Car Problems, Help!

[foodcourtdruide]

I thought I'd use this thread to seek advice/complain about my 2002 Nissan Sentra.

Basically, about 1 month ago I started noticing the tempature gauge move close to H. If I turned the heat on, it'd normalize, but it was obviously a problem so I had to take it to my mechanic. My mechanic replaced the thermostat and it fixed the problem.

Starting last week I noticed small amounts of white smoke coming from under the hood when idling and a sweet smell of coolant constantly coming from my car. I haven't noticed any leaks under my car, but haven't really looked. I had just filled up the coolant about a month ago and I checked yesterday and it's empty. This morning after I shut my car off (after about a 7 mile drive) a fair amount white smoke came out from under the hood.

I'm so scared it's a bad head gasket ($500+ problem), but I'm praying it's just a leak or bad hose.

Anyone have any idea?

[RAAMONE]

i know nothing about cars, so this could be totally wrong, but a similar thing was happening to my girls car and they put in a new radiator and the problem stopped

[Disaster]

Sounds like a hole in the radiator or the cooling hose. I would fill it up and let it run in front of your place let the car get warm then open the hood and look for the leak also slide under the car and see if you can back trace the leak before you bring it into the mechanic

[JPMNICK]

i had the same thing on an older blazer, and it was head gaskets.

[Knowledged_one]

Dude this is not like WebMD you dont want to mis diagnose any of this stuff so you may just have to bite the bullet and head back to the mechanic. The last thing you want is to throw extra money away on bad fixes

[foodcourtdruide]

Dude this is not like WebMD you dont want to mis diagnose any of this stuff so you may just have to bite the bullet and head back to the mechanic. The last thing you want is to throw extra money away on bad fixes

lol yeah, i've been looking it up online all day and the problems have ranged from replacing a $15 radiator hose to rebuilding the engine for $1500.

I just have anxiety about this sorta thing.

[SatCam]

Nissan Sentra

There's your problem




wow I go for the ez jokes dont I?:king:

[hurlmon]

Best bet is to run it so it's warm and look for the leak (as already mentioned). if you don't see anything put a pizza box or something cardborad under it to show any drips. It did take a month to empty so it seems to be a somewhat slow leak.

When was the last time you changed the hoses? When the car is cold squeze them if the feel real soft, change them.

Also check the weep hole on the water pump. When the pump starts to go it will leak from that hole. This could also attribute to it running hot even when it had coolant.

Check your oil. If it's foamy it could be leaking coolent into the oil. I doubt this since you see steam

[FUNKMAN]

i blew a head gasket once,,,,needed the money

i had a 88 cougar and at 150k i started having this same issue, think i went for a new radiator and heating coil(which is near the glove comp) but it didn't prevent the gasket from blowing. i was stopped for a light and all of a sudden a huge steam cloud from under the hood. the guy in the car next to me yells, "hey you got a problem" and I was like "no shit sherlock"

i made it to work which was about two miles away and I even drove home that night(32 miles. the car would stall every few miles from overheating but if it cooled down a bit it would drive for a bit.

it was a ford 3.8 liter 6/cyl engine which is famous for the aluminum head warping and the gasket blowing

edit:

had it fixed and it ran for another 20k or so till i started having issues again. the mechanic did a quick fix and I sold it

[donnie_darko]

obvious signs of blown head gasket: milky oil, bubbling coolant in radiator while car is running, white smoke from exhaust, brown tint in coolant.

sounds more like you have a loose hose near the motor, coolant is leaking from the hose onto the motor itself, and thats when you see the smoke.

i'd fill up the radiator leave the cap off, let the car run, and keep an eye on the radiator and look for bubbling/discoloration//

also see if the coolant fan comes on.

[Chigworthy]

Figure out if it is smoke or steam. Because of the smell of coolant (kind of a hot rotting rubber smell), it's probably steam you see from under the hood. When you run the engine, also look near the firewall for leaks. There is a line that goes through the firewall and into the heater core, tahn back through the firewall into the engine compartment that can leak, paritcularly if it goes through fittings at the firewall. Also, if you're driving this thing, carry a jug of water in case you dump all your coolant out on the road.

Importantly, coolant is very toxic and tasty to dogs and other animals, so don't leave pools of it around if you can help it.

edit: Be careful about overheating obviously. A simple radiator problem can cause a head gasket issue if the head heats up and warps too much. Radiator=cheap, head gasket=suckfest.

[FUNKMAN]

sometimes a loose taillight may be the problem...

[foodcourtdruide]

You have all been so helpful, thank you so much. I will definitely take all your recommendations. You guys are the best.

[ANC]

I thought I'd use this thread to seek advice/complain about my 2002 Nissan Sentra.

Basically, about 1 month ago I started noticing the tempature gauge move close to H. If I turned the heat on, it'd normalize, but it was obviously a problem so I had to take it to my mechanic. My mechanic replaced the thermostat and it fixed the problem.

Starting last week I noticed small amounts of white smoke coming from under the hood when idling and a sweet smell of coolant constantly coming from my car. I haven't noticed any leaks under my car, but haven't really looked. I had just filled up the coolant about a month ago and I checked yesterday and it's empty. This morning after I shut my car off (after about a 7 mile drive) a fair amount white smoke came out from under the hood.

I'm so scared it's a bad head gasket ($500+ problem), but I'm praying it's just a leak or bad hose.

Anyone have any idea?

Sounds just like what happened to my Honda Accord. A new radiator fixed the problem.

EDIT- Sorry for the duplicate info. I should read all the replies that pretty much covered it...

[banditorico]

When you are getting your car repaired make sure the thermostat is replaced also.

[Jughead]

You have all been so helpful, thank you so much. I will definitely take all your recommendations. You guys are the best.

This has head gasket written all over it....Sorry..Check the oil for white residue If you are burning that much coolant the plugs will start to foul...Has it ever been been driven while it was hot for an extended period of time???Ps head gaskets are rare on this model unless it was driven while it was hot???

[landarch]

Perhaps there is a loose nut behind the wheel?

[landarch]

Your mechanic can put a pressure tester on it, and see if it holds pressure. If there is a leak, it won't hold pressure. If it is an external leak, you may hear bubbling or hissing at the leak point. You can rent these at any parts store. It goes on in place of the radiator cap and you pump it up like a blood pressure tester.

The smaller leaks can evaporate before you see an antifreeze accumulation, but you will smell them like any other. Also, have you had to fill the reservoir more than once? It's common to have to refill this reservoir at least once after a coolant/thermostat/etc. service as the radiator may not have been completely full and it takes from and gives back to the reservoir as needed.