# 2001 Nissan Altima, broke the head gasket, what are my prospects?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/2001-nissan-altima-broke-the-head-gasket-what-are-my-prospects/67688>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [September 6, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2001-nissan-altima-broke-the-head-gasket-what-are-my-prospects/67688 "2011-09-06T16:44:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![limewater02](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f0a364/32.png) [@limewater02](https://community.cartalk.com/u/limewater02)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2001-nissan-altima-broke-the-head-gasket-what-are-my-prospects/67688/1 "2011-09-06T16:44:44Z")

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I have a nissan altima 2001. I have 128,000 miles on it. I have fully paid for the car. While climbing a steep hill at 2nd gear, the engine overheated, and I seem to have broken the gasket. What are my prospects? Should I put a new engine, should I fix the gasket or should I abandon the car?

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**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2001-nissan-altima-broke-the-head-gasket-what-are-my-prospects/67688/2 "2011-09-06T16:50:15Z")

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What makes you believe the head gasket is blown? List all the symptoms. Also, automatic or manual transmission?

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**Author:** ![common-sense-answer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/common-sense-answer/32/716_2.png) [@common-sense-answer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/common-sense-answer)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2001-nissan-altima-broke-the-head-gasket-what-are-my-prospects/67688/3 "2011-09-06T17:48:47Z")

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**_One Doesn’t Ordinarily Replace An Engine Or A Car Because A Head Gasket Fails. Each Engine Has To Be Assessed Individually.  
Four Cylinder Or Six Cylinder ?  
Timing Belt ?_**

Unless you really trashed it and it really just basically took out the head gasket then a head gasket replacement is in order.

CSA