coolant leaking in to engine oil

[Bennett Hodgins]

I have a 2004 nissan frontier 3.3l v6 XE model No super charger. my coolant is mixing with my engine oil it is not super bad yet. i just caught it today. is there any fix in a bottle that i could try. or is my only option take it to the dealer and pay $2000 for them to replace the HG.

Topic

[matt stark]

They sell headgasket sealer on amazon, or at walmart! Im sure parts stores have them, around 80 bucks for a bottle though!

[Frank Heiser]

Risky using that kind of stuff, easy to clog up your heater core. And they don’t cost 80 bucks, the stuff I used was under 10. I don’t remember exactly what I used but is was Bar’s Leaks brand, I think it had copper in it. My S10 had a blown head gasket that I replaced but I couldn’t afford to have the head machined so I still had a slight leak with the new gasket. This stuff took a while (had to run the engine about an hour) but it did the trick for me.

[Bennett Hodgins]

really so do you think it is even worth fixing the HG or should i just try a fix in a bottle?

i guess the right thing to do would be to just pay the $2000 and have it done right!

[micah]

I wouldnt use the stuff in a bottle, i used it, and here is what happened:

Clogged my heater core
water pump damaged
Thermostat Damaged
had to flush the block and radiator 3 times and there is still some in there

Even if its a small leak, (even before the point its actually a problem) most of the time all it does it waste money and cost you more in the long run.

when i pulled the heads the Sealant had filled the holes in the head(for coolant flow), preventing coolant flow.

i spent an additional 5 hours and $150 than i needed to and still had to do the repair, if the metal shavings that are in that “bottle fix” get into your oil, then into your bearings…you have even more problems.

If it starts leaking into your cylinder, then the shavings start eating up your cylinder walls and so on.

so be careful what you choose, to each his own. but i have had my experience, and i would rather walk then put any type of product like that in any of my engines again.

Good luck!

[Bennett Hodgins]

Ok Thank you I differently z don’t want more problems guess it will have to be a dealer fix

[micah]

no problem and good luck!

i just wish i would have listened to the people who told me what im telling you…. 🙂

[Mike]

Lets back up here for a minute, benichi. How do you know that it’s engine oil mixing with the coolant and how do you know the headgasket is the failure point? I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I’m just going to put it out here that the frontier/pathfinder/xterra family of vehicles has a know problem with the radiator failing in such a way that the auto trans cooler within the radiator will leak internally and cross-contaminate both the coolant and ATF with each other. It’s one of the first things I look at when looking over one of those trucks and it’s far more likely than a headgasket failure, which I’ve not personally seen or heard of (not that I’m a Nissan specialist).

[Rob Jorgensen]

What Fopeano said. While it might not be a widespread issue, it is not uncommon and happens on various makes of vehicles. The problem appears to be caused by galvanic corrosion of the Belleville washers where the transmission fluid lines attach to the radiator.

[Author]

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