Chido's 240sx build (slow build)

[CHID0]

its ok man. its gonna be worth it when your driving sideways :]

Yeah that's what i keep telling myself

Somehow I found some determination to spend a couple more hours or so with the project. After finally finishing disconnecting all the ridiculously abundant vacuum lines and hardlines i got the head off and cleaned it up a bit, did a self check of the head with a table top glass and paper, it checked out so i swapped out the gasket and positioned the head. After that we called it quits for teh evening.....

Soon it'll be up and running, next will be reconnecting everything, draining and adding all fluids and start-up for the first time in 2 years.....

And i know i know the engine was not set to TDC

 

[ZFreak]

Do you know the original cause of why the headgasket was blown? A VERY common problem with the 89-90 KA24E's is that the tensioner on the front cover (i.e. oil pump is in this part) breaks off, letting the timing chain flap around and it wears a hole in the front cover, right behind the water pump, letting the oil and coolant mix in the oil pan.


Just food for thought... the five or so headgasket jobs I've done on those engines, EVERY single one had that front tensioner fail. The old one is plastic, the new is metal.

A new front cover w/oil pump is like $320. A used one on ebay is less than $100. (I'd suggest a new one, but do what you'd like)...


Check it out and make 100% sure that there's no hole behind the water pump.


P.S. it's the tensioner/guide on the driver side front of the engine (the passenger side is strictly a "guide" and doesn't tension the chain at all if I recall correctly)

EDIT>>> P.P.S. you can get rid of about 90% of those vacuum lines, and the coolant lines going to the throttle body, and EGR, and several other parts on that engine. It was a result of the 1980's "over engineered" emissions stuff...

2nd EDIT>>> Oh, and make sure you replace the valve cover gasket with an OEM NISSAN one....all the aftermarket ones are CRAP and will leak.

 

[CHID0]

Do you know the original cause of why the headgasket was blown? A VERY common problem with the 89-90 KA24E's is that the tensioner on the front cover (i.e. oil pump is in this part) breaks off, letting the timing chain flap around and it wears a hole in the front cover, right behind the water pump, letting the oil and coolant mix in the oil pan.


Just food for thought... the five or so headgasket jobs I've done on those engines, EVERY single one had that front tensioner fail. The old one is plastic, the new is metal.

A new front cover w/oil pump is like $320. A used one on ebay is less than $100. (I'd suggest a new one, but do what you'd like)...


Check it out and make 100% sure that there's no hole behind the water pump.

Thanks for the info, I'll definitely look into that. How would i go about checking for that hole, still trying to locate a chiltons, and i have zero experience with nissans.

EDIT>>> P.P.S. you can get rid of about 90% of those vacuum lines, and the coolant lines going to the throttle body, and EGR, and several other parts on that engine. It was a result of the 1980's "over engineered" emissions stuff...

2nd EDIT>>> Oh, and make sure you replace the valve cover gasket with an OEM NISSAN one....all the aftermarket ones are CRAP and will leak.

Yeah i saw a bunch of threads on this on the web, i think that'll be my next project on this motor.

 

[ZFreak]

I'm trying to find my old DVD's with pictures of this on them.... basically look right where the water pump impeller would sit, but of course on the timing chain side. If you feel a "ridge" there, put a flashlight down there and look... if you see a hole, then it's time to replace it. If you don't, and there is a hole, 5 minutes of it running, and you'll be back to where you were when you bought the car.