HELP newbie headgasket ???'s

Hey guys, i just bought a '87 200sx. its a 3.0 V6, 5 speed. its got about 160k miles. i bought this car to be a daily driver to take some strain away from my main ride; my 11 second LS1 Trans Am. well my nissan has a blown head gasket. i purchased it that way (for $100) i am on a budget so i need to replace this gasket for as cheaply as possible, but not cut any important corners. what all will i need to replace a head gasket on one of these nissans? i was thinking to just get a "head gasket set" from autozone for about 180 bucks. also i wanted to go ahead and replace my timing belt while i was in there; how much more trouble is involved in doing that, and what extra parts will i need to complete that? thanks for all your help! -Jim btw i'll be doing all the work myself. so any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Havent done a head gasket on this particular motor but i always replace the headstuds, these may be included in the kit. You should replace the timing belt aswell while your there makes it alot easier, maybe a chain instead of a belt though im not sure. I would consider doing the water pump also it is suggested that you replace it inline with the t-belt.

Good luck

Yes, it is definitely adviseable to do the timing belt and water pump while you are there. You will also need a new tensioner for the timing belt. While you're in there, the Cylinder Head Temperature Sensor and CHTS Harness should be replaced, as it's a bit of a pain to get to otherwise. Other gaskets you will need besides the head gasket are the two lower intake manifold gaskets, the one upper intake manifold gasket, and the exhaust manifold gaskets. You should also replace the exhaust manifold studs in the head. You will probably break some off in the head, so be prepared for that. It's very common. With all that done, the car should be ready to go for a long time.

The head gasket set usually comes with all the gaskets you'll need. And of course, I agree with the others, might as well do the timing belt and water pump, and head bolts while you're at it.

Also you need to at least get the heads checked out for warpage. If it blew the head gasket and ran hot, the heads could be warped and will need to be resurfaced. It's also a good idea to have them pressure checked for cracks. I have seen a few VG30's crack, so it is a possibility.

I was thinking of something else, but it escaped me... Maybe I'll remember later... :wall:

[edit] I remembered what I was gonna say. You need to make sure you find out why it blew the head gasket. I've seen many people put it back together with a clogged radiator or stuck thermostat, and just blow another one. Head gaskets just don't blow for no reason, there's something that caused it.

[edit again] I just noticed you're in Locust, NC, where is that? I'm in Durham if you want to bring the heads by to get em checked. I won't charge you for checking the warpage, but if you want em pressure checked it's $35 a head.

Hehehe.... Just mapquested it and you're about 2 hours away. Right next to Big Lick, NC and Finger, NC... :laugh:

I couldn't help myself when I saw that... :rofl:

Might not be a bad idea to do the thermostat too while in there. The timing belt needs to be indexed properly of course.

You really need a FSM to do it properly. I have one and I recently did my timing belt. I few of us have. Any questions durring the job will be answered with due haste I'm sure.

I'm sure you have good mechanical knowledge from the T/A. Just be sure you don't miss anything. The tensioner can be a bit tricky because of the spring on it, it just takes a soft touch to get it on correctly. The spring likes to jump off the stud that holds tension on it.

how far are you from Raleigh, NC? i just replaced the headgaskets on my VG30E this summer

i got a headgasket set off of ebay from a seller called the parts dinosaur for like $90 shipped,.. here is a link to one he is selling now: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7927526855&category=33665&sspagename=WDVW

its really not too hard, just make sure that you take your time and do everything in the right order.. also, timing belt is simple to replace (especially if you're doing it while you have everything apart anyways)

here is a list of stuff you should replace while you have everything apart:

ALL heater/coolant hoses - $10 +/-
ALL vacuum hoses - $10 +/-
timing belt - $18
timing belt tensioner - $35
spark plugs - (depends on quality,.. Denso Iridiums = about $17/Each)
distributor cap and rotor - $25
front cylinder head temp sensor - $15
Gasket Kit - $90
Thermostat - $8
cylinder head studs - depends where you get them, if you have a nuts and bolts shop try to get them there, b/c from nissan all the ones you need will cost you roughly $150 (i got all the studs for like $30, i reused the self locking nuts for the heads, but still havent found any to fit the new studs on the exhaust mani)

(those prices are rough estimates, but i think most are pretty close to what i paid, except for the spark plugs the ones i got were like $3/each)

oh.. also, if you can, get your a/c system flushed before you start b/c you'll have to take the a/c compressor off

thats about all i can think of right now.. if i think of any other stuff i'll post it,.. if you want some help once you get into the nitty gritty let me know and i'll try to help too

..welcome to the club!

