Overheating/ everything is starting to go wrong

[Xcaliber34]

Hey I need to figure out my overheating issue. It was leaking oil and coolent a couple of months back and I sucpected and was right, head gasket needed to replaced. I went to nissan who confirmed this sucspesion and was told that it would cost $2200 to replace them. I thought they were mad! Since i didn't have the money I went and tried to fix it and poured some K&W head gasket sealer into the radiatior......It didn't work and in fact I have no heater know and it overheats after driving for about and hour or so. Let me tell you that the other day it was 10 degress out and I had nooo heat. That was the last straw! I found another place that Seemed to be reasonable and I personally thought being a mom and pop shop that worked on Jap cars would charge less than nissan and nope. $3500 to replace them! I told them that was apsolute Bulls#$%! They told me it would be better to replace the engine... ha yeah right! So look I know how things work on this car but my problem is that trying to disassemble the xterras engine is like trying to figure out the mystere of the universe. If i am not mistaken the repair should cost $1600 ish (correct me if I am wrong) I just need to find someone that can help me. I need my x back and if i don't repair it my dads donating it... I would like to know my possible solutions to getting it back on the road. I donn't mind waiting the next two months out with the head gasket blown but I need it to work till school ends. Currently it sits in my garage and hasn't move since any suggestions?

 

[Xcaliber34]

Theirs no water in the oil though which is odd and no stuff on the oil filler cap.... i have the coolent out and plan to flush it do you think that would get my heat back?

 

[bigjim247365]

what Casper said, plus labor hours.

if you want to be sure you arent crossing fluids in your block, at any auto parts stores they sell test strips that turn colors depending on if you fuilds are clean or have crossed.
another thing is to see if you fan clutch burnt out. but its probly more than just that thought.

 

[xterror04]

you lost your heat because you poured head gasket goo in the cooling system and it probably is blocking the heater core... so you might need a new one

 

[Muadeeb]

you lost your heat because you poured head gasket goo in the cooling system and it probably is blocking the heater core... so you might need a new one

^This...

Ask around a few shops, and be upfront about the stop leak. Ask what exactly they will be doing. I've gone as deep as pulling the upper intake off, but that was still a chore, so they may be charging a very fair price for your area.

To be honest, though, look at what happened to your heater core as a sign of what else has happened. Stop leak products advertise themselves as addressing a specific problem, and they can fix that problem. But think about how you administer the fix; you pour a bottle of goo into a system, and let it circulate. That means it goes everywhere the host system flows. It does not pinpoint the problem area, but coats vast areas of the host system, and can leave areas untouched depending on how well the goo disperses and what the 'cure' time is.

You either got a dren ton of goo in the heater core, or its passages were so small that it didn't take much to clog. The same thing occurred inside the entire engine; all the coolant passages are now coated with the smeg. Even if the passages are large enough to not effect the flow, you now have a layer of stuff that will impact the thermal transfer from the engine to the coolant. You have a coated radiator, a water pump with an inefficient impeller, a thermostat that will now have operating issues, a clogged heater core, and impaired thermal transfer in the engine. I would be looking to replace all these components at this point.

Sent via wild ferrets on crack

 

[TKDx00]

Time to face facts my friend. At this point unless you have the time and patience to break down the engine, clean and/or replace the parts... it's either donation time or replace the engine and possibly the heater core.

The problem with quick fix products in this case a "sealer" is that it doesn't care where the exact problem is, it's job is to "SEAL" and that's just what it did. $2200 would seem kinda high estimate, but to get one that was $3500 would tell me it's a job and don't expect someone to say $1500 unless they were not going to do the job correctly.

A hard choice is at hand. I say keep it and fix it yourself...but then again I'm a lil different than most. I love to work on stuff like this. Research your options and make an educated decision that you can live with..... Good Luck.

 

[Xcaliber34]

I opened up the thermostate but the weird thing was, all the coolent was very clean as in the stuff i poured in the engine didn't make it inside. I had the thermostate replaced before the the heat went and i think that has something to do with it

 

[snoborderphx]

The Radiator is a pressurized system; if you are losing pressure in the system (i.e. a leak) this will cause overheating while driving. The least expensive culprit is the Radiator cap, then the Radiator. If you are overheating while idling, the T-Stat is bad and needs to be replaced.

With that being said, a milkshake should be expected if there was a headgasket leak. Coolant and Oil make a milkshake that brings all the boys to the yard... This would happen no matter what; there would be evidence in the coolant and oil that the other was present. Test strips would be a good start for this situation.

Putting sealant in the system is not that bad of an idea, but it is not intended for a long term fix. I would recommend flushing the coolant system and changing the oil. Keeping a sample of both (but separate). After FLUSHING the coolant system, make sure to run it to warm, then "burp" the system by taking the radiator cap off after it cools back down. There could be an air bubble in the heater core preventing the warm coolant from circulating.

~Sn0