Nissan - Xterra :: 2001 - Overheating / Coolant Bubbling Back Into The Reservoir Almost To The Top
Aug 9, 2014
I have 2001 Nissan Xterra SE 3.3L V6. A few weeks ago my car started to overheat while going through the grapevine (mountain pass in SoCal). After filling it up with coolant, I took it to the shop. They couldn't figure out what exactly was the problem. It passed the block test and such. They said the top hose was swelling up as if something was blocking it. They also said my car was going through about a gallon of coolant. They replaced the water pump, thermostat, and the top hose. they also replaced the timing belt.
After driving the car for an hour, it started to overheat again. This time, I took it to the Nissan dealership. They said the timing belt was off by 2 teeth and they think that's why it overheated, so they fixed that problem. They also did a cooling system test and found no leaks.
I got the car back and it still overheats. After the turn off the car, I see coolant being bubbling back into the reservoir almost to the top. Also, my radiator was replaced about a year ago.
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Today, the air conditioning stopped working in my 2003 Elantra. Just stopped blowing cold air. Then the engine thermometer kept on climbing. When I pulled over home, I lifted the hood and heard a lot of bubbling and gurgling sounds, and coolant fluid leaked out underneath the car.
What could be the cause of this? When I let the car stay for a while, the AC did kick back on, but only for a few moments and the thermometer kept on climbing again until I turned the car off. The fan is blowing, I can hear it, but it is obviously not cooling the engine off appropriately.
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Pulled up to a red light yesterday evening and saw some smoke near the right side of the hood. I immediately checked out the temperature gauge and it was fine. Car didn't appear to be overheating. I make it home--2 more blocks--pull into the garage, leave the engine running and pop open the hood.
THE COOLANT IN THE RESERVOIR TANK IS BUBBLING LIKE HOT SOUP AND A NICE PUDDLE HAS ACCUMULATED NEAR MY FRONT RIGHT TIRE--NOT TO MENTION THE TRAIL OF COOLANT LEFT DOWN THE STREET AND UP MY DRIVEWAY.
After some minor research it appears that it can be a few factors (ie, thermostat, fans????) I assumed it was a cracked reservoir (which would explain the leak) but the bubbling it the real issue.
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When I turn on the A/C and am moving the temperature of the car is fine. It's only when I have the A/C on and am idling or moving very slowly that the car starts to overheat. It does not overheat at all, moving or at idle/slow, when the A/C is not on at all. Ok the truth is is that its bloody well hot here in New England and I sweat a gallon of water at every stop sign and stop light!
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So I noticed one day when I was standing outside of my car right after I had turned it off that I could hear the coolant bubbling some. I had just recently flushed the coolant, put on a new water pump, thermostat, and put in a new reservoir with a new cap so I figured it was just some air in the system because there was air in the top radiator hose. So I just worked the air out and thought that was it. The next time I drove my car it did it again and there was no pressure release when I took off the cap either. I ended up getting the head worked on (valve job and check the head for warping). Even after all of this my reservoir doesn't seem to build pressure and every time there also seems to be air in the top radiator hose. After the car is warm I can work coolant back in the hose and 5 minutes later theres air back in it. I've pretty much replaced everything with the cooling system besides the hoses within the last year so I don't know what it could possibly be.
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I have a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder SE with 160,000 miles. I took my car in for an overheating problem yesterday after I noticed the coolant was leaking out of my car. I needed a simple hose repair to fix the leak problem, but now they want to replace the temperature gauge because they say that it is still running hot due to: "temperature gauge is stuck and not letting the cold water in." He said that he fixed the hose and it is blowing the cool air to the motor, so the only problem could be the temperature gauge.
Within the past year, I replaced the radiator and hoses. He is saying the temperature gauge + labor would amount to around $300. The car is probably worth around $2250 for a dealer trade-in. I am planning on trading-in the Pathfinder towards the purchase of new one once I am able to present it to the dealer in workable condition. What to do?
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I have a 1992 Toyota Celica I think I may have overheating problems every time i stop after driving a little while i can hear a boiling noise from where you put your coolant in and when i open it there is steam coming from the black hose that goes in it.
The funny thing is when i am driving the temperature gauge stays at 1/2 way and never passes it, also sometimes when i stop green and a bit clear liquid leaks on the ground on the side where the battery is.
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My Nissan xterra 2001 is smoking after turning off engine. Thermometer is showing normal temp. Check engine light is blinking.
