madkaw Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Car was running excellent the other day then she started to run like she had a slight miss and down a bit on power. I pull the plugs and #3 looks carbon fouled. I had just pulled the plugs a couple hundred miles ago and they looked perfect. So I'm thinking bad wire or plug. I put on some Bosch wires that were almost new and cleaned of the plugs. I also changed my wideband O2 sensor around to the other pipe(duals) to see if the banks are running consistent-which they were close). I go for a long ride and pull the plugs again and the front 3 have a greenish tint to them. I have never had any overheating problems with this engine, the 3 core runs cool-always. The engine always started easily-never labored the starter. Timing is set at 20 initial with the vacuum advance disconnected. I am running 36 degrees all in. My exhaust is loud, but never heard anything I could call detonation. Compression test showed 175 to 180 all the way across. The kicker is that she's spitting fluid out the pipes now. I guess the question will be-WHY! Maybe I was too optimistic with my timing. I have about 5k miles since complete rebuild. Any feedback would be appreciated. What should I be looking for when I pull the head off to help me determine the cause? Lastly, can I tie this in with a persistant oil leak from the rear main? Would a small breach in the head gasket near a oil passage pressurize the oil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Car was running excellent the other day then she started to run like she had a slight miss and down a bit on power. I pull the plugs and #3 looks carbon fouled. I had just pulled the plugs a couple hundred miles ago and they looked perfect. So I'm thinking bad wire or plug. I put on some Bosch wires that were almost new and cleaned of the plugs. I also changed my wideband O2 sensor around to the other pipe(duals) to see if the banks are running consistent-which they were close). I go for a long ride and pull the plugs again and the front 3 have a greenish tint to them. I have never had any overheating problems with this engine, the 3 core runs cool-always. The engine always started easily-never labored the starter. Timing is set at 20 initial with the vacuum advance disconnected. I am running 36 degrees all in. My exhaust is loud, but never heard anything I could call detonation. Compression test showed 175 to 180 all the way across. The kicker is that she's spitting fluid out the pipes now. I guess the question will be-WHY! Maybe I was too optimistic with my timing. I have about 5k miles since complete rebuild. Any feedback would be appreciated. What should I be looking for when I pull the head off to help me determine the cause? Lastly, can I tie this in with a persistant oil leak from the rear main? Would a small breach in the head gasket near a oil passage pressurize the oil? What block/head/piston combination are you running? Compression ratio? Stock head gasket? Could be detonation related. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted September 26, 2011 Author Share Posted September 26, 2011 P-30 block with original 1971 e-88-probably 10 to 1 compression. I think my head CC'd at 39.5, but I also notched the bores for bigger valves. Stock head gasket that came with rebuild kit-probably not the highest quality gasket. Justed rented a coolant pressure system guage from Autozone. Never did this type test before, but followed instructions and set pressure to 13lbs on the tester and started car. Pressure very slowly creeped until the engine started to gain temp and then it started rising quickly. Instructions stated to pull plug wires one by one while running to see if diffuses pressure. I went directly for #3 plug(suspect area) and the pressure immediately stopped rising. #3 was carbon fouled, but showed 180 on a compression test? Any thoughts???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Definitely head gasket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 (edited) Pulled the head and here some pics. I don't see anything that jumps out at me, but not sure what to look for. #3 cylinder firering has some"discoloration" around where the water comes thru the head. Looks like #3 is the worse and #6 looked like it was getting there This pics are BIG-sorry, but you might see more detail this way Any ideas Edited September 30, 2011 by madkaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 Well if no one has ideas I guess I will just slap another gasket on there and hope for the best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 First gasket pic from the left looks like there is s some blow by. Unless that is just oil. I would clean the head and block really well, and also have the head checked for flatness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 Pete, I know it's hard to tell with these pics, but where are you seeing the blow by--o'clock position? I guess I will take the head to a machinist that probably has a better straight edge and have them look at it. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 I'm seeing something around the five o'clock-is that an oil gallery right next to it? The reason I ask this is because I have been having a oil leak on thr rear main and I have changed everything. Is it possible this compression leak could in anyway pressurize the oil system enough to cause blow by on the rear main? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 Took the head to the machine shop so they could chek flatness with a good straight edge. Since the head is still assembled he could go right down the middle, but on either side longitudinally he couldn't get a feeler guage under anywhere. He attempted to measure diagonally and he was able to get a .015 guage under the straight edge towards the middle of the head. Not sure if that equates to anything, but he felt that on that long of a head, it was probably OK. Ordered some Victor Reinz gaskets from Rock-Auto. They are having a close out on them right now and they are only 9.96$ They are some kind of metal gasket with a composite covering-similiar to what I pulled off. I guess if they don't hold I will try a Nissan gasket at 150$$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 Well one benefit from this job was finding an exhaust leak that I knew I had but couldn't see. Damn MSA header had a dimple on the flange right below #4 - it was pissing out right there- time for JB weld . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2802NR Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 i cant remember for sure but i think it was a victor reinz that i got with my rebuild kit: total garbage as you can see in the pic. hope thats not why you found such a great deal. headgaskets are always worth a little extra money in my opinion. even if it is just piece of mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 Well unfortunetly, I think I got the same garbage . What really concerns me is the difference in the coolant passages. If you look at the first pic of the gasket that I had on there, half of the coolant passages were blocked by the gasket. On the Victor reinz gasket they are all open? Also asked the Rock Auto sales rep to pull a gasket and tell me the make up of the gasket. I told him that i was not interested in a fiber board type of gasket, and of course thats what I got:( I guess that's what I get for trying to go cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 Just ordered my 150$ gasket-OUCH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossman Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 There has been a lot of discussion about head gaskets on HZ. The consensus is, for a high powered L6 (300+ HP) you should get a gasket with all the holes open to maximize coolant flow thru the head. It definitely can't hurt to use the same for lower powered engines. If you want to cancel your order, I have an unused 83 Nissan head gasket (like the one you are replacing) that I will sell for (relatively) cheap. Lemme know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 (edited) I never had any cooling issues what so ever with my engine, but I'm not hardly pushing 200hp at most. Would an 83 gasket work on a p-30 block? Is is a Nissan gasket? Nevermind, I just reread your post.(nissan) Courtesy had cheaper Nissan gaskets for later years, but I wasn't sure I could use those. I searched for a while and couldn't find a definitive answer Edited October 5, 2011 by madkaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2802NR Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 jegs has 2 fel-pro options for under $40. i've personally never been dissapointed with that name, unlike any number of other gasket manufactures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 Waited 4 weeks for my Nismo gasket and it comes DAMAGED ;( Some idiot at Courtesy Nissan puts a 2 ft long flat gasket in a 3 ft long triangle box with ONE piece of paper for packing. Now I guess I will wait another 4 weeks . Good news is that my machinist said the head is flat, I guess the gasket just have out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 You have my kind of luck Madkaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid240z Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Similar thing happened to me when I ordered my intake/exhaust manifold gasket from Courtesy Nissan. They made a box that was long enough by taping together two smaller boxes. Problem was that it got compressed during shipping deforming the gasket. I let them know what happened and they sent me another one and let me keep the first one. I wasn't in a hurry so that was fine, and I got to keep the first one that I can probably still use. Good Service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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