We bought a second hand Rover 75, three months later head gasket blew. This was replaced but blew again due to original wet liners. A reconditioned engine was then put in but head gasket blew again due to original water pump. I am not trying to ascertain blame i would just like to know which is accurate as car seller is saying fault of mechanic as should have changed wet liners and water pump and mechanic is saying it is not common practice to change this parts when you replace a head gasket or engine. Thanks for any clarification, especially if you are a mechanic yourself.
Well the answer is..... I am going to take a guess that this is a Rover K series engine. They blow the head gasket just for something to do. Terrible problem when the engine was a 1.4 and it only got worse as they bored the engines out. The original fault will be poor maintenance and a failure to ensure it always has loads of anti freeze or corrosion inhibitor in there. That makes the liner to block interface corrode. The second is more controversial, if I knew the water pump was fairly new then I would probably not fit a new one with an exchange engine. If however the water pump was old or an unknown quantity then I would almost certainly change it, and the clutch too, if I had the engine out as it's such a fiddly job to do. BUT who was paying for the work? If it was you then this would have added a fair bit to the bill (if you didn't tell him to change it then really you can't complain that he didn't do it) and it it was warranty work then the terms of the warranty might set out what was supposed to be done. Rhys
It seems excessive to have to remove the engine to replace a head gasket. But I typically work on American cars, and I've seen the inside of an Altima, it is quite cramped. If I were you, I'd search google for replace head gasket procedure nissan altima and see what it comes back with.
