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HEEEELP!!!!!!!!!!! Blown headgasket! On the car I sold yesterday.........


pjo046

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Hi!

Well, I just sold my 260Z 2+2 Turbo yesterday. Guess what? The new owner called me today, and said that the headgasket had blown.....

 

So I of course assured him that I would take care of it, and pay for a new metal headgasket, and some new bolts or studs.

 

The question is: This is a stock 1974 260Z engine. I guess you then know which head and block is on it? Anyways, what headgasket shall I buy for him to get the best compression for this turbocharged engine? a 1mm gasket or a 2 mm gasket?

 

Also, where do I get a gasket and turbo head bolts cheap?

 

Is it likely that anything else has been damaged? He managed to stop the car quick after it happened. But it was so that coolant came out the exhaust and everything....

 

Please respond ASAP, as I need to get back to him today, and also order new parts for him today since the delivery will take some time from USA to Norway.

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first be aware your problem (his problem) may NOT be a blown head gasket, don,t assume it IS! it may be a cracked block,cylinder head, broken rocker stud or dozens of differand problems, MANY of which he may have caused by total stupidity like over reving the engine, or turning up the boost,using low octane fuel, changing the ignition timing,ETC. yeah, your going to need to check carefully and may be paying for his stupid opperation of the engine!

if a rod/piston smacked a valve durring excessive rpm opperational induced valve float youll also have coolant in the cylinders if the bent valve cracked the head!!!

if a rod came loose same potential problems

 

and NO! Im sure HE WILL NEVER ADMIT HE CAUSED THE PROBLEM! even thought HE would need to be a total idiot to knot know he over reved the engine

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Hmmm.... Maybe you're onto something there. You see, I sold the car with a non-working tachometer. The buyer was aware of this, and it was ok for him to do the installment of an aftermarket tach. If not, I would have done this before selling the car. By the way, the buyer is a mechanic, so should think he would know not to overrev the engine. but then again, since the tachometer don't work right, he might have. you see, after I installed a Crame Cams Hi-6TRC ignition, the tachometer went dead. I never got around to installing an autometer before I sold the car.

 

BUT, IF it is the headgasket that is gone, and everything else turns out to be ok, what would you recommend? Getting a 2mm metal gasket, or a 2mm non-metal gasket? The metal one handles more, but if something goes wrong then(detonation), it will be the pistons that will take the hit. Someone hinted that it would be better to have a weaker headgasket, so that if detonation should occur, the gasket would blow instead of the pistons. What do you think?

 

I will call the new owner now, and ask more about how it all happened, and if he is sure that he wasn't overreving. If he wasn't, do you still think it could be something other than the headgasket?

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I sold it without a warranty. But I don't want to be an *** just because of that. I want to try and help him out. Also, I got a very good price for the car, and I said it was in perfect condition. When the engine breaks down on his trip back home(he lives 9 hours away from me), I feel some responsibility. Wouldn't you?

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if its JUST a head gasket ID replace it with a thicker composite gasket (simply to avoid bad feelings between you guys...and yeah, if the engine blows durring the first few hours its going to look like YOU KNEW it was about to blow and sold it KNOWING THAT)

btw thinking that the head gasket will blow before damage to the pistons is wishful thinking......while it may blow, deonation almost always causes damage to the pistons also by the time the gasket blows out

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By the way, as to the other alternatives you list grumpyvette, you say that it can be a few other things based on the buyers stupidity. Well, I can outrule a few of them: Using lower octane fuel. The car had enough gas in it so that he wouldn't need to fill it up to get home. Remember, he bought it yesterday, put it on a ferry, and today, he drove probably about an hour or a bit more before it went wrong. As for turning up the boost, I doubt he did that so quick as well. :-) Neither has he changed the ignition timing.

 

Yesterday, when he and I testdrove the car before he bought it, I drove it real hard, and showed him it's potential. And nothing was wrong at all. I have had this car for two years now, and never had any problems. Can't understand why this should happen now.......

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I say it's been sold as a modified car that can't be guarenteed! but you already agreed to help him with the head gasket and bolts so find them cheap and write the guy a check for that amount, if he wants to upgrade that'll be on his dime

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"As for turning up the boost, I doubt he did that so quick as well."

 

Ahhhh, you are a trusting soul to make that comment! When I lived in Japan, the FIRST thing I watched countless idiots do was take that HKS EVC in "Scramble Mode" and twist the knob full up, and then "see what it feels like"... Usually to the detriment of something in the engine!

 

I might suggest a "Half Cost" replacement, he provides half the money to repair whatever is wrong. That would seem fair...

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I wouldn't change anything on the gasket thickness because that will change the cam timing and make it a bitch to get the cam sprocket back on. Just slap it back together with a stock thickness gasket if you're going to do it at all.

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