Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post - Overheat, coolant leak, limp mode, dealer

370zFORme!! · 08-09-2011, 08:17 PM

So I just got my car back about a week ago from the collision shop because I was involved in a small fender bender. My radiator support needed to be replaced and because of that, my insurance adjuster advised that all my coolant had to be removed and replaced.

Long story short, I was driving to Cerritos and as soon as I got off the freeway I smelled coolant. I immediately saw my water temps had shot up all the way to the last dot. I tried to pull over and my car starts to stutter, if that makes sense. SES light goes off and I could not rev past 1000 rpm (not that I even wanted to). Im assuming this is limp mode? I pulled over and let the car cool down some and looked under the car, noticing coolant leaking everywhere. Popped the hood, noticed the coolant tank was completely empty. Waited about 30 min, drove really slow with the heater on to the dealer and they are now looking into it. One of the techs advised that it seems like an air bubble caused the coolant to leak out of the tank through the overflow tube. He said these cars are designed to be able to drive in case of emergency with little to no water. Oil is different but water no problem.

My question is, could this have damaged my engine? I didn't really realize how far I was driving with high temps because nothing happened until I got off the freeway. I mean the SES light didn't even go off until the car went into limp mode. Could the guys that drained and refilled my coolant from the collision center not tightened something and thats what caused it? Im not really familiar with the cooling system on this car os I don't even know where else to start troubleshooting.

Sorry for the long post and thanks for any responses!

08-09-2011, 08:17 PM	#1 (permalink)
370zFORme!! Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: SoCal Posts: 1,459 Drives: 2012 6MT STiffy Rep Power: 17	Overheat, coolant leak, limp mode, dealer So I just got my car back about a week ago from the collision shop because I was involved in a small fender bender. My radiator support needed to be replaced and because of that, my insurance adjuster advised that all my coolant had to be removed and replaced. Long story short, I was driving to Cerritos and as soon as I got off the freeway I smelled coolant. I immediately saw my water temps had shot up all the way to the last dot. I tried to pull over and my car starts to stutter, if that makes sense. SES light goes off and I could not rev past 1000 rpm (not that I even wanted to). Im assuming this is limp mode? I pulled over and let the car cool down some and looked under the car, noticing coolant leaking everywhere. Popped the hood, noticed the coolant tank was completely empty. Waited about 30 min, drove really slow with the heater on to the dealer and they are now looking into it. One of the techs advised that it seems like an air bubble caused the coolant to leak out of the tank through the overflow tube. He said these cars are designed to be able to drive in case of emergency with little to no water. Oil is different but water no problem. My question is, could this have damaged my engine? I didn't really realize how far I was driving with high temps because nothing happened until I got off the freeway. I mean the SES light didn't even go off until the car went into limp mode. Could the guys that drained and refilled my coolant from the collision center not tightened something and thats what caused it? Im not really familiar with the cooling system on this car os I don't even know where else to start troubleshooting. Sorry for the long post and thanks for any responses! __________________ 87' Honda Civic Hatchback: Kaput @ 288,000 miles, 90' Toyota Celica: Kaput @ 175,000 miles, 93' Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4: Kaput @ 138,000 miles, 06' Scion Tc: Traded in @ 64,000 miles, 10' Nissan 370z: Traded in @ 25,000 miles, 12' Subaru Impreza Sti: Current.