Wtf!

[lucky13garage]

Whatsup everyone,

I've been on these forums for a while but was "car"less so i never really posted anything... lol, figured i would see whats up with everyone with a question. I've got a 1989 240sx fastback and im like 75% sure i blew a head gasket about 2 days ago. I was kinda abusing the car a little bit because i was getting ready to sell it and this went on for about 30 minutes, my house to kil-kare and back again after i figured out they were closed. lol, anyways i got a huge cloud of smoke from the exhaust so i pulled over, no wierd noises and everything seemed fine but smoke was comming out of the engine. Opened the radiatior cap expecting a little bit of coolent to rush out and the thing like exploded so i threw it back on quick. I know this wasn't the smartest thing to do but i wanted to make sure if it was the head gasket or not so i could decide weather or not to drive it home or tow.

Well, had the car towed to my house and ive been working, 2nd shift and going to classes almost every day. I dont have time to rip into her much and i figured i would ask for some help on what everyone thought. I could get pics of anything you need to see but im pretty sure its the head gasket combined with a bad intake mani gasket and a few other little problems. Also, i took the car to a shop a week before all this to see about getting the intake manifold ported and polished and they messed a few things up in the process. There are a few lines running from the intake mani to the intake and a few other miculanious lines that are like dry rotted out and cracked so they arent air tight. The vaccume lines are fine but pretty much every other line is messed with. Im i nthe process of getting the shop to replace this but i am thinking that this helped blow the head gasket, it thats what it is. Could i get a few opinions and some help? Glad to return the favor...lol, thanks

[(F-)]

step 1.
turn on the car
step 2.
rev it up alittle bit
step 3.
go smell your tail pipe as the car is running


do you smell coolent?

[Hit_N_Run-player]

theres a head tester that goes over the radiater fill hole, and you run the engine up while someone holds this tester tightly over the hole. Inside the tube you put this liquid in, if the liquid turns blue to yellow when you run it up, then your head is cracked or your HG is blown. This test works to see if carbon monoxide is getting into your cooling system. If it is, then your head or HG is bad.

How hot was the car on the temp guage? I over heated my car and cracked the head in 3 places, and even melted the HG.

Talk to any automotive store about getting one. Then just follow instructions.

[Hit_N_Run-player]

Originally Posted by (F-)

step 1.
turn on the car
step 2.
rev it up alittle bit
step 3.
go smell your tail pipe as the car is running


do you smell coolent?

you can do it this way too. But when mine went it was only doing it every now and then, and i couldnt really tell that there was coolant in the smoke, but i knew something was fucked up so i used the tester described.

[(F-)]

Originally Posted by Hit_N_Run-player

you can do it this way too. But when mine went it was only doing it every now and then, and i couldnt really tell that there was coolant in the smoke, but i knew something was fucked up so i used the tester described.

if its only doing it every once in a while it usually a cracked head (in your case) or a cracked block. the reason the car overheats is because air is introduced into the cooling system, causing it to boil

i have never seen a cracked head or block with out a blown headgasket, the overheating from the crack usually causes the headgasket to fail very shortly their after

[Hit_N_Run-player]

Originally Posted by (F-)

the reason the car overheats is because air is introduced into the cooling system, causing it to boil

or the elec fans stop working when the alternator went lol. Thats what caused the car to overheat and get me where i am. Everything elec just died out and drained my batt super fast.

[(F-)]

now that sucks

[lucky13garage]

Well, the temp gauge read normal the entire time but it could possibly be broken. I was keeping an eye on it while driving because i have never actually had a problem with the car overheating which is kind of wierd considering that the excess coolent resivor is all ate away at and cracked. What is the best way to go about making sure the gauge is functioning properly besides just checking the thermestat? All i know is it is somthing serious because the car has no h/p anymore at all. It just dumped - I tried drivin her last night a few feet.

[stang805]

I think its dead man, check for water in your oil.

[Chuki_breath]

yea when my headgasket went bad my shit was constantly overheating. Over flow reservoir was boiling and letting out a noticeable amount of steam.

[lucky13garage]

Haha, my baby will never be dead. I do think it's DOHc time tho because i had some time to rip into her today and when i started her up she ran smooth as ever but revving at high RPM's she blew a little smoke out of the exhaust. Didn't get to the heads tho because i only had 2 hours but i should get there tommarow... Everything looked fine but my coolent is extreamly dirty. Im going to just go ahead and check the head gasket and get a new one (steel ) re-build the engine, drain the radiatior and refill. Also, do an oil change, plugs and wires altho those were just replaced not 5,000 miles ago. Would you all say it would be worth the time to check the head gasket. I know its always worth the time but im thinking to just go ahead and do the re-build minus the head gasket and then a tune up. What do you guys think?

[(F-)]

toss the sohc


and i dont know how you would rebuild w/out replaceing the headasket


DE's can be had for a song nowadays

[Hit_N_Run-player]

headgaskets arent even that expensive. Get a new one.

[lucky13garage]

Originally Posted by Hit_N_Run-player

headgaskets arent even that expensive. Get a new one.

True, but i am tring to make up my mind between rebuilding the SOHC or just saving for a month and buying a JDM DOHC motor. I think i may re-build my SOHC and then drop the DOHC in a few months when i can give the DE a few more mods and not just drop in a stock engine. BTW meaning forged internals and blueprinting, port and polishing just normal prep for boost. I am just really stumped on this engine because i've never worked on a car that will have a massive HP loss one day and fun fine the next. oh well, thanks for the help all - I've got my plans now... lol

[nissan_240sx]

jdm dohc?