'03 FX35 over heating...

In addition to my fx35, I have a 2003 Murano. It has the water swishing sound coming what seems like in the dash of the passenger side. I have experienced a loss of coolant too, but it is random. I have gone a few weeks at a time without any noticable loss of coolant, then over a few days, I will lose a bunch. I took it on a 600 mile trip, and it didn't lose coolant. Luckily the Murano hasn't overheated. So does it sound like I need a new head gasket? If I am not losing any coolant now, is it safe to keep driving it?
By the way i got the system pressure tested and there was no leaks that they could find.
 
if you read this whole thread you might want to take it to the dealership and get everything checked out! before it gets worse
 
The last straw...

noodlelegs said:
In addition to my fx35, I have a 2003 Murano. It has the water swishing sound coming what seems like in the dash of the passenger side. I have experienced a loss of coolant too, but it is random. I have gone a few weeks at a time without any noticable loss of coolant, then over a few days, I will lose a bunch. I took it on a 600 mile trip, and it didn't lose coolant. Luckily the Murano hasn't overheated. So does it sound like I need a new head gasket? If I am not losing any coolant now, is it safe to keep driving it?
By the way i got the system pressure tested and there was no leaks that they could find.
Click to expand...


Noodlelegs,
The dealership will pressure test the system and it will always pass. They will do a flush, which will cost you a couple hundred bucks. ITS ALL CRAP!!! Apparently Infiniti is telling me that the head gaskets can develop pin hole leaks that leak exhaust into the cooling system and force coolant out of the system. This is an intermittent problem. hey will give you a song and dance about not finding coolant in the oil, so you are ok. This is not always the case. You are not always going to have that sign. These are design flaws in the Head gasket that leak under specific tempatures and pressure. You will have to press the deler to really look hard at this issue. They only looked at mine because they replaced the thermostat and radiator and the FX kept over heating.

I had them look at the "wooshing" sound many times (while under warrenty) and they always said nothing was wrong. It was not until my FX over heated that we knew something serious was wrong. Unfortunatly, it was to late because I was 78k. I had to basically stand in the middle of the dealership and call everyone A-holes to get them to understand that I was not paying for this crap. After many calls to Infiniti consumer relations people they are now reevaluating my situation. Whatever that means.

They have had my FX for a month and a half now. Took them four weeks to figure out it was the head gasket. They are telling me it cost 2500+ to fix BTW. They want me to pay half!!! It will be a cold day in hell before that happens.

MTF-
 
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Wow, $2500 is a lot of money. I found a head gasket on ebay for less than $100 (I can't post the link because I don't have enough posts, but look up ebay item # 250277385449).
Is that the type of head gasket that you would need to get replaced? Maybe it is the labor that is really expensive.
 
Yup, good 'ol labor. They have to take the whole engine apart. So I am told. At the dealerships rate, it will take them a week to actually do it. It will probly blow a head gasket in 10k. From what I am told, once you change a head gasket the engine is pretty much a gimp from here on out. We'll see.
 
Rubare said:
I guess is a Virginia deseace when it come to bad Infiniti dealership in VA. I take my car to the one I. Tyson's corner not the best one out there customer service is poor. People don't know what they are doing. They call me and tell me I have to pay 1000s of dollars for whatever is it that need to be fixed.. I asked the guys really? Last time i check my car was still under drivetrain warranty. The guy told me, oh! Let me check.... !!!!!! Are you freaking serious shouldn't you check and do your homework before you call the custo er and start asking for money..?? Very disappointed on the services of Infiniti dealerships in VA. Plus in order to get the work done right I have to explain by detail was wrong with it cause their techs keep saying that the car has nothing wrong. I've learned so much about my FX due to the fact that I just gotten used to do my homework before I take it to the delearship..

Thank you IS.. Most of the time I get all my info from here so I can teach the techs at the dealership.

---------- Post added at 10:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:17 AM ----------

I think members here in IS that have experience bad customer service in VA by the Infiniti dealership should make. List and try to report them..
Click to expand...

really? i take both of my FX's to Tyson's and they seem to do fine with me.
 
