My 2004 nissan altima 2.5s 4cyl.started overheating, gauge going way up. first time i noticed it after driving for about 1/2 an hour, fluid level is fine. I took it to the dealer they replaced the thermostat. $300 bucks and 2 days later engine light comes on with same overheating problem. took it back at the end of the day & they told me that the engine light wasn't on. anyway long story short I got my $300 dollars back for the thermostat after an hour making a scene with the branch mgr. tag time with my wife, as of now that car is at a local mechanic still doing some test. water pump is fine also, radiator still overheating and water still coming out of the reservoir tank overflow and also cooling fan is working. As of now still trying to figure the cause of this problem.

I had my engine head and head gasket replaced on my 04 Altima on Mar 16, 2009. After getting the car repaired at Nissan dealer it started overheating again. I took it back to the dealer. The service manager told me that his technician drove the car several miles and the car did not overheat. So they would not do anything since they could not reproduce the symptoms I described. The car still intermittently overheats. I turn the heater on and the temperature returns to normal. I should not have to go thru this to drive my car. I have since taken the car back again and I was told the same thing. I will never buy another Nissan product again.

My 2004 Altima started to overheat on my way home from work. I ended up having it towed 38 miles to my Nissan dealer at a cost of 80 dollars. I was told the next day that my head gasket and engine head needed to be replaced. I had never had a problem with this car before. I had done all scheduled maintenance up to this point. The cost of the repair was $1957.63 . I tried calling Nissan to try an get some cost assistance. I was told that because the extended warranty I had on the car expired in Dec.08 they would not help me. The repair was done in Mar. 09. I expected to be treated a bit better than this after being such a loyal Nissan customer. Live and learn. Honda here I come.