Kazuya1274 Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 I was replacing the suspension on my car, came back to my friends shop to find a small puddle of coolant on the floor in the middle of the engine. Start it up, and notice coolant leaking out the side b/t the head and block. I have been using the felpro gasket. I noticed the coolant level had went down, but I figured I just didn't fill it up enough the first time, and that the block had sucked up a little more coolant. The last one blew at the track, b/t the 4 and 5 cylinder, where the 2 ex. valves are close to each other. When putting the new gasket on, I also installed ARP head studs. Tapped all the threads with alcohol, and cleaned out the head bolt holes prior to installing the ARP's. Filled the radiator with fluid, let the engine warm up with the cap off. I think I'm going to go with the HKS gasket this time. After putting the latest felpro gasket on, I never took the car to the track, and only put about 500 miles on it! I had a machine shop check the head, and it was flat. My theories are that the residue left on the block after the 1st gasket blew could have caused a leak, or the head and/or block got warped. Finally, should the ARP studs be re-torqued after running the engine? Pretty sure the gasket was lined up properly with the ARP studs on too... Just looking for any suggestions to installation I may have overlooked. Is there any difference between the turbo and non-turbo HG, because maybe I received the wrong part (I did check it against the last one, and they were identical). Perhaps I didn't get all the air bubbles out of the coolant system? Maybe the head studs loosened because I didn't re-torque them? Or do I just need to put the HKS gasket on.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 The best gasket I've seen is the stock Nissan gasket. You will need to have perfectly flat head and block surfaces. Of course the flatness of the two surfaces is important no matter what gasket you use. You will need to retorqued the studs after the first time you run the car. Are you following the directions and torqueing to spec? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug71zt Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 RETORQUE, Retorque, retorque. I've found that the fel-pro needs it a couple times during break-in. It compresses after some heat cycles, and there goes the torque(stretch of the studs). If you have external leakage only, not in the bores or in the oil, you can probably save it by retorquing now. Loosen and retorque one at a time in the sequence. Good luck Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazuya1274 Posted January 1, 2005 Author Share Posted January 1, 2005 Thanks guys. I think I am going to double check for any internal leakage and then try and retorque the head studs. I did follow proper procedure and torqued the studs to the proper specs, but never followed up on them. I believe it may be loose because when the car warms up, it seems to stop leaking coolant. If this doesn't work, I'm going to give the HKS a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-Gad Posted January 1, 2005 Share Posted January 1, 2005 You can't go wrong w/ the HKS head gasket. I have had much success with them as have many other members. Just remember to use the copper gasket spray before installation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted January 1, 2005 Share Posted January 1, 2005 If you decide to use a MLS head gasket I would look into a Cometic. They are alot cheaper than HKS and the same quailty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazuya1274 Posted January 2, 2005 Author Share Posted January 2, 2005 Z-Gad, isn't the copper gasket spray for copper gaskets only? Clifton, thanks for introducing me to the Cometic MLS gasket. Unfortunately, I haven't found anyone on the web who actually sells the gasket for the L28 (Maybe Arizonazcar could start selling it???), just this website, http://www.freewebs.com/1971datsun240zt/ who had contacted Cometic about making a gasket for the L28. It hasn't been updated in a while whether they got the headgasket done, so I'm going to give Cometic a call Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifton Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 I got mine through http://paradiseracing.com/. It's a Toyota shop but they are small so he will order stuff in, he did one mine. He was also the cheapest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 RETORQUE, Retorque, retorque. I've found that the fel-pro needs it a couple times during break-in. It compresses after some heat cycles, and there goes the torque(stretch of the studs). If you have external leakage only, not in the bores or in the oil, you can probably save it by retorquing now. Loosen and retorque one at a time in the sequence. Yep. You should do this regardless of which gasket you are using - even the metal ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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