# Coolant Reservoir Tank Leak



## metalhead10 (Dec 16, 2014)

Background: I have done some mild offroading with my 2005 BonaVista and in some situations gotten the temp gauge to move up. By cranking the heat and fan I was able to stabilize it. As the outside temps weren't too hot I was a little concerned that the vehicle had a problem. I have confirmed that the electric rad fans work and the upper rad hose gets hot so I believe it is circulating through the radiator. 

On the weekend I was out to go skiing and went up a steep windy paved road to the parking lot. After getting out I did a little walk around the vehicle and noticed the front passenger wheel was wet. It seemed strange as I didn't recall going through any puddles. A closer look showed that it was coolant. I popped the hood and saw the coolant level in the reservoir just above the MIN mark. Previously this had always been at MAX. Well nothing I could do here so started to get ready for the trip. Before leaving though I popped the hood to take a picture of the level but noticed it was empty now. 

When I got back to the vehicle Monday afternoon I opened the rad cap and it was full to the very top. I then filled the reservoir with creek water (no distilled in the middle of nowhere). After an hour of driving to the gas station I checked the level again and no change. Ditto for when I got home. 

I'm about to dive into the service manuals to have a look but am really curious about this and am wondering if anyone has experienced this. 

Not too happy with my X-Trail experience so far from a weird brake noise, electrical problem, frozen lock, and now cooling problem....


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## metalhead10 (Dec 16, 2014)

Mechanic tested the coolant and said that the coolant/water mixture was too high and that was the possible problem. I drained the coolant and put in roughly 50/50 mix. Will see how it goes now.


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Hi Metalhead, its weird that your mix would be too high after adding fine distilled creek water. I wonder if it had ever been changed? Good luck with it.


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## metalhead10 (Dec 16, 2014)

The reservoir is only 0.7L so out of the complete volume of 7.1L it is only a 10th. I am miffed as well. Not sure if I fully understand his reasoning but I have no problem giving this a try. Will let the forum know if I have any more cooling issues.


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## metalhead10 (Dec 16, 2014)

Alright so turns out only one of the two electric fans was working. I got one from the wrecker and all is good. Then on my way up a high mountain pass in summer the temp started to increase again so I employed the high interior heat method and the temp settled. This makes me think the radiator might be hooped. I bought a new rad and looking at it I see that the ports for the A/T cooler are spaced much farther apart. Is this normal for aftermarket radiators for the X-Trail? If so do people get new hoses? It seems to put one of the hoses near the exhaust which does not seem good at all.


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Sounds like a more generic rad that requires mods to fit? Where did you get it? Could they have given you wrong part?
By the way Bonavista's were 2006 models (Basically a 2007 even if they did not release a 2007 version) that were sold in second half of 2006 and first half of 2007.


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## metalhead10 (Dec 16, 2014)

I got it at performance radiator in Vancouver. It is also the distributor for the mechanic that I had contacted to get a cost estimate. They verified that it is the only radiator for the X-Trail. I am perplexed but am pretty busy right now to deal with it. It is not a critical item especially with winter coming so I'll probably hold off until next year. I might have to just go with an OEM part from Nissan. 

Yes, thanks for the clarification on the Bonavista. Mine was created in December of 2006 so would definitely be a 2007 model.


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Ah the joys of finding and getting parts for the X trail sometimes...


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## otomodo (May 23, 2008)

I would chek for other nissan s models or even infinity.
I did the samething for the wipers motor,it s the same as the g35.
After a search on ebay i could see the photos and compare the model.


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