Never Again...

Just so everyone knows... If your FX has problems under warranty and Infiniti tries to fix the issue but does not (ie: replace the thermostat and not the head gasket), they will not pay for the fix when you are outside of the power train warranty.

Infiniti Consumer Rep told me that they "could not participate" because the dealer told them that the car was not "overheating" when I brought it in under warranty. Although the car displayed all the signs of a head gasket leak, they were unable to properly diagnose. This apparently is not their fault. Its mine, according to Infiniti.

Well, it looks like my time with the FX and G35 has some to an end. When its time for a new car, I will not be buying another Infiniti or Nissan. Love the cars, but they don’t know how to fix them when something goes wrong. Like I mentioned before, it always seems like the Infiniti of Chantilly dealership can never fix anything right the first time (giant stack of yellow slips to prove it) and now I am paying the price! If I wanted this kind of service I could have bought a GM.

Bye-Bye Infiniti hello Lexus or BMW or Cadillac...

PS: they pulled the engine today to get at the heads. I wonder what else they will find?
 
Good info on head gaskets:

Head Gaskets and Intake Manifold Gaskets
All internal combustion engines have an engine block and one or two cylinder heads. The mating surfaces where the block and head meet are machined flat for a close, precision fit, but no amount of careful machining will allow them to be completely water tight or be able to hold back combustion gases from escaping past the mating surfaces.
In order to seal the block to the heads, we use a head gasket. The head gasket has several things it needs to seal against. The main thing is the combustion pressure on each cylinder. Oil and coolant must easily flow between block and head and it is the job of the head gasket to keep these fluids from leaking out or into the combustion chamber, or each other for that matter.
A typical head gasket is usually made of soft sheet metal that is stamped with ridges that surround all leak points. When the head is placed on the block, the head gasket is sandwiched between them. Many bolts, called head bolts are screwed in and tightened down causing the head gasket to crush and form a tight seal between the block and head.
head_gasket.gifHead gaskets usually fail if the engine overheats for a sustained period of time causing the cylinder head to warp and release pressure on the head gasket. This is most common on engines with cast aluminum heads, which are now on just about all modern engines.
Once coolant or combustion gases leak past the head gasket, the gasket material is usually damaged to a point where it will no longer hold the seal. This causes leaks in several possible areas. For example:
a) Combustion gases could leak into the coolant passages causing excessive pressure in the cooling system.
b) Coolant could leak into the combustion chamber causing coolant to escape through the exhaust system, often causing a white cloud of smoke at the tailpipe.
c) Other problems such as oil mixing with the coolant or being burned out the exhaust are also possible.
Some engines are more susceptible to head gasket failure than others. I have seen blown head gaskets on engines that just started to overheat and were running hot for less than 5 minutes. The best advice I can give is, if the engine shows signs of overheating, find a place to pull over and shut the engine off as quickly as possible.
Head gaskets themselves are relatively cheap, but it is the labor that's the killer. A typical head gasket replacement is a several hour job where the top part of the engine must be completely disassembled. These jobs can easily reach $1,000 or more.
On V type engines, there are two heads, meaning two head gaskets. While the labor won't double if both head gaskets need to be replaced, it will probably add a good 30% more labor to replace both. If only one head gasket has failed, it is usually not necessary to replace both, but it could be added insurance to get them both done at once.
A head gasket replacement begins with the diagnosis that the head gasket has failed. There is no way for a technician to know for certain whether there is additional damage to the cylinder head or other components without first disassembling the engine. All he or she knows is that fluid and/or combustion is not being contained.
One way to tell if a head gasket has failed is through a combustion leak test on the radiator. This is a chemical test that determines if there are combustion gases in the engine coolant. Another way is to remove the spark plugs and crank the engine while watching for water spray from one or more spark plug holes. Once the technician has determined that a head gasket must be replaced, an estimate is given for parts and labor. The technician will then explain that there may be additional charges after the engine is opened if more damage is found.



source: http://www.al-jazirah.com.sa/cars/topics/cooling_systems.htm
 

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That is what they used to find it. I just wished they had used that device 20k miles ago. I would not be shelling out a big chunk of cash. They have been working on the FX since Wed. They have not finished the disassemble yet. Who know how long this will take. The Service Manager told me this is the first head gasket they have fixed. WAY TO INSTILL CONFIDENCE!!!