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Last May I had the distributor replaced in my 2001 Nissan Xterra. Since it was replaced my car has shut off while I am driving three different times, separated by weeks to months, and only in heavy rain storms. When the car does shutoff it takes up to 15 minutes until it will start up again. In each case, once the car restarted it did not shutoff again. I recently noticed a correlation to heavy rain because I did not have any problems all summer long ( I live in Oregon where it never rains in the summer) and then last week in a heavy rainstorm the car shutoff while I was waiting at a red light.
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My 2000 Accent with 164,000km is not overheating but is dumping coolant into the reservoir so that the radiator is about a quart low. I did have a few problems with it overheating in the past month, but that was solved by thermostat removal (always above 80F here). I stopped before the overheats reached the redline and allowed the engine to cool before continuing, no known adverse performance during the overheats. No water in oil.
Failed troubleshooting:
Drained and replaced coolant x3
New radiator cap
* No thermostat.
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I have a 2000 Dodge Neon with a 2001 Neon motor in it. I have just recently had problems with the car overheating. So we started diagnosing it and replaced parts that we thought were wrong. We replaced the water pump, thermostat, radiator cap, and timing belt. The problem that I am having is that the car won't take coolant out of the reservoir tank. I have bled the air out of the cooling system and it still didn't fix the problem.
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I have a 92 Plymouth Voyager, which I just got back from my son. He was driving it in Seattle for awhile, until it overheated. He had a new radiator and new thermostat put in, but it still overheated. I towed it back to my place to see if my daughter and I could get it running. The new radiator he had put in was leaking from a seam around the top. We replaced that with a new radiator.
I drove around for about 60 to 70 miles, into town and back. No problem. Today my wife and daughter took it to town and only made it about 2/3 of the way before it started to overheat. Daughter discovered a hole in the coolant reservoir. But I am still not sure what could be the reason for the overheating. I did replace the water pump about three years ago. What I can do to possibly repair this problem?
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Had overheating issue with the wife (she doesn't monitor fluid levels like she should). Now you can't operate it for more than a day or two before the reservoir is super low to empty. Mechanic coolant is going into the engine, probably through the intake manifold. Says investigating further will cost a ton. What can I do cheaply to figure out what's going on before I give up? I followed her when the engine was started from cold & could see water vapor (more than I would expect) in the exhaust until when I figure the engine reached full operating temp. It has about 225k and is the 6 cyl engine, btw.
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I was driving my 2008 Santa Fe last week (before I went on vacation) and noticed the the A/C wasn't coming through quite a cool as usual (almost felt like the vent was on w/ no AC). Then after about 10 minutes of driving I noticed the thermostat on the car get to about the 3/4 line pretty close to the red lines.
Luckily I was home so turned the car off and popped open the hood. I noticed the reservoir tank was empty and there was some coolant that dripped down on the fans & a small pool of coolant on the engine block right under where the oil is poured. (nothing has been dripping under the car)
I added a little coolant to the reservoir tank and the next time I turned it on and let it run for ~10 minutes, it was the same thing.
Anyway, I came back from vacation and opened the hood to try and identify exactly where the leak was, and ran the car for ~30 minutes, with A/C on full blast and the car didn't overheat or leak anywhere. Coolant tank was still full from when I filled it the first time.
What could have caused the leak/overheating in the first place?
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.My Nissan Murano, 2003 is acting up after a ton of diagnostics and repair . We replaced thermostat, flushed heat core, replaced coolant pipe which had rusted and leaked out fluid, and ran air bubbles out forever, it seemed. The heater does not work now on lower rpm's and the car was gurgling the other day when i stopped at mailbox. I have been driving it for a few weeks since we had it repaired.When i pulled in into garage, it was overflowing at reservoir for coolant. We have not driven it and our mechanic is perplexed. He ruled out head gasket problems with chemical test and another diagnostic test. . . .he is perplexed. He added coolant and what else. . .. .that is all i can think of . should we get it towed to dealer which is 100 miles away? we've already spent 1500 or so with this and it seems we could be back at square one. Our mechanic is very honest, and he does think it could be in the engine, like a warped plastic piece. . . i don't know what he said exactly, but he's just guessing.We have 128k on this engine.
