2006 Nissan Pathfinder squirting antifreeze from overflow

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manoli70
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2006 Nissan Pathfinder squirting antifreeze from overflow

Postby manoli70 » Mon Apr 10, 2017 11:50 am

Sorry for the long story, however, I feel I need to explain the entire story to get to the issue.
About a month ago I parked my beloved 2006 Pathfinder in a empty parking lot so my daughter and I can grab something to eat in a local pizza place. When we returned there was a "pond" of anti-freeze under the passenger side tire. I popped the hood to find that the top plastic mount that holds two hoses mounted to the passenger side firewall (I think its the rear heater hose assembly or heater core assembly?) had broken and caused the massive exodus of anti-freeze. My friend and I were lucky to find replacement parts and fixed the problem the next day without having to purchase the entire assembly kit for $290.

The truck seemed to be working fine, outside of a throttle position code that refuses to go away (I will leave that for a different post).

Anyway, about a week later I was headed out when I heard bubbling sounds coming from the engine area and steam coming from the same area I repaired. I figured the part had failed again. When I popped the hood I saw that the overflow relief was spewing out antifreeze again and there was no pressure in any of the hoses. I refilled the the radiator and took the truck home. Its been pretty cold here in Atlanta and and since then the heat and coolant system has worked just fine. I don't drive this truck often but use it every now and then. I kept tabs on it over the last couple of weeks and noticed that it would drip antifreeze from the overflow every now and then but the temp gauge never moved. I would have to top off the the radiator with antifreeze, but it wasn't squirting out like before. Last week was one of the first hot days (80 degrees) that I drove my Pathfinder so I ran the AC. While I was idling, I noticed my temp gauge going up and smelled antifreeze. I turned off the car and there it was.. a pool of antifreeze again squirting out of the overflow! I have been told that it could be anything from a bad thermostat, defective clutch fan, to a bad head gasket (but I have heat and no "white" looking oil when I check the dipstick). I was also told that there could be air pockets in the coolant so I followed the video on bleeding out the system. After I did that it worked great for about 10 miles than I got stuck in traffic and "old Faithful" started flowing again out of the overflow.

Does anyone know what this could be off hand? I replaced the radiator about 5 years ago because of the antifreeze in the Trans recall and it has been fine until recently. I love my Pathfinder and refuse to get rid of it. Its a 06 LE 2x4 with 153000+ miles on it.


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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Tue Apr 11, 2017 12:45 pm

It could simply be a bad cap on your reservoir. The reservoir cap is the pressure cap on your cooling system, not the radiator cap like on older Pathfinders.

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FLiPMaRC
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Postby FLiPMaRC » Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:31 am

smj999smj wrote:It could simply be a bad cap on your reservoir. The reservoir cap is the pressure cap on your cooling system, not the radiator cap like on older Pathfinders.
Speaking off (sorry to jack your thread OP)

I need to replace my radiator cap. I've noticed dried coolant around it. Which do you recommend? Part number?

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Fri Apr 14, 2017 12:19 am

FLiPMaRC wrote:
smj999smj wrote:It could simply be a bad cap on your reservoir. The reservoir cap is the pressure cap on your cooling system, not the radiator cap like on older Pathfinders.
Speaking off (sorry to jack your thread OP)

I need to replace my radiator cap. I've noticed dried coolant around it. Which do you recommend? Part number?
Nissan P/N: 21430-C991A is the radiator cap for your Pathy. Runs about $17+shipping from online dealers. On the aftermarket, you can get a Motorad from Rockauto.com for a wholesaler closeout for $6+shipping.

manoli70
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Postby manoli70 » Fri Apr 14, 2017 3:28 pm

smj999smj wrote:It could simply be a bad cap on your reservoir. The reservoir cap is the pressure cap on your cooling system, not the radiator cap like on older Pathfinders.
Can it be that simple? I am getting ready to change out the thermostat as well. However, I am going to change out the cap first and see if that's the case.

manoli70
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Location: 30040

Postby manoli70 » Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:17 am

Soooooo... The verdict was that the Thermostat was "welded" shut. This I am assuming caused the initial spike in pressure that led to the plastic nipple connecting the upper hose to snap on my heater core assembly. I went ahead and replaced both the radiator cap and the pressure cap on the overflow for good measure.
My sweet Pathy is on the road again.

Now if I can just figure out why its shooting a throttle sync error code for the last year, my life would be perfect. lol

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FLiPMaRC
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Postby FLiPMaRC » Mon Apr 17, 2017 7:50 am

smj999smj wrote:
FLiPMaRC wrote:
smj999smj wrote:It could simply be a bad cap on your reservoir. The reservoir cap is the pressure cap on your cooling system, not the radiator cap like on older Pathfinders.
Speaking off (sorry to jack your thread OP)

I need to replace my radiator cap. I've noticed dried coolant around it. Which do you recommend? Part number?
Nissan P/N: 21430-C991A is the radiator cap for your Pathy. Runs about $17+shipping from online dealers. On the aftermarket, you can get a Motorad from Rockauto.com for a wholesaler closeout for $6+shipping.
Thanks. Ordered Motorad from RockAuto. $8.97 shipped to my door. 8)

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FLiPMaRC
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Postby FLiPMaRC » Thu Apr 20, 2017 7:28 am

FLiPMaRC wrote:
smj999smj wrote:
FLiPMaRC wrote: Speaking off (sorry to jack your thread OP)

I need to replace my radiator cap. I've noticed dried coolant around it. Which do you recommend? Part number?
Nissan P/N: 21430-C991A is the radiator cap for your Pathy. Runs about $17+shipping from online dealers. On the aftermarket, you can get a Motorad from Rockauto.com for a wholesaler closeout for $6+shipping.
Thanks. Ordered Motorad from RockAuto. $8.97 shipped to my door. 8)
Came in yesterday. Perfect fit 8)


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