# Xtrail/radiator cap/coolant level



## wyrm (Sep 2, 2014)

Hi there. im new in this forum.

I have an x trail 2005 (t30) with 80k. I have 2 years with this amazing car and everything was well, but i have a little problem with radiator cap.

The coolant in the reservoir tank was boiling and escaping for the upper . 

The reservoir tank was not broken, radiator hose upper and lower was ok. No leaks in the floor. Radiator wasnt broken. So i changed the radiator cap, was the original one .88 -13 lbs in the nissan dealer. I filled the radiator to neck and purge the system, added some coolant to get to the top and filled the reservoir tank to max level when cool and drove for a week.

The problem had been fixed, i thought....
The coolant in the reservoir tank its not boiling anymore. Now the coolant level goes down like a centimeter in the scale between the max and min level of the reservoir tank. Everytime that i use the car the level goes down a centimeter. So i noticed, when i parked after a 10 miles trip, that the radiator cap had a sound like boiling water (Pressure leak), the sound was just in the radiator cap, and was totally new (nissan original). :crying:

So i cleaned the radiator in the workshop, and used the radiator cap tester on the radiator cap and radiator, radiator and hoses was ok, but radiator cap (the new one) had no the required specs according to the tool. So the manager of the workshop suggest a new radiator cap 0.9 - 13 lbs, a little bit different than the original .88 - 13 lbs, so I took it and filled the levels to the right parameters again.
I drove the car like a week and everything looked normal, on friday i parked, opened the hood and check the Pressure leak, i heard the sound again from the radiator cap!!! I can hear the leak just for a few minutes then everything goes back to normal, i mean the coolant in the reservoir tank starts to return to the radiator.
When the car its cold the level goes down a bit more that last day. But when is warm the level is at max. When cold goes down a centimeter under the mark of the last day, everytime gets lower, but i refill a little every week. 
In the morning the level goes down everytime.
I dont think that this is normal. Radiator doesnt have leaks, radiator neck wasn't broken, i dont see white smoke in the morning or any malfunction, just the pressure leak in radiator cap...the car does not overheat, its the second cap that i changed in 2 months,

whats happening? :crying:


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

I was under the impression a pressure test could be done on your radiator. Maybe you have a small crack on the top or bottom, they are made of plastic after all.


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## wyrm (Sep 2, 2014)

yeah all is plastic nowadays. Some guys tell me that maybe is the head gasket, but the oil is clean, and i have an excellent mileage per liter. Someone just tell me that I must check for issues or coolant color in the oil filler cap, Or check with the mechanic just the head gasket, no compresion just head gasket...what do you think? 

however im going to check at the workshop for a leak from top to bottom, an exhaustive test of all...again. thanks for the answer quadraria10


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

I guess the issue is why is your coolant boiling over. Is your radiator fan working properly? Bad thermostat? The fluid your are adding is disappearing. If its not showing up in your oil, and no white smoke from exhaust that is a good thing. Tends to indicate its not your head gasket? Hopefully Rogoman or some other mechanical expert will chime in and be able to suggest something.


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## wyrm (Sep 2, 2014)

Hi, a little update, i went to the mechanic for an exhaustive inspection, i told him the entire story, the first thing that he checked was the oil filler cap, we saw some small white stains like toothpaste on the base of the cap, small like 0.5 cm but was 3 of them. Later he checked for bubbles in the radiator without cap and engine running, we saw bubbles small bubbles. Also we saw little pieces of aluminium in the oil filter cap. 

head gasket blow?

The cost for the entire reparation with the head gasket kit and rectification of the head was US$500.00, about $6000.00 mexican pesos. 
The mechanic said that repair the head can be optional only if it was damaged (i think is damage already because of the small aluminium pieces right?) 
So...some recommendations for the repair? 
should i look for something else? 

thanks for the information 
cheers 
JOrge 

2005 aut t30


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Maybe the small aluminium pieces were from the gasket. Sounds like your mechanic needs to open it up to know if the head was damaged. Hopefully you caught the problem really quickly, and just need a new gasket, oil and coolant changes.
Good luck with it. Let us know how it turns out.


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## wyrm (Sep 2, 2014)

hi a little update

ok guys after 3 months of periodical observations, the xtrail was totally repaired. 
1.-i go for the head gasket reparation and yes was burned up, a very small zone between the 1 and 2 cilinder. 
2.- after the repair, had a almost inperceptible sound in the head but it was because the mechanic put .5 lt of extra oil 
3.-the new coolant was dirty after the repair.

I told this observations to the mechanic for make the right corrections. They rectified the mistakes. 

So this weekend i take the xtrail to a 500 km travel and it was great. I have a highway fuel consumption of 13.4 km/lt at 120km/hr and 8.6 -9.13 km/lt in city in 80km/hr. 
total cost of the repair: around 250 bucks

thanks a lot for the help

bye bye


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Glad to hear it worked out, and that you got it early enough so the damage was not so extensive. Regarding the overfill that has happened to me a couple of times. Its ridiculous, but you really have to double check the work of mechanics sometimes. I know they are human and make mistakes but many are nowhere near the professionals they claim to be. Sounds like you found a good though.


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## mwanikimburu (Feb 15, 2016)

*Thank you very much...*

I have no words to express how grateful I am for your post. Reading your problem, it sounded like you were describing my car (xtrail 2006-T30). I was just about to order for a radiator cap; but I suspended that decision when I got closer to the end of your post.

After reading about your ultimate solution, I called my mechanic and suggested if it could be the head gasket and head problem; and to my surprise he said it is a common problem on xtrails and that the remedy is to change the head gasket and conduct a re-phase on the head which solves the problem completely.

Am therefore going to have it done that way and will update afterwards on whether the problem got solved or not.

Thanks once again


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## mwanikimburu (Feb 15, 2016)

Hello there;

Just an update to my previous post above. I got my xtrail's engine opened up, the gasket was blown and the head and engine block needed refacing.

Had to replace gasket, rings, but the heat had not gotten to the bearings so those ones were not changed. I also learned that the previous owner had removed the thermostat so I replaced that one as well and also got the radiator thoroughly cleaned up and flashed.

Now the car runs quite well and problem's been solved. I did not replace the radiator cap...after all. 

Once again thank you for sharing the solution and I think this is what most people who face the overheating problem on their xtrail should do. I think also it may be necessary to regularly monitor the functioning of the thermostat and the radiator as their gradual failure might be the root causes. Of course not to ignore other cooling system components like the radiator cap and the right coolant.


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## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

Glad you got it figured out and fixed. Hopefully you can get many more good years of service out of your X trail.


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