ATTN: All QUALIFIED CA techs...

[MeanGreenS13]

my project just took a MAJOR uturn...

I was tooling around under the car finishing up some stuff and I had a drip on my forehead... smelled it.. OIL... so i grabbed my flashlight since i was still under the car and it was handy and started searching... at first i thoght it was the oil pan... but then i noticed a high gloss on the block, and then i noticed it...

THE HEAD GASKET...

i took every precaution i possibly could have. I read all the writeups on here, i had the head and block both decked, I used a cometic headgasket with ARP stud kit, tq'd 25, 50, 80 using the FSM's tq pattern.

I dont know what to do guys... building an engine should NOT be this difficult. if anyones got any ideas let me know... otherwise its going up for sale for $8000 with everything needed to run and drive including an AMAZING harness and roll cage (needs welded in) I need to have my car back on the road.

phil
Modified by MeanGreenS13 at 5:30 PM 2/11/2008

[Bwana]

I used a cometic headgasket

And you're surprised?

[sydwayz]

yup pretty much i blew my cometic and already have it all ripped apart once i put it back together if it doesnt work right its up for sale. i have to much money into this fully built motor with just over 3000 miles on it for this **** to be happening. i know the feeling thats why i just purchased a 1979 chevy malibu

[MeanGreenS13]

so why is everyone now all of a sudden AGAINST the Cometic... i was originally TOLD to use it, that its a great gasket, and DEE raved about how he would take ones that other people couldnt get to work and use on his own motors... im seriously about to buy a chevy at this point

[beans33]

I myself have also heard bad things about the cometic head gasket on the CA. Why on the CA, I dont know ? There was a post not too long ago about a guy used one and it was leaking before he even started the car...

[bentvalves]

stock headgasket FTW???

replaced every 2 seasons maybe?

[MeanGreenS13]

thats pretty much what happened to me, i ve got maybe a total of 10000revolutions of run time on the engine. And its leaking.

[bentvalves]

dont give up.

get some stock headbolts, and a stock headgasket before you get all fired up and sell it.

Greg

[IggyEGuana]

Wow thats some crappy luck. I thought Cometic was good too. I guess Nissan genuine parts FTW? Seriously don't give up on it though. Ur so close.

[sydwayz]

tomei is the only way to go i havent heard any problems with them. i know a guy with a 1000 hp camaro and he used to run cometic he thought they were the **** but they kept blowing he said it was hit and miss with them. so he stoped using them and hasent had any problems. they just suck

[themadscientist]

If you want a Tomei let me know. I am in Japan, takes a week to order it to my door direct from Tomei and I have an on-base P.O. box that means I can ship it to you in a week to ten days. Three weeks and you are back in the fight. You cover the cost of the gasket and shipping I'll do the legwork, happy to help.

[greensx]

If you want a Tomei let me know. I am in Japan, takes a week to order it to my door direct from Tomei and I have an on-base P.O. box that means I can ship it to you in a week to ten days. Three weeks and you are back in the fight. You cover the cost of the gasket and shipping I'll do the legwork, happy to help.

how much would the headgasket and shipping be? Very interested

[zero_gripS13]

maybe your arp head studs are the rebadge main studs for the sr20 and you having trouble with that one area i remember reading about where you have to double washer or something...

[MeanGreenS13]

im gonna double washer that side, but its weird... the whole back side of the head is dry and then BAM right around the corner a bunch of oil, its all between 2 and 4 runner on the manifold. Right in that area... its just odd to me... i would think the whole side would leak, not just that small area

[zero_gripS13]

did u straight edge and everyhting berfore you installed the head to make sure they didnt mess up the cut??

[float_6969]

As I told you on AIM, Cometic FTL. They leak on CA's and they leak on KA's. One of the other mods has a Cometic on his KAT and it won't hold compression. Fresh rebuild, decked head and block.

Felpro FTW.

I'll edit the FAQ to note the people have problems with that HG.

Also, has anyone who's had it contacted Comeitc about it? They're a reputable company. Maybe they'll work with you to fix it. Maybe we can search around a find all of the posts on NICO where people have complained out it.

Don't trash talk the motor for crappy parts.

[sydwayz]

ur right we shouldnt trash on the motor for crappy parts but lets face it these motors are expensive to build and the people that build them arent expecting problems for the price we have to pay. it just sux that when problems arise we cant help but to think maybe i wouldnt of had these problems with an sr20 or a small block chevy for half the price. the ca is a great motor once u get it worked out tho

[progman]

I had cometic fail on me as well. Leaked on the exhaust side around cylinder 3. It was fine for a few weeks...

[XTCshri2222]

Feldpro and OEM stock Nissan Head Gasket FTW, i used both, no problems. Stock head bolts also.

[MeanGreenS13]

i would have been better off with the rocker slinging sr but i wanted to be different... guess this is what i get

[Bwana]

Or just do the research on the atrocious failure rates of cometic CA headgaskets. Replacing the HG is easy. If I were you I'd pick up an OEM gasket and stick with ARP studs.

[bias]

Every engine is going to have problems in "The Hunt for More Power"! I have had a few problems with my CA but mostly just been lack of knowledge. If you start over just be ready for a new set of issues.

[MeanGreenS13]

how about you all call DEE and ask him personally about the cometic and see WHY i went with it. He has never had a problem that he has told me of. And when i was asking around about head gaskets, everyone said OH GO COMETIC GO COMETIC.. now its costing me TIME and MONEY because i was either MISLEAD or the machinist ****ed up on my motor.

there is NO REASON that this gasket should be leaking, the motor hasnt even seen a LOAD! its only ever idled. The head and block were both shaved, proper cleaning was done, everything i could possibly do to do it right, was done. Ive used cometic gaskets on everything from SR's to SBF 302's and never had a problem... so why would the CA be any different... they dont have a "personality" where they just dont like the head gasket... SOMETHING is wrong and telling me OH GO GET AND OEM ONE isnt a fix, the damn oem one may leak.

once my foot heals ill get the car over to the shop and pull the head back off and check it out but i promise ALL OF YOU its NOT the gasket, soemthign else is wrong

[zero_gripS13]

might be the wrong head steads...

theres only a couple things it could be..

gaskethead or blockhead studs

[rico05]

Silly question, but are you sure that it is not the valve cover? Either at the base around the gasket or between the two pieces of the cover itself? I have had leaks from both that I thought were head gasket leaks.

I too had a Cometic that leaked. Welcome to the club. I swapped in a Felpro and all is well over a year later.

[MeanGreenS13]

dee told me it might not even be the head gasket, that it may just be the little check valve ball bearing deal on the head, which is right in the area where the leak seems to be coming from. But i cant see anything without pulling hte manifold off yet and i havent gotten the chance to do that.

its not the wrong head stud kit, or at least it shouldnt be, because i DOUBLE CHECKED with Hybrid Performance on the parts i was ordering. They say they ship these kits overseas all the time and have 0 issues with them. SO i trust that. We will see in the next couple days when i get a chance to start working on it again.

[ca18detgabby]

ur right we shouldnt trash on the motor for crappy parts but lets face it these motors are expensive to build and the people that build them arent expecting problems for the price we have to pay. it just sux that when problems arise we cant help but to think maybe i wouldnt of had these problems with an sr20 or a small block chevy for half the price. the ca is a great motor once u get it worked out tho

is there anything worth modding that isnt expensive? i Mean really the people who buy CAs and expect everything to be cheap are in the wrong place......... could be why we have seen so many gernaded ones recently.

I have spent much more than 3k on my engine and it runs superbly....... I have gone cheap on somethings, but I cant say Ive had a huge amount of issues. The worst part is coils going for me ever few months or so(so I stock piled some)

Ive run the stock headgasket for nearly a year now, and have been daily beating my CA all over town.......... based on what Ive read by others the cometic gasket was hit or miss from what I read so I just stuck with the OEM(that came with the engine I ordered)........

I know dee has had great luck with his, but when everyone is telling your horror stories about it and they all seem to be along the same lines it does make me wonder.

btw, as far as motors we have built in my house......... this one is by far the cheapest. the Sprint is a bit easier to tune, but the 350 takes a ton of work to power that tank.

it is funny though. step dad is a hardcore muscle car guy....... had 2 GNXs both running low 10s, currently has a 72 sprint running 9.99 on 150 shot, a early 70s mach 1, and a numbers matching 72 stingray with 36k on the 454..... and yet he is shocked and inlove with the power we are able to extract out of a little "rice burner"

think you need to relax a bit and remember that everything takes time and effort to make anything of it. Sometimes things are a bit more work than they should be(as we can all atest to) but in the end I think you will feel good about it.

[MeanGreenS13]

ok but another thing alot of people are forgetting, this is an all BUT fully built motor... HKS 256 cams, CP Pistons, ARP everything, blah blah blah. It was built for boost + spray which is why i REFUSE to use an oem head gasket. for this gasket to leak is stupid, a ****ing gasket doenst leak for no reason people come on use your heads.

[MeanGreenS13]

and sorry to bust your bubble, but ive got nearly 5k just under my hood, I didnt expect it to be cheap. But i also didnt expect problem after problem that i never would have expereienced with an SR.

[MeanGreenS13]

zerothread/171021

case and point.