It is in the shop now because it is too freaking cold to look at it myself at home.

Happened last Saturday when I was going to the hospital. I noticed that the heat faded. When I got there I checked the coolant level and sure enough it was very low.

Looked under the truck for coolant leaks. Found none.

However I did see that oil was leaking from the oil filter. Not good.

Proceeded to check under the oil fill cap to find the dreaded milky white crap of doom.

I will post more info when the shop gets done with its pressure test.

That sux man.. You didn't have that many miles on this second engine did ya? Are you going to rebuild the current one or install another engine to keep the X on the road?!

I still have my 2000 with 155k...little by little their is always something new going bad that I have to fix...debating if I need to sell it or keep it since its not my primary car...but I keep holding on since I been with the Xterra community for so long.

Talking to the shop this morning they are not sure it is the head gasket.

They did a pressure test on the coolant over night and did not see anything in the cylinders nor did they find any oil or fuel in the coolant.

They are going to do a few more things to check it out.

My brain is not screwed on totally atm so I might have over stated the problem when it first presented itself.

More to follow

Not trying to add to your burdens...

but if you do think it's the head gasket, make sure they check the head. Mine was cast improperly at the factory contributing to the failure of the passenger side head... the head had to be replaced. Luckily it was under warranty.

They overnighted a new one in. I wonder how much that cost

They did some more testing and have come to the conclusion that my heads are fine.

The coolant leak is (we believe) to be a slowly leaking water pump.

The oil leak was due to a bad seal on the filter. Which just happened to present itself when I noticed the coolant problem.

The thermostat is toast.

There was no water in the oil at all. Nor did they find any oil or hydrocarbons in the coolant.

And the milky crap in the oil filler was due to condensation and the cold ass temps here in MN.

So I am having them put in a new water pump and ,while they are in there, replacing the timing belt.

So over all "happy ending".

thats good news. Dodged the bullet on that one.

good news!

Good news Carlton. Glad to hear it wasn't as bad as you feared.

Good news. Glad to hear it's working out. I remember those good 'ole days in Michigan when it was too freakin' cold to do the work myself. Now it drops down to 50 degrees here in Tucson and I think it's cold

BTW, how many miles on your X Carlton?