Coolant Leak

[2008CodeRedCoupe]

I just pulled my car in today to do my first oil change, and at first look was fairly angry. There was a pretty significant amount of antifreeze all over the back of the motor. At first look it looked like it was the headgasket! But after looking more closely i found that the housing that the upper radiator hose connects to that has a few other hoses and sensors mounted to it, that then connects to the rear cylinder head is leaking at the gasket between the rear cylinder head and the housing. I ordered a seal it will be here monday, i will update after i replace the seal. just letting you guys know to keep an eye out for this.

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Wow no kidding. I'll take a look. Thanks for letting us know!

[adidas2go]

Yea really thanks

[shift_mikey]

Not covered under warranty?

[adidas2go]

Not covered under warranty?

I dont think he meant he was really gonna do it. Think he meant after he was done getting them to fix it

[SHIFT_COUPE]

He'll most likely do it himself. He's a Nissan Tech. Doing your own warranty work on your car for the win.

[2008CodeRedCoupe]

yes i am going to do it myself. that is definitely a HUGE benefit in being a technician at a Nissan dealership. If i really wanted to i could put a new motor in my car under warranty. not to mention i get paid to do the work, so yeah it is a win win. haha!

[bembol]

That's pretty sweet, being your own Tech and getting paid!

[adidas2go]

yes i am going to do it myself. that is definitely a HUGE benefit in being a technician at a Nissan dealership. If i really wanted to i could put a new motor in my car under warranty. not to mention i get paid to do the work, so yeah it is a win win. haha!

Ahh i retract my previous statement. I didnt read your signature

[2008CodeRedCoupe]

its all good. it is very annoying that a car with 2800 miles on it leaks coolant already!! i hope this isnt a sign of things to come!

[tsigoloeg]

its all good. it is very annoying that a car with 2800 miles on it leaks coolant already!! i hope this isnt a sign of things to come!

Crap! I've mentioned to my wife a couple of times after we've pulled in the garage that I smell antifreeze. Doesn't happen every time, and I've not seen any leak under the hood in front by the radiator, but now I have somewhere else specific to look.

Thanks for posting.

[Reyski]

its all good. it is very annoying that a car with 2800 miles on it leaks coolant already!! i hope this isnt a sign of things to come!

hey 2008coderedcoupe,

i was wondering, how do i check for a coolant leak in my 2.5 altima coupe? also, i was wondering if you could explain to me how a bc (body control) module works? any help or advise would be appreciated. thanks in advance!

[nissantech06]

yes i am going to do it myself. that is definitely a HUGE benefit in being a technician at a Nissan dealership. If i really wanted to i could put a new motor in my car under warranty. not to mention i get paid to do the work, so yeah it is a win win. haha!

I KNOW the feeling

My Sentra has been in twice for work. The first time was for the TSB on the A/C system (came from the factory with .7 lbs of R134A, had to charge to 1.1) second was when I switched out my wheels to the '06 Spec V wheels, one of the tire monitor nuts was cross-threaded at the factory, so I had to replace one.

I have also seen on the new Altimas the radiator fill next assembly leaking with under 2000 miles on the car.

[2008CodeRedCoupe]

Reyski, i could type pages and pages of "how a bcm works" but ill try and shorten it for information that would be relavent for you. a bcm, or body control module, does just what it says, it controls the various systems related to the BODY of the car. Examples are, door locks, windows, security, etc. there is a control module for the engine (ECM, engine control module) transmission (transmission control module) ABS (abs control module) and so on. If you kindof ask some more specific questions i could help you out more, why are you asking?

nissantech, i havent seen anything leaking from the radiator, but i know it probably will leak there soon. and lord knows we are pretty slow right now, so it might "be leaking" soon. that sucks about your sentra, hopefully these problems are just intial problems and everything else will be all good from here on out. I HOPE!

[Reyski]

Reyski, i could type pages and pages of "how a bcm works" but ill try and shorten it for information that would be relavent for you. a bcm, or body control module, does just what it says, it controls the various systems related to the BODY of the car. Examples are, door locks, windows, security, etc. there is a control module for the engine (ECM, engine control module) transmission (transmission control module) ABS (abs control module) and so on. If you kindof ask some more specific questions i could help you out more, why are you asking?

nissantech, i havent seen anything leaking from the radiator, but i know it probably will leak there soon. and lord knows we are pretty slow right now, so it might "be leaking" soon. that sucks about your sentra, hopefully these problems are just intial problems and everything else will be all good from here on out. I HOPE!

thanks for the feedback 2008coderedcoupe. the reason why i was asking is because my service engine light went on and when they ran the diagnostic, that was the part they said that was faulty and needed replacement. so i took it in this past friday so that they could replace the part but when i look at the summary of the labor it said "rk50aa rpl smart entrance control unit." what i don't understand is why they replaced that part if what they told me the first time was that the bc module was the part that needed to be fixed. well, needless to say that very same day my service engine light came right back on. it's a major drag because i've had to take my car in about four times now and i really think they're giving me the run around so now i have to go back to the dealership, not this monday, but the following monday, on the 26th! i was wondering, is there anything i can do to ensure they're fixing my car correctly? would they let me watch as they run a diagnostic on the car? i really just want my car to get fixed already also, another thing i was wondering is this: would having a faulty bc module hinder the engine in anyway? i mean, the car runs fine to me, no problems, but i was just wondering if that would happen.

