J Taylor Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 Mike, I would recomment retorquing the headbolts before you go and do a bunch of possibly unnecesary work. From what I understand, these motors will leak a little around the head like yours sometimes and retorquing the head alot of times will fix it. BTW, I ran 20psi for a while with stock headbolts but with a metal headgasket. Never had a problem from the stock bolts. Good luck, JT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 If cost is an issue just stick with the stock bolts, they work great. I also ended up avoiding the metal gasket as I was warned by several people that use them that they can be a pain, needing to be retorqued several times, and sometimes leaking. Well if your getting one for free *shrug* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 uh... since when are ARP's considered mandatory for this level of boost? No one said it was mandatory I don't believe but' date=' it is a good idea. Especially with a motor that is being leaned on by it's owner. [/quote'] I'm having trouble believing this too, although I agree it won't hurt. If you do this, you will want to go buy a bottoming tap (they aren't very expensive) and clean the threads in the block thoroughly and all the way to the bottom of the hole. You should be able to thread the stud all the way down by hand. Know what is mandatory, though? Re-torquing the head bolts periodically. I can't believe nobody has mentioned this yet. When was the last time you re-torqued? Use the factory tightening sequence (check any service manual), and ONLY do it on a stone cold motor - let it sit overnight. Back each bolt off 1/8 to 1/4 turn and retorque to spec, one at a time. IIRC, the turbo bolts are spec'ed for 65 lb-ft. Finally, if you go with the metal headgasket, you will want to clean it thoroughly and coat it with something like copper gasket spray or hylomar spray. Also, make sure that the head and block surfaces are absolutely clean and smooth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 You guyz are right in saying first thing I'd try would be to torque that baby down, and see what happens.... Might as well try that first, it don't cost anything... 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 Assuming you check your torque on the bolts, and it is good.... the real issue here is the fact that the headgasket blew. I've seen people blow OEM nissan headgaskets and then replace them with HKS or Tomei... only to blow a piston. The headgasket is like a fuse for poor tuning. If it is torqued properly and the engine is tuned right... it won't blow. Now every engine has some times when its nice to fall back on a metal headgasket (like massive overboost... one that won't blow the pistons out in a few seconds, but would blow the headgasket) So its nice to have that in there. However, if you put in a metal headgasket on a poorly tuned engine and continue beating on it, it will blow the engine... it will take a piston next time, instead of the headgasket. The pressure has to go somewhere... And headgaskets don't feel any pressure if the piston is in the combustion chamber during ignition. If ignition happens prior to it entering the chamber, then pop goes the headgasket. I see it as a fuse. I use metal headgaskets, but I also tune with a wideband and run it full time to monitor A/F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramercyjam Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 First thing I'd try is re-torquing the head bolts. 60 ft. lbs. is near spec but IMHO too low. I like 70 ft. lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 going to sears now to get the right socket so i can re torque the bolts. i called a local Z shop and he said 70lbs like gramercyjam. and said just like a few of you. back them out abit and then torque away. if it helps then AWESOME. what i dont understand is why theres alot of blow by coming out of the breather port on the valve cover. see the other days i was at chris's house here in town and it wa running great only problem was the boost problem. a few days later its giving me this problem. oil on the plugs, car wont start with those plugs, and when TRYING to start it it shot out so much black crap onto the floor of the driveway it wasnt even funny! well wish me luck, and about that summit link, do i need both of those stud kits? mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 what i dont understand is why theres alot of blow by coming out of the breather port on the valve cover. Well, I hope I'm wrong, but IME, a sudden increase in blowby usually = ring lands. Did you say you had checked your compression? I'm trying to think of a way that a blown head gasket could leak pressure to the crankcase itself... At any rate, try re-torquing the head first, then check the compression. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 If there is water in the oil STEAM will come out of the PCV, and yes, it can look like bad blowby. Look closely at what is coming out of the PCV or the breather on the valve cover and see how it acts. If it looks like SMOKE, then you're probably looking at rings like Tim said. If it looks like STEAM then you've probably got some water in your oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 the motor itself is great, atleast it was the last time chris checked it. i just tried to start it the other day and noticed oil on the floor, and some coolent. then saw the oil on the side of the block and checked the coolent level and it was a tad low. this also might explain why i was almost quarts low in oil sometime ago. then when i tried to start it it shot this hugh black crap on the floor of the driveway and it wouldnt start, well it did like 2 times but if i tried to floor the motor it didnt do anything, and it sounded like it wasnt firing at all! so i checked the plugs and there was oil all over them, all 6. so i put in my oil plugs that i cleans up good and it fired up. ran rough but not bad at all. so i let it sit some and it got warmed up abit and then i noticed some of the white smoke coming out of the port. also for some reason the motor sounded not as loud as before.. if that makes any sense. im gonna go out there right now and see if theres any more oil on the side of the block.. motor felt good last night so i dunno.. