# Blown head gasket? X-trail



## Minidee (Oct 2, 2012)

Hi all

Firstly - apologies - I am not the most mechanically-minded of people, so I apologist upfront if this sounds somewhat vague... I have a 2002 X-trail that had been having some serious issues. My way of background the car started overheating and having taking it to the mechanics was advised that the car needed a new radiator. Got this replaced, and also told car needed the manifold gasket replaced (it sounded like a truck), got this replaced then told that in doing so, the exhaust had cracked under the pressure so needed to get that fixed which would *definitely* stop the truck sound... (Think i got shafted here - - surely an exhaust wouldn't crack under the pressure if something working the way it was always intended to do (+ they had previously diagnosed the crack in the exhaust 6 months earlier but told me if was fine when I initially reminded them about it). In any case, that was early August and noticed a couple of weeks after that the car starting overheating again. We diagnosed the issue as being a massive crack in the overflow tank, which the mechanics failed to have notice (yep - they were dodge). This was then followed by the car having issues starting - it sounded like it wasn't firing properly, and we would have to pull the sparkplugs out and clean them to get started it again (the car would start rough, but has done so for a longtime - dodgy mechanics told me this was normal). This no longer works... We took the car to a different mechanic who in turned sent it off to a auto-electrician who diagnosed it possibly the cam positioning sensor, got this replaced and still no joy . Finally taken to dealer who said the head gasket is blown, which has caused damage to the block so I need a new engine at a sweet cost of $6500 ... I have already spent $1700 on the car in the past 2 months and ended with a car that is worse of than when it first started so if course I very reluctant to spend more money on another 'solution'. All the literature I've read says that the symptoms if a blown head gasket are pretty obvious, so my question is: us it at all possible that 3 different mechanics would not have picked this up (I.e - can the symptoms present themselves in other non-obvious ways) and what test should the second mechanic have checked before he replaced the positioning sensor. He did say that the car initially started on 3 cylinders, there was excessive fuel in the spark plug chambers + he had compression tested but surely this would have reported an error? Secondly, what checks would Nissan have done to come this conclusion and is there anything I can check myself? Also, does $6500 sound excessive for a new engine or is this about right? Is this the best solution or should I just cut my losses and go sit in a corner and cry? Any advice, suggestions you can give would be great


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## chuckster57 (Oct 2, 2012)

Compression tests won't always show a failed head gasket. And I don't know ANYBODY that can diagnose a major engine block failure without some serious equipment and teardown. 

If they did a combustion gas in the coolant test, that will help diagnosing a failure, but as far as saying there is a crack in the block or head, you would need a bore scope, some good eyes and an obvious crack. 

Do I think you were taken advantage of? YES, but at this point you have to decide just how much more $$ your willing to spend. For what it's worth I think the price for a new engine is excessive. 


Answered on my iPhone.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

It looks like you've been exposed to a lot of mixed diagnosis and expensive fixes by guesswork. $6500 for a new engine is probably a list price from a Nissan dealer. You can buy a re-manufactured engine for around $2700.

The best place to start with a diagnosis is as follows:

- Perform an ECU code readout for any fault codes that may be set. This will help diagnose the rough starting. Whoever does the readout, obtain the actual DTC code, like for example: P0300 which is a Multiple cylinder misfire detected.

- Perform a compression test on all cylinders. Obtain the actual readings. If you find a very weak cylinder, the head gasket could be blown at that cylinder. Follow that up with a leakdown test to determine the failing component. Also perform a coolant system pressure test; the pressure should hold steady for some period of time.

- The overheating could be caused by a bad water pump or a bad thermostat.

Post all DTC codes and compression readings here so that maybe we can help you figure the problem out.


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## Minidee (Oct 2, 2012)

A joke for you all: 

A girl walks into a Nissan service centre asks them to tell her what's wrong with her car, they say it's f* needs a engine will cost $6500. 

She thinks they say $6500 for a **new** engine, they say no '$6500 for a **second-hand** engine... but don't worry you get six months warranty for that sort of money' 

Thank you, Nissan, how very generous of you!

******************************************************
Anyway, here is a progress update: I called up the Head-Office of the first mechanics and surprisingly they offered to have the car looked at by another arm of the company that specialises in this sort of thing. While I realise that this sounds like I am going in circles, I really don't have many options available right now, so will just keep fingers crossed that these guys aren't as dodge as the last ones. 

With regards to some of the comments:

_And I don't know ANYBODY that can diagnose a major engine block failure without some serious equipment and teardown. _ - That is what I thought - Nissan had the car for a whole of 2 seconds before they called. The new mechanics are of the same opinion, so hopefully that's a good sign of their competence.

_Do I think you were taken advantage of? YES, but at this point you have to decide just how much more $$ your willing to spend_ - Haha, I think it's pretty clear that I've been shafted big time! But $$ and patience is running out. Fast.


'_Perform an ECU code readout for any fault codes that may be set_' - apparently the computer reported no errors, which is why the second mechanic and the auto-electrician were stumped. I pressume, however that the new mechanics will check again so I'll post any errors.

'_Perform a compression test on all cylinders. Obtain the actual readings_.' - this was done too by the second mechanic, but again, no errors were reported - again, I'll post any findings from this latest round of tests.

_Also perform a coolant system pressure test; the pressure should hold steady for some period of time_ - can confirm that this was def done and everything was fine.

_The overheating could be caused by a bad water pump_ - yes, I have come to this conclusion too. Even though the overflow tank has a great big crack in it, we sealed this up and the last time the car over-heated the coolant hadn't dropped in level.

_Post all DTC codes and compression readings here so that maybe we can help you figure the problem out._ - thank you for the offer, will def provide a report.

Oh, a couple of things that I prob should have mentioned:


Not sure if it's assumed, but just to clarify: on those rare occassions we have been able to get the car started, it seems to run fine (except for the over-heating thing)
It has just clicked 200kms
We checked the oil just prior to taking it to Nissan and it didn't seem milky at all.

Thanks again!


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