Problems With Rb25det Neo

[webng]

Firstly, any help/advice greatly appreciated!

I bought a Nissan Stagea RS4 Neo (2000) Series 2 about 2 months ago from a dealer in Melb. After driving it back from Victoria, and in Adelaide since, on the 2/08 i took it to a radiator specialist because i noticed that collant from the overflow bottle was constantly disappearing after even a days drive, i kept topping it up. There weren't any leaks on the ground where it is parked, oil cap had no milky residue. Anyway, the radiator guy told me i had to replace my top tank, but even more of a problem was my head gasket was on the way out. A week later, i took the car to Boostworx in Adelaide to have a leak test done. It was confirmed that I have a warped head gasket. Now.... I contacted Vic Consumer Affairs last Fri (10/08) regarding the compulsory 3 month warranty that came with the car, and they told me the dealer who sold me the car should cover the repairs. He (the dealer) is trying to say that the warped gasket was caused by the engine running hot, or that i have been driving the car hard. The car has no mods, and my wife drives it 90% of the time. I''m sure the radiator guy told me that the top tank leak was caused by the gasket problem, and even on the receipt stated that the work he did wasn't covered by their warranty due to the gasket problem, and that the same thing might happen again. The dealer is saying that his mechanic told him that Skyline gaskets never fail unless they've been thrashed or driven while hot. So basically he's trying to put the blame on me by saying i drove the car without coolant.

Anyway, i'll be out of pocket over $1600-$2000 if Vic Consumer Affairs can't do anything for the head gasket fix and was wondering which might have come first... gasket problem then top tank problem? Or the other way around. I'm a very careful driver and always keep an eye on the temp gauge.

Thanks very much.

[Adriano]

The mechanic is correct in saying the gsaket doesnt usually blow unless it has been driven whilst overheating, but thats not your pronlem, tell them your going to the department of fair trading if they dont cover it. They should have fixed he overheating problem in the first plae.

[Adriano]

Doesnt matter which happened first, they should fix them both. As long as you havnt had it on a race track they have to cover it. You arent meant to check your coolan t every time you drive it in case it had run out.

[webng]

Doesnt matter which happened first, they should fix them both. As long as you havnt had it on a race track they have to cover it. You arent meant to check your coolan t every time you drive it in case it had run out.

Well, that's what i thought. Having decided to spend a little more to buy from a dealer, imagine my surprise when i was told i had to spend nearly $2000 more on it!!

[cas101]

Mate, usually a blown head gasket is caused by over heating of the engine which in your case might have caused by a fault in your engine cooling system (radiator, cooling fan mulfunction). Neo6 is a very solid engine and built to handle any sort of beating thrown at it so clearly u r long distance driving couldn't have caused u the mentioned problem... however it could have escalated the problem which would have been there since the day u bought the car from the dealarship. If the car has done over 100,000 Ks u could expect this sort of a radiator problem because in Japan one owner does not own the same car for more than 3-4 years (abt 50,000 Ks) and more Ks on the clock more negelected it is on the maintainance side. I'm a private importer and have imported many NISSANs over the years.

[webng]

It has approx 80k on the clock. So you're saying more then likely the problem was there before, and became worse after i bought it?

It's been repaired anyway, the mechanic found that the valves had been burnt as well so there was another $600 odd gone too. Hopefully I'll get some if not all back from the dealer. MAtter is with the Vic Consumer Affairs anyway.

Mate, usually a blown head gasket is caused by over heating of the engine which in your case might have caused by a fault in your engine cooling system (radiator, cooling fan mulfunction). Neo6 is a very solid engine and built to handle any sort of beating thrown at it so clearly u r long distance driving couldn't have caused u the mentioned problem... however it could have escalated the problem which would have been there since the day u bought the car from the dealarship. If the car has done over 100,000 Ks u could expect this sort of a radiator problem because in Japan one owner does not own the same car for more than 3-4 years (abt 50,000 Ks) and more Ks on the clock more negelected it is on the maintainance side. I'm a private importer and have imported many NISSANs over the years.