………
It may have simply needed a new timing kit and another day or two, but equally it could now actually need a new engine...
Apologies for resurrecting an old thread but thought I’d add a bit for Al’s benefit.
My daughter-in-law owns a petrol 2019 Qashqai with under 40K miles on the clock. I had previously warned them about the horror stories regarding the thermostat housing as it happened to a friend of ours, in addition to what Doctor Gollum posted and many other reports, but I fully understand their reluctance to change a fully working part for the sake of an updated part.
A few weeks back, steam started belching from under the bonnet and lo and behold, the thermostat housing had split in half, ironically just as she was passing a Nissan dealership.
She left it with them and they booked it in. A couple of weeks later they phoned her with an update. They had run some tests and it was not good news. Just to clarify, the engine was driven a matter of a hundred yards before she parked up in the dealership, but we accept that the vehicle movement could easily hide any steam prior to that, so can’t be definite on that. The workshop report stated that the engine runs freely and revs freely but, it failed the blow-back test and constantly triggered an overheating code. To her shock, they then informed her that they would be fitting a brand new engine and covering the labour as a goodwill gesture. The vehicle is out of warranty but does have full service history.
This is the best possible result that she could have asked for, and we are genuinely shocked that it was the dealership that pushed for this outcome from Nissan UK, and not her, so fair play to them. for doing that. She didn’t even buy the vehicle from them.
So, as Al said, he could have been on a hiding to nothing.
I’ve seen youngsters selling them on markets. 