I don't know if I would recommend hardware store studs for the heads. Most head bolts and studs are made specifically for the application, and are made to stretch a certain amount to hold the head down. He's about two hours away from us, Henge. I mapquested it yesterday, he's a little east of Concord.

Thanks for all the replies! yep, i'm just south of concord, about 20 minutes. i go up to chapel hill every once and a while. sound to me like head studs arn't cheap! i asume your talking about the ones that will most likly snap off in the exaust manifolds? the list that one guy posted sounded good exept for i think i'd like to go ahead and replace the water pump while i'm in there too, seeing thats part of the cooling system too. so where do ya'll think i should get some head studs ($150, really dosn't sound great to me but if thats the only way to do it right, without taking serious risks, i guess thats the way i have to go) do you think there is even a remote possisblity that i could just PB blaster the crap out of them and possibly have no problems? seeign how its an aluminum head, and when i put long tube headers on my T/A i didn't have one bit of a problem with the bolts into the head(even though it is a '98). also one more question, one of my bud's was saying to get the heads port and polished and matched to the intake. while my primary interest and concern is gas milage, drivabitly, and affordable, i thought i'd ask the question, b/c we all would like more performance! i think i will have them pressure checked, but how much more $$ would it be to port-n-polish?
thanks for all the help guys! -Jim

Alright, first off, the studs in the exhaust side you can get from the hardware store. I probably should have clarified a little bit. They're just standard old bolts. I was talking about the bolts that hold the head to the block. Those should probably be replaced with new ones, which you can usually get from the same place you get your gasket set.

Yes, PB Blast the crap out of them and there's a slim chance you won't break any off... :mrgreen: PB Blaster does work wonders.

As far as porting and polishing, I think it's kind of a waste of money unless you do other mods to support it. Now if you're gonna put a bigger throttle body, a free flowing exhaust and intake, and bigger cams in it, then yeah, do it. But if it's a daily driver, just be happy with your 11 second LS1 to get your kicks... ;)

But that's just my opinion. I do stage 2 porting and polishing for $156 for 2 valve per cylinder V6's, but if I were you I'd rather spend that money on getting em pressure checked and resurfaced...

yeah, my bad.. i forgot the water pump (i had replaced that too)

and with the studs,.. i wasnt talking about the ones that hold the heads to the block.. i was talking about the ones that hold the exhaust mani's to the heads, and the exhaust pipes to the exhaust mani's (i should have probs clarified that..)

well, guess to hell with port-n-polishing. thanks for the advice though. as far as the bolts are concerned, i'll just pick up some from ace for the manifold-to-pipes, and if i snap one going into the head, i'll just go to ace again and see what i can pick up. seeing how its just a exuast manifold, and not a head to block bolt. man i cant wait to dig into it! still waiting to finalize the deal with my title shouldn't be more then a week b4 i have that, then i'll be ready to start work. i'm feeling confident with the exception of the timing and overhead cam configuration. i've never doen something so 'major' to a OHC before. plenty of times to pushrod engines. so i'm pretty sure i'll need to know exactly how to time it up due to my ignorence. also i think i'll make a trip up to the triange and get those heads checked out and pressure tested. also one more question, where do ya'll suggest i get the hoses and not-so-popular items for my endevor? thanks again, Jim p.s. thanks for all the hospitality and warm welcomes!

you should be able to get basically all the items i listed at an Advance Auto Parts store.. they will have what you need for vacuum and coolant lines (just the stuff where it comes in like 3ft. and you cut it to length),.. they will also have the stuff such as timing belt and tensioner, spark plugs, dist. cap and rotor, water pump, thermostat..

other than that i'm not really sure which "not-so-popular" items you're talking about?

oh ok, my mistake, i didn't really know how retable parts were for these cars, seeing how i was under the impression studs were somewhat hard to come by. but how about the CHTS sensor and harness someone spoke of?

the CHTS (the one in the front of the engine, just about right under the distributor) i got at Autozone for like $15.. the harness however would be a dealer (or junkyard) item..