PRIMARY · Reported for this vehicle
Head Gasket
41 owner reports involving the head gasket for this model year.
View replacement guideReplacement Guide / Nissan / Altima / 2002 / Coolant Is Leaking
2002 Nissan Altima
Coolant Is Leaking
Components worth investigating when a Nissan Altima is leaking coolant, with owner-report evidence for the 2002 model year.
For the 2002 Nissan Altima
Coolant Is Leaking
Reported symptom
8 owner reports for this model year describe coolant leaking.
Losing or leaking engine coolant can involve the radiator, water pump, head gasket, or heater core. A leak report is not a diagnosis of which part failed.
Based on patterns in owner reports
Narrow this down
Is coolant pooling under the vehicle?
Why we're asking this
This answer changes which components are most relevant in our complaint corpus. It does not diagnose the vehicle.
What should I investigate?
Components related to this situation, ranked by validated relationship, then by vehicle-specific owner-report evidence. This is not a diagnosis.
PRIMARY · Reported for this vehicle
Radiator
9 owner reports involving the radiator for this model year.
View replacement guideParts available
PRIMARY · Reported for this vehicle
Heater core
2 owner reports involving the heater core for this model year.
View replacement guidePRIMARY · Reported for this vehicle
Water Pump
1 owner report involving the water pump for this model year.
View replacement guideParts available
RELATED · Reported for this vehicle
Thermostat
3 owner reports involving the thermostat for this model year.
View replacement guideParts available
Questions that narrow it down
General checks. Answering them does not confirm the failed part on this vehicle.
Worth checking first
- A visible radiator leak and a heater-core smell in the cabin are different paths.
- A replaced head gasket without leak language is not this job.
Safety
When not to keep driving
- If the temperature climbs, you smell coolant strongly, or steam comes from the engine bay, stop as soon as it is safe. Do not keep driving a leaking cooling system.
About the data
Counts come from replacement.guide aggregates for this model year. Component evidence comes from structured complaint categories and reviewed component mentions in complaint summaries. Owner-situation evidence comes from reviewed symptom language in complaint summaries. Reports are signals, not diagnoses.
How to read this page
PRIMARY components are the validated first-line associations for this job. RELATED components can be involved but are ranked after PRIMARY even when they have more reports. A report involving a component does not prove that component caused the problem.