The Nissan Club banner

VQ Owners- Check your head gaskets

25K views 90 replies 21 participants last post by  mvigs86 
#1 ·
Well it seems that these newer gen VQs in the 4th gen Altima, and newer Muranos, and Maximas are proned to seeping coolant externally at the headgasket. I found a thread on the Murano forums that well documents the issue. I had been smelling coolant for awhile and couldn't find any leaks until I got underneath the car and looked up at the heads. Sure enough there is green crusty residue on both heads. The car is scheduled to go in on Monday for the job and it's under warranty. From what I gathered, the part number has changed for the VQ headgaskets so hopefully this cures my problems. The tech that'll be doing my car said he's done quite a few of these already. I'm just a bit weary about having the top end of my engine torn apart. Keeping my fingers crossed everything comes out good.

So take this for what it's worth. Next time you VQ owners are changing your oil, grab a flashlight and look up.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Here is the link to the 09+ Murano Head Gasket thread started by a Nissan Master Tech. Has tons of pictures. Mine wasn't nearly as bad as the pics on page 1- it was more like the pics on post #102. Either way, I think I have lost my faith in the VQ and Nissan in general. I see a V6 made by toyota in my future.

Doing Head Gaskets on a 09 - Nissan Murano - Nissan Murano Forums
 
#4 ·
Another lil hint, if your leaking any significant amount of coolant your oil will turn milky. So if you change your oil n it doesnt look right its a bad sign. As well as that, your exhaust will be abnormally smoky white and smell kinda sweet, cant remember the smell exactly :(.
 
#5 ·
^ That's for an internal leak. From what I can tell, the newer VQs are just seeping externally which would cause the green crusty residue on the heads and the coolant smell after being driven. My car runs perfect at 64k so I'm debating to even let them proceed on Monday and just letting it be.
 
#6 ·
looking at those pictures the engine also had an internal leak. Look at the cylinders, they had rust buildup on the cylinder walls and other spots. that would show those signs :sad:..
 
#7 ·
The pics aren't that clear but I'm pretty sure that's not rust build up, especially on the cylinder walls. It's most likely from the fluids running down/drying from disassembling the head. You can see on the pics how the coolant build up is all on the outside of the head, not towards the combustion chamber. I think this is a combination of the factory improperly torquing down the heads and a poorly designed headgasket, hence the new part number. Always something with Nissan"engineering". Prior VQs had no such issue.
 
#8 ·
pics look pretty clear to me. and what I see are the signs of burning coolant, The cylinders/pistons/cylinder head have a coating of rust/discoloration from the moisture (on certain cyls. not all of them).
 
#9 · (Edited)
No offense, But i don't agree. First, if a car was burning coolant, the pistons/valves would tend to be shinier and the gasket area possibly milky from the water/oil mixture. None of that is present. The pics show carbon build up and there is no abnormal discoloration. You could say that it's possible that it's running a little rich- maybe from excessive idling, but that's certainly not rust. Secondly, it's common sense that when disassembling the head, fluids will run everywhere, possibly causing "rust" when it dried. If cylinder walls "rusted" on a running engine- you have bigger problems then the HG.

In my case (which seems pretty similar to everyone elses in that thread)- my last UOA at 60k revealed no elevated glycol levels in the oil indicating the coolant is external. Maybe this VQ is different but i highly doubt its leaking internally.
 
#10 ·
^^ Cast iron cylinder liners will rust within just a few hours when exposed to humid air. It doesn't even have to be that humid. It's hard to tell exactly what happened in those pics in the link though.

I will have to check my car out. It seems to sometimes emit a coolant smell. I'm not completely sure, but it seems to be worse in the Summer. My coolant level has always been fine though.
 
#12 ·
Dropped the car off this morning. They said they'll have it done late tomorrow, so here's to hoping everything goes smooth as planned. Since they are dropping the engine, I had them throw in new plugs and belt as well so hopefully it'll just be regular maintenance from here on out.

Side note- they gave me a 2013 2.5s loaner. The interior fit/finish is much improved but I'm not very partial to the exterior styling. You can definitely notice the increased sound deadening though; the car is much quieter even with the QR.
 
#14 ·
It feels better overall BUT it lugs the engine bad around 30 to 40mph causing loud droning inside the cabin. Worse than the 4th gen 2.5 in my opinion. The QR sounds less like a tractor from a cold start with the increased sound deadening though.
 
#15 ·
I got to get out and drive a 13....even if I do not like them...But with many Nissan designs...they seem to know what I like before I do.....Except for the Murano Vert
 
#16 ·
Well I drove into the city this morning instead of taking the train so I had some extended drive time including some highways with the car. The new CVT is very eager to get to a high ratio/lower RPM and there's very noticeable drone around 65-70 (~1700rpm). Being in such a high gear at lower speeds makes for a lot of "shifting" - even for just modest passing. In my opinion, the highway passing in this car is terrible, but it's not fair to compare against my 3.5. I was pretty much flooring it to get the same passing rate I'm used to.

The car is bigger than my 4th gen but the weight loss is noticeable as the overall driving experience is similar to my car. The ride also seems more firm than the 4th gen 2.5 which is nice. I really like the new gauges and the info screen in the dash, looks very nice and is useful.

Back in topic- I should get my car back today. I'll be running it through the ringer this evening to make sure everything is sealed and running just as well as before the job.
 
#21 ·
I'll bet you are too. I had the same symptoms. Some coolant loss due to evaporation is normal but Take a quick peek at the heads to be sure. If your CPO warranty extends powertrain, you should be covered just have the dealer check.
 
#25 ·
Any time. These VQs are great engines- I just wish Nissan wasn't so cheap around R&D and quality. How difficult could it have been for them to design a better head gasket from the get go and avoid this all together. It's like they would rather save a $1 today but spend $10 tomorrow to fix it. Despite all that- I took my car on a long drive the other day and really opened it up and fell back in love with it. So my love/hate Nissan relationship continues...
 
#27 ·
Well, I looked under the motor today and noticed some built up dry coolant near the headgaskets.

I've been having that coolant smell for sometime now. Looks like I gotta make an appointment. I'm guessing I gotta remove my intake and install the OEM back one before I go in.....blah
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top