01 pathfinder coolant loss...AFTER REPLACING HEAD GASKET!

[cgdrennan]

so I started noticing my coolant dropping quite a bit...1-2 cups per week, and when the vehicle started it ran very poor for the first minute. I initially thought it was the head gasket as there were no leaks/smell of coolant present on the ground or under the hood. I talked to my grandpa who owns a transmission shop and he said it sounded like a head gasket. I looked around at some shops here in the Provo/Orem area and found one I thought seemed good. They quoted me at 2500 if they had to do the head gasket but were going to diagnose the coolant loss issue first to make sure. Other shops quoted me the same 2500 because the labor to work on the 3.5L engine is like 22 hours according to the FSM!

The shop determined it was the head gasket so they went ahead and put two new ones in...while they were down there they did the rear thermastat(water control valve) and the water pump. Vehicle has 183,000 miles, but I am a student and just need it to last a couple more years... Anyway, I get the car back thinking all is well...NOT! i still lose the same amount of coolant! the guy at the shop said when i picked it up that he may have noticed a small crack in the radiator where coolant weeped! at the time i thought it would be nothing because i havnt noticed anything before, but now i am thinking it was the radiator all along! BTW the original rad. was replaced about 20,000 miles ago.

SHould i go back to the shop and demand he puts in a radiator at no charge?? I feel like i was ripped off because obviously the coolant loss issue was misdiagnosed.

Thanks in advance for the replies!

[Towncivilian]

Welcome to NICO.

Inspect your radiator cap according to this technical service bulletin and replace with a new OEM one if necessary.

Do you see any cracks in the radiator, or white residue on any of the coolant hoses? Be sure to look at the overflow tank hose as well as the heater hoses.

[cgdrennan]

I recently installed a new radiator cap (before the head gasket was installed) and that didn't help the coolant loss issue. I called the shop and they said there was coolant is the cylinders. Personally, i don't see any cracks in the radiator, but i may be missing something. The real question is that if the radiator is leaking, is it the shops responsibility to fix the problem free of charge since it went misdiagnosed?

[Towncivilian]

Head gasket issues are relatively rare on our vehicles - yours is the second potential case of a bad head gasket I've read of. You'll have to ask the shop if they will foot the bill if there was indeed a misdiagnosis. If they won't, I'd get a second opinion and have your cooling system pressure tested to hopefully find the cause of your coolant loss.