Leaking antifreeze sometimes and timing is rattling

30

Asked by ssmith0273 Jan 02, 2014 at 08:42 PM about the 2006 Nissan Maxima 3.5 SL

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I am buying an 06 Nissan Maxima SL. It had a puddle of antifreeze under the car one
day so I took it to a radiator shop. They inspected and said it was the water pump.
Took it to my trusted mechanic and he took it apart to fix the water pump but said my
timing gears were about to bust apart, the timing chain was loose, tensioner was all
the way out as far as it can go and some part was broke. They couldn't fix the water
pump due to the damage to the timing. Now the leak has stopped by the water pump
and started by radiator. Took it back to radiator shop and they said I need a new
radiator. The problem is that it is holding antifreeze now and only steams every once in
a while. Question one is : Could someone tell me what parts I need to buy for the
timing issue. Question 2: What is happening with the leaky antifreeze only leaking
sometimes and not bad enough to leak on the ground anymore?

3 Answers

30

The first day I got it the transmission went out. The finance company went through with the loan before I could stop them so I am stuck with the car or risk a repo on my credit. I am kind of stuck with the car. I am just trying to figure out how much it is going to cost me to fix it.

3 people found this helpful.
30

Thanks. I had a different mechanic tell me that it may have messed with the cams as well. I am thinking about having him just repair it and restore the engine for a couple hundred more.

Dude!......this is great, until stuff starts going bad...and when it does, EVERYTHING starts going bad...here's something you MUST INSPECT EVEN BEFORE DRIVING IT AGAIN....check your cvt cooler lines, they run into the bottom of the radiator...this design is known to fail internally, and will dumpcvt fluid into your cooling system, contaminating it, and ruining your thermostat and all hoses... And if enough coolant gets into your transmission, it will catastrophically fail, and cannot be repaired, must be replaced...for THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS....this just happened to me, luckily I stopped driving it as soon as I noticed a problem....but even then, my Cvt slips now.....the solution is to NOT ALLOW THE CHANCE FOR IT TO FAIL, install an external transmission fluid cooler, it cost me under a hundred bucks on eBay, and literally clips right in, you swap the hoses off the radiator to the new cooler, and you're done..... Turns out, Nissan has a HUGE class action lawsuits against it, for not recalling all the vehicles it has out there with this kind of defect

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