Major coolant leak...aargh

Post by **240femme** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 7:13 pm

Sorry to add a completely new thread, but I've searched and been unable to find someone with the same problem. I'll start off by saying that I have a '94 240sx A/T with 162,xxx miles. Last night during a short trip (city driving), the car began to smoke. I was like 20 feet from where I was headed so I made it there and shut the car off. I opened the hood and realized the smoke was actually steaming antifreeze. Then I noticed a major leak in the very front of the car, pretty much right by the passenger side headlight. I looked all around the top and bottom and had no luck finding a hose that looked bad. I couldn't even tell where the lower hose was. There was coolant around the area, but I couldn't tell if it was coming from anywhere in particular since a lot of it was probably from the steam. I drove the car back home, stopping any time the temp gauge got anywhere near max. I'd like to know if anyone can tell by the loaction of the leak or the situation surrounding the occurrence what the most likely problem would be. Also, I would like to know if I may have done any further damage to the car by driving it home in the manner that I did. I drove it maybe 1.75-2.0 miles, stopping 6 or 7 times. Also, is there a way to get a good look at the hoses that may be damaged? Where are they exactly? One more thing I should add - there was no warning that this would happen. The temp gauge was normal up until this point, and there were no leaks or weird smells.

Post by **navysnail** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 7:37 pm

ok, you will see the lower hose if you look at the botom of the radiator

i would bet that it is a broken radiator or hose

you probobly didnt do any damnage driving home

the hoses, the top one goes to the left side of the radiator, from the front bumper, they are big hoses, probobly 1.5 inches in diamiter, maby a little smaller, they are the biggest hoses in the engine bay apart from the air intake

Post by **240femme** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 3:56 pm

Yeah, i found a crack in the radiatior and repaired it with quicksteel since I couldn't get a radiatior right away. Screw holiday weekends...but the car still overheats. Drat. The fan is working, so I'm guessing either it's the thermostat or water pump. How would I know if it is the water pump?

Post by **navysnail** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 4:33 pm

if it was loosing coolant, unscrew the bleed plug on the intake manifold, pour coolant into the radiator, then when it overflows from the bleed hole, screw the bolt back in (dont overthighten, its alluminum!) and you should be good

Post by **180fan** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 5:10 pm

240femme, my guess is that if you had a leak, that you've also got some bubbles in your coolant now. If you're not seeing any more leaks, you've got a pocket of air that's keep ing your coolant boiling.

Do the bleeder that 240kid brings up, but also when the bleeder hole is tightened down, squeeze the upper radiator hose to push in more coolant past the thermo with the radiator cap on. Turn on the car and keep squeezing the upper radiator hose, do that for about a minute, let the motor cool down and fill up the radiator more.

Post by **240femme** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 9:16 pm

Thanks. I'll try that.

Website · Post by **s13sr20chris** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 2:30 am

from the sounds of it you prob have a leak(duh). dont forget that any time you overheat the car tends to boil over and lose lots of coolant from the overflow tank(behind pass headlight). thats all i have to add because the other guys got to it already.

Post by **240femme** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 6:33 am

Well, I was pretty sure I fixed the leak...Aside from the crack at the top that I fixed, I couldn't see or feel any other holes or cracks. I'm going to try to bleed and refill the coolant like the guys suggested.

Modified by 240femme at 1:07 PM 9/6/2004
Modified by 240femme at 1:08 PM 9/6/2004

Post by **240femme** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 10:40 am

Another thing...what may have caused my radiator to crack in the first place? Is it necessarily a sign of other problems or could it just happen from old age?

Post by **navysnail** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 12:53 pm

somthing might have hit it, for instance, if you had water pump replaced, when ever i do that kind of stuff, i put a piece of cardboard over the radiator so i dont hit it, the metal is very thin so it can transfer heat easily, but it is also weak.

it can also be from old age

i think i just realized that your talking about the plastic part, in which case yes, it is most likely old age, plastic has a tendancy to become brittle when it gets old, if you do replace it, they make all aluminum radiators

Post by **240femme** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 3:04 pm

Yeah it was the plastic part near the top. I haven't replaced the water pump. I was wondering if the radiator could have cracked under pressure due to the water pump or thermostat being bad. I mean, even with old age, wouldn't it take some kind of unusual pressure or conditions to just make the plastic crack?

Post by **180fan** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 3:12 pm

probably just fatigue over time. I'm guessing it was the stock radiator? Yeah the radiator could have cracked from pressure, but I have a feeling that the radiator cap would have vented the steam before that would happen.

Post by **navysnail** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 3:15 pm

unusual pressure, umm yeah, alot of pressure

i would think a hose would blow first, but maby not, in the fsm it does say that when leak testing the system, dont put it under more then 14psi or radiator damnage may result

Post by **240femme** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 3:34 pm

I guess I'm just trying to figure out what exactly could have gone wrong. My first guesses would be thermostat or water pump, but I don't want to waste my time if one thing is more likely to fail than the other, or if there's an easy way to tell without taking everything apart

Post by **navysnail** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 4:03 pm

no, water pump wouldnt do it, t stat wouldnt either, its just age im sure, i have yet to see a radiator crack from pressure

Website · Post by **s13sr20chris** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 12:51 am

prob not a high pressure problem. as an anecdote i have seen roughly 1 gabijillion 03 altimas with leaking radiators. the guys at tech school informed me that its from the rad caps being faulty from the factory. they hold over 60 psi(the bad caps do). this causes the radiator to seep from the seems of the plastic end tanks. from seeing that i am a believer that high pressure in the cooling sys is not a big deal because in this case it has to be really high and even then you just put a new cap on and the radiator stops leaking. if the plastic broke, its just old.

Post by **240femme** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 8:34 am

It did end up being the water pump. I replaced the radiator cap as well just in case it wasn't releasing pressure and caused the crack. I'm so glad to have this all taken care of and have my precious car back to normal.

Post by **navysnail** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 8:43 am

im glad to hear that it all worked out

60psi, jeez that is ALOT of pressure, especialy for the system designed for like 15, im supprized that hoses wernt blowing off and stuff

Post by **180fan** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 9:01 am

60 psi? now that's what a I call awesome engineering lol

Website · Post by **s13sr20chris** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 3:29 pm

yup, take a look at an '03 altima sometime. it prob has coolant caked up around the radiator tanks.

240femme:its good to replace the rad cap any time you are servicing the cooling sys. of all the rad caps i have tested 90% of them are bad. its just a statement of nissan durability(and other manufacturers for that matter) that so many cars just keep going with no sign of trouble with a rotten cap.

Major coolant leak...aargh

Major coolant leak...aargh

Re: (240femme)

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