Overheating.. Just can't catch a break

M

Mako3

Member
Car
2006 FX35 AWD
Hey all!!
So 8 months back I had an overheating issue with my 2006 FX35, noticed the lower radiator hose was cold, ok thermostat repair. Bought replaced, burped the system, and the problem went away for a month. It came back, I bought a new radiator cap and flushed my whole coolant system. Fixed it for a week and overheating came back. So I decided to just take it to Beaverton Infiniti, they ran some diagnostics and said in the pressure test they found out my radiator was bad. Ok, I myself installed a new radiator and replaced the upper and lower hoses while I was at it. A month later it started overheating again, I burped the system and it was good for about another month, I burped it again, and this continued all the way up until now.

My lower radiator hose is still cold to touch. I replaced the Tstat again and that didn't fix it. I just did another coolant flush today and idk where all the coolant/water is going but its disappearing about as fast as I can fill it. When I was filling her up she was bubbling water badly everywhere, I couldn't catch a break. Also I had the heater maxed on 90 with fan speed low at first to high, makes no difference. It's blowing ice cold air out and car is overheating. Today while diagnosing it and trying to burp her, I briefly got hot air to come out the vents but along with it came vapor. It quickly dissipated in seconds, but found that odd. Idk what to think, I'm calling Infiniti later today to discuss their terrible diagnoses. I'm afraid the compression test they did means I have blown head gasket and not the radiator they thought, since that's been replaced and issue is still occurs. Or perhaps it's a bad heater core? Any thoughts on This? Or is there a trust worthy head gasket sealer / stop leak? I was honestly tempted to try "Bars Leaks Head Gasket Fix or "BlueDevl"
 
Was never a fan of Beaverton Infiniti - might try taking it to Mark over at Specialty Auto. He did all the work on my FX45. Did have one time where he was stumped, and he told me so rather than doing the random parts replacement carousel. I took it up to Kirkland Infiniti; turned out to be a rodent-chewed wiring harness. Appreciated the honesty.
 
Have you checked the oil? If it was your head gasket and you were losing that much coolant into the engine, you'd likely see the residue in the oil. Coolant has to go somewhere.

If your heat isn't working that seems more like a cooling system issue. Normally I'd say air in the system but if you've been burping it and it won't go away, it may be the heater core especially if you got weird vapor in the cabin. Don't randomly pour head gasket sealer into the system as it clogs everything up.
 
Ya, Beaverton Infiniti being the only game in town, takes advantage on it. So hard to work with. I'm from Vancouver, so hoping to find somewhere closer, since my fx35 is overheating after just a few miles.

Thanks Shadow, I am thinking heater core too, but there's no sign of leakage, carpet on floor below is perfectly dry. When I was burping it with the radiator cap off, there bubbles were very drastic. Also, the lower radiator hose is cold, but I checked the Tstat by boiling it and it opened fine.
Any other thoughts anyone?

Thank you!
 
Have you check the water pump for extra noise or sign of coolant leaks from that area?
 
do a compression test on each cylinder. that should give you a good indication of a blown head gasket or warped block. check oil for the milky look to it or check for oil in the coolant.
 
You have air in your system. Same thing happened to me last month, except replacing the radiator. It took me 2.5 hours to burp the system.. bubbles kept coming out. Get a spill-free funnel and burp the system, with the front raised pretty high.

They say to set the temp to the warmest setting and fan on the lowest setting, but I ended up having it on the warmest setting with the fan on the highest setting. It blew cold air for nearly an hour, then the heat began coming because of the absence of air bubbles.. verified by the reduced volume of coolant in the special funnel. I knew there was air around the heater core, because on cold start I could hear water "gurgling" from behind my instrument cluster. Just a suggestion.
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback. The car was running fine, idk how all of a sudden it gets air in the system which caused me to pull the Tstat and boil it to see if it would open (which it did). Now I know air is in the system, so I continued to try and burp it today. Sadly I'm not in position to order that spill free funnel atm, it will have to wait next week. So I turned the faucet on and had the hose pouring on top of the radiator consistently while the engine warmed up. Did this for about 45mins with heat on max (90°F) and fan on low. It blew cold air the entire time and kept making funny noises in the bay, lots of like popping sounds (this was intermittent). My lower radiator hose finally became warm, I checked the two hoses going to the firewall, the one on the right was cold and left where the bleed screw is was very warm. Not sure if that indicates anything with the heater core. After 10mins later for some reason my ABS light came on, my brakes r fine and car obviously was in park so idk why that occurred, but 5 secs later my cluster in the dash flickered and my throttle was limited. Burping out of the radiator was terrible, but temp on the car was actually staying normal where it should be. I turned the car off and hose, placed cap back on radiator, I was going to take her for a spin but then the power was dead on my car. Idk if from the burping the water shooting out shorted my alternator or something. I'm frustrated so haven't even bothered jumping her yet.

I must mention before I did this, I had my OBDII reader scanning while cold start, everything looks good. Attached images are below if you can verify. So I reversed uphill out the driveway which she quickly overheated and I turned around so the front of my car is uphill on the driveway, then let her cool before I did everything above.

