The Nissan Path

Last night when I got home I noticed a coolant smell when walking around the front of the Pathfinder. Stuck my nose in the grill and yup, that's coolant. Will be taking a look this weekend.

any wet spots around the cooling system or on the ground?

DiBo wrote:any wet spots around the cooling system or on the ground?

Just took a quick look with the car cold and there are no wet spots on the ground, front or back. Couldn't smell anything either. Checked the overflow and it's almost half full. Looked in the radiator and couldn't see the fluid level.

Maybe too much coolant and when the car is warm it's more smelly from the overflow vent?

The only thing that I've noticed that may be out of order is this

https://goo.gl/photos/GwuPLDnkv7FSJPFa7

Is the bib supposed to have drain hose on it so it leaks in a better location? Maybe coolant vapors fill the engine cabin when warm? Existing location is dry...

Nope..that's the way it's supposed to be. You could try pressure testing the coolant system.

Got the pressure tester.

Slowly opened the radiator cap and there was some pressure. Closed that and put the tester on the reservoir. Unfortunately, it appears the gauge is broke. Pumped it about 20 times and the needle did not move. Waited 30 minutes, released the pressure and put it away.

Soooo...not sure what's next. Note that the smell is not huge but can smell it when my nose is in the grille and the truck is warm.

I've had my 06 for about a month now and have noticed this coolant smell at the front as well. Nothing on the ground ever, nothing wet up around the radiator, BUT when I looked behind the engine I saw that the aluminum curved part that connects to the top rad hose was a little bit damp on the top.

Pics: https://www.dropbox.com/s/49alrsuq52vgl ... 4.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cd8bznf0ai8mx ... 9.jpg?dl=0

I have no idea what is back there that could be the culprit but thought reviving this thread might help with some ideas/answers

Also just for reference - the smell is almost exactly the same as described by heckler40 - it's not a huge smell, but definitely noticeable when the truck is warm and you smell at the front grill or along the passenger side of the hood.

A real common area for coolant leaks is the heater hose assembly that sits on the passenger side of the firewall and has a pipe that runs behind the engine. The black plastic part of it gets brittle and cracks. Here's a link to the part:

https://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts-l ... c92414%2bA

just repaired a similar leak on my 05. ended up being the upper hose clamp needed replacement.

disallow wrote:just repaired a similar leak on my 05. ended up being the upper hose clamp needed replacement.

Was this the clamp that connects the large (1" ish) diameter hose into the aluminum curved piece? (that is wet in my pics)

smj999smj wrote:A real common area for coolant leaks is the heater hose assembly that sits on the passenger side of the firewall and has a pipe that runs behind the engine. The black plastic part of it gets brittle and cracks. Here's a link to the part:

https://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts-l ... c92414%2bA

^^I was looking at that site and trying to figure out exactly which part you are referring to? Is it just the 92414 item itself or is it that whole diagram?

The wet pipe in my pic is over closer to the left side by the two vertical pipes...I'm going to warm up my truck tomorrow during the daylight and see if I can find any mist/small leaks...

boontis wrote:

smj999smj wrote:A real common area for coolant leaks is the heater hose assembly that sits on the passenger side of the firewall and has a pipe that runs behind the engine. The black plastic part of it gets brittle and cracks. Here's a link to the part:

https://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts-l ... c92414%2bA

^^I was looking at that site and trying to figure out exactly which part you are referring to? Is it just the 92414 item itself or is it that whole diagram?

The wet pipe in my pic is over closer to the left side by the two vertical pipes...I'm going to warm up my truck tomorrow during the daylight and see if I can find any mist/small leaks...

Part code 92414. If you look on the left side where all of the pipes converge, that piece is made out of black plastic. It would be on the passenger side of the firewall. It's sold as a whole assembly. If your leak is on the driver's side, then this may not be your problem.

I was getting the same problem, where I could smell coolant outside of the car. I also had to add almost 3L of coolant. Looking under the truck, i noticed this area seemed to be a bit wet near the rear heater. Is this a connection that typically goes bad?

They used to be more common than they seem to be now. Those are the coolant line for the rear heater. What happens is that sand gets under those rubber protectors and starts scratching through the surface of the line like sandpaper and eventually the lines starts leaking. Originally, dealers were replacing the whole, rear line assembly, which required lifting the right side of the body off of the frame. But, there is a line repair kit many shops have that can cut out the bad section and install a new, metal section. Some people have cut the line(s) at the leak and installed a section of rubber heater hose and hose clamps to repair it. The only issue with that is that the lines aren't very far from the exhaust, so they rubber hose "could" have issues holding up to the heat long term.