# 96 Altima head gasket/head/heat damage problem?



## 96AltimaOwner (Aug 20, 2004)

I just had my radiator changed as it had a long slash type hole in it. The 1996 Altima was driven on a few short trips with towards the end of each trip a large amount of steam developing, steam I had believed was the cause of the radiator hose not being tightened enough from when I removed it to replace the alternator. Additionally I have reason to believe that despite initially after the installation, and on the other occasions the water added to the radiator was not of sufficient quantity. I didn't notice the hole in the radiator until after my last trip, nor the severity of the problem.

The problems that resulted are most probably the cause of my stupidity and negligence, and not the car's approx 88000 miles. At least for the most part.

A mechanic changed the radiator for me, and afterwards told me that I had a blown head gasket and heat damage. Damage requiring the need to replace the gasket as well as to purchase and install a new "head" for the engine. He quoted a friend's deal whom he called on the spot to be 300$ for the labor which would take 2 days, as well as 120$ for the gasket and 220$ for a refurbished head with 6 month warranty on parts. Is this amount of time and cost of labor realistic with the job of changing the head? 

He demonstrated the problem to me by merely turning my vehicle on without the radiator cap on, and hood open. Water forcibly splashed upward explosively out of the new radiator's top hole.

I read through this site a bit before posting this. I noticed another post "Do I have a blown head gasket?" (regarding a 94 altima) and the answers / comments in posts attached to it. Two of the replies to that initial post instructed to take the radiator cap off and to smell for combustion fumes / hydrocarbons, and to look for bubbles, etc.

Considering that the water is literally exploding out of the radiator service hole, that advice for diagnosis wouldn't appear to be of value. Perhaps I have a different twist of the problem, I have no idea.

After changing the alternator and driving the vehicle for 3 days to and from work, the engine started every time but once. (which I followed by pushstarting successfully) Interesting to note however was the fact that it started quite sluggishly. The vehicle has never started sluggishly except on the occasions when there was a problem with the battery or the alternator. I thought perhaps the battery didn't charge enough after it got drained from the alternator problem but I am unsure. I had driven around purposely for long periods of time to charge the battery again after I had changed the alternator. Additionally once the car steamed up and the engine was at idle, it would stall, I had thought it was because of the water vapor under the hood entering the air intake and stalling the vehicle.

If it would help, for information's sake the hole on the radiator was hortizonal on the "back" of the top part of the radiator, facing towards the end of the vehicle, approximately 1 inch from the top of the radiator body. (excluding the cap) Additionally on my last drive with the car, the pressure of air through the fan was minimized. I noticed this as I turned the heater on full blast and noticed much less air moving than normal (approximately 1/3 that of normal), as well as the air having ZERO heat in it, despite the car being on long enough to expect full heat via the heater fan.

I have learned some lessons the hard way, as I have been saving money for weeks to deal with this problem. Losing my transportation in such a manner has truly been a wake up call on my future mindset of responsible upkeep on my vehicle.

Any and all input is greatly appreciated from fellow users of this site. Although I am very serious and ready to do what is necessary to fix this problem, I hope to learn something before committing a large amount of money to resolve it. Any information and/or insight that any of you can share with me in order to educate me and help avoid a possible scam by a mechanic would be helpful. (The mechanic who looked at my vehicle, changed the radiator, and gave his diagnosis of the problem is a neighbor of a friend that drove to do the radiator work in my garage. For the most part my friend was required to translate as my 3 years studying the language at hand wasn't enough. Although I have no reason yet not to trust him, I have no real track record / reason to trust him either.)

Thank you in advance

Matt


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