Hey whats up everyone. I was going to buy a 300zx TT last summer but I couldn't get the loan for it. However, the guy who was selling it to me texted me the other day and said he blew the head gasket on it. He told me to make a reasonable offer if i still want it becasue hes about to start med school. I was just wondering what number I should throw at him, he wanted 9K when it was running. Its a 91 with about 80,000 miles and these mods:

HKS Intake, Polished intake manifold, 3” cat-back exhaust, high flow mufflers,
Greddy Profec Type-S boost controller, JWT performance programmed ECU,
Lowered 1 ¾ in, cross drilled rotors, JDM taillights and aftermarket rear spoiler.

Ask him how he blew the head gasket. Do a cylinder leakdown test to ensure the motor is still good. Then go from there.

Looks like a stage 3, but again, those are not as important as the motor's condition. I say 4-5k max.

To fix it you are looking at an engine pull and teardown...how much to offer you say?

Well, how much do you want to spend building up the motor, and are you going to replace the turbos?

Personally, I'd offer him $4,000 and not go above that. If you can do the work yourself you may have an advantage!

Bart has a good point - ask him for info on how it happened, and what diagnostics have already been done to confirm its a HG. Compression test results, leakdown results, other HG symptoms like oil mixing with coolant, leaks, etc.

Also, don't forget about maintenance records - sure, his engine is blown, but if that is the only problem then you could be getting a great deal. But, there could also be a million other things wrong with the car too.

GL
-Ethan

A couple of red flags on this. First, these motors RARELY blow a head gasket, even after 20 yrs. Second, I see he has a boost controller and an ECU, but no change in injectors. This could be a problem. The duty cycle on stock injectors maxes out around 15psi, so I would be cautious. Ask him what the max he has boosted this motor and don't mention the injectors. Find out if he has been pushing this motor without the supporting mods. You may be staring at more than just a blown HG.

Hey guys sorry I took so long to get back. Thanks for all the input it really helped. I found the following things out and I'm pretty sure it's the head gasket. He turned the boost up too high over Christmas, just like you said Marty. He said it didn't blow on the spot. Two weeks later he had to keep it idling to keep it running and it started to burn oil in the combustion chamber. Then he said a big cloud of white smoke occurred, followed by the dipstick blowing out. Does it sound like the head gasket to you guys? At worse if it was the head how much does a new one cost? Also he said 4k but that can get negotiated.

Thanks again everyone

Needs to be compression tested. Could be a HG but I'm thinking this engine has internal damage - pistons, rings, etc

Alright thanks a lot. I'm working on getting the compression test done asap, then ill let you guys know what happens. How much would I be looking at to have it fixed if it were just the HG and how much would it be if it were pistons, rings, etc?

Cytrakz wrote:Alright thanks a lot. I'm working on getting the compression test done asap, then ill let you guys know what happens. How much would I be looking at to have it fixed if it were just the HG and how much would it be if it were pistons, rings, etc?

HG I would estimate for parts to be about $900. Just a rough guess - gasket kit, timing belt kit, belts/hoses, machine shop costs. Labor would be insane if you're paying someone to do it. I think book time is 22+ hours.

Replacing rings you are looking at a complete teardown. Might need a bore also. Pistons, rings, wrist pins, more machine shop costs, would bring you close to $2000. Labor again is something that hurts to think about lol.

Be sure to do a wet compression test on any low cylinders, that will help you verify if it's a ring problem. Also it's a good idea to do a leakdown test...Do all of the diag you can before coming to conclusions -- we are talking a lot of money here

Alright thanks a lot for all that information. If it turns out to only be the head gasket is 4k a steal for it? Also my dad was a mechanic for about 15 years but is no longer anymore so if it turns out to only be the head gasket me and my dad could probably do it to save money. Does the head gasket require an engine pull or is it possible to do it with it in?

It's possible to do it in the car, I know someone who has done it before. If you can, it's probably better to pull the motor. Everything is SO much easier to work on when its out of the engine bay, with less chance of making an error during the re-assembly. It can be done, and it's probably not as hard as it sounds, but you have to be much more precise and tedious to do it in-car.

Like marty said, HGs don't just blow. Ask him why it failed, and get details. He probably overheated - which means there is a good chance that the heads are warped. You will need to have them resurfaced and tested for cracks. That alone will cost at least $150. If they are warped badly enough, you won't be able to use the heads because in order to get them flat, too much material will have to be shaved off.

