Nissan Altima: Nissan Altim Coolent problem

I think that there is a serious problem here. Serious in that you want
it fixed and the 'mechanic" wants more of your money for not doing a
good job in the first place when he replaced your radiator.

But I don't know a lot of facts so I might be wrong.

A few questions.

Why was the radiator replaced?

Is this a radiator shop where you had it replaced?
What does the local Better business Bureau think of this place
and/or do they have any past complaints about them?

Does the coolant come out after car is stopped and engine turned off?

Have you had someone else look at car (friend, relative, another
shop)?

When the radiator was replaced, did the guy get all the air out of the
system? (this involves opening a air bleed port in cooling system
while filling and running engine (at the right time and sequence). If
not done right, it can
cause problems.

I suspect that possibly there is a bad hose or a clamp that was not
installed
correctly or it could be as bad as a leaking new radiator or even a
faulty or wrong radiator cap installed (this happened to one of my
friends. When he had a
new hose installed, the guy put some other cars cap on by mistake).

You need to watch the temp. guage constantly until you get this
repaired.
Also, have you had your oil level checked lately? I check mine at
least once a week and change my oil and filter every 3 thousand miles.
But then I'm kinda
anal about things.

Here is some light reading on the subject.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/cooling-system.htm

Papa Ray

Papa Ray

Thanks for responding to my question. The car was taken to
the dealer to get the radiator fixed. The radiator bust while
I was driving. The coolant only comes out if the car is running
for a while or you are driving it. When it's running you can see the coolant bubbling in the over flow container. We were thinking maybe a hose is clogged. Could this be possible? Also there is no heat in the car.

Ladee

I don't like the sound of "coolant bubbling in oveflow container".

That is one possible symptom of a leaking headgasket. There are other
symptoms and ways to check out if this is the problem. I think that
the wrong cap may also cause this. (don't quote me on this).


How hot (if you know) did the car engine get before it was shut off
when the radiator leaked the first time?

If it got too hot it might have warped the head, allowing the gasket
to start leaking water into the combustion chambers (and combustion
gases into water chambers). I am not saying this is the problem but it
might be from that (1) symptom.

The "no heat in car" might mean the the thermostat is stuck open or
the guy forgot to put it back (if he had it out, which I don't think
he did, just for a radiator replacement). It would take a fairly large
foreign object to clog up the cooling system. But...enough air trapped
in system could possibly make it do strange things.

YOu need to take it to a radiator shop where they specialize in this.
It might cost you $ 35.00 to $ 50.00 to get them to check it out, but
I would spend it.

If it is a blown head gasket. The repair costs would be pretty high as
they will have to have the head cked for warp and possibley milled or
you might have to get a replacement head. New gasket and labor could
total a bunch. How much depends where you live, labor prices, how
difficult it is on your particular engine and the like. You could shop
for the best price but stick to larger shops or shops recommended to
you from satisfied customers.

Wrote a book and left out a lot, hard to diagnose on computer on some
problems.

Papa Ray