I'm wondering if anyone has been having the issue of smelling antifreeze in their Murano? It's not real strong and isn't constant, but it is there. There have been some posts about it, but no real conclusions. I don't want to wind up with engine failure down the road. Thanks for any info.

Doug
2009 LE AWD

That is strange, I really have not heard of this happening very often. Since it is under warranty I would call the dealer and have them check things out.

Doug

Hi Doug,

I was one of the initial posters of this topic. My wifes 09 LE, purchased in 08, has had the smell since the first week. I have never found nor seen a leak yet the coolant level does drop very slowly over time.

Is your smell more prevalent on the drivers side? This seems to be the case with those that have the leak. A few stated it was the rear head-gasket seeping down onto the transmission.

I too notified my dealership early on yet they could not find anything via sight and a pressure check resulted in no leak down... They said they couldn't smell it of course. JUST make sure you get your complaint documented on a work order! I was a Nissan Tech for many years and I know an antifreeze leak when I smell it. This one is obviously out of sight and the liquid is evaporating prior to ever coming visible or hitting the ground.

Troubling, yet my wife is approaching 20K miles on her 09 and the smell and/or illusive leak doesn't seem to have changed or effected performance. I do believe this will be a larger issue down the road both for customers and Nissan.....

Keep us posted on yours

Doug

Rich

Doug

Thanks again

Doug

Quote, originally posted by govols0511 »

Just a thought...since this seems to be such a prevalent problem, maybe you could mention to your dealer (after a successful fix) to contact Nissan...and Nissan might be nice enough to put out some kind of memo to all their dealers nation wide??

My educated guess: Thats exactly what Nissan will be trying to avoid. A "prevalent" leaking head gasket could easily turn into a safety recall for their superb V6...

The only good thing would be if it's contained to a specific group of serial numbers and/or lot of bad head-gaskets. It could even be a lot of poorly assembled engines..

Time will tell.

I'd like to know what the process is for getting the aft head removed etc. I wonder if they pull from the top or come in from the bottom after removing the transmission...

Let us know how your dealer does.

Good luck.

If you have a Murano under warranty with an antifreeze smell, I'd suggest that you ask the dealer to pressure test the system and look for seepage around the head gaskets.

If you have a Murano out of warranty with an antifreeze smell, I'd say try to get used to the smell of antifreeze : )

Doug

I also purchased new, a 2008 3.5 altima coupe and it has the smell and there is a small but noticeable loss of coolant in the overflow tank.

My neighbor's 2007 3.5 altima sedan also has the coolant smell, which I noticed when he stopped in the street to talk with me. I know he hasn't brought it in for service.

I decided to do a search today on the web and found this message board thread. My concern with letting them try and fix it, presuming that the dealer acknowledges that there is something to fix, is that perhaps the old saying leave well enough alone applies here. Especially since this seems to be a wide spread problem and it has not hurt the reliability of my 2003 murano.

What are others saying about this?

Thanks,
RR70

Doug
2009 LE AWD

thanks, rr70

Modified by roadrunner70 at 3:08 PM 2/2/2010

Well, if other Nissan (cars/years) 3.5's are having this issue it sounds to me like Nissan has a potentially large issue here. They will however keep it low key for as long as possible.

I too am hesitant however to have them tear into it....

Doug

Where is this site located??

thanks, rr70

The Nissan mechanic stated that it was leaking coolant on the drivers side rear (near the fire wall) and over the transmission. (2 places). The dealer still hasnt performed repairs, but they provided a loaner car. Someone at the dealer told my wife they are trying to get authorization from Big Nissan to replace the entire engine with a brand new one instead of tearing our engine apart. If true, that would make me feel better than the original engine torn apart to that extent.

Modified by riderman at 9:31 PM 2/9/2010

Doug Frye

Sorry to hear this...keep us updated please--hopefully Nissan will do the right thing and address what is becoming an increasingly larger issue.

Doug

Well, got the car back today. The dealer did not replace the engine. The wife smelled antifreeze before she drove it home. They told her to "put some miles on it". Well, about 50 miles later, the coolant overflow is about empty and the oil fill cap has this white "frothy" foamy thick goo on the side facing the engine. The paper work we received from the dealer never even mentions a head gasked\head replacement. How can this be? One of the problems we took it in for was a defective remote. That is all the paper work mentions, replacing the remote. My wife saw the engine removed and on the floor, so some kind of repair had to be performed. I hate being lied to or played. GRR.. Now what? I guess I gatta get involved now. She will probably get fired and I'll be stuck with a POS because of my temper.

Modified by riderman at 5:41 PM 2/16/2010

Modified by riderman at 5:51 PM 2/16/2010

i took my altima in today and they could't find any problem, and didn't smell the coolant smelll which is quite prevalent when the car is warmed up.

anyway, now i have it documented. i have another year on the warranty so i will see how things go. i would prefer the car get fixed, but sometimes, as i said above, better to leave things alone.... for now. bt the way, this topic is also being discussed on other boards.

rr70