Thanks for all the help gentlemen!! This is a headache
 

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Air in the system or clogged heater core.
Are you sure they don't sell the spill free funnel at your parts store?
I got mine from Advanced Auto parts.. used a discount coupon and it came out cheaper than it would be online.
 
So quick update. I cannot find any leaks anywhere on the car or under her. No residue or wet carpet on the front passenger side. I did do a pressure test on the cooling system, she held perfectly fine at 13psi for 20mins. I then rented a block test kit and no issues there either, liquid stayed nice and blue. I'm leaning more and more on the heater core or if it's the valve that opens to run coolant through the heater core. Or perhaps it's the water pump?

I'm just baffled how temperamental this system is. Thanks again everyone. Can't wait to have this solved. I bought the spill free funnel, so today I'll use that to burp her once more and see how she does.
 
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Additional update. I burped her today using the spill free funnel, thanks g0ldm4g3 for the coupon idea. Found 30% off at advanced auto parts. I had her running for about an hour total, lots of bubbles, she was spashling fluid all over the bay. When it was too intense, I would turn the car off and quickly run to fill the funnel to prevent air getting sucked in, since she would suck back in about a good 40-60oz each time I did this (total of 3 times. ) I decided to drive her around the block, went about 4 miles and as I hit a hill the temp rose quick pointing about 3/4 hot. I drove slowly at 25mph back home the next 1/4 mile and see maintained that temp, I let her idle on the driveway and after 3mins she went back down below 1/2 in normal range.

Side note, while I was performing this. I heard some clicking noise coming from the engine. With the fans on it was hard to identify where it was coming from, but as I rev'd the engine, the click accelerated with the rpms. Could this whole thing be due to my water pump failing? Any other test you recommend?

Thank you
 
Okay, so I took some pics under the engine of driver side, behind the idler pulley and under a/c compressor looking upward trying to find a leak from the weep hole of the water pump. No leaks visible, except a metal shaving which I have no clue what this is from. If anyone knows, please help. I'm unsure what to make of this ordeal, just wish my car can be driven worry free again.

Thank you!Screenshot_20170522-180136.png Screenshot_20170522-180136.png Screenshot_20170522-175950.png
 

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So when you're testing, a lot of coolant is bubbling out of the system? If you're adding over a gallon of coolant while burping the system I'm assuming it's spraying a lot out. I wonder where the bubbles are coming from if you're not introducing air to the system. But if you're seeing so many bubbles, the water pump is at least doing something, otherwise there wouldn't be any circulation and bubbles wouldn't come out.

Have you tried doing this on an incline? Reading the other forums for G/Z, it seems that an incline helps when bleeding the cooling system. If you're blowing cold air, I still suspect heater core.
 
Thanks Shadow. Yes, that bubbling I guess is normal due to the water boiling right? You're right, the pump must be working though. Today I drove her round trip 20 miles and she stayed perfectly normal temp the entire drive. I just made sure to drive with Windows down and air completely off (no heat, fan, or a/c). This morning when i started her cold and let her idle, I did hear a water sloshing sound for a few seconds.
 
Yeah.. Water gurgling from behind the instrument cluster means there's air in your system.

Just an FYI, if your car overheats.. It's best to shut it off; but, if you can't.. Turning the heat to the hottest setting and maximum fan setting will lower your temperature.

Sent from my SM-G935T
 
It really shouldn't boil over under normal operation. The bubbling you see is air in the system. It can spill a little bit out as the coolant heats up and expands. Normally it would go into the overflow but since your radiator cap is off, it will just spill out. It does sound like you have a huge amount of air in the system which is weird as long as you've been bleeding it. Don't know how to diagnose the heater core but I would look into that as you've suspected.
 
Okay, thanks for the responses. I'm trying to scout online the best way to get to the heater core. Do any of you know if there's a way to replace it without removing the entire dash?

Thank you
 
I just told by my mechanic i have a blown head gasket, i have a 2010 FX35 with 174K miles on it. It drives like a dream still. i don't have overheating issues but, i do have to siphon coolant from the expansion tank back into the radiator after about 100 miles or so. i don't have the headgasket symptoms (foam oil, white smoke etc) but, its def a weird one for me. So, i poured a bottle of K-Seal until i decide what i want to do exactly. I can afford a fix, but i cannot afford a new car or a used car.
 
Just received my first quote for head gasket repair:

Cylinder Head Gasket(s)
Remove and Replace components as required to access and install materials, and/or perform needed service, adjustments as
required. Additional fluids may be required to complete this service. Retest and verify repair as required. Perform final road test where
applicable.
Labor 25 Hour $3,125.00 S
Cylinder Head Gasket Set 1 Unit $476.66 S
Head Bolt Kit 2 Unit $379.92 S
Spark Plugs 6 Unit $179.34 S
Thermostat 1 Unit $37.00 S
Thermostat Gasket 1 Unit $10.32 S
Water Pump 1 Unit $198.00 S
Antifreeze 3 Unit $84.00 S
Engine Oil 5 Unit $62.50 S
Oil Filter 1 Unit $6.00 S

Sub $4,558.74

INSANITY!
 
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