The Nissan Path

HI guys,

So I have been having this issue with this car for over a year now. I have replaced all the typical items for the cooling system, Radiator, thermostat, water pump, radiator cap, overflow bottle cap, flushed the cooling system, even disconnected the rear heat and looped the connection on the firewall,

The car runs fine when its cool but once it is summer temps outside in NY it will start to push coolant into the overflow even when its cooler out. But when the engine cools down it will not pull it back into the radiator. This will continue until the air in the system causes it to over heat. I have done a pressure test and it holds at 20 psi for 20 mins. I am thinking its a hose issue maybe I need to replace them all cuz one might have a small hole that is loosing vacuum. I am not sure. The car has 251k miles on it now so could it be the head gasket? Anyone out there have this issue or have seen it? Any ideas would help.

Thanks

Sounds like a clogged hose to the reservoir. Probably wouldn't hurt to remove the reservoir, as well, and wash it out to make sure there's no sludge on the bottom of it.

Thanks I will check that out and report back and let you know if it helped.

Ok So it has been very cold and I had my mechanic work on the car first I had the hoses all checked out and the radiator lines that go to the overflow bottle checked out for clogs. That was all clear and after a 45 min drive the coolant was flowing out of the bottle again. History of this car was the coolant mixed into the trans you know that headache. Bypass was done and after market radiator was installed few years go by always had a few weird overheating issues but could never find the cause. So last summer radiator cracked and a new one was installed and since then the overheating was more consistent. So I bought an original radiator and also a new overflow bottle which comes with all lines and cap. My mech who is 30 years in repair business said its odd that the car had a pressure cap on the radiator and the overflow bottle. It's usually one or the other not both. Well he replaced the bottle and lines to rule that out and we put the new cap off the new rad onto the one on the car and just the bottle has the pressure cap. Filled everything up and so far about 4 drives cycles over an hour each and all is good. No coolant pushing out of the bottle the level is where it needs to be. So having the after market radiator in with a pressure cap. Hope this helps someone who might be having this issue.

Thanks for the update!!!

I am glad your issue was finally worked out!

Yeah, that's getting to be a lot more common setup in cars. The Europeans were using this system for quite a while and now it's trickling over to domestics and Asian makes. Some radiators don't even have a cap, anymore. The only reason for ours is to help fill the coolant system quicker during servicing.

Thanks for the info on this site and all the help you guys give cuz it sure helps when trying to diagnose an issue that is not easy to find.