Nissan Repair: 2005 Nissan Sentra, 2005 nissan sentra, nissan sentra

Question
In September, my Nissan Sentra ran hot and seemed to lose compression.  Finally engine shut down on side of interstate.  We have taken it to two different "diagnostic" services that charged us about 80-100 dollars a piece.  Neither one of the them looked inside the head itself.  All we were told was "possibly"a blown engine and it needed to be replaced.  This repair in total was about 6,000 dollars.  However, someone else told us that it could possibly be a cracked head.  How would I find out if it is a cracked head or a blown engine without having to spend any more diagnostic fees?  The hope is that we can get new head and not have to replace engine and allow my 17 year old son to have this car.

Answer
Hi Cherry -

Can you tell me in any of the tests you had done with these services if there was a compression test done on the cylinders? This would be a basic test that should have been done first. If it was done and you get me the numbers, we can probably tell if it is a blown gasket or cracked head.

If the car did not overheat badly, then it is probably a blown gasket. Fill the radiator with water to the top and crank the engine. If the water spurts out of the radiator like a geyser, then I would say it is only the gasket.

Hope this helps -
aloha
calvin