captken

jim wolf tech package....

It ran great...for about 10 minutes.

Started right up. smooth idle, ran great impressive exhaust note, using the jeffp built 3" down pipe and the partial 3" exhaust pieces. And the upgraded t3/t4 56 trim turbo spooled flawlessly.


Then rough idle, plumes of white smoke...large puddle of antifreeze under car...wtf??

What did I miss? The block was not prefilled with coolant. The radiater was topped off. Shortly after the thermostat opened, white smoke.

I ordered a Nissan factory headgasket and new Nissan factory head bolts [6 bucks each]

What did I not do properly.

Also my timing chain gaskets are leaking coolant and oil....sux...what did I do wrong there? I thought I followed advise and used the fsm. I think I used too much sealant on the timing cover....

Any thoughts about head gasket failure? I mean, what else would put water into the cylinders?

BlueKitsune

Is the head really warped or something? thats all I can think of

captken

head was sent out to machine shop....no problems there.

Jasondiz

That might be just your problem you only need a little bit if you use it, i prefer not to use sealant and just get a gasket or if thats not an option I'll just make a gasket

280zx2by2

sound like you have an epically bad head gasket leak, did you square the head and block just to check? even machine shops can make a mistake

do you have oil in your antifreeze?


and too much sealant on the valve cover is only going to give you a little bit of an oil leak, and if thats where its coming from you should be able to see where there's a leak



and a question to those of higher knowledge, can blocked coolant passages build enough pressure to break through the head gasket?

captken

Is that a possibility?

There was no problem with the head/block before I sent the head out to the maching shop...
The head gasket had 1-1/2" chunk blown out of it between #3 and #4 cylinders, just gone, spit out the exhaust...
Why it blew is a mystery. There appears to be a buildup of gunk/gasket material? right in the center of the blowout that I scraped off. You could see it and feel it with your fingernail...This was on the head and on the block....?

I had used a fel-pro.

The timing cover seal had a chunk out of it at the very top...otherwise did not leak anywhere else.

So now I'm back to square one.

I can do the work, just don't want too after a full day working my landscape crew in the Mississippi heat.

That's the reason I got help putting the engine together in the first place....

I will follow the directions and do it [by myself] and see everything is right this time around.

So...I pulled the oil pan, timing cover, head....
I took the entire cylinder head off complete with leaving the turbo and intake/exhaust manifold intact.

Do you think I'll have a problem trying to torque the head down with the extra weight on one side? Just trying to save some time...

kenny.

280zx2by2

is there any way you can get us some pictures?

Jasondiz

That would do it, thats why i hate permatex and anyother sealant so much. It may be the easy way out but over all its just not worth it. That stuff only has one good use is using a tiny layer to hold a gasket in place while installation!!!

If anything restricts or blocks coolant flow, the coolant will continue to heat up and causing it to expand, and the excessive pressure that would cause it to blow.

Just my thought on this issue, but im only a teenager not a certified mechanic so don't take my word.

captken

too late, I already scraped off the head and block.

no sealant used on head gasket, so thats not probable.

I'll get a picture of the gasket tomorrow...

any ideas? no oil in coolant nor coolant in oil. lucky I didn't hydrolock the engine with the amount of coolant passed out the exhaust.

I don't see how the head could be warped.

I have 2 p90s and 2 p90a heads.

280zx2by2

i think he said he only put it on the rocker cover gasket... i think

280zx2by2

only thing i can think of is some debris got in between those 2 cylinders, or the gasket was just defective :/

Jasondiz

Thats what i meant, i didn't mean putting permatex on a head gasket thats just suicide, but isn't there any coolant passages under the timing cover? I haven't had to take my timing cover off yet on my datsun so i'm not sure but on my Range Rover there was coolant passages under the timing cover. If he put to much gasket sealant on, the excess would get into those passages

Plus he mentions
"Also my timing chain gaskets are leaking coolant and oil....I think I used too much sealant on the timing cover...."
"There appears to be a buildup of gunk/gasket material? right in the center of the blowout that I scraped off."

The gunk he mentions i believe to be the excessive amount of sealant that he used that traveled through the coolant passages

skib

when your doing your timing cover gasket, only put a very sparing amount of sealant around the water passage holes on the gasket, not anywhere else or itl leak

280zx2by2

hes saying there was a blow out in the head gasket between the 3-4 cylinders and thats where the gunk is...


the valve covers are simple, no water/oil passages, worst you would get is a small oil leak from blow-by


what ill suggest (as nismo suggested to me) use copper spray a gasket when you put this back together, it gives a good stick so you can place the gasket and it is supposed to help transfer heat and will make the gasket last longer (also gives you a smooth surface unlike rtv)

Jasondiz

He wasn't talking about the valve covers, hes talking about the timing cover which is in the front of the engine

280zx2by2

oh lol,





well i dont see how any rtv in the coolant passages could block up any ports in the head/block and cause the head gasket to fail (unless he smothered a hole tube onto the gasket)



i think you just have 2 separate incidents of either slightly incorrect installation, or just gasket failures

what brand gasket did you use for the timing chain cover?

lifegrddude

When the head was torqued, how was the value measured, i.e. did you use any moly lube on the threads? Were the old head bolts used? I would suggest upgrading to ARP hardware while you're doing the job this time.

captken

I used all new nissan head bolts and the nissan head set from my dealer.

I took an old head bolt and cut a slot with my lawn mower grinder.
cut a 1/2" slot at the end, for use as po mans thread chaser with my blade grinder.

I took a dental pick and scraped all the bolt thread holes, the stuff on the bottom that would f up torque readings....
Blew all the gunk from scraping and thread chasing with air.

Possible cause of gasket failure, debris.
What I found.
Got so much **** outta the holes after rescraping and chasing the threads, and using a magnatised screw driver, following that up with liberal amounts of breakcleaner, gettting the remaining residue out with paper towersl and finishing with Q-tips, so that now it is as prestine as when it left the factory. I'll fire it up tomorrow.

With the Jim Wolf upgrade, the car started right away after getting fuel pressure.

The motor idled perfect, I mean spot on. Felt turbo just off idle....

Just where does the line go from the J-pipe, the one of the top....

I'm thinking I should plump up the Bosche blow off valve from the manifold BOV to this to duct the pressure.

When I started it up I left a maniflod...later to tell you what valve it was....I stuck my fingerr in it and felt the boost....just off idle.

The gaskets blowing, ****ed me...I got to do things my way today and might get it fired up tomorrow.

kenny

captken

sorry, you ask me the time, I'll build you a clock

I used engie oil to lubricat the new nissan head bolts..
kenny, and jim bean.

Niku-Sama

i've never used any lube on the head bolts, probally because i dont want to be taking them out or any thing so i figure why bother. never had any problems but i also havent rebulit my 280

NismoPick

Then you've always torqued them to the wrong spec.