Odd Coolant Issue
 

Hey fellas,

Had something odd happen to me at Autoclub Speedway. I got done with my heat (oil and engine temp guages were fine) park the Z back in the garage as I usually do. When I turned the car off i could hear a boiling sound...a very small amount of steam left the hood and then suddenly I am seeing A TON of coolant come down from under the car.

Decided to let it cool. As it cooled down for a bit I put more coolant in thinking that it just overflowed (from the bottom??). Coolant stayed in the system and "circulated??" but when i started to drive the engine go hot again after about 50 feet....boiling sound again and then after i parked it the coolant started to come out again.

So far the consensus is...busted thermostat, hose issue, cracked radiator or bad water pump.

Thoughts? Similar issue you have experienced?

Just FYI I have a 34 row oil cooler. not that its too relevant but it does block the radiator a bit....



Thanks!

Seems like a bad radiator cap

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I would say to check and see exactly where the coolant is draining from to get a better idea of what could be the issue.

Pressure test the coolant system to 22psi. You’ll find your leak.

Find your leak and correct the air pocket issue that has developed from said leak.

Lots of good suggestions above. I'd start with finding out where the coolant is coming from. If that doesn't pinpoint the problem, I'd check radiator cap and pressure test the system. As mentioned, you need to purge air from the system after fixing problem.

Not sure if this works with modern cars but we used to get an idea of what shape the pump was in by removing the radiator cap (when engine is cold) and watching for flow - no flow means bad pump.

Thank you fellas! Keep you guys posted so we can document the issue. Hopefully my whoa's help someone in the future.

The final verdict: The radiator cap and the reservoir cap were reversed. Looks like when the shop installed my oil cooler they flipped the caps backwards. Caps look very similar, even took Nissan some time to figure it out. What happened was, the added pressure in the coolant lines from a track event caused the pressure to push fluid out of the overflow valved on the radiator instead of through the top of the reservoir. All fixed. Cars runs smooth and strong.

Great news it was something simple! Although stupid :icon14:

Glad you're back up and running and thanks for following up with the solution :tiphat: