I Just bought a 90 240 sx hatch. it needs a head gasket.... but....

[dirty240sx]

I just bought the car 500 dollars!!!!has 120xxx miles on engine and trans and 20xxx on clutch.its all stock.the head gasket blew because the dumbass grandma i bought it from let it over heat once...there is no antifreeze in the oil yet.

But i just noticed that the car leaks oil pretty bad also. and i cant find from where...are there any usual spots they leak from?and how long does the head gaskets usually take to do on these 240's???

Thx in advance.tony

[lbrowne]

I've never done one personally but you would certainly want to get the head checked/decked incase it warped from overheating. (depends on how long she let it overheat)

[Fla240sx]

maybe it doesn't need a headgasket... does it overheat?

make sure it full of water

[dirty240sx]

ok well so far i have replacedx a whole bunch of hoses and vacume leaks.And got a new o2 sensor. now the idle is at about 600 ish. it was previously at 450-475.and it use to smoke alot!!!! and now it doesnt as much??and i dont know if it is over heating or not bcuz im afraid to let it run to long lol.bcuz the temp gauge nvr moves and only stays in the mid range...

Btw why dont u think it is a head gasket? cause i think u may be right. if so what else would it have been?

[rogoman]

Before you condemn the head gasket, do a compression check on all cylinders. If all cylinders are fairly close, then the head gasket is most likely OK. Also if you're not losing coolant and the motor is not overheating, then that's another verification of a good head gasket.

The oil leak could be from the valve cover gasket, the front crankshaft seal or the rear crankshaft seal.

[dirty240sx]

alright...heres a couple of other things.im a lil new to this engine but.The car is only leaking when i drive.(doesnt leak any at idle. But if i rev it up past 3500 it will leak a lil.

My temp gauge is always in the middle and never moves.(I searched for the temp gauge sensor location and all but i couldnt find anything regarding it.)

also im not leaking any anti freeze but yet i have to fill it up b cuz it keeps gettign low. ( could the motor be getting so hot that its eating the antifreeze?

thx foir all your help so far peoples.Also i will be doing a compression test on tuesday bcuz right now theres a crap load of snow up here in colorado lol

[BigLoukaT]

If you follow your upper radiator hose to where the coolant will enter the engine, there should be two sensors for the water temperature. One is the Engine Coolant Temperature sensor, and is the one that the ecu uses. It will have a plug much like the plug on the fuel injectors.The other sensor looks like it is almost a ground. That is the sensor used for the temperature gauge in the cluster.

Definitely do a compression check, they are so easy, and usually affordable if you find a good deal. I bought my tester for $10.

After ensuring the headgasket is good from a compression check, I would suggest dumping all the old coolant, flushing, and refilling making sure that you don't have any air bubbles in the system. There should be a write up somewhere on this website or the 240sx faq.

[tumolt]

Only if you are a mechanic with pleanty of tools and patience. I had a shop do my head and it was warped and needed machining. Even with the proper tools I would say to you that it is a hard job and you'd have pleanty of problems figuring out what you need to do before setting off to do it. The KA-24 that I have experience with was my mom's 240 SX SE limited edition convertible. She drove it without coolant in the system. Took two years for the already head gasket problem to show big time. Had I known then what I learned later I would have sold the dam car before investing the time and money to fix it. I would replace the valve cover gasket, since they are rubber and they do fail when hardened and leak big time. Again, I used a mechanic for this problem since I am no longer interested in getting my hands dirty. I hope you're successful in getting these things repaired. It is a joy to ride in this great car but also a big pain in the butt.

[tumolt]

Also, I would suggest you pressure check your radiator. Head gaskets blow for a reason. No coolant could be a result of a bad water pump, bad cooling fan for the A/C, bad radiator, or even a simple radiator cap. The KA-24 is full of pitfalls which over time like many other cars require diagnostics and replacement of faulty parts. Some of which can come right out of the box from the parts supply houses. So you're in for a treat. One full of pitfalls and pleanty of time, money, and of course aggrevation. But I will say this. If you've got nothing but time and money to burn go Nissan. You should have kept your Toyota.

[dirty240sx]

thx for everyons advice so far!!! yea im pretty good when it comes t fixing things like cars. I have alot of tools.i HAVE a compresion tester. Its way to cold to do it right now. but i will do it asap!also i think i may just flush the system tommorw. I know it has a good water pump its new.radiator is new.all hoses are new. im guna check the thermo stat asap also.Also just a question. im use to alot of car forums having like just a colroado nissan forum. do u know of anything like this?

[dirty240sx]

also a lil off topic but...on the maf sensor theres a hose that connects to another instrument. any clue what it is???if u need more verification il take a pic and circle it it. it looks to me as a vacume thing of sum sort?

[dirty240sx]

nvm on the last post. I just found it in the search menu>