Frontier overheating

Nissan11

Nissan11

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2005
Location
Marston, NC
Recently my crew cab v6 frontier has been overheating at times. It has happened 4 time in the past few weeks on hot days. On one occasion I was sitting in traffic with the AC on and noticed the temp needle slowly climb almost to the danger zone. I pulled over, let it cool down and checked the radiator and it was full of fluid. I continued on my trip without the AC on and it never ran hot again.

A few days later while just driving down the road I notice the same thing, the temp gauge needle slowly rising. I turned the heat on in the truck and the temp dropped back down to normal. This has happened a couple more times since then and it only seems to happen on 90+ degree days. Since the radiator has fluid, is it either my water pump or thermostat? I thought if the water pump went bad then the truck would get real hot real fast and never run cool again. Water has to be pumping if I'm still able to drive it, right? Any ideas for what it may be? It's supposed to get in the 90's this week so Id really like to fix this!
 
What year frontier??? How many miles??? I would at least change the t-stat its only a couple of dollars i would also check my fan clutch to make sure it is working properly.
 
have you done anything work or maintenance to the truck recently?

if nothing has been done and nothing changed, i'd suggest a good cleaning of the radiator first. check between the radiator and condensor and make sure youd don't have a couple of inches of ure clay packed in there stopping air flow. i had this problem once a while back.

make sure no air in system. your frontier has a bleeder screw for the cooling system. park truck with front higher than rear, pull bleeder, top off system till all air is out and coolant is running through bleeder with no bubbles. then run the engine with rad cap off and allow all air out of system that way as well.

next, i'd get a new radiator cap and check the clutch fan to ensure its working correctly.

if all that seems okay...i'd replace thermostat and then water pump if that does not solve it.
 
houdini said:
have you done anything work or maintenance to the truck recently?

if nothing has been done and nothing changed, i'd suggest a good cleaning of the radiator first. check between the radiator and condensor and make sure youd don't have a couple of inches of ure clay packed in there stopping air flow. i had this problem once a while back.

make sure no air in system. your frontier has a bleeder screw for the cooling system. park truck with front higher than rear, pull bleeder, top off system till all air is out and coolant is running through bleeder with no bubbles. then run the engine with rad cap off and allow all air out of system that way as well.

next, i'd get a new radiator cap and check the clutch fan to ensure its working correctly.

if all that seems okay...i'd replace thermostat and then water pump if that does not solve it.
Click to expand...

Its an 02 with 191k miles


The truck has been leaking coolant for about 2 years, about 12 oz per week but I keep it topped off. I can not locate the source and have looked and looked and LOOKED. It appears to be coming from under the intake manifold and leaking down the back of the motor onto the skid plate. Ive replaced every hose I can get to as well as the t stat housing. Since Im constantly topping off the radiator it sounds like air in the system is very likely. Im almost to the point of taking it to a dealership to have them diagnose the leak. Otherwise Ill be pulling the intake manifold off to look for the leak and Im
a little bit scared to do that.
 
If it is the vg33e motor, the water pump uses a plastic impellor, which has been known to cavitate and/or come loose as it breaks down due to age and heat.
 
A shop pressure tested the system today and said the leak was coming from a hose behind the thermostat. They said they just tightened the clamp and that fixed the leak. I hope it was that simple.
 
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