# head gasket



## n_hall (Feb 4, 2008)

i'm pretty sure one of my head gaskets are blown. how much is the labor for a replacement on average?


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## internetautomart (Mar 8, 2004)

more than the value of the car in most people's eyes.
Book time starts at 10 hours and goes up from there.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

n_hall said:


> i'm pretty sure one of my head gaskets are blown. how much is the labor for a replacement on average?


How do you know the head gasket is blown? Did you do a compression test on all cylinders; are you losing coolant?


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## OchnofConcrete (Jan 7, 2008)

yeah, if you're not burning coolant or leaking it, if you're not burning oil or leaking it...

but it's pretty obvious when it happens.. especially if it's all coming out between the block and head.

but here's the situation your looking at to fix it if that's what happened...
(and take into account that you do ALL THE WORK, otherwise, put your car up for sale or part it out and make more money)

well.. nissan engines are overhead cams w/ timing chains.. which means you have to remove, the entire front of the engine.. all the accessories.. alt, water pump, p/s, a/c, then the engine's front covers.

the valve covers and all the air intake and crap around the top of the engine is what you took off first.

then when all the front stuff is off and valve covers are off with all the non essential crap out of the way.. you have to take off the timing chain, idler sprocket, and cams, then you CAREFULLY pull the heads (this involving an indepth unbolting/retorque sequence that has to be followed so you don't warp the heads)

then after an extensive cleaning procedure (giving, you had the engine covered during the long time it's opened) you put a head gasket on it and put it all back together making sure it's timed just as well as the dearlership could do it.

long story short.. it's cheaper to go out, find a replacement engine.. drop that in, and rebuild your original engine while you're hoping the one you dropped in lasts you.

hell, even if you didn't get the replacement engine, go out and spend 400 dollars on shop jacks and engine lift and stand so you can pull the engine and do the headgasket job outside of the car... 

it's easier.

it's quicker.

it's more precise when torquing the heads.

and i've left a lot out of this... someone could do it easily, but w/o the equipment, it's takes a bit.


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## n_hall (Feb 4, 2008)

i've been keeping an eye on the white smoke and my coolant level. the smoke is only there for short amounts of time and not very often, but my coolant stays the same. my problem is when i'm driving the car has short second bursts of no power. it will also die without warning, not even while accelerating, but it still can do it while i'm accelerating. it normall shuts off, then backfires, then i can turn it back on for about 10-20 seconds. i've had to pushstart it on 53 (busse if you're farmilier with the elk grove area). i've replaced the fuel filter thinking there might be too much crap in it and it's not letting fuel through. i've also done the seafoam as stated earlier. my last oil and spark plug change was a little over 700 miles ago, it was doing this before the the oil & spark plug change. i've looked on other forums and some people have had this problem and they said it was either the fuel injectors or the coil packs. what are your ideas on this?


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

Your problem is not individual injectors or coil packs. It looks like you're having some general electrical problem. It could be an electrical problem with the fuel pump; check the grounds for the fuel pump and the engine. Make sure the ECU harness connector is secure.


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## n_hall (Feb 4, 2008)

i was looking under my dash to see if i could get to the ecu easily without taking the dash apart. and i saw a switch, for the clutch, that the wires to it had been cut and then connected so it is always on. i was wondering what this switch is for?


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## internetautomart (Mar 8, 2004)

if you want to bring it up my way, I can do a quick check out of it.
Sadly, I have too much time right now (shop got closed down).
I seriously doubt it's the head gasket.
the white smoke may be condensation from the exhaust (more typically seen in the cold though) and the stumble/stutter is probably a different issue.(coils/injectors).
I have the 92 FSM sitting on my shelf.
the switch by the clutch is probably a clutch interlock switch.


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## OchnofConcrete (Jan 7, 2008)

yeah dude...
if your car starts at all..
it's NOT the head gasket, although, depending on how deep you get into it, you may end up changing it anyways... leaving yourself with a brand new engine if you throw in rings and valve seals.

i'm more along with Rogo.
it sounds electrical.

the clutch thing could be anything, could be a previous owner didn't like having to push the clutch in to start it, so they made a bypass for the clutch switch.


like Rogo said... go around the entire engine bay and under the dash, checking for disconnected connectors... bad relays, fuses, wires cut, corrosion/resistance.


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## internetautomart (Mar 8, 2004)

A head gasket will not stop a motor from starting.


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## n_hall (Feb 4, 2008)

i looked under the hood and my o2 sensor was unplugged for some reason. so now instead of a stutter it just boggs out and i have to push the clutch and it's better. but i've had it bogg out and then i push the clutch and when i let it out again after a second it boggs out again, and this repeats until it's done with whatever it's done with doing. could it be my o2 sensor? and last night my exhaust broke after the cat, i was wondering if anyone had an exhaust system from the manifolds back i could buy?


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## internetautomart (Mar 8, 2004)

if your exhaust broke after the cat, why do you want the whole exhaust?


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## n_hall (Feb 4, 2008)

because somewhere along my car's life it got 1 3/4" tubing and it makes everything more difficult to fit. what are your thoughts on the o2 sensor?


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## OchnofConcrete (Jan 7, 2008)

yeah, for a while...
then when you run out of oil and coolant...
your rings melt along with your bearings...
then you need another crank, head, and timing chain... possibly pistons.
then it doesn't start.

course, if it is bad enough, on certain cars, the engine needs a certain amount of compression to start... as do all cars. 

i did say it wouldn't start, but i was thinking more of the compression part of it. after a minute it won't enough.


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## internetautomart (Mar 8, 2004)

OchnofConcrete said:


> yeah, for a while...
> then when you run out of oil and coolant...
> your rings melt along with your bearings...
> then you need another crank, head, and timing chain... possibly pistons.
> ...


if your head gaskets are so badly blown that your car won't start then they have exhibited systems for a very long time. I have as of yet to see a car be that far gone that wasn't owned by someone on the southside.


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## internetautomart (Mar 8, 2004)

n_hall said:


> because somewhere along my car's life it got 1 3/4" tubing and it makes everything more difficult to fit. what are your thoughts on the o2 sensor?


my thoughts are to run the self test via the ecu knob and see how it does.

the exhaust from the cat back is originally one piece. the front pipe should still be the "correct" OE size, and the converter is on a flange still (hopefully) if that is all correct then just get a tail section and bolt it on and go.
tail section is $125


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## OchnofConcrete (Jan 7, 2008)

was meaning a blown head gasket leaking oil and coolant...

i've seen a 200sx that had JUST blown the gasket, and it was leaking oil EVERYWHERE.

yeah, it'd start, but keep it running for a minute or longer and you'll oil starve the engine... making it not start until you fully rebuild it w/ hope.


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## n_hall (Feb 4, 2008)

okay, that's nice and all the head gasket isn't blown, let's stop acting like every person on the internet (headstrong) and get back to the question: can it be my o2 sensor causing the jerking and stalling?


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## OchnofConcrete (Jan 7, 2008)

you're tellin me, i get sick of punks that act important when they probably work at a freakin 7-11.


if you want to know if there's a prob w/ the O2 sensor, do an ecu code check..
if it comes up, replace it, see if it changes anything.

jerking and stalling in a car can be a lot of things, it depends on sounds and actions the cars making during particular rpms/speeds/driving conditions.

how exactly is it acting? when?

could be vacuum, could be fuel, could be spark.

an o2 sensor just detects how much oxygen is in the exhaust... if your engine isn't burning the fuel enough, then the EGR is opened (because of the o2 sensor's info) and the exhaust is recirculated into the intake... if the vacuum lines are old and cracked it can cause stuttering

but ey.. i'm sure there's someone on here that's all-knowing and will tell me i'm completely wrong, even though i'm halfway right. in other words, dont take my word for it, there's a few guys on here that have been techs for a while.


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## internetautomart (Mar 8, 2004)

n_hall said:


> okay, that's nice and all the head gasket isn't blown, let's stop acting like every person on the internet (headstrong) and get back to the question: can it be my o2 sensor causing the jerking and stalling?


yes it can. check the wiring to it.


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## n_hall (Feb 4, 2008)

could it be my maf? i replaced it before i did the oil change but it was a used one from ebay. i was thinking about getting a fuel pump, the car is 16yrs old it probably needs it.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

n_hall said:


> okay, that's nice and all the head gasket isn't blown, let's stop acting like every person on the internet (headstrong) and get back to the question: can it be my o2 sensor causing the jerking and stalling?


Yes, the O2 sensor can cause the jerking/stalling.


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## n_hall (Feb 4, 2008)

the smoke is all the time now. my coolant level isn't going down any. i read somewhere that it could be a bad pcv valve? or could my rings have only been a little bad before and now they're blown?


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## internetautomart (Mar 8, 2004)

n_hall said:


> the smoke is all the time now. my coolant level isn't going down any. i read somewhere that it could be a bad pcv valve? or could my rings have only been a little bad before and now they're blown?


replace the PCV, unless you want to do a compression test first to check your rings


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