I bought some TT heads from a local guy one time, and they were warped so badly that .027" had to be shaved off. That is a LOT of material to take off of a head, and it's enough to interfere with compression and maybe even valve clearance. I didn't want to deal with buying an extra thick HG to make up for the lack of cylinder head, because that's not the way I wanted to do it.

I would offer him something low to see how he reacts. Don't be afraid to lowball him - you're buying a broken car. Repairing it will be difficult and its probably going to stress you a lot! Don't look at it like he's giving you a good deal, look at it like you are taking the mess off of his hands.

I'd say offer 3 grand, then settle on whatever you feel it's worth.

PS - what if the current owner is a member on here and he decides to chime in. LMAO!!!

You need to ask yourself some very important questions:
1) Will this be your DD? if so I wouldn't even think about it. a 20yr old high performance car is just not a good candidate for a DD
2) Do you have space and know-how to work on the car? If you don't have either or both then the repairs could easily end up being much more than the cost of the car.
3) Most importantly, will you be putting yourself in debt with this project, if so walk away. Its one thing to finance a vehicle which will take you to school/work so you can live your life, its another to go into debt for a toy. Believe me you don't want to do the latter (this is coming from someone who has a 350AWHP WRX DD, I love that car beyond reason but its up for sale right now because its so impractical.)

Hey guys sorry it's taken me so long to get back. I've got some updates and more questions. I have the Z at my house now because the guy needed a place to store it so I offered to so I could get the tests done and check it out myself. He got the car towed to my house and I'm going to get the tests done at shop less then a mile away from my house. My question is should I get it towed so I don't do any more damage or just drive it? Thanks

I don't know man I'd be scared to run it...if it runs right now and you drive it to the shop and something crazy happens on the way to or back, like the engine starts knocking or it stops running, who's fault would it be? The way people are these days you could get sued or something. I'd be safe and have it towed...

Who's to say the shop won't cause more damage to it during diagnostics? Might want to make sure the owner is completely aware of what's going on and what scenarios might result, then ask him if he is ok with you driving it, or would he rather you have it towed.

Alright thanks man, I'm deff gonna ask him before I take it. I just wanted to know if he says yes to driving it then should I. But I'm just going to be safe and get it towed. I found out I get 3 free tows with my phone company so I'm gonna use them up lol. I hope it's only the head gasket man, it looks so good siting in my drive way lol.

Dude you should compression test it yourself. It's easy, there's a bunch of write-ups/how to's and all you have to do it post the results on here. Me and a bunch of other guys on here know how to translate it if you need help figuring out what the numbers mean

The tool is only like $30 or $40. Save the hassle of towing, and you will know you have a 100% true estimate of what's wrong with the car. I can tell you right now whatever shop you take it to is going to throw the book at you -- this is like a mechanic's wet dream lol there could be 10 possible things wrong with it and they will want to fix all 10...if you do some work by yourself (+ us lol) you can isolate the problem a little and give yourself some idea of what's going on in the engine. Then if you want you could take it to the shop but at least you will have some confidence and you can offer some helpful information to whoever is going to do the diag

Just something to consider

Also, life is easier being a DIY kinda guy if you're gonna own a Z32. Well maybe not easier, but AFFORDABLE haha

And yes, you have one of the best looking cars of all time sitting in your driveway

Alright cool thanks a lot man for all the help. I think I'm just going to do the tests myself to save some money and get an idea whats wrong with the car. Yeah that's how I became with my 83 trans am I just learned to do everything myself along with my dad teaching me and now I know that car front and back lol. So that's how I want to be eventually with the Z32 but I know they are 10 times more complicated then my trans am ha.

I'm going to try and get outside tomorrow and check the car out. Is there anything else I can do or look at besides the tests to check for problems?

Yes, it's deff the best looking car in history and it just sitting in my driveway makes me want it so much more lol.

Hey everyone I took a video the other day after I started the car. Don't know if it will help at all before I get the tests done, just figured I'd show everyone. I'm taking it to the shop pretty soon to get it looked at. In the video it looks like something dripped in the front but that wasn't from the car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlY6GrLq ... ata_player

Definitely burning some oil...that's scary man. I wouldn't be running it like that because it might be starving certain parts of the engine from oil which will make those parts wear 100x faster. No bueno. Compression testtttt

Yeah I figured while it was at my house id start it once and see what it was doing, deff not going to start it again. In the video did it look like the smoke was more blue or white? Does one color mean a different problem from the other?

sounds like its about to lock up

es.biggs wrote:Definitely burning some oil...that's scary man. I wouldn't be running it like that because it might be starving certain parts of the engine from oil which will make those parts wear 100x faster. No bueno. Compression testtttt

This.

