[Help] My 91 Twin Turbo is a mess! I need help, headgasket

[SmokeyMCN]

I gave the car to a friend of mine to put the a/c in and he got it working but when I got it back from him, I assume that car had a boost leak

Symptoms : I would boost and my boost is about 25%-40% lower now I couldnt tell you what it is at exactly because I have the JDM cluster and it reads in MMHG not PSI and its just odd ... anyways its not boosting where it should.....

Second Symptom: When driving, at a random time the car would start to like turn on and off in a sense, for ex: I would hold down the gas pedal in second gear and the rpm would bounce between like 1500 and 2500 up to 2500 and then its like the car shut off until it gets to like 1500 and it goes back up and bounces until I put it in neutral and wait for rpms to drop and ill be good to go again... or in neutral SOMETIMES ill hold my foot on the gas and instead of shooting up the rpms to red line or what ever they bounce back and forth from like 2 - 3k ,... this happens randomly like right now I can go out and do it and itll probably be fine....

I could hear a leak from the engine though

BIGGER PROBLEM!!! : I had the car off after testing it with some flammable spray to listen for rpm change ,which didnt help at all, I turned it off and went to proceed to tighten all my clamps and I go to start the car and when I get out I see some smoke coming out the back exhaust, The driver side exhaust only and there was some water spraying out when I had my friend rev the engine, He told me its the head gasket.... So we compression tested the car and all gave about 125 except for the middle one on the driver side gave 110 so my friend said just for the heck of it to check the rings he