Nissan March (K12) Overheating

Tzardine

Hi folks,

I am looking for some opinions if I may. I am pulling my hair out at the moment with the wifes car. A 2004 Nissan March.

In a nutshell, its overheating. There is no temp gauge fitted, just a red light that comes on when its too hot. It happens at slow speed. Perfectly fine on motorways. Not leaking any coolant. If the light comes on around town, it will go off again with a bit of driving and airflow.

We have tried just about everything so far and I am stuck. This is what has been done so far.

• Sniff test completed. Head gasket is ruled out.
• New radiator cap fitted.
• New thermostat fitted
• Water pump removed and inspected. Perfect working order.
• Fan working correctly and switching between both speeds.
• Heater in car works perfect so the matrix is ruled out.
• Radiator was removed and tested by professionals. Was showing as partially blocked so a brand new one has been fitted.

So we just got the car back from the garage after having the radiator fitted. Expected that to cure the problem but although it has improved slightly the problem persists.

Really at my wits end with it now. Kinda hoping it will spontaneously combust.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

dooroy

When you say fan is working on both speeds do you mean the radiator fan has 2 speeds ( has car got air con ?).
After a drive have you parked the car , left engine running , watch when light comes on and see if fan cuts in - and if it does the light should go out again soon after.
Also could you get someone to plug in a scanner and see what the coolant temp actually is when light comes on ?
The sensor that puts on the light could be getting over sensitive and putting on the light at a lower temp than intended.

Interslice

The torque app will read the temp for you if you get one of these.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stoga-V1-5-ELM327-Bluetooth-Diagnostic/dp/B008BPN7XI/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1438907474&sr=1-2&keywords=elm327

Is the same light used for low coolant on them?

Tzardine

dooroy wrote: »

When you say fan is working on both speeds do you mean the radiator fan has 2 speeds ( has car got air con ?).
After a drive have you parked the car , left engine running , watch when light comes on and see if fan cuts in - and if it does the light should go out again soon after.
Also could you get someone to plug in a scanner and see what the coolant temp actually is when light comes on ?
The sensor that puts on the light could be getting over sensitive and putting on the light at a lower temp than intended.

The car does have AC. The radiator does have two speeds regardless of whether the AC is on or not.

If the temp light comes on, the fan will speed up and the light will go off after a few mins. The engine is definitely running hot though. You can smell it.

The garage did suggest the sensor controlling to light could be faulty but I don't imagine that would make her run hot ?

Tzardine

Interslice wrote: »

The torque app will read the temp for you if you get one of these.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stoga-V1-5-ELM327-Bluetooth-Diagnostic/dp/B008BPN7XI/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1438907474&sr=1-2&keywords=elm327

Is the same light used for low coolant on them?

There is a blue light when the engine is cold and red when it is hot.

dooroy

If the sensor was faulty it wouldn't make the engine run hot - but the question remains 'is it really overheating' ?
If the fan speeds up , light goes out after a short while then there may not be a problem.
I have seen cars with temp gauges and the 'normal' position can vary from car to car ; if those cars had just a light then I expect some would have the light on and others not while all would be at roughly the same temp ; and the gauge can be quite high on some cars before fan cuts in .
And on all cars the engine is very hot when the fan cuts in .
Does the output from the heater seem 'extra' hot when the red light is on - or just normal ?
Have you had the car long - or when did the problem arise ?
Is the car losing coolant ?
Do you know anyone with a similar car to compare notes.

Tzardine

dooroy wrote: »

If the sensor was faulty it wouldn't make the engine run hot - but the question remains 'is it really overheating' ?
If the fan speeds up , light goes out after a short while then there may not be a problem.
I have seen cars with temp gauges and the 'normal' position can vary from car to car ; if those cars had just a light then I expect some would have the light on and others not while all would be at roughly the same temp ; and the gauge can be quite high on some cars before fan cuts in .
And on all cars the engine is very hot when the fan cuts in .
Does the output from the heater seem 'extra' hot when the red light is on - or just normal ?
Have you had the car long - or when did the problem arise ?
Is the car losing coolant ?
Do you know anyone with a similar car to compare notes.

Output from the heater is normal when the light is on. Working as you would expect.

We have the car approx 2 years. Drives great otherwise. Roughly 70k miles on it. Overheating issues just recently.

My mam has the same car albeit a few years never (2008).

We are going to have the coolant temperature sensor fitted today and see what happens. Pain in the hole so it is. Appreciate your help though.

Tzardine

Fitted the coolant temperature sensor this morning but the problem persists.

Really have no idea what it is at this stage.

dooroy

As car is not losing coolant , fan is cutting in and out as it should , heater output is OK there would appear to be nothing to worry about.
But the light coming on is very irritating and hard to get used to .
Did you try 'Googling' your problem to see if others have experienced it and what solution , if any , they found ?

Dazziss

There is a website called MSC Micra Sports Club www(dot)micra(dot)org(dot)uk they have everything to help you out thats what i used when i was stuck with problems on my micra