Cytrakz wrote:In the video did it look like the smoke was more blue or white? Does one color mean a different problem from the other?

I think it could be a combination of both. Your car's problem really looked similar to my TT a few years ago. That was probably one of the saddest day of my life. Anyways OP, sometimes it's hard to distinguished between blue and white smokes, especially for if someone is inexperience. You can try to smell it, I think the coolant smoke has a sweet scent.

Listen to es.biggs, get that compression test done, it can tell you a lot.

Good luck and keep us updated OP.

From the video you posted, it looks more like coolant. If it were burning that much oil, the cloud would hang around. I did see some blue in the smoke though.

Be careful on making a commitment on this car. The issue I was worried about with the boost controller and no supporting mods is heat. If he took the boost up over 14.5lbs, he ran the motor too lean with stock injectors. The resulting heat can burn rings, valves, pistons, you name it. It sounds like it has a very nasty knock as well. So, at a minimum, you are looking at pulling the motor and rebuilding (if the crank is any good). It can get expensive fast. I would also plan on replacing the turbos as well.

He may have thought it was worth $9k, but I wouldn't give over a few thousand for it in the current condition...

^^^ all good advice.

Don't jump into it man. It would really suck if you buy this car and end up not enjoying any of it because of how much it might cost to fix, and you might have constant problems with it. Look at what you want out of a car, and re-evaluate man. This one is going to be a lot of work, but you might be able to get the car cheap. But no doubt --- it will be lots of work. If you don't like the sound of that, maybe you might want to let this one pass

One more thing on the blown head gasket. The reason he probably has a blown head gasket is the heat I mentioned earlier. The heads (plural since both exhausts smoking) may be warped from heat and won't seal. Boost by itself won't blow the HG. I run 18psi on a regular basis, but have the proper setup. I suspect he didn't just push the boost once or twice, but was hammering the motor, and the HG blew when it got too hot.

Thanks for all the advice guys it really helped. Been busy the past months but I have an update. I took the Z down to a local shop called first state motor sports. The car ended up having a problem in cylinder number 2. The piston was melted down about 20% so I'd basically be looking at an engine swap or pay a lot to fix that problem.

Here's the thing, the guy is about to go to med school for 4 years and wont have any time for the car. I've become pretty good friends with him over the months. He's not hurting for money and he told me I could fix the problem with the car before I even bought it. Then have it put in my name and slowly pay him back 3K, which is what he wants for the car, kind of like a car payment. I'm still kind of up in the air with the whole thing, just wanted some input from you guys.

How much would an engine swap be if I were to get it done at a shop? Any input is great thanks everyone.

Hey what's up guys I'm back. So the car ended up having piston trouble so the motor is shot. It's just been sitting at my house all summer. My friend only wants 1k for it now. Besides the blown motor its pretty damn clean. Should I jump on this deal? Also how much for a swap or rebuild if I'm getting it done at a shop. Like some ballpark numbers. Thanks for any input in advance.

If its as you say pretty damn clean and complete Id ask more than 1k however few would be willing to pay it but you could find someone if you hold out long enough. All in all 1 k sounds fair for a complete, clean native TT with blown engine. Someone who would do the work himself/herself could get it back on the road for as little as new piston or pistons (depending on how many are busted) which used TT pistons can be had super cheap or some Wiescos for $600 a set. To get someone to do a rebuild I'd say you're looking at anywhere from 2k to 6k depending on how deep into upgrades you get.

Thanks man I appreciate your input. I'm not sure if I was clear in my last post but I'm the one who is looking to buying it. I'm just holding it for my friend at my house and he only wants 1k for it now since I found out the motor is shot. He wanted 4k when he thought it was the head gasket. I took it to a shop and piston number 3 was melted down about 30% causing the white smoke. So if I just wanted to get her up and running again with no special upgrades all I really need to do is replace the pistons? Or do i have to get the block like machine shoped and etc. I'm just looking to get the Z back on the road at this point lol

You would need to have all the cylinder walls machined as well as new pistons and rings. Going to have to replace the head gaskets and many other misilnious things on the way just for opening up the motor, it may be cheaper to find a jdm tt motor swap that in and build up the blown motor to be a beast. Thats what i will be doing this winter to my car.