head gasket durability? KA24E

[vincent.wallen]

i just bought a 1990 240sx s13 hb with the original KA24E motor. The guy i bought it from blew the head gasket in it and i am about to replace it... soon as i can clean out my barn... lol... i was talking to a friend yesterday and he said that the motors had a problem with blowing the head gasket...... and to try to keep it under 5 grand when driving it... i was just wondering if this was true or is he just bs'ing me?... is anyone else have a problem with this... the motor was rebuilt less than a year ago and im guessing that the problem came from the torque of the head bolts... but that just an assumption... thanks in advance...

Vincent

[liquid_cool]

sup homie...its not the gasket or the above 5k..its the way the gasket is installed and what gasket is used...if your going to romp on it all the time..i would sugest a better meatal gasket..if your going high boost...i sugest a full copper solid gasket...with the oem style gasket there is allways a possibility of a falure if your taking the car to the limits..same with the cometic layerd style gasket as well...the only one i feel is next to impossible to blow out would be the solid copper type..they can withstand high boost lvl's past 50psi and take it! there rated for 7000 hp..you have options..but remember...torque down once..then un-torque and retorque again to seat the gasket..there is allso a spry style gasket sealer "High Temp" type that will help seal it all tight.

good luck
Modified by liquid_cool at 7:29 PM 2/22/2009

[vincent.wallen]

awesome thanks...

vincent

[Josh2222]

yea i just blew my head gasket in my ka24e a couple days ago and about a year ago i thought i blew it but turned out to be somethin else. i replaced the head gasket last year so i am wondering what i did/didnt do that made it blow again. i was talking around and a friend of mine said that u dont want to go with an aftermarket oem gasket, if ur staying with an oem gasket u want to get a nissan gasket, supposed to be better material. I was wondering if anyone knew if the head bolts are torque to yield? where u torque them down once and cant reuse them?

[carkook]

Yes the head bolts are TTY. But during the first torque down to seat the gasket you do not tighten them into the yeild, so dont think its just put the gasket on and torque the head bolts once.

When you buy the new headbolts it should give you the step by step process to torque them down.

[liquid_cool]

im adding to this again just becouse ......you can buy new OEM head bolts and use them...but only 1 time..they stretch..there made to from the factory and have limited clamping force....it is my firm belief that a set of "Arp Head Studs" are a valuable asset every rebuild needs...with head studs installed ..you will be able to push your ride a little farther without having to worry about the 5k rpm level your so worried about..hope this sheds more light on this subject.

[Josh2222]

yea i have been looking on where to buy some arp studs, but i haven't been able to find where to get them for the ka24e. i looked on summitracing.com and on arp-bolts.com and cant find anything. anyone have a link or somethin to get some arp studs for the e?

[liquid_cool]

yea i have been looking on where to buy some arp studs, but i haven't been able to find where to get them for the ka24e. i looked on summitracing.com and on arp-bolts.com and cant find anything. anyone have a link or somethin to get some arp studs for the e?

you can call up any online parts place and have them order them for you..there the same i believe as the ka24de set...main studs however are a mix of Saturn studs and Opel studs for the longer ones..good luck.

[Cone Junky]

ka24e head bolts are not TTY or stretch bolts, they can be reused. My machine shop was unable to locate ARP bolts/studs for mine either.