No heat

[Lizwoj]

We have a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder-when we drove it down to Seattle in December and we had heat (although it was +6 celcius). It is -30 degrees C in Calgary right now and we have no heat! The radiator is full of orange anti-freeze, but we noticed the overflow is under the minimum line. We've tried blasting the heat and it isn't even warm...

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

[Towncivilian]

The coolant should not be orange, ideally. Your 2007 Pathfinder came from the factory with Nissan's green formula. Orange is typically all makes / all models. You can top off the overflow tank with distilled water, but if it drops again I would look into the matter further.

Inspect the radiator cap according to this TSB and replace if required. Flushing the heater core may be required as well.

Welcome to NICO!

[Lizwoj]

Thanks for the response- would flushing the heater core make the heat come back again? When they flush the heater core should we ask that they put the green coolant instead?

[Towncivilian]

Do you know if the vehicle has ever had a coolant flush? If it hasn't yet, you should get a complete flush. The dealer can flush it with Nissan's new blue coolant, which is completely compatible with your cooling system and is recommended.

[Lizwoj]

We bought this vehicle second hand so we aren't sure whether it was flushed (I'm going to assume it wasn't). We were thinking to add some more coolant to the overflow as it is below the minimum line. We were thinking that maybe there is too little coolant in the overflow (the radiator is full though), and perhaps it would negate the heating issue, but we couldn't figure out which coolant to purchase as the coolant is a orange/pink color... I have heard that Pathfinders have had issues with the radiator fluid mixing with transmission fluid. Would I be able to see that by the coolant color in the radiator?

[Towncivilian]

The coolant and/or transmission fluid would look like a strawberry milkshake. I would recommend getting the coolant flushed with the Nissan blue coolant and possibly consider bypassing the radiator's automatic transmission cooler and installing an auxiliary cooler in its place to prevent the issue from ever occurring.