2006 Altima no heat when idling

Alright. So i'm having this issue with my altima, and it's been at the dealership for it's third time and they have to clue what's going on. Here's what's happening. First, let me say it's like 20 below where I live in Canada. When I start the car in the morning to let it warm up, the heat works great, I get in after like 5 min and heat is starting to come out. Now lets say I drive about a 1 km to a coffee shop, and leave my car on while I run inside. Looking at my temp gauge, it's at normal operating temperature and the heat is coming out at full force. After a few minutes, I get back in my car, and it's blowing freezing air, and it take a few minutes of driving to get it back hot. The temp gauge stays at the same place the whole time, being the middle of the gauge. First, Nissan said it must have had an air pocket, so they checked that and said yes that was the problem. It did it again after a day. So I brought it back and now they said the coolant was testing much to low for the thermostat the car has, so they drained some and put the correct amount to make it 50/50. Now its doing it again and they dont know what it is. Can anyone help me please. Thanks!!

Alright. So i'm having this issue with my altima, and it's been at the dealership for it's third time and they have to clue what's going on. Here's what's happening. First, let me say it's like 20 below where I live in Canada. When I start the car in the morning to let it warm up, the heat works great, I get in after like 5 min and heat is starting to come out. Now lets say I drive about a 1 km to Tim Hortons, and leave my car on while I run inside. Looking at my temp gauge, it's at normal operating temperature and the heat is coming out at full force. After a few minutes, I get back in my car, and it's blowing freezing air, and it take a few minutes of driving to get it back hot. The temp gauge stays at the same place the whole time, being the middle of the gauge. First, Nissan said it must have had an air pocket, so they checked that and said yes that was the problem. It did it again after a day. So I brought it back and now they said the coolant was testing much to low for the thermostat the car has, so they drained some and put the correct amount to make it 50/50. Now its doing it again and they dont know what it is. Can anyone help me please. Thanks!!
Hi, I am excited to join this forum. Today is my first day and your case interested me.

I would look into the blower unit.

My guess is the outside cold air gets in due to the switching flaper is at wrong position when that happens. It could be contributed from some positioner or spring poped or broke.
Would like to know your final solution. Please advise if you get it solved.
Regards
jimmy

Hi Jimmy. Thanks for the info. I will get them to check into that. Thank god I still have heat when i'm driving though, it's just a pain in the butt when i get back in and it's freezing. I'll let you know what happens once it comes back. Eric

Crazyy e,
I have to wonder what's going through the minds of most Americans reading your post about driving to Tim's and running inside for a minute. Not that it matters to diagnose your problem, but we as Canadians know that Timmies is a Canadian institution, now owned by an American conglomerate. You've got me wanting to go get a coffee now.

Haha, Yes you're right, I edited me post to say coffee shop. Hope it clarifies the mind of some people.

My wife has a 2004 Altima with exactly the same problem ... heater works fine as long as the car is in motion, but as soon as you stop at a red light, it starts blowing cold air. Once you start driving again, the heater starts blowing warm air. It never blows hot!

This seems to be a very common problem for Altima's going back to 2000 and 2001 models, yet I have not found a solution. I sure hope someone here can figure this out as the dealers don't seem to have a clue.

Hey. Thanks for that message. They told me it was the first time they saw it, but that's exactly what it does. And when I say cold air I mean cold air. If they figure something out, i'll let you know, it's gonna go in again on Tuesday, since they have lots of time to look at it then.

Eric

Eric, I'm in your neck of the woods also (Ontario), and I don't know what dealer you are using, but the one we have in London was useless to solve this while the car was in warranty. I no longer have any clout with them as they don't have to repair the car for free. They are quite willing to start replacing heater cores, controls, etc. (at my full expense of course) now as trial and error to fix the problem ... but I suspect based on what others have experienced that I could spend a couple thousand $ and still have cold air coming out of my heater when idling.

Lucky for you, your car is in warranty ... so stick with it and FORCE them to solve the problem. It is THEIR problem ... not yours as you bought the car (just as I did) expecting a working heater. Wish you good luck. Bill

Alright. Everything seems to be fine and dandy now. Just got it back today, and they said it was airlock once again. They promised they got it all out, so as I left the dealership, I drove it for about 15 min to get it at operating temperature, then put it in park in a parking lot for another 15 min. The air stayed warm the whole time. It was only around -15 degrees C today however, so I will see in the morning. Hopefully that's what the problem was. I'll keep you guys posted on the outcome.