[2008CodeRedCoupe]

a bad bcm wouldnt cause any problems with the engine, it controls the BODY related systems, the ECM controls ENGINE related systems.

[Reyski]

hey 2008coderedcoupe,

i tried pulling the service engine code from my 2008 altima coupe 2.5s and i got 0011 and according to one member that means:

Camshaft Position Actuator Bank A - Bank 1 Timing Over Advanced

is this correct? shift_coupe did not recognize that code, but another member did, and i'm not 100% sure myself. but, if that code is correct what would need to be done in order to correct this?

[2008CodeRedCoupe]

Is your car feeling the vibration/stumble that some of the other people are talking about? With that code and those symptoms, we may be on to something. I still want to see a car with those symptoms, but if these cars are having the same problems with the VTC sprockets, etc, that could cause all of teh above. Or it could be camshaft and crankshaft sensors going bad AGAIN! i swear with nissan its the same **** over and over again! in one hand it makes my job fairly easy, but on the other hand i just wonder, WHY CANT THEY FIX THE SAME PROBLEM THAT THEY HAVE BEEN HAVING FOR A WHILE!!

[Reyski]

hey 2008coderedcoupe,

i haven't been feeling any vibration at all. when the car idles it feels fine, and when i drive, it drives smoothly. i manually reset the service engine light and it hasn't come on since. i still have my appointment set for this monday; i should still take it in right? just in case? honestly my car has been driving fine; in fact, it's been driving quite fantasticly lol. just wondering though, when the car idles, you're supposed to feel a slight vibration when you put your hand on top of it right? completely stupid question, i know, but i'm completely paranoid right now lol and i just want to make sure my car is ok.

also, i sent you an email to your email address [email protected]. i was wondering if you got it. it's pretty much the same thing i've written on the boards with slightly more detail lol. thanks for all the input and advice, by the way.

[D-Roll]

Wow! Thanks for the 411. Hope this is not a start like the SpecV's when they first came out.

[2008CodeRedCoupe]

It wouldnt HURT to take your car to the dealership, if you already cleared the code, chances are the code wont be in the memory unless it sets again, so they will probably tell you to bring it back when the light comes on. even just telling them the code number wont really help because any GOOD technician will look at whats called the freeze frame data, which is the data from various sensors and what those sensors were reading at the time that the code was set. You actually need to print that for any warranty repairs, so i would maybe hold off on taking it until the light comes back on. But again, it wouldn't HURT! also, just because the light isnt on doesnt mean that the code hasn't been set, im not positive but that code may be a 2 trip (Type B) code that will only turn on the light the second time the computer recognizes the code. So i guess my point is, it wouldnt HURt to bring the car to the dealership now, but it would HELP more if you waited until the light came back on.

[Reyski]

hey 2008coderedcoupe,

thanks for all the advice. my service engine light came back on again today actually (i did the manual code check and got 0011 again), so i'll be taking it in this monday. in any case, another technician that posts on this board told me the problem was the variable valve timing solenoid, and that it needs to be replaced. i'm wondering though, what exactly needs to be done to replace it? do they have to open up any part of the engine? thanks again for all the help

[dvictor86]

hey 2008coderedcoupe,

Were you able to fix the issue with the Antifreeze?

My gf bought a 2008 Altima coupe and as soon we got home the car was smoking. Called dealer and they said it was a "product" they put on the engine cuz it is a new car. We finally saw the car leaking and took it to dealer and they replaced the main hose to the radiator and the clamps. Now it looks fine and the antifreeze container level is ok and clean but from time to time I still smell like something is burning. Is there anything else that I can check?

Thanks for your help!V

[sailaway73]

Maybe this is the answer I have been looking for. I have a 2006 Nissan Altima 2.5 S. I have had the car at two different dealers due to coolant smell in the car and outside the car. At first I thought it was someone else while driving down the road until I got home and realized it was me. Both dealers have done the pressure test for the radiator and tell me everything is fine. All can't be fine if I still smell it! HELP!

[dvictor86]

Hi Sailaway73,

In our case we saw the leak and they did change the main hose and clamps. Since then we havent seen any more leaking but I'm not sure about the smell anymore because I dont drive this car very often.

I'm amazed that Nissan is having this problem since the 2006 model and they havent done anything to get it fixed.

Good luck!V

[adidas2go]

I smell it in mine from time to time too. My block has not residue on it and my radiator fluid level is still completely full however.

[jraemerry]

Hey CodeRedCoupe,
I just bought a 2008 Altima Coupe 3.5 and the power train warranty expired about 6 mos before I bought it. Long story short, I took it in for an oil change and my mechanic noticed some antifreeze that had dripped on the back bottom part of the engine. Also noticed some on the front radiator hose. They did a pressure test and said it was losing pressure, but didn't seem to know where the leak was coming from. Is that accurate? It seems like I am getting the run around because they said it could be hoses or pipes, or it could be the head gasket. I'm a younger female and just wanna make sure that I'm not getting the screwed.