Well i have been chasing a problem that occurs during cold start warmup for the better part of a year. At two minutes into the drive it begins to spit and sputter something horrible.

shifting is 5 secs slower, exhaust note is blurbly/low, power is gone...

then four minutes into the drive it goes back to normal.

-I previously had a P2a03 code which is the first air fuel sensor, but this went away...

Only current code is 0420 catalyst efficiency(i tried to remedy this by going to GTM test pipes that guarantee no code-but i found my stock cats were fine)

I have been trying to see if there is an exhaust or intake leak. so today i took off the headers to examine them. Once i got them off, i noticed all the way around where the heads meet the top of the block, there is dried coolant/antifreeze. has anyone else seen this thats seen down around their head/blocks.

im hoping this is from the factory....but im now worrying its the headgasket since all my symptoms point to it! im going to do some further inspection of the oil and coolant. pitiful for a car barely over 50k miles if it is the headgasket.


pics

passenger side


driver side

 

I haven't taken the headers out yet but it seems those leaks are coming from a leaky head gasket. Check your oil cap if there is a sign of light brown residue. Also, check if your car is blowing white smoke. If all of those 2 are true, then it is probably a blown head gasket.

 

Not too sure about what's going on there Mike, but from the pics it looks like a blown gasket.
Phalanx is right, check out those 2 things and you'll know for sure.
Good luck bro.

 

It is odd that it is on both sides you would think they would not both leak, unless it was badly overheated before and the heads warped? When mine blew a head gasket(due to a ton of boost) when I went out and drove it hard the coolant overflow tank would fill right up because the pressure from the cylinders pushed all of the coolant out of the system. Although your cylinders might be still sealed and it is seeping from the water jackets out wards I guess on way to tell is to clean it all off and drivre it for awhile and check to see if it is back.

. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

To see if you have a BHG, you should just take off your radiator cap and smell the coolant. If the coolant smells like gasoline, then you might have a BHG. Also if you reserve tank overflows with coolant, then it can also mean you have a BHG.

 

Could you see any of the dried coolant with the headers still on?

 

Do a cooling system leak down test. Do it when it's cold and when it's hot. Check for water in the oil/oil in the water. Did the engine ever get hot? You may have warped head(s) and/or a blown head gasket.

 

Just a question. Why don't you bring your car to have the maintenance guy at Infiniti dealer to check it? A standard 4 year warranty is still good until the end of this October. I would not do anything major to the car at this time because it may void your warranty.

 

He has headers on it, that will def raise an eyebrow on the service guy. Unless that's what he's calling the OEM manifolds.

 

the car has never gotten to hot. But i can say that on two seperate occasions right before symptoms appeared i starved the motor of fuel while at 75% throttle.

i was on a offramp that is a long sharp turn taking it fast, and the fuel level was almost empty. hence by the time i got to the bottom to get on the accelerator, fuel was not at the motor.

On my old sentra specv i popped its headgasket between ALL the cylinders by starving it of fuel while under boost....

I dont have any aftermarket headers. and the car has ran like a dream until a half year ago(1k miles). Thats when it started having a rough cold start with spitting and sputtering until it got completely warm. But even after warm the exhaust note was much different than it used to be. And i swear its down 15% on power. I have checked all sensors and connections that might affect a/f-timing as per the Factory Service Manual. in my final move i took the oem manifolds off searching for maybe an exhaust leak since the air fuel mix and exhaust timing seems out of wack....thats when i saw the coolant.

I am in the process of putting the OEM manifolds and OEM exhaust system back on so i can take it to infiniti....it seems the Headgaskets had the issue start at around 50k miles. i have babied and maintained this thing to the highest level.

after this, its getting parted out and sold. There are numerous other vq35hr equipped vehicles having the same "symptoms" i have been having and the dealers cant find a fix for them........
two people have had the timing chain/gears let go from the stress the motor puts the camshafts under while trying to violently adjust timing/fuel. I believe its due to compression loss in one or more cylinders with bad gaskets.

I have been worried my motor was going blow as well. That is why i have been pursuing the problem myself since these other completely stock vehicles cant be fixed.

Only other things i have found upon further research is-we run almost a half bar higher coolant system pressure than past gens, the headgaskets have a block off to introduce the coolant to the exhaust sides of the heads first.

I have been through the headaches of issues arising on a new model vehicle and fixes not coming until 5-6 years after. I cannot risk having this happen again when the warranty runs out.

its going to the dealer for the Brake Judder(warping rotors) issue, door handle and steering wheel plastic peeling issue, the now horribly rattly sounding bose woofers, and the headgasket issue. I loved this car alot, but it will be the last time i buy a first year vehicle.

my next toy is already in the driveway now.

 

Sad to hear you'll be selling Mike, hope you stay around the forums still.
Whats the toy in the driveway?

 

i hate to sell it, because i know once its fixed i will feel its TRUE power again. I got used to it being down about 20-25 hp.

but it just sits in the garage and i never drive it anymore. i have 9 month old twin boys with a lot of dr bills and one credit card i would like to pay off. The sell would pay that all off, buy the new toy, put mods on it, put mods on my daily driver, and fatten the savings accounts.



ive wanted one since middle school lol.

s14 240sx silvia. got the jdm silvia kit on it, coilovers, sr20det swapped with 3" exhaust and intake...12psi it feels like 240-250 to the ground.

 

Yeah I get where you're coming from. It'll be nice to fatten the savings account a bit, especially since you don't get to drive the G much anymore.

Sweet choice on the S14, sounds like you've got a nice one too. Lets see some pics of it.

 

i never bothered to look on my car but can u see that if the exhaust manifold is still on? with like a inspection mirror?...kinda disappointed about this and seeing motors go out.

 

are u actually losing coolant though when you check your level or is that all just residue? update us on this Ivory.