Well I took her out yesterday for a spin and she was running a bit strangely....... didn't feel like she had any power when she had warmed up to running temp.....

I bound a nice straight bit of quiet road and floored her....... felt like an NA with no kick from the turbo's at all.....

I then noticed no heat from the vents.... well slightly warm but not hot like she usually is.......

Temp gauge was at middle on stock gauge...... So carefully drove her home.....

I left it till this morning and checked the radiator....... not much water in there and the same brown sludgy muck popped out when I filled her up as earlier in the year......

It looks like oil and water mix....... So need to get a tester to see if the head gaskets are done......

I feel sick now as I don't have any funds to sort this at all......

I will be flushing out the radiator and cooling system tomorrow or friday and hoping the alloy rad isn't blocked with the muck.....

Then it is compression testing time and finally leak testing kit on the radiator to see if the head gasket has gone.....

 

What is the best head gasket to get and anyone got an idea of how much they are????

Edited December 17, 201410 yr by veilside01702

No problem russ if you need any more info or q's

u know where I am :)

Hi Gary, if you could get it cleaned please as I appreciate the help and advice that most gave me........

I don't mind heathy discussion and banter...... but not this......

I appreciate advice, information and help offered by all members on the forum as there are so many people that have helped me since joining......

Thanks....

Russ

Thread cleaned and will be monitored so stay on topic ladies :detective:

And I would also like to add that I don't want to see members telling others to 'shut it'! Please show respect to ALL members when replying to a thread even if you are disagreeing with them. This place is known for it's friendly atmosphere, let's keep it that way..

Best to leave that sort of language to the professionals!

 

Going back to HG failure..has anyone threw into the hat bad workmanship and even worse head/deck preperation prior to nailing the heads down. Ive took heads off engines zed and none zed after head gasket problems thats only been done less than 10,000 miles and the state of the cleaning and preperation was appaling. To make true judgements over h/g types it would need to be done by the same fitter to same engine types and motors run in a controlled fashion.All this ripping into Cometic maybe unfounded and set alight by internet scaremoungry. Just my thoughts....

Do a sniff test first!-you could be reading more into this than there is.

Iv'e had leaking turbo coolant pipes give the same symptoms.........

Going back to HG failure..has anyone threw into the hat bad workmanship and even worse head/deck preperation prior to nailing the heads down. Ive took heads off engines zed and none zed after head gasket problems thats only been done less than 10,000 miles and the state of the cleaning and preperation was appaling. To make true judgements over h/g types it would need to be done by the same fitter to same engine types and motors run in a controlled fashion.All this ripping into Cometic maybe unfounded and set alight by internet scaremoungry. Just my thoughts....

 

It's not the internet, it's real life and actual events in this case. There are too many failures to be ignored, genuine Nissan items are more than up to the task.

 

Personally, I had experience of Cometic HG sealing issues many years ago on my CA18. Problems were fairly well-known even back then.

I did think about Fel-Pro and Victor Reinz, who seem to be very good quality......

I used Fel-Pro on a high powered RS turbo series 1 build I did when I was a bit younger...... and had great results.... but wasn't a Z......

Last night I found the Victor Reinz brand and have seen some very good feedback on them as being well made, great quality and very reliable......

 

What sort of price do OEM HG's go for????

Do a sniff test first!-you could be reading more into this than there is.

Iv'e had leaking turbo coolant pipes give the same symptoms.........

 

I agree. Even a basic compression could help weedle a few red herrings. Lots of crap rusty little tubes to break and cause headaches.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

I used felpro on my old car.

Do a sniff test first!-you could be reading more into this than there is.

Iv'e had leaking turbo coolant pipes give the same symptoms.........

I would but the bunged up nose and cold is stopping me at the mo.......lol

I will check to see if there is any coolant pipes leaking. I have done all deletes under plenum and used silicone hoses to replace pipes directly from turbo's to back of heads........

So will check connections and remaining pipe work......

Replaced water pump about June time and had similar muck then..... but seemed to flush out of system for a while.......

Going to flush the coolant system fully tomorrow and see what happens, including flushing the heater matrix thoroughly......

I might even try to check the thermostat while I am at it..........

 

Anything I can use to clean coolant system....... ????

 

Thanks for that advice......

Edited November 20, 201411 yr by veilside01702

There are products you can use but worry about that once you solve the were is it going question.

It's not the internet, it's real life and actual events in this case. There are too many failures to be ignored, genuine Nissan items are more than up to the task.

 

Personally, I had experience of Cometic HG sealing issues many years ago on my CA18. Problems were fairly well-known even back then.

 

Ive never used anything but OEM on all makes...ive always used Nissan or generic copys on zeds with zero problems. With ref to the above, i also know people who have had problems with OEM H/G zed and none zed...

