Suspected Head/Head Gasket Question

[Ben Griffith]

Hi all,

My 2009 D40 has coolant bubbling, and suspected water in the cylinders. I've put it into the diesel mechanics to diagnose and it's looking like blown head gasket or cracked head, which I know is common with these. There appears to be no other issues with the engine, it runs without any suspicious noises or knocks, and the only symptom is just the coolant bubbling out. It only got hot past 110 once or twice, I was very careful to turn it off and not allow it to stay hot.

However, when I dropped it off, one of the mechanics told me that 9/10 of these yd25 engines, after they get hot the cylinders start grabbing, and they are trying to sway me toward an engine rebuild instead of bothering with the head replacement at all (they claim they are trying to save me money, bearing in mind this is even before these guys have even looked under my hood.....). I was already not keen for the $5-6k head replacement but accepted that it is the likely course of action, but I can tell you now I'm really not interested in a $15-20k engine rebuild, it's not even close to worth it for the vehicle.

My question to the group is, considering this is a common issue, how many of you have had a blown head/gasket, replaced the head or gasket or both and the Nav was running sweet again, or did you have further engine damage once it overheated that required a rebuild. I'd really like to investigate if it's actually 9/10 engines that need rebuilding like they claim, or are they trying to bullshit me to pay for a rebuild?


They are doing a compression test early this week and then based on those results we are deciding from there.

Any thoughts and input would be appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Old.Tony]

If you're anywhere near Bathurst NSW, take it to Inwood Motors. They replaced the head in mine (almost 2 years ago now) and its been going like a dream ever since. All up - head and labour - it cost me around $4K.

 

[Chapster]

Mate I was in the same predicament in 2022 and took my Pathfinder to two mechanics on the Goldy and was given much the same advice. I was (reluctantly) quoted $4k - $6k to do the head but neither wanted the job, reason being they did not want to repair/replace it only to find the the block was warped and now they have a customer who is filthy they have paid all this money and still have a knackered donk. One mechanic also told me the injectors are sensitive to overheating and could well need replacing as well, adding a further $2k. And then the bottom end could still be flogged.

Both mechanics were pretty adamant the better course was to purchase and install another engine with (at best) a 6 month warranty, but even 2nd hand YD-25s were crazy expensive, no doubt due to how often the above advice is being dished out.

One mechanic quoted me circa $12k to replace the engine but even after a number of months waiting could not find an engine they were prepared to go forward with. The second mechanic found one for me out of Melbourne with 130k on it for $6,300, but turns out their supplier misdescribed the engine and delivered a later version which was not compatible. Eventually they found one with 170k which I got for the same price. Changeover was $3,117.60 so total cost $9,417.60 and its only got 25,000 less kms than the motor which came out.

Unbelievable

Incidentally when presented with the above quotes - which I thought were crazy - I looked to instead go down the rebuild path but that was even worse. Firstly, no one I spoke to wants to do them. A number of workshops did not even get back to me. The quote I did get estimated $15k++.

To this day I do not know if I did the right thing. I did get a 3rd opinion from another mechanic over the phone but their advice was much the same. But nearly $10k for a 2nd hand engine seems pretty outrageous in my view. I still don't know whether its the case these YD-25 engines are just universally hated (perhaps for good reason), or if there just aren't that many mechanics these days who have the skill, time, space or appetite for the nitty gritty of internal engine work.

So in that sense I am also curious to see how your question is answered.

 

[Ben Griffith]

Thanks for the replies guys.

@Old Tony I am in NSW but closer to the Canberra area so i've got it in locally with a diesel mechanic here. Cheers for the suggestion though, I have worked in Bathurst quite a bit so if i'm ever stuck there i'll hit up Inwood Motors. Your head replacement was a lot cheaper than mine.

To provide an update, they ran the compression test and found all cylinders were within spec, so we proceeded with the head. Luckily, the cylinders looked okay so they went ahead and did the head (cracked). Along the way they spotted a couple of additional issues, one which I posted about in another thread being the EGR valve and the hoses running to it, and now they reckon there is an exhaust leak. My expenses are near $7k and like you Chapster, have had difficulties reconciling the price of all these, including the speculative costs for engines and scarcities of same, and I feel a bit disheartened with Nissan and the YD25 at the moment. I do love the Nav but it has definitely caused me plenty of headaches. Ultimately, there's no way I would rebuild the engine at $12-15k when i'd be lucky to get that for the car in good running order.

I'll keep you updated on the outcome if you like.

Cheers

Ben

 

[Colonel]

G'day. Couple of head gasket replacement questions:
1. Best source for kit, with gaskets bolts seals etc?
2. I like West Yorkshire's method of leaving the manifolds on..any reason why I shouldn't?
3. Do the cams have to come off to access the head bolts?
(From the YouTube clips I've seen, it seems the answer is yes)
4. Anyone have a copy of or know where I can find the relevant instructions with torques etc?