CU Zcar Posted February 17, 2003 Share Posted February 17, 2003 I've read some posts to the effect that Felpro head gaskets are known to cause coolant leaks on L28ET's thanks to a missing coolant passage, while others say they work fine. I thought perhaps this could be due to there being different gaskets available, so I found some pics online of two different gaskets offered by FelPro: 1983 280ZX L28E and L28ET gasket: 1978 head set, for L24-L28E 1970-84 I think it said: Look closely (keep in mind that one of the gaskets is upside down) and you'll see differences in the number/size/shape of the coolant passages present. Anyone have a pic of a known good L28ET gasket for comparison? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest norm[T12SDSUD] Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 The problem with Fel pro headgaskets is that the sealing ring around the cylinder is half the width of the stock Nissan or Victor Reinz headgasket. My suggestion, from personal experience , is to either get a Victor Reinz headgasket or just cough up the dough for the quality Nissan piece and not have to worry about your motor blowing due to a blown headgasket. later,norm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David K Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Ok what about Lazorlite head gaskets? I have one hanging on the wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHANE Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 hmmm, i would stay away from the nissan gasket, felpro is by far the best i have found. i have used it on two seperate motors that see 25psi on pump gas and two other turbo cars that ran 12-15psi non intercooled. after replacing the nissan unit with a felpro i never have a problem. i did order an actuall nissan head gasket once but it didn't last very long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CU Zcar Posted February 18, 2003 Author Share Posted February 18, 2003 I went to Federal-Mogul's site and they have an online catalog of their parts. They list a different part number for the L28ET head gasket set than for the regular L28E, so I guess that is where some people's coolant leak problems have stemmed from. My luck with Fel-Pro has been good so far so I'll probably stick with their gasket kit for now and I'll see if I do anything wrong enough to want something stronger. That said, having the head gasket be the weak link is preferable (to me) to melting/breaking pistons, or other more expensive items... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest norm[T12SDSUD] Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 hmmm, i would stay away from the nissan gasket, felpro is by far the best i have found. i have used it on two seperate motors that see 25psi on pump gas and two other turbo cars that ran 12-15psi non intercooled. after replacing the nissan unit with a felpro i never have a problem. i did order an actuall nissan head gasket once but it didn't last very long. The only way for that to be true is for the Fel Pro Turbo headgasket to be vastly different from the N/A headgasket. A side by side comparison will reveal the complete crap that is the N/A Fel Pro head gasket. Talk to Malvern Racing in Virginia and ask him how many people he knows that have had Fel Pro headgaskets fail on their Zcar motors . Anyway, good luck. later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CU Zcar Posted February 19, 2003 Author Share Posted February 19, 2003 Well I for one do not doubt your advice, and if I were planning on doing many serious mods I would go for a better head gasket. However I've not blown my FelPro NA gasket on my NA L28 even though I mistreat it from time to time, and it's cheap, so I'd trust it more than some other cheap HG. Also I know some aftermarket parts sellers tend to have NA parts cross-referenced for use on Turbo's (like having to watch out for getting an NA oil pump) but I now know the Turbo part number from FelPro, so I can feel reasonably certain that it'll have the right passages, etc. Sure, I could go down to Nissan and have the same certainty, but then I'd be asking myself "well why don't I just buy everything here?" but we're back to my cheapness I'm going to stop by my Nissan dealer and see what it would cost me to get everything there too, I just doubt I'll like the bottom line. We'll see though! Thanks for all the input guys, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHANE Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 The only way for that to be true is for the Fel Pro Turbo headgasket to be vastly different from the N/A headgasket. as far as i remember there is no difference between the two. felpro lists l28 and l28et on the same gasket. oh and your right i must be lying it is true, there is a fel pro on my car right now that sees 20psi and a 50-shot of nitrous. no headgasket probs either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest norm[T12SDSUD] Posted February 20, 2003 Share Posted February 20, 2003 The only way for that to be true is for the Fel Pro Turbo headgasket to be vastly different from the N/A headgasket. as far as i remember there is no difference between the two. felpro lists l28 and l28et on the same gasket. oh and your right i must be lying it is true' date=' there is a fel pro on my car right now that sees 20psi and a 50-shot of nitrous. no headgasket probs either.[/quote'] I guess there can always be an exception to every rule Shane, but the overwhelming number of people that I have talked to including myself have had very bad experiences with the Fel Pro gasket, while having positive experiences with the Nissan gasket. Possibly you got a bad Nissan gasket or something went wrong at installation which caused it's failure, but if you compare the two head gaskets side by side ,the quality of construction with the Nissan is way better than the Fel Pro. later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David K Posted February 20, 2003 Share Posted February 20, 2003 Fel Pros are great. Mine see 6k rpm easily on a regular basis. Probably the only gasket id use. And ummmm, if you guys have problems with the head gaskets leaking after install, its probably better to use your brains and bring that head in to the parts store while purchasing the gasket. If the gasket ends up leaking, blame it on mechanic error. Get the right gasket guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHANE Posted February 20, 2003 Share Posted February 20, 2003 I guess there can always be an exception to every rule Shane, but the overwhelming number of people that I have talked to including myself have had very bad experiences with the Fel Pro gasket, while having positive experiences with the Nissan gasket. Possibly you got a bad Nissan gasket or something went wrong at installation which caused it's failure, but if you compare the two head gaskets side by side ,the quality of construction with the Nissan is way better than the Fel Pro. well you could be right i could have had a bad gasket from nissan. strange though that i have never seen the problems that you guys describe i dont know but i will definately stick with felpro since i have such good luck with them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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