2005 Nissan Altima Head Gasket Going bad?

[Professor Griff]

Originally Posted by chandrez

I have a Nissan Altima 2.5 Liter 4 Cylinder.
-2 years ago I had my crank sensor replaced

-Almost a year ago my Check engine light came on, didnt see any problems they told me i had a misfire on cylinder 3 so I needed a tuen up so i got it.

-Car ran fine for about two months, then check engine light came on again, they said it was a misfire on cylinder 2, and they said that it was my Fuel Coils. Had those replaced
-
Car drove FINE for a few more weeks, Check engine light came on again, But still it wasn't acting funny, just light was on. SO i waited 2 days, to take it in but when I did, the car didnt want to start. It would crank,shake hard, then die. It would eventually start after about 5 or 6 tries and RUN perfectly smooth. But the check engine light would go off, and it stayed off for about 1 month, no problems

- Check engine light came on again finally and every few days it acted like it didnt want to start. So i took it to the shop, they told me my battery was very low, and one of my fuel coils was loose. So they fixed all that, new battery, car drove fine for ONE day. THen check engine light came BACK on with a P030 code.

-Went BACK to the shop, they said i had a bad spark plug they replaced that. Car ran fine for about 5 hours, then check engine light came back on and it went back to acting like it didnt want to turn over, but of course ran perfectly fine once it started.

-SO now I'm not sure what hte problem is, Someone said change the crank and cam sensors, and also someone sead it could be my headgasket leaking coolant on the engine.

I would check or change the oil and see what condition it's in. If it's milky, that's a sign of headgasket failure (coolant leaking and mixing with oil). I don't know about those newer engines, but the older 2.4 L engines used to eat intake manifold gaskets and it would trip a couple of codes (like the knock sensor) and make the engine run rough. So, it could aslo be a vacuum leak.

[amdkt7]

Jumping to the head gasket seems a bit far fetched. If spark plugs are getting fouled and the deposits on them indicate coolant then yes, but it seems that no troubleshooting is going on here. The battery is probably low from all the trouble starting it.

There are worse ways to blow money then taking a car to someone who does not know how to troubleshoot beyond guessing and throwing parts at it..... but it is still a huge waste. Just about everything on a car can be tested, rather then by simply replacing the part to see it that fixes it. Granted, somethings are cheaper to replace then they are to test. Sadly, most mechanics do not know how to test parts before replacing.

[wheelsup]

Go to the dealer for sure. I believe you wrote the code incorrectly, it should be a P0300 which is a generic non-OEM specific code for random misfire.

Here are some reasons for it happening:

• Faulty spark plug (s)
• Faulty ignition coil (s)
• Clogged or faulty fuel injector (s)
• Intake air leak
• Fuel injectors harness is open or shorted
• Fuel Injectors circuit poor electrical connection
• Ignition coils harness is open or shorted
• Ignition coils circuit poor electrical connection
• Insufficient cylinders compression
• Incorrect fuel pressure

You need a shop with the correct equipment (ie a scope) to test components. This is a big pet peeve of mine. TEST AND CONFIRM a part is bad before replacing.

A headgasket I suppose could cause some of your symptoms but can rule that (for the most part) out with a simple compression and leakdown test. I wouldn't go there yet though, start simple work your way up.

[Chriscook5636]

It's a common issue I had these same issues and after fixing and replacing sensors coils plugs and more I still had the same problem so one day I let the car sit all night and went out the next morning and pulled the plugs and looked down in the plug holes with a led light and what do you know cylinder 3 was full of coolant. So to fix the issue with rough starts and short rough idle buy a stant thermostat with pressure release lever and release pressure everytime you park the car. This relieves the pressure and stops the coolant seep at least long enough to save a few checks to fix it.

[Don in Austin]

Take the car to another shop. In order not to have a repeat of what has been going on you and the shop need to have an understanding: you want the problem properly identified, you WILL leave the car with them long enough for them to get to the root of this intermittent problem and long enough for them to test drive the car after their fix and confirm the fix.

So many times someone brings a car to my shop with troublesome intermittent problems that another shop has failed to properly identify and fix and says, "Oh, and I need it back by 3:00 to go pick up my kids." At that point I offer to void the repair order no charge.

Don in Austin

[CCc girl]

Um, get the code read for free at an Auto Zone type place and then Google it.

They didn't tell you specifically what the code was, they just threw parts at it. Bad shop, go elsewhere.

[C8N]

I would pull out the spark plugs and examine them.... and check to see if they are OEM.
From my understanding, certain makes don't do too well with aftermarket spark plugs (ie Honda) and can cause all sorts of problems. Changing them back to OEM could possibly be a simple fix.

[need4speed2012]

Take to someone that knows what they are doing instead of just guessing and you just wasting money !!!

[Scorpion61604]

When I start my 95 nissan altima the motor races like someone is pushing gas to the floor I changed distributor and no change. But when I was changing the distributor I cracked the wiring harness that plugs into the camshaft position sensor. Would that cause the motor to race or is something else wrong