Blackstone Labs Called = Coolant Leak

[Lurch]

Sent in my UO for analysis last week. They say I have a coolant leak but she thought it was good that I changed the oil before it got too gunked up with coolant (oil had about 2500 miles on it when I changed it). She said it may be OK if I changed my oil at 2500 miles or so - head gasket may never fail at all, like what happened to their vehicle..

I'm kind of sorry to get this news and not sure what to do about it, if anything. What would you do?

 

[Burt]

If I had two cars, I would use the other car more and baby this one. If this is my only car and I drive it a lot, time to get another car.

 

[Lurch]

I don't drive it a lot - only about 3 or 4k miles a year. It runs real good.

It's either I replace the head gasket or leave it be and run it the way it is, and change the oil at 2.5k or so.

 

[2003f7]

My Jeep(a beater) is lousing antifreeze and gaining milkshake colored oil. I just change it more often. I hope it makes it till spring.It only is used for very short trips less than 2 miles.

 

[ATS-V]

You might want to try the GM seal tabs. I've also heard mixed reviews on "Blue Devil", but I have to experience with it.

 

[Burt]

I had two fords in the 80's that had suspected head gasket leaks. On one, the temperature gauge would suddenly swing up to hot in 5 seconds time and then drop back. This made me nervous, but I kept it for probably 10k miles before trading it in for peanuts. The other had a slow coolant leak and the head gasket leak probably was the cause of radiator corrosion, but I probably went another 25k miles on it and the taurus was good at 112k except it was rusty ugly and I got tired of pouring money into the AC. So my experience would say don't panic. Just watch for coolant contamination.

 

[addyguy]

Sentra 1.8's are known head-gasket eaters. No way around this one except to replace the gasket. It will slowly get worse, until it does in the engine. - it all depends on how bad the HG leak is.

If you are determined to run the engine w/o fixing it, then you need to run an oil robust enough to deal with the contamination. A good option is a HDEO 10W-30 like Rotella. Change it twice a year, and you should be okay.

Gary allan had some experience nursing a clients Lumina along with an IM gasket leak - it seemed to work well. His UOA's are posted that section - search 'Lumina' and 'Gary Allen'.

 

[Spector]

Looking a big bucks to replace a head gasket on a V6 especially. If not critical and a beater just run it. i have a head gasket leak but mine is oil, been like that for over 5 years now but just not worth getting it repaired, cost would be min 1,000 but could be as high as 1800+. A rebuilt is 2500

 

[DieselTech]

I would work on getting the gasket replaced ASAP. the car is an 03 with sounds like low milage and lots of life left in it. Bearing don't like any part of Coolant. For the longhaul of the car get it fixed

 

[benjamming]

What was the % coolant?
I assume this is in your Sentra with PP 5W30? If so, it's a 4 cylinder.
Sorry to hear, but this is one reason to perform UOAs - catch here before damage is too severe b/c damage has already been done & will continue until you fix it.

To add to addguy's post (sorry for the pun), you might also try propylene glycol antifreeze instead of EG antifreeze. In regards to running an oil robust enough to deal with the coolant, one doesn't really exist but rather a more robust oil than what you may be currently using such as HDEO.

But note that all of this is like using a straw to drain a lake. You need to replace the head gasket. Doing anything this weekend? Any other work that that you have been putting off due to difficulty/time? This would be a good time to combine all at the same time & take the plunge.

 

[Lurch]

I don't have the ability to tackle changing my HG. I was wondering about how Blue Devil might work. Sells for $65 but it's got a money back guarantee.

Here's the results of the UOA. I'll also post it at the UOA section. thanks for replying.

 

[mechanicx]

What I don't like about their analysis, and I think I mentioned it before, is they have a line for % of antifreeze and they put a question mark there when they say there is signs of coolant in oil. Can they calculate the percent or not? I also wonder how it could be that you'd have an active coolant leak in the oil and 0% water? Maybe it's a slow leak and your oil was hot before the sample, I don't know. It's just coolant in oil is a very important thing to know in an oil analysis and this seems not very precise.

Anyway, do you have any signs of a coolant leak? Is coolant level dropping at all? Any milky appearance on the oil filler cap or on the dipstick? It does look like you have a coolant leak or some issue with the oil.

 

[demarpaint]

If you plan on keeping the car then replace the gasket. If you are going to get rid of it or don't want to fix the gasket, try some Bars stop leak or something for bad head gaskets. Also drop down to a 7 psi radiator cap to lower pressure in the system. As others mentioned get a good stout oil and change it more often.

 

[Lurch]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx

Anyway, do you have any signs of a coolant leak? Is coolant level dropping at all? Any milky appearance on the oil filler cap or on the dipstick? It does look like you have a coolant leak or some issue with the oil.


Hi. I know what you mean. I emailed them to ask about the ? mark in the space for % of AF.

Car has few symptoms. Last Summer I thought I smelled AF in the exhaust, and I think I was right, mechanic did not. I also thought I saw what looked like water or AF on the dipstick, but none on the filler cap and oil looks quite normal for the most part.

Level of AF in reservoir went down slightly since 8/3/09 when I had cooling system flushed. It didn't even come down to the *minimum* mark yet, so it's probably a minor leak.

 

[Lurch]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
If you plan on keeping the car then replace the gasket. If you are going to get rid of it or don't want to fix the gasket, try some Bars stop leak or something for bad head gaskets. Also drop down to a 7 psi radiator cap to lower pressure in the system. As others mentioned get a good stout oil and change it more often.


Sounds like good advice. Thank you. Will do.

 

[Cutehumor]

all these 1.8L engines will have a headgasket leak eventually. My dad has had two headgasket leaks in his 03 Sentra 105k. It looks like his headgasket is leaking again. Were nursing it along for now and will trade it in in a year. Bar's leak golden tabs, been there, done that.

 

[Colt45ws]

They are not putting a percent because it is very low.
Im showing it as 0.06% antifreeze.
One of my samples with .46% didnt have any water in it either.

 

[Saturn_Fan]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
all these 1.8L engines will have a headgasket leak eventually. My dad has had two headgasket leaks in his 03 Sentra 105k. It looks like his headgasket is leaking again. Were nursing it along for now and will trade it in in a year. Bar's leak golden tabs, been there, done that.


+1,000

This is why I will never buy a Nissan product again. I went through three HG's in the 2002 Sentra 1.8L engine and now my Mom's 2003 is showing the symptoms (at only 34,000 miles too).

Shotty workmanship. Nissan = never again

 

[EricF]

a buddy of mine swears by Blue Devil, he said it has never failed to not fix a head gasket leak. However, he said to be prepared to change the waterpump shortly thereafter because the Blue Devil will destroy the water pump bearings. But afterwards, it's "bulletproof".

 

[Lurch]

Originally Posted By: EricF
a buddy of mine swears by Blue Devil, he said it has never failed to not fix a head gasket leak. However, he said to be prepared to change the waterpump shortly thereafter because the Blue Devil will destroy the water pump bearings. But afterwards, it's "bulletproof".


Hmmmm. Very interesting. If I can fix it right, I think I'll have a great car. I have a hard time believing Nissans are lemons in general.