1997 Nissan Maxima Overheated

KYTODD1

MEMBER
1997 NISSAN MAXIMA
6 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
230,000 MILES

I have been given a '97 Maxima which has been owned by a friend since day one. Very well maintained. However, the night he calls to tell me he was going to give it to me, it overheated on the interstate and died. He waited awhile, got it started & drove approx 8 miles home. He has taken in quite a bit of coolant and died after idling for 5 minutes. I went over there today and filled the coolant up to the max line on the resevoir and started it. Idled fine, but the heat never warmed up, even after 15 minutes. The temp gauge never went over the halfway point. He had the thermostat replaced about 2 mos ago. Could it be a bad one or just stuck open? Or, do I fear something worse?

5 Replies

FISHERMAN

MECHANIC
938 POSTS

Hello !

When he replaced the thermostat.
Did He "purged" the air out of the engine?

Sometimes the air gets trapped inside the engine and the thermostat wont open (just hot air inside the engine) also the temperature gauge wont register the correct temperature (they are design to work with water not air).

Let us know on that.

Good Luck!

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Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 AT 1:52 PM

KYTODD1

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Hello !

When he replaced the thermostat.
Did He "purged" the air out of the engine?

Sometimes the air gets trapped inside the engine and the thermostat wont open (just hot air inside the engine) also the temperature gauge wont register the correct temperature (they are design to work with water not air).

Let us know on that.

Good Luck![/Quote:7225aee67c]

The work was done at a shop, so I can only assume that it was "purged." How do you purge, and if it wasn't done, would he had had heat before this since he replaced it 2 months ago?

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Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 AT 1:58 PM

FISHERMAN

MECHANIC
938 POSTS

Hello !
Well, just thinking in all the possibilities, did he check the the coolant level after the thermostat replacement?

Check for air in the cooling system and see if the water is "moving" on the radiator that should show a good cooling, (the top hose should be hotter than the bottom hose, if both of them are the same temperature something is wrong.

Let us know.

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Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 AT 2:19 PM

KYTODD1

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Would that indicate the thermostat or something more severe such as the water pump and/or head gasket?

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Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 AT 2:21 PM

FISHERMAN

MECHANIC
938 POSTS

Would that indicate the thermostat or something more severe such as the water pump and/or head gasket?[/Quote:e5c2bb6269]

If the water its not moving at normal temperature could be air in the system, the pump run all the time, when it fail its when the mechanical seal broke and the water start leaking from there to check the head/s you have to do a chemical and compression test to see if is any compression leak trough the gasket or crack, or a mix water/oil.