Eric

I was Going to advise Nissan owners . The coolant system is very sensitive to air. You get an air pocket what so ever in all Nissan's , you can have a few symptoms ,
1 no heat
2 no heat at idle , but heat when moving
3 over heating.

Check coolant systems and have them Bleed out. Nissan recommend lifting the front of the vech , so the radiator cap is at its highest point so Air can be released. If any one has a question about it, feel free to ask me.. GL all

Well I spoke to soon. It was -29 degrees celsius this morning (-20 F), started the car for a good 10 min, was warm when I got in, got even hotter as I was driving to the store, let it idle while I ran inside for about 2 minutes, came back in and she's blowing freezing air again!!!:banghead: Gonna go back to Nissan tomorrow and tell em. Hopefully they can make sure things are done right.

Update!

Well nissan told me today that I can't run the fan on high or set on auto (if it's cold in the car, the fan will go on high automatically). They said that it doesn't get a chance to warm up and just shoots all the cold air inside the car before warming it up. So we need to put it in the middle speeds. I'm not sure about you, but shouldn't it work at all speeds? it is in fact a new car and even my older cars warm up on the highest fan speed no matter what. We'll see how that goes tomorrow morning.

had a car in the shop today with the exact same problem. bleeding the air from the system didnt help at all(which is usually the problem). car was not overheating at all, everything normal except no heat at idle, replaced the thermostat and heat working normal now. will have to wait and see if this fix's long term.

I'm also running around crazzy for over a month to resolve this heat problem. I started with radiator fluid flush, bleed radiator, engine oil flush, and just today I replaced the thermostat. and still doesn't work at all. I already spent over $300. Tomorrow I'm having heater coil under the dashboard replace, its going to cost me $500, I hope it works. Otherwise, I'll wait for summer to sell this crap off.

I also have a 2003 Alti and have the same problem. What I have learned from other forums is this; If your radiator cap is over 2 years old, buy a replacement before stating this procedure. Lift the front end of the car on ramps or something. Any way you do it, the front end must be up. Of course, take all necessary safety percautions. Open up the radiator by removing the cap. Turn on the car and turn on the fan to the highest speed - in the heat setting. This will supposedly purge air pockets in the lines. Fill the radiator all the way up to the very top. Keep an eye on it for the level may drop (thermostat opening?) if so, keep filling all the way to the rim. When satisfied the level is no longer dropping, put the NEW cap on BEFORE shutting off the car or you may give the radiator a chance to "inhale" thus causing air in the lines again. Lower the vehicle, fill the resevoir up to the "full" mark (I'd personally fill it even higher) and cross your fingers. Hope this helps someone.

Well the dealership said they took the air pockets out, on 2 different occasions. They still haven't gotten back to me about what they're going to do.... I supose we'll find out sooner or later.

Frankly, I don't know WHAT the dealer can do. This is a KNOWN issue for years on Altimas.

If you read the New Car Buying Guide by Consumer Reports, it states that the heating is poor even for 2007s. What does this tell you?

Nissan is ignoring the problem - that's what it tells me.

Who's got the time to take the car back time after time after time? I assume if you stick to your guns and DO take it back 3 times or more, it SHOULD fall under the 3 strikes Lemon Law many states have on cars. If the same issue occurrs 3 times and it is still not fixed, something has to be done - get another car, or something....it is the law....

I also have an Altima (2005) and it is having the same problem with the cold air at Idle. My vehicle has 30K miles and the dealers solution is air pocket removal, antifreeze breakdown and a 30,000 service schedule. I am wondering about the waterpump vanes being worn. At a higher revolution, more fluid would be passed through the heater core. Just a guess. Has anyone been able to come up with a solution?

Hello, i have a 2005 Altima and am having the same problem. It has 46K miles on it.

I bought the extended warranty on my Altima (to 60,000) I think, but I am not sure if this would be covered?? I need to look through my paperwork i guess.....

Please let me know if you find a solution.

richt03 - Of course it should be covered, no heat? I'd say that's a problem....Wouldn't you?

Look at posting #14 on page 1 for a suggested remedy...

Thanks Roland1963 - yes you are right about the warranty. I checked it and I got the 100,000 extended warranty. When I called though, they said the first thing they would do was a coolant flush which would cost me 60.00.

I went and bought a radiator cap today. Now I just need to figure out how to raise the front end!

T

Thanks Roland1963 - yes you are right about the warranty. I checked it and I got the 100,000 extended warranty. When I called though, they said the first thing they would do was a coolant flush which would cost me 60.00.

