2000 Nissan Xterra engine and engine cooling problems

“DRIVING APPROX. 5 MINUTES WHEN CAR WARNING LIGHTS (CHECK ENGINE) AND ALL DASH WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON IMMEDIATELY THERE AFTER, CAR ENGINE SHUTS OFF. CAR ENGINE WOULD TURN ON WHEN STARTED BUT AS SOON AS YOU ENGAGE THE TRANSMISSION BY MOVING FROM PARK TO DRIVE, AND PRESS THE GAS PEDAL, CAR ENGINE WOULD AGAIN CUT OFF. AT NO OTHER TIME PRIOR TO THIS DID CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COME ON, OIL LIGHT, OR WATER TEMPERATURE GAGE SHOW ANY MALFUNCTION. THE PROFESSIONAL MECHANIC THAT CHECKED MY CAR AND RAN DIAGNOSTIC TESTING CAN'T FIND ANY PROBLEMS. HE SAYS HE HAS DRIVEN THE CAR BUT, CAN'T GUARANTEE THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. *TR”

“OUR 2000 XTERRA HAD BEEN FAIRLY RELIABLE UNTIL IT DIED OUT ON THE HIGHWAY. REPLACED THE DISTRIBUTOR 3 MONTHS AGO, AND IT DIED OUT AGAIN WHILE DRIVING, LAST WEEK, AFTER HAVING YET ANOTHER DISTRIBUTOR PUT IN. THE MECHANIC SUGGESTED THAT THE NISSAN-ISSUED RE-BUILT DISTRIBUTORS ARE THE PROBLEM. HE'S NOW PUTTING A THIRD ONE IN, BUT HE'S GETTING IT FROM A DIFFERENT SOURCE THAN NISSAN. I WAS STUNNED TO KNOW THAT NISSAN KNOWS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM BUT STILL SELLS INFERIOR PARTS. THIS IS NOTHING TO FOOL AROUND WITH AND I'M LUCKY THAT I DIDN'T CAUSE OR GET INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT. *KB”

“THE VEHICLE STALLED WHILE IDLING. WHILE IDLING CAR BEGINS TO VIBRATE, RPM DROP DOWN AND ULTIMATELY CAR STALLS. LEADING UP TO THIS INCIDENT, WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A STOP, WHEN PRESSING ON GAS PEDAL, CAR DOES NOT ENGAGE AND APPEARS TO DIE OUT; FORTUNATELY IT CATCHES AND CONTINUES ON. THOUGHT IT WAS ISOLATED INCIDENT, HOWEVER, THIS LED TO THE IDLING PROBLEM. TOOK VEHICLE TO MECHANIC, AND HE COULD NOT IDENTIFY PROBLEM AS NO ENGINE CODES REGISTERED, AND NO OBVIOUS MALFUNCTION WAS PRESENT. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION, AS CAR COULD STALL OUT WHILE MOVING. THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED IMMEDIATELY BEFORE A STALL OCCURS ON THE HIGHWAY AND SOMEONE GETS HURT. A REVIEW OF NISSAN WEBSITES HAS REFLECTED A PERSISTENT PROBLEM WITH THIS SPECIFIC VEHICLE. THE PREVALENCE OF THIS PROBLEM WOULD LOGICALLY LEAD TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THIS IS A DESIGN PROBLEM THAT SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED BY NISSAN AND CORRECTED; AGAIN BEFORE SOMEONE GETS SERIOUSLY HURT.”

“COOLANT IS LEAKING AT THE HEAD GASKET ON MY SINGLE OWNER 2000 NISSAN XTERRA XE V6 4WD. I HAD THIS CHECKED BY 3 DIFFERENT CERTIFIED TECHNICIANS AND THEY ALL POINTED OUT THE SAME ISSUE. THE CAR HAS ONLY 65K MILES ON IT. THE COST OF REPAIRING THIS IS MORE THAN $1200. SEEMS LIKE LOT OF NISSANS HAS SIMILAR ISSUE, YET NO RECALLS ON THIS PROBLEM. I HAVE OWNED CARS THAT HAD MORE THAN $100K MILES AND NEVER HAD TO REPLACE THE HEAD GASKET. CURRENTLY, A TEMPORARY SEAL IS PUT IN PLACE, YET, I SEE FEW DROPS OF COOLANT ON THE GARAGE FLOOR. *TR”

“DURING ROUTINE CHECK AT CAR REPAIR SHOP (FOR NISSAN XTERRA), WAS TOLD THAT HEAD GASKET WAS CRACKED. I WAS ALSO NOTIFIED THAT THIS WAS UNUSUAL DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF MILES ON THE CAR, APPROXIMATELY 45,000. CAR SUBSEQUENTLY STARTED TO OVERHEAT, IMMEDIATELY RETURNED CAR TO DEALER, HERB GORDON NISSAN, FOR EXPENSIVE REPLACEMENT OF HEAD GASKET. *TR”

“ROUGH IDLE PROMPTED ME TO TAKE THE CAR INTO A MECHANIC. AFTER IT WAS HOOKED UP TO THE COMPUTER I WAS TOLD THE O2 SENSORS WERE TELLING MY COMPUTER TO RUN THE GAS LEAN AND THE COMPUTER WAS TELLING MY O2 SENSORS TO RUN LEANER. AT THAT TIME MY CAR HAD ONLY 52,000 MILES AND I KNOW THE O2 SENSORS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD FOR UP TO ABOUT 80,000. NOTING WAS DONE AND THE CARE CONTINUES TO HAVE THE ROUGH IDLE AS IF IT WANTS TO DIE. I HAVE PUT ABOUT $2K INTO IT TRYING TO FIX POSSIBLE PROBLEMS AND FEEL IF IT IS AN O2 SENSOR PROBLEM AND THE CAR IS UNDER 80,000 MILES IT IS A DEFECT. *NM”