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 so i let it sit some and it got warmed up abit and then i noticed some of the white smoke coming out of the port. Sounds like steam to me Mike. Is it all wispy looking and white? One more test you can do at school. If you think you're burning coolant then you can take off the rad cap and put a smog machine sniffer in the top of the radiator (not down in the antifreeze, just in where the cap goes on) and see if it smells any hydrocarbons. When the headgasket blows the coolant gets sucked into the chamber and burns, but it also blows a/f mix into the cooling system on the compression stroke. You might also be able to use an A/C leak detector too, but I've never tried that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 just checked.. no more oil but theres still coolent in some spots and etc. then again i didnt really get on the car at all last night.. one short burst just to see where boost was out.. 7psi and bleeding down. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Doesn't anyone else find it odd that he had oil on all six plugs like that? Whether he messed up his ring lands, or blew the gasket, he should only be having oil on one plug or maybe two if the gasket blew in between two pistons. Oil on all plugs indicates it's either coming from upstream (leaky turbo seal/bearing) or uniform wear on a tired engine (rings, valve stem seals)... or a REALLY BADLY blown gasket but anyways oil only passes thru the block to the head at a few points right? So I still wouldn't expect oil on all six plugs. You can check compression but the numbers can be misleading. When I first installed the turbo motor, after about a month I was driving and for no apparent reason, the lash pads for the number 5 cylinders valves popped off... valve musta got stuck though I never figured out why. Anyways, I had the head rebuilt, reinstalled it, only to find my motor was now smoking like crazy, and I too had oil on all six plugs. Did a compression check and oddly my compression ended up being fine on all six. So I went on a wild goosechase to see if it was the turbo or bad valve stem seals but everything checked out. So finally I went and replaced the piston rings and sure enough, the smoking stopped. So a compression check wont always tell you what's up... maybe a leakdown test? I think the problem in my case was that either only the oil control rings were really badly worn, or that all the rings were worn but oil was sealing them and giving me a false good compression reading. Valve stem seals you can actually inspect yourself though they are a pain to get to to see. By the way even after fully rebuilding the motor I still get some blowby out of the valve cover breather, it's not steam as that should stop once the car is fully warmed up, whereas mine does it all the time. Not a lot, just a little wisp of smoke here and there, if you stand and watch it you'll see a few in the space of a minute. During a few WOT pulls on the dyno I saw enough smoke coming out of the breather to wonder if maybe I hadn't chosen the wrong brand of piston rings to use But... compression checks out great, I get no smoke from the exhaust, and no oil on my plugs, so I just stopped worrying about it. Mike... someone once said to me that you and I are a lot alike in the luck we have with our Z cars... it's funny I'm reading thru your recent threads about Ole Blue and finally seeing just how true that really is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 lol.. ya i guess so.. if the headgasket was that bad the car wouldnt be running this well though. you said turbo seal.. that could be a reason! my turbo does have alot of mileage. theres no oil inside the intercooler piping at all. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 Doesn't anyone else find it odd that he had oil on all six plugs like that? Not that odd - if the PCV system is still connected, bad rig lands could easily blow enough oil through the intake to register on all six plugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 PCV system isnt still connected.. its all vented out. i havent started the car in a day or so. gonna re torque the head tomorrow and then ill see how it goes. but i have enough money for the ARP studs so i dunno what to do now. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumblezzz Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 mike---im in austin work at a nissan dealership----can order oem gasket ships out of la--bout 4 days away on regular order---my cost (employee cost) $40.57 w/tax for 81 up l28t----if this helps could ship frpm austin for shipping cost-----just trying to help a bro out!!!!!!!good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 mike---im in austin work at a nissan dealership----can order oem gasket ships out of la--bout 4 days away on regular order---my cost (employee cost) $40.57 w/tax for 81 up l28t----if this helps could ship frpm austin for shipping cost-----just trying to help a bro out!!!!!!!good luck thanks man but ill be going with a metal one if its the headgasket. update, i just tried to start it and it didnt wanna start. im gonna take off the intercooler piping now to see if theres any oil in there. also gonna check over all the connetors and etc. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted October 7, 2004 Share Posted October 7, 2004 So how do the plugs look now. Covered in oil, fuel, water??????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmyntti Posted October 7, 2004 Share Posted October 7, 2004 Oil on all six plugs and the PCV system isn't connected to the intake. It pretty much has to be the turbo. I see no other way for oil to get to all six cylinders except through the intake. The only way into the intake would be from the turbo I believe with no PVC conected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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