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My 2001 6cyl 4x4 Xterra is a clogged gas tank vent solenoid, or as it is called now a "Vapor Canister Vent Valve". For the last 2 or 3 years, very infrequently, the vehicle turns completely off while decelerating (sometimes at very fast speeds so I have learned to be calm and put the car in N and turn the key and keep going with the flow so to speak). It also, either during a stop in idle or accelerating very slowly and steadily, makes popping sounds directly under the left back seat--which is where the gas tank is located. It sounds like the tank (or a metal can if you will) is being sucked in until it gives making the popping/banging sound against the car (underneath).
The other issue this problem seems to be linked to is the engine light coming on when the tank pops. I have had that diagnosed too, and it just reads "engine knock sensor". My previous wonderful mechanic, who moved about 30 states away, is no longer available but he did tell me it sounds like a blocked or clogged gas tank vent solenoid. He also said it's not a big problem per se, but at some point I should probably replace it. Sometimes there are 6 months that go by with no popping, stalling, or engine light coming on. So maybe 'bad gasoline' also plays into this issue?? I did an internet search recently and found a replacement part called a vapor canister vent valve. My question is how easy or hard is this thing to replace? Can it simply be 'blown out' with an air hose, or otherwise 'cleaned' instead of replacing it. The only thing scarier for me to fix than home electrical wires would be anything dealing with GAS.
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I have a 1999 4x2 F150 XL, 4.2L engine, 5-speed trans., about 197,600 miles and have been getting P0306 and P0174 codes. The check engine light came on and stayed on. Also, pretty much randomly, my engine over-heats and the engine compartment coolant reservoir is suddenly dry as a bone. I bought the truck new and this has only happened twice, during normal driving.
Clearing the 0306 and 0174 codes. Not sure what to do about the over-heating thing.. What I've done so far to try to clear the codes is the least expensive stuff:
=> Replaced both forward O2 sensors, have read where the two rear O2 sensors don't necessarily need to be replaced so I haven't replaced them yet. The sensors that came off are Bosch, as are the ones that I bought from Autozone and installed.
=> Replaced old spark plugs with Motorcraft brand, gapped to 0.054 in.
=> Replaced old spark plug wires with Motorcraft spark plug wires.
=> Cleaned the MAF sensor
=> Replaced PCV valve and replaced an section of elbow hose near it. The original elbow had a big hole right at the 90-degree bend, on the inside.
=> Replaced a cracked, dried-out, vacuum hose coming from the evap cannister purge valve and going to the front underside of the upper intake manifold.
=> replaced fuel filter.
After doing all this, I took it out on the road long enough for the computer to wake up and relearn and got the check-engine light again. Only this time it was flashing. I gather from reading in this forum that a flashing CEL is worse than a constant-on CEL so I drove back home and have yet to take it back out.
After reading about problematic ignition coils, I followed a procedure in my Haynes manual to check mine out:
=> Verified the correct resistance values at the electrical connector (0.7 ohms),
=> Verified battery voltage is present at the harness side of the electrical connector (about 12.6 volts),
=> checked the resistance values between the three sets of 'towers'. Starting from front to back, the resistance readings were 13.06 kOhms, 13.12 kOhms, and 12.98 kOhms. The correct range in the Haynes book is 6.5 to 11.5 kOhms so I thought maybe my ignition coil was bad.
I located a Motorcraft ignition coil at a local O'Reilly Auto Parts store, went there, and was able to check the resistance values on that new one. Turns out the resistance on the new one at the parts store is pretty much the same as that on the one on my truck (all three coils were 13.something kOhms), so I haven't replaced the ignition coil. I guess either my Haynes book is probably incorrect or the ignition coil on my particular F150 has different resistance values than the rest of the vehicles covered by that manual.
Next things I'm looking at replacing:
=> egr valve and the associated line to the DPFE sensor. (DPFE replaced a few years back, as a result of a P0401 code)
=> iac valve
=> upper intake plenum gaskets
I'm kind of at a loss at this point. I hate to just continue replacing things without knowing that I'm replacing the right things.
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I have a 2006 Lexus GS430 w/ 100k miles. I've been trying to solve my coolant issue for the longest and I've been doing research like crazy!!! The issue that I'm having is that coolant from the radiator is blowing back into the reservoir causing the reservoir to be overfilled and splattering all over the engine bay. Also, when this happens the fluid in the radiator drops significantly ( I have to keep dumping the lost coolant from the reservoir back into the radiator). Under normal driving the fluid wont blow over to the reservoir that much (just a little) but, when I drive long distances or if I floor it that is when the coolant from the radiator really pushes over into the reservoir. When the car cools, I find out that the coolant from the reservoir does not draw back into the radiator. (I'm guessing due to the air in the cooling system?)
Checklist on what has been done to the car:
- NEW Water Pump (Installed by Lexus)
- NEW Timing Belt (Installed by Lexus)
- NEW Thermostat (Installed by Lexus) (I also tested the thermostat in boiling water and it opened and closed)
- NEW Radiator (Installed by Lexus also was pressure tested and passed)
- NEW Radiator Cap (Genuine Toyota 1.1 bar)
- Coolant Flush (flushed radiator and engine block with water hose)
-Bled System with my Lisle Spill Free Funnel and Heater on MAX HOT Full blast! Heater is working good!
(Did this 3 times for 30 min+ to get rid off all the air bubbles)
- Performed a Block Test to see if any combustion gasses were in the cooling system, to determine if it was a blown/failing head gasket (passed)
I dont know what else to do at this point other then do a compression test and a leak down test. There is no coolant in the oil and no coolant leaks. Car drives solid and strong! Is there a bleeder valve on the GS430 somewhere or does it have a bleeder valve? Is it something I'm doing wrong?
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I have never noticed before but today I noticed the fluid inside the brake reservoir was bubbling or splashing around , whichever.What would cause this. I did just finish up on an intake manifold gasket replacement job. Drove for the first time today and that's when i noticed the 'bubbles'.
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Strange problem. I've cleaned the reservoir as best I could but it continues to back up. I can find replacement parts everywhere for any amount of money. However, the reservoir is labeled 2001 to 2006. Mine is 2006 and I believe it's a GLS (don't know for sure). OK so far, however when I put my Santa Fe in and note that it has a 3.5 V6, all of them say that it is not compatible with this car! It looks like the one that is in there, but nowhere can I find a reservoir for the 3.5! Am I missing something really silly and stupid?
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My 2001 Civic sedan coolant reservoir was full after a long drive - with coolant blown out from the top. I am trying to isolate the problem.
1) I Did not notice if temperature gauge rose above the mid-point on the gauge.
2) I Discovered issue after 120+ drive on a hot day (90 degrees plus).
3) The car has almost 230,000 miles.
4) About 1,500 miles prior to this incident I removed my drive belt and replaced it with the shorter drive belt to circumvent the A/C compressor as it or the compressor clutch crapped out on me.
5) The morning after this occurred the coolant reservoir was still ful.
6) I removed the radiator cap and ran the engine for about 15-20 minutes. During this time I noticed the coolant in the radiator begin to rise into the fill neck area of the radiator - no bubbles or movement other than up into the neck area. The top hose was warm and then got hot but it seemed the bottom hose remained cold. I then throttled the gas briefly and nothing happened to include the radiator remaining off. The temperature gauge read just below the mi-point. I then throttled up to about 3,000 RPMs and coolant blew out of the radiator – about 1/2 to 1 liter of coolant came out. At that point, I shut everything down, installed the radiator cap, and cleaned up the coolant. I noticed the bottom hose appeared to now be much warmer than before the coolant blew out. The next morning the coolant reservoir was empty.
7) Today, about one week later, I applied power at both fans and both worked. I checked the relays and both registered no continuity across terminals 1 and 2 - as they should. I checked the radiator fan switch for continuity when cold and there was NO continuity across the contacts - as it should. I ran the engine for about 20 minutes with the radiator cap installed. The temperature reading rose to just below midpoint (normal) and stayed there. Radiator fan had not come on yet. I throttled up and nothing. Idled for several minutes and the temperature gauge rose to about ¾ of the way to “H.” I throttled the engine to look for smoke from the tailpipe – there was none (there is no history of any kind of smoke coming from the exhaust of my civic). I throttled up again, the temperature gauge dropped quickly below the mid-point, and the radiator fan came on for the first time. After the fan kicked off the temperature gauge again rose to ¾. I hit the gas, the temperature gauge dropped quickly to below mid-point, and then the fan came on again.
I was thinking this could be a blown head gasket but now I am questioning my initial thoughts. As of right now there is no coolant in the reservoir. One would think if the head gasket was blown that I would continue to get fluid in the reservoir even with the lost ~1 liter from my earlier test. I checked my engine oil dipstick and it looks clean - just oil. Nothing unusual visible when oil fill cap removed. Wy my coolant reservoir would have filled, blown over, not empty when cooled, only to empty out by the next morning after blowing 1/2 to 1 liter. This has been a loyal car (other than the recent loss of A/C) and I would like to see if I can get 250,000+ miles out of her with no serious maintenance.
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