worse.

[mikess]

Another thing that I've learned is that the radiator is well shielded behind the ac condenser and if a stone does damage anything it will be the ac condenser first, which the chances of happening are very low, and if it does, the part cost is around 70 bucks. Also, it's covered under warranty for the first 3 yrs and 60 000 kms. I guess no need for me to do the home depot mod anymore.