Lazy techs...

It just really sucks because I really do like the cars Infiniti makes. Oh well...
 
...help... any suggestions?

DAMN...

Similar thing as original post happened to me the other night while driving home. Luckily I was near the condo already... notice my temp gauge was right at the line and I could hear the fans working really loud. Pulled over popped the hood and saw the coolant reservoir all the way to the top (checked all fluids 2 days prior and everything was at normal level), saw coolant spilled to the engine ?floor?... I’m actually having it towed to Cheryl @ metro as I’m typing this to see if they can figure out what’s going on.... I’m hoping it’s nothing major or as bad as the OP... Aside from thermostat... anything iS suggest I should ask them to look at? this sucks... such bad timing...
 
Hopefully for you, it's only a problem with the thermostat. I had the same issue and after a week of diagnosing the problem, the dealer concluded it was either a small leak in the head gasket or hairline crack somewhere in the block. I ended up just replacing the motor with a built block cuz I am eventually going to run boost.

I wish you luck bro!
 
update on my murano. 80k miles now. after numerous trips to the nissan dealer to try to correct my coolant problems (and a shaky car on cold start problem) they finally found the problem. i think coolant was leaking into a cylinder, and it caused a p0303 code. i told them specifically how to check the cylinder after reading about it online, and sure enough, my head gaskets are blown and they quoted $3k to fix.
is my car ruined now? it overheated at least once during all of this. needless to say i am furious and might flip out.
 
1. Air/Water wooshing sound in dash.
2. Overflow of coolant
3. Loss of heat in winter due to air in the system.

i have read through this whole post & i have all 3 issues above on random, just recently i had my coolant refilled & within a few days i was idleing in a drive-in, i could see my engine hot-cold meter shoot to the H-line, then when i started driving it went back to the middle.....my fx has 117K miles owned since 26miles, this will be my first Major problem it seems, after reading the whole post i do not know what to tell dealer so i dont have the run around...? insight....
 
FX OG said:
1. Air/Water wooshing sound in dash.
2. Overflow of coolant
3. Loss of heat in winter due to air in the system.

i have read through this whole post & i have all 3 issues above on random, just recently i had my coolant refilled & within a few days i was idleing in a drive-in, i could see my engine hot-cold meter shoot to the H-line, then when i started driving it went back to the middle.....my fx has 117K miles owned since 26miles, this will be my first Major problem it seems, after reading the whole post i do not know what to tell dealer so i dont have the run around...? insight....
Click to expand...

I ended up paying Nissan $3000 to fix my blown gaskets. My Murano is running great now. Right before I got the gaskets fixed I got a second opinion from a local mechanic, and he said he could replace my entire engine with an engine from a wrecked murano for about $2500 total. Since your fx has such high miles, maybe you could look into something like that.
 
noodlelegs said:
I ended up paying Nissan $3000 to fix my blown gaskets. My Murano is running great now. Right before I got the gaskets fixed I got a second opinion from a local mechanic, and he said he could replace my entire engine with an engine from a wrecked murano for about $2500 total. Since your fx has such high miles, maybe you could look into something like that.
Click to expand...


hold up, so thats my 2 options....my gaskets are blown based on those 3 issues,which happened i guess due to high miles & now i can pay dealer $3k, or buy new engine????
there has to be another route.....

how much do gaskets cost....?
is labor really like over 2k?
-this is overwelming...

-just went through all my sevice receipts since 08/2003, i have spent $7,000 at the dealer to get it to 117k, not including tires....$3000 is a huge blow & the idea of even replacing engine is just mind fk.
 
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