Sorry to hear that your Zed is poorly Russ.

Let's hope that it is something less serious than a blown head gasket.

[video=youtube_share;lJLEXgkddPQ]

I did think about Fel-Pro and Victor Reinz, who seem to be very good quality......

I used Fel-Pro on a high powered RS turbo series 1 build I did when I was a bit younger...... and had great results.... but wasn't a Z......

Last night I found the Victor Reinz brand and have seen some very good feedback on them as being well made, great quality and very reliable......

 

What sort of price do OEM HG's go for????

 

OEM = $75 for each side

Right........ weird things happening now.....

Wife took daily driver to work today...... since she passed her test there is no stopping her...... lol

 

I had to use the Z to do nursery and school run.......

 

Checked water and it was low again...... filled her up and got some of the frothy muck out with fresh water......

Did the run and found her to be missing and lumpy till she warmed up........ was drivable but tick over was all over the place and dropping cylinders by the sound of it.....

She warmed up and I actually have a warm/hot radiator and pipes...... something I didn't have yesterday after an even longer trip.....

Checked oil cap and NO muck or white stuff, just cleanish oil that looks how it should do and smooth on the fingers......

Can't see any sign of water pipes leaking anywhere behind or side of engine, turbo's, etc........

 

By the time I returned home there was no missing and is pulling okay, but not how I feel she should....... Floor her on boost and she pulls but feels like she is lacking that turbo kick............

Hard to explain...... but that feeling you have when you know your own car and it doesn't feel right........

 

Going to get my telephone job interview over and done at 10am...... then have a check, flush, compression test, etc......

 

Oh and found Victor Reinz supply Mahle with their head gaskets and can get a pair delivered for only £67.25 inc delivery in 2-3 days.......

Edited November 21, 201411 yr by veilside01702

Haven't had time to flush it fully, but have found the pipes from heater matrix are luke warm and not hot (running temp ) like the radiator is getting..... guessing it is blocked heater matrix for the heating being cold..... going to flush when picked up my boys.......

 

Can't be thermostat as radiator is getting hot.........

Just wanted to ask what Nismo head gaskets are like compared to std OEM???

These have popped up on ebay......

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/311084713922?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Just gone to go out and she keeps stalling as soon as she is put in drive or reverse...... impossible to drive now....

I found fuel lines from filter were leaking badly so replaced them....... and now things are worse....

Tick over she is fine..... soon as it goes into drive the revs drop immediately???

Going to check the balance bar for leaks as took off the other day when i put new plugs in and fitted new o'rings to balance bar while I was there.......

This seems weird....

Check you haven't disturbed the two electrical sensors/plugs behind the balance bar.

UPDATE........ I need to change my underwear now.......

 

Just spent a few hours checking vacuum pipes, realised I had a couple of the vacuum lines fitted to different places on the manifold, balance bar, etc......

Cleaned every single connector and sprayed with contact cleaner, refitted my pipes and clips from intercoolers to throttle bodies.....

 

I decided to check and see if she is still stalling with a little drive up the road...... I pulled out of my close as I normally would and ended up sideways snaking up the road........ NO traction......Loads of boost....

 

I have just found out that since I did the TT conversion I had something wrong...... seriously wrong.... hence not feeling the TT power that you all talk of....... More NA with a bit more pull......

 

I think I just felt it without warning...... My Z nearly gave me a bloody heart attack..... That was scary....... from stationary to F**kin hell in a split second.......... and worse when your not expecting it.....:wacko::scared:

 

Oh and then she stalled out again when I stopped to turn round, over and over unless i give it revs......

Check you haven't disturbed the two electrical sensors/plugs behind the balance bar.

 

Hi Gary, just checked them and cleaned the connectors..... Guessing one of the o'rings may have not sealed or moved when fitting or I have split one of the brittle pipes to the balance bar, PCV's or idle control......

so going to check tomorrow after my heart rate drops.....

 

I have just found out that since I did the TT conversion I had something wrong...... seriously wrong.... hence not feeling the TT power that you all talk of....... More NA with a bit more pull......

 

What was wrong with it?

Hi Noel, I had the Fuel dampener vacuum connected to the screw in adapter on lower N/S of plenum. The boost controller, boost gauge and N/S BOV all connected to the N/S rear vacuum from the balance bar on a T' piece....

The hose to the N/S BOV was leaking badly from where it connects to the hard pipe as well....... I think this was giving me a low boost reading on the gauge and making the Boost Controller see less vacuum than there was??

 

Problem was I cleaned every connection at the same time, so not sure if it was vacuum pipes wrong or dodgy connection........ But now the rev counter shoots up fast.....

Also never heard turbo's till today..... The problem is that this happened without warning and was completely unexpected..... lol