# Overheating X-Trail



## johngp (Aug 12, 2005)

Hi.

I have a strange problem with my X-Trail and I'm hoping someone might be able to help.

The car is a 2 litre petrol, auto. Normally it's fine, but during periods of hot weather if the engine has any call on it for extra power, eg overtaking, going up a long hill it will rapidly send the temperature gauge towards the red. This normally happens on motorways so the speed is higher than normal. The only way to get it down again is to back off and make little demand on the engine. Of course during these periods the aircon starts pumping warm air into the cabin, just what you want.

I have changed both the themostat and water control valve but this has not cured the problem. The water level is where it should be and it doesn't ever loose any water.

My only thoughts are that maybe there is a air lock somewhere in the system which is restricting the flow of water when the water control valve opens.

My local dealer says they have never heard of this problem and so far haven't been able to help.


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## XTrail1 (Feb 24, 2005)

Is the coolant a normal green color?(let it cool down and check) Does it consume oil or is the oil foamy?(check under the cap). When it shoots up and stop the engine do you hear a "gurgling noise"?


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## johngp (Aug 12, 2005)

XTrail1 said:


> Is the coolant a normal green color?(let it cool down and check) Does it consume oil or is the oil foamy?(check under the cap). When it shoots up and stop the engine do you hear a "gurgling noise"?



Yes the coolant is the normal colour. No it doesn't use any oil and there is no foam on the cap, so the head gasket seems to be fine. Hard to tell about the noise. This only happens when I'm on a motorway (freeway) and if I was to come off and stop the temperature would have already returned to normal so I've not really had the chance to listen for any noise.

My feeling are that somewhere in the block there is an air lock and when the second stage cooling kicks in the water is not able to get everywhere it should. My plan is to drain the coolant and then refill, slowy. Worth a try don't you think?


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## XTrail1 (Feb 24, 2005)

Bring it to your dealer or friendly mechanic and this is what they will likely do. I would not do this at home as it is messy and coolant is very poisonous(fatal) to animals who like the sweetness of it.

-put a catch basin underneath the rad area.
-remove the rad cap
-start the engine
-let it run until normal operating temp is reached
-it will overflow, the air will have escaped at this point.
-stop the engine, put the cap back on.
-test drive.


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## johngp (Aug 12, 2005)

XTrail1 said:


> Bring it to your dealer or friendly mechanic and this is what they will likely do. I would not do this at home as it is messy and coolant is very poisonous(fatal) to animals who like the sweetness of it.
> 
> -put a catch basin underneath the rad area.
> -remove the rad cap
> ...


Yep tried that and got little if any overflowing and no air at all.

I'm now wondering if it might be the belt slipping on the water pump pully under high engine load. Seems reasonable, engine temps go up flow of coolant goes down result overheating. The tension in the belt is automatically adjusted, I wonder if anyone else has had a problem with the belt tension?


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## johngp (Aug 12, 2005)

Just thought I'd finish this thread off, with a result.

It turns out the problem was a VERY blocked radiator, which has now been replaced and the car is running fine again. All comes down to radiators becoming more and more narrow to make room for an AIRCON radiator apparently.


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## driftking (Aug 7, 2005)

johngp said:


> Just thought I'd finish this thread off, with a result.
> 
> It turns out the problem was a VERY blocked radiator, which has now been replaced and the car is running fine again. All comes down to radiators becoming more and more narrow to make room for an AIRCON radiator apparently.


I would also get them to check the head gasket, after so much overheating it must have failed.


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## thudpucker2 (Oct 10, 2006)

*hot x-trail*



johngp said:


> Hi.
> I have the same problem mine is a2002 auto towing a small van when I travell at about 90km on warm days the temp guage acts like a tacho rises when going up an incline and falls as soon as I back off I am changing radiator hoses just in case the lower hose is sucking in


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## johngp (Aug 12, 2005)

thudpucker2 said:


> johngp said:
> 
> 
> > Hi.
> ...


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## cyborg (Sep 14, 2006)

hi all,

my xtrail 2.0 just had an head gasket meltdown. if the radiator is to thin can i put in an SR20DET radaitor???


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## Revhead Kev (Apr 1, 2007)

What do you mean by "too thin" ?

Have you checked your current radiator for blockages ?
It is known that the Xtrail radiators sometimes block up due to left-over casting sand buildup and this blockage causes blown head gaskets.


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## zadraj (Jan 11, 2010)

I have a similar problem to the first entry in this trail, except that when mine overheats the radiator feels barley warm but the top plastic part is hot.
The fluid in the radiator is fluro green and clean, When the temp goes up the Crusie control also stops working.
I dont think there is any water flowing through the car beacuse of how cold the radiator is while the temprature guage shows it vey hot.
The two fans are on even when Aircon is off (at least on the hot days that this problem has occured in)

I have replaced the thermostat. 
How can determine if the problem is the Water control valve or the Raditor or could it be something else?


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## moin (Jul 5, 2010)

zadraj said:


> I have a similar problem to the first entry in this trail, except that when mine overheats the radiator feels barley warm but the top plastic part is hot.
> The fluid in the radiator is fluro green and clean, When the temp goes up the Crusie control also stops working.
> I dont think there is any water flowing through the car beacuse of how cold the radiator is while the temprature guage shows it vey hot.
> The two fans are on even when Aircon is off (at least on the hot days that this problem has occured in)
> ...


Zadraj - I had the exact same symptoms with my 2005 X-trail. I replaced the radiator and everything came good. I was so disappointed as my vehicle has only done 80,000km. I had a good look at the Nissan radiator I took out and the tubes are so narrow that their openings are barely slits. It would take very little for them to get blocked in my view. The replacement radiator (not Nissan part) seems to have larger openings in it tubes just looking through the filler cap opening in the top tank. Even though I have not fully tested the vehicle by towing uphill etc, the core is heating up "nicely" after about 8-10km which is definitely not what the old radiator was doing.


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## Hachi83 (Mar 4, 2015)

Hi,
I have a 2002 model Nissan X-Trail, the temperature gauge raises after a 10 - 20km distance drive and doing about 100 - 110km/h and it comes down as soon as I back off acceleration. I would like to know what really is the problem because the water in the radiator doesn't finish when I check but the horse sometimes becomes bulged up.
would you please help me out because I am confused.


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Could be your thermostat is bad and not opening. You should get it checked soon rather than driving it lots, if you want to avoid damage from overheating.


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