I went and bought a radiator cap today. Now I just need to figure out how to raise the front end!

T

Ok, what am I missing here? They agree there is a problem, your car is under warranty and they're going to charge you $60 to "flush" it? A flush is part of maintenance and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If a flush, according to them is the fix to the problem they admitted your car has, then the fix should be covered under the warranty, wouldn't you agree? Feel free to call Nissan headquarters and vent this lie with them.

As far as doing it yourself and how to raise the front end, they do have those ramps at your local auto parts store (about $18 a pair) - make sure to use the emergency brake and all necessary precautions when you do this....

And don't forget to pick up that gallon of ALREADY MIXED antifreeze from Prestone - that's right, the one the dealer claims you shouldn't put in your Nissan yet Prestone themselves will back up their claim that you can....

I've been using it myself without a problem...

Isn't it funny how, when they bring up the sales pitch for the extended warranty they don't mention you have to have a law degree to fight with them? Let us know how this works out for you....

Hello, I got my car back from Nissan yesterday. They did a coolant flush and "got the air out" they say. It seems to be working now. We shall see once it gets cold here again. Thanks everyone!

How do you program a factory keyless entry remote on a 2006 Nissan Maxima

Well it's now March 9th. It's been more than a month since i've heard from Nissan, and well the problem still continues. They were told on several occasions and simply said they would look into it. Sadly the cold seems to be done. By the time the cold weather comes back around my warranty will be nearly over, since i'm already at 35,000km and it just turned a year old. The problem is still there considering a few days ago it was around -25 Celcius below, or -13 F. I drove the car to a friends house around 15 minutes away, and believe me, it was nice and toasty in the car. I then got to their house, kept it running while I ran inside for maybe 5 minutes, got back in and guess what? cold air:banghead: ! Even tried to bring the fan down to a lower speed, still did nothing. I agree with a few people that Nissan must know about this problem if they suggest doing such odd things :screwy: . I supose they aren't ready to fix the problem.

I am looking at buying a 2000 or 2001 Altima and was just reading about some of the possible problems. Right now I have a 98 Camry with a similar problem. Is it possible that the system gets burped to get the air out and for some reason air is getting back into the system?

Any other common problems with the Altima I should look out for?

Russ

Well as everyone knows, all cars can have problems. As long as the dealership can fix them while under waranty, I have no problem with it. As for my car, my power steering fluid was leaking, my vanity light on the visor wasn't working on the driver side, my transmission kicks in real hard when shifting from park on a cooler morning, even after being run for 5 min... Nealy all the problems were fixed real easily, but the heating problem... still nothing yet.:banghead:

I've heard that the 3.5 Altimas have two thermostats? Can anyone confirm this please? If so where are they located?

Mike

Having the same problem as everyone else.2004 Nissan Altima 76,000 miles.Whats the verdict here.what is the Fix Help!

Having the same problem as everyone else.2004 Nissan Altima 76,000 miles.Whats the verdict here.what is the Fix Help!There's air in your cooling system. Bleed it out and you'll have heat at idle. The problem with our car was that the hot/cold knob was internally broken and not opening the cable operated lever under the dash on the driver's side for hot/cold operation. But our problem was not the usual deal that most people have [air in system].

My wife's 2004 Altima (4 cyl) experienced the same symptoms (heater was not terribly warm, blew cold at idle, gurgling sound under dash (likely heater core) occassionally. The fix was SIMPLE. I parked the car on a steep hill, going up hill. I removed the radiator cap (let it cool first, or it will spew hot coolant & burn you - use a towel, too, just to be extra safe). Start the car and let it warm up. Rev it up to about 2500-3000 rpm and hold it there for about three minutes. Coolant will circulate and burble out of the top of the radiator - along with the air pockets that were in the system. Once this is done, top off the radiator with anti-freeze mix (use the right kind - (green) and use distilled water to mix it). Put the radiator cap back on and top off the coolant recovery reservoir. It took about ten minutes, about a quart of anti-freeze and no tools. It immediately began blowing HOT - even at idle. That's it! Very simple, very inexpensive. Obviously, your problem could be more involved, but this is definitely the thing to try first. It worked like a charm for me. The hill I used put the front wheels about 2-1/2 feet above the rear wheels (fairly steep hill). Good luck!

Yes it does have 2 thermostats. I've been having this problem. Changed both thermostats but it did not help.

I've heard that the 3.5 Altimas have two thermostats? Can anyone confirm this please? If so where are they located?

Mike

Yes there is 2 thermostats but it did not help mine.