I have a 2004 Maxima SE Elite with about 27,000 miles on it. The only mod I have is an Injen Cold Air Intake. I noticed a couple weeks ago that my heat wasn't working. I took it into one of my local mechanics and he told me that my head gasket might be blown out in my engine. He told me that it had nothing to do with my intake and suggested I take it to Nissan. I am taking my intake out this week and putting the factory one back on so they don't give me a hard time. My question is if anyone else was experiencing problems with their heat or any engine damage? I know its not from racing because there's snow here in Chicago and I wouldn't dare drive fast in my car under these conditions. Does anyone know if the head gasket is covered under warranty and if anyone has any suggestions as to what to do?

Thanks, -GM

 

Its not your head gasket.

 

I did some research and found that in order for a head gasket to be blown, your coolant would be leaking and the car would not perform up to par. My car is still running great and there are no leaks. The only thing is that my heat doesn't work. This mechanic said my coolant is a little milky and suggested that my head gasket is out. Why would he suggest my head gasket is out if there's nothing else wrong with the car? Any other suggestions?

 

If your coolant looks like milk shake and your heater core is not filled w/ coolant I'd bet $10 that your gasket is blown. It's pretty surprising though, especially on such a new car and without hard driving.

I can already tell you that from what you've told me the headgasket is blown, but to be 100% sure what they will do is test your coolant for exhaust emmisions that are coming from the combustion chamber from the blown gasket.

What I'm wondering is why the gasket blew. Something else is wrong with the car. Have you been using cheap gas? Get it fixed soon, you could melt a piston from having the engine run so hot. There is basically massive air in the system from the BHG. Bleeding the air won't do anything, it will just come back until you get it fixed.

Sorry to hear about it, pray that Nissan takes care of it. Good luck!

 

I always put the best gas in my car and never put the cheap gas. How do you know if the head gasket is blown anyway? There are no leaks in my car and it runs perfectly fine with no signs of anything even being wrong. I never thought that having no heat could lead to a blown gasket. I will take it to Nissan and see what they say this week and hope that its not the gasket, and if it is, hope that its covered under warranty.

 

The 'having no heat' did not lead to the blown head gasket; the blown head gasket might have led to having no heat.

Is your coolant milky? As cobymoby said just above, that is a fairly stong indicator it is polluted with the stuff normally found in the compression portion of a combustion engine; stuff that doesn't belong in the cooling system. A blown head gasket can also lead to inappropriate things getting into the combustion side; things that mess up the lubrication of parts like pistons. That can be very bad.

The head gasket is part of the power train, which is covered by Nissan's FIVE YEAR power train warranty. If your maintenance records are in order (you can prove you sort of followed the recommended maintenance schedule, particularly oil and filter changes), and the onboard recorder shows you have not abused the car, I see no reason Nissan should not fully cover this under warranty.

 

Whats the color of your oil? If also milky, yeah not looking so good.

 

I had an oil change today and the oil was fine. My mechanic said that my coolant was a bit milky but thats about it. I just hope my warranty covers the head gasket. If not, then I'm screwed! Anyone know of what this usually costs?

 

Why wouldn't it be covered ? it's still under warrantyisn't it ?

 

Here's what happened, head gasket blows, allows water, air (from the combustion process), and oil into the coolant.

The heater core in the engine one of the highest points in the coolant system. When the air is intoduced into the coolant system, the heater core is the first sign of it. You have enough air in the system that it blows cold. Already pretty bad.

The milkshake is the emulsion of oil and water (coolant). The gasket has been blown long enough that the oil and water have formed an emulsion rather than staying separate. A freshly blown headgasket will still exhibit green coolant (or whatever color it is these days), and brown oil. But the whispy milkshake in the coolant shows that the oil has been there for some time.

It's very surprising that the HG is gone, that is why I'm worried for you that something else is wrong with your motor. Could be a blocked coolant passage, carbon deposits in side the combustion camber raising the compression and/or causing preignition. I don't know, but I can't think of a reason why the motor would let the HG go.

Dealing with turbo charged cars blown HG are a normal occurance, it's just something that we live with an wait till it happens. But your car shouldn't have blown the gasket.

 

Good luck on what ever happens.....

 

Before you freak out ... there is a possibility that it's just air in the cooling system. Remember that out Maximas have been known to have a gurgling sound at times, and that gurgling is air in the heater core. Maybe you have somehow gotten enough air trapped in the core ... sorta like a vapor lock ... and that's preventing your heater from getting the hot water it needs to work right.

That air might also explain the froth in your coolant. Normally (not all the time, but normally) if a head gasket blows, you'll get oil in the coolant water and water in the oil, since the oil passages and the coolant passages in the heads are close together and the blown gasket lets them mix. That being the case, you should also be seeing water in your oil. It will look like a nasty scum on your dipstick ... like pudding.

Another thing you normally see with a blown head gasket is a rough idle and decreased performance, since compression is leaking through the blown gasket and you're basically running on 5 cylinders or less.

Of course, there's also the possibility the valve that controls the flow of water to the heater core is just malfunctioning. And there are sensors that control the operation of the heater and A/C ... an "ambient sensor" and an "in-vehicle sensor". If either one is malfunctioning, the heater might not work right.

Get the car to your dealer as soon as you can to find out what's going on, but don't give your Max up for dead yet.

And let us know what you find out.

Mike

 

I checked my oil again today and it seems fine and the coolant is a dark greenish color. My car does not overheat and their are no performance issues. While I was testing out my heat, I noticed a gurgling sound whenever I hit the gas when my car was in park. When my car is not moving, cold air blows, but when I'm driving, warm/hot air blows. I checked for leaks and also checked my engine for any possible leaks, but couldn't find any. Hopefully its not a blown gasket. At first I thought it had something to do with my Injen CAI but am convinced that its not. I am putting my factory one back on before I take it to Nissan so they don't give me a hard time. I'll let you know what happens ASAP.

 

That, IMHO sounds like air in your cooling system if you hear that gurlgle noise when you accelerate. Dumb as$ Nissan mechanics left my tranny dip stick off and a ton of air in the cooling system when they changed my transmission fluid and coolant in my 2K Max before lease turn in. Heat didn't work as well. I turned right back around to the dealer and made them fix the problem.

 

Did you ever find out what the problem was?

 

Just got back from the dealer today and it was BAAAAD! Although it wasn't the head gasket, it turned out to be my radiator and heater core. It seems that they found a foreign substance in my coolant, known as Stop Leak that damaged my radiator and heater core. They replaced my radiator under warranty but wanted to charge me $850 for a new heater core with installation. They told me that because they found this substance in my coolant that they would not cover it under warranty. I sure as hell don't know how it got there but want to find out. I told them about the TSB and the gurgling sound I heard in my cooling system and it turns out there was a leak in my radiator, which they covered under warranty. The heater core was damaged by this foreign substance in my coolant and therefore they will not cover it. I am so pissed off right now because I sure as hell didn't put anything in my coolant and considering the fact that I'm the only one that drives it, I think that Nissan was bs'ing me so that they wouldn't cover it under warranty. Is it possible for me to take it to another dealer to try and have it replaced under warranty or will that dealer already know I was at the other dealer? I don't feel like dishing out $850 for a new heater core that should be covered under warranty, but instead is not because of this.

 

What?!?!

I can't believe you would have had your radiator "repaired" (by someone using stop leak) without your knowing about it. Right? So, if you have never known anything about a radiator leak - and never had anyone attempt to repair it - then it must have been done by a Nissan dealer. Anyone else would have charged for working on your radiator.

The only possible exception to this would be if the car was pre-owned and work was done on it before you got it. Did you buy the car new or used?

If you bought it new, and you've never had the radiator worked on and never worked on it yourself, then by all means don't pay for the heater core. You have to assume someone at the dealer spotted a leak during some other service visit and put in some stop leak to try and fix it. Don't back down if that's the case. Go to another dealer if you have to, but if you didn't do it then it's their expense. You may have to get tough with them, but for that kind of money I'd get tough.

Mike

 

I'm going to another dealer next week. I came to the conclusion that maybe the previous Nissan dealer I went to didn't know about the radiator leak TSB and put Stop Leak in my coolant which could have caused the problem in my heater core. Since I have bought my car, almost two years ago, I have been to 5 different Nissan dealerships in my area and not one has yet to provide me with good customer service. It seems that every time I go to a Nissan dealer, they have no idea what they're doing. I love the cars, just hate the dealers!

 

Okay, so what ever happened with this? Inquiring minds wanna know.

Mike

 

Still fighting with Nissan and trying to make them pay for damages due to them putting Stop Leak in my coolant. Going to another dealer next week and hoping to resolve this issue with my heater core.

 

Good luck, fighting Nissan is like trying to teach a 2 month old how to walk.

 

A NISSAN DEALER put STOP LEAK in a 6th gen Maxima??? This is a blatant violation of the dealer-customer relationship. I have never in 55 years of driving heard of putting stop Leak in a fairly new car still under basic warranty.

The ONLY approach here should have been to fix the leak. Properly.

Maybe I have just led a very protected life . . .