My 2004 se blows out cold air (even when set at 90 degrees) whenever I have the car in park. However, when the car is in motion the heat gets warm in the car. I recently brought the car in to the local Nissan dealership for a diagnosis of the problem. I was informed that their may be air in the system and that a radiator flush ($175) would be required that included using a radiator kit as well ($37.99). I was also told that my radiator cap would need to be replaced ($27.36), along with needing an upper radiator hose ($31.62)....Well after having all of this done everything seemed to work fine, that is until the next moring when I was driving the car and noticed that it was still back to blowing cold while parked with the temp set at 90 degrees. I took the car back to the dealership that same day for a re-diagnosis. I got the car back the next day from the dealership claiming to have fixed the problem. Well everything was fine until the next moring when I was driving to work when I noticed that it was still doing the same thing. I brought the car back to the dealership again and was told that they had only seen this problem on one other maxima before.
I was informed by the mechanic that their may be air getting into the head gasket causing this problem. They stated that they were replacing my old radiator with a new one ($456). Well when I got the car back eveything was fine until the next moring when I noticed again that I was still experiencing the same problem.
What could be causing this problem because obviously the dealership isn't sure. I do not want to keep pouring money into this car based on dealership assumptions! I have noticed that you can hear water running through the dashboard whenever the climate control system is off. Pleae advise. I do not want to get rid of the car but may have no other choice, I need heat for the winter time!!

 

hate to say this but they are right i allready went through this problem. the dealership fixed mine for free. took all of 15 min. they purged the system. sounds like the dealer doesn't know what they are doing. you can do this at home in your drive way. open your radiator cap part way not all the way. you want air to escape but don't want coolant everywhere. make sure you have extra coolant premixed and standing by. turn car on, wait 1 min for coolant to warm up a bit. turn heater on full and wait till it gets hot. this will work. watch the radiator cap so you don't make a mess. also it will be hot so if it does boil over which it shouldn't don't try and shut it, turn the car off. also when you finally get the air out you will need to top the coolant off which could be alot depending on the size of the air pocket. when you are done file a claim to get your money back will the manager and threaten the bbb on the if they don't refund you. good luck hope this helps.

 

Sounds like the classic air in the heater core issue that the 6th gen has. There is a TSB out for it. It's not a terribly complicated procedure, but you do need to know what you're doing in order to fix it right the first time.

CM

 

Good information. Hopefully I want run into that problem.

 

I will do this today. I am having the same problem.

Thanks

 

ya i have none about the fix for some time now just havn't applied it my heat does the same thing but a thought you needed to be on hill or something

 

Thanks for the tip! I actually took the car back to the dealership this morning. They stated to me that they tried the flush and it didn't work and that I was looking into a more serious problem. I showed them this posting about how to fix the problem (along with the TSB). The service tech took my car in so we will see what they come up with. I did let him know however that I was not interested in paying anymore money after paying appx $827 this past week to get this problem fixed with no results.

 

Keep me posted i need to get mine done

 

My car is opposite of what you are saying, the air in my car does not get cold so its going in the shop this week. By the way do you have an extended warranty.

 

i dont know dude, sounds like the dealer is pulling a fast one. What's stated here in this thread might be the issue. air in the system. do it yourself. if that does not work you may have a kink in your line somewhere......

 

yea mine now does the same thing. I took it in several times and they recharged my system. Then after the third time they found that the core behind the passenger's side airbag was bad and cost 1300 to replace. Screw that windows down for me.

 

was my post able to help??

 

Yes it worked for me

 

awesome well someone make this a DIY post and lets keep if for others with this same problem

 

mine is also doin this!!

well it used to make that water fall sound.. now it sounds like there is something stuck (leaf or somethin) stuck in one of the lines...

i preformed the coolant flush today, still the same thing. I noticed that the line that is connected to the a/c is leaking BADD... i already know what the problem is now... just gotta find out how much it would take to fix..

but when it made that waterfall sound (last year) i did that coolant flush and it did not make that sound anymore! and make sure you get the lime green antifreeze/coolant!

 

when i first bought my max it did this. But all i did was top off the coolant and that fixed the issue for me. it wasn't an instant fix for some reason it didn't take effect for 2days (didn't drive it that much)

 

Well here is the latest update on the problem.
I took the car back to the dealership and they stated that I probably have a head gasket problem. They kept the car overnight and topped off coolant level. The next morning it was down slightly less than a cup. They claimed to have ran a pressure test on the head gasket which led them to believe in their diagnosis that the problem "Is most likely due to a leaking head gasket." I am so frustrated with this problem. I was informed by some that it may be the heater core.
I paid all of this money to fix the problem and I am still experiencing the same thing. Before I left the car with the dealership, I showed them the TSB, along with a copy of blogs explaining how to fix the problem. I informed them that I was not going to spend anymore money on a hypothesis. I plan on trying the posted blog fix this week. I am so frustrated over this. If anyone knows anymore about this please advise!

 

if the coolant level was low, you have a leak- and youll be able to find it. even if the headgasket was leaking, the coolant will be in the oil. (ie- youll know where it went)


trade the car in.

 

a head gasket leak of that magnitude would cause white smoke coming out of the tailpipe, and milky color in the oil. unless you have both of these symptoms there is not a head gasket leak. trust me when i say this because my expedition was losing about the same amount they claim you are. did you do what i recommended, or did you have the dealer do it? i ask this because if you came to my shop with instructions on how i should do my job, i would also try and milk you for all i could, especially now with the economy the way it is and the amount of work dealers are losing.

 

I also have the heating issue in my 04 maxima. Im not sure if it is the head gasket but when the car is at idle white smoke is not noticable ( sometimes it is but it is due to the cold weather we have been having in chicago). I did notice white smoke coming out when I put the gas pedal to the floor, when it is not cold out. I have to check the oil now to make sure it is not milky in color.

 

Ok for the guys who are experiencing this your problem is obviously air trapped inside the cooling system. Can the guys experiencing this tell me when/why this started happening, like what did you have done recently and how soon after did this all start happening.

Nissan actually makes us use a special suction bleeder that puts the cooling system into a vacuum using shop compressed air, this will suck almost all the air out of the cooling system (think of sucking all the air out of a 2 liter of soda with your lips). Then we flip a lever and let the vacuum from the cooling system suck in new coolant from a large tank we have rollin around. Then, we use a funnel that slips onto the radiator cap neck and we pour coolant into the funnel until its halfway full. Then i allow the engine to run for like 15-20 mins with the heater on and sometimes i revv the engine for a minute or two and you can see air bubbles bleed out the funnel and the coolant just fills in those air pockets. Then once your done, remove the funnel, install the cap and topp off the coolant resevoir a little past the max mark so that when the engine cools down it will suck down a little of that extra coolant from the tank if there is any more air trapped.

If the dealer did in fact do this, then you must have a leak somewhere. Air is physically making its way into your cooling system. You'll need to find the leak. It could be the headgasket, maybe. Change the oil and carefully observe the oil draining out. If in fact you have coolant getting into your oil, you should be able to see coolant drain out the oil pan first, then after a few seconds oil will begin to drain out, since oil sits ontop of water.

Here's a video of the funnel you can use to bleed all the air trapped from your system. It also helps to jack up the front of the car wayy up so the funnel is the highest point and revving the engine to 4k from idle a few times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dwM5...layer_embedded

Here's a better video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kplCNrR2juw

 

i made a thread abt this couple weeks ago. i had the running water sound on my passenger side... i was gunna do the coolant flush but a mechanic @ pepboys said i dont gotta do all of that i jus gotta open the radiator cap... fill radiator up and resevoir tank 2 max... start the car & as others said turn the heat on... left it open for few mins to get any bubbles out & if u see it start 2 overflow then just cap it... it took me2 times 2 do this as after the 1st time... the next day the resevoir tank went back down so i did it again & all was good after... this happened couple weeks after i put in the intake... duno if thta had anyting to do with it... as for you payin $ to the dealer ... i would definately demand a refund as you paid for something that wasnt even fixed... just try what the others and i said and it hopefully would solve your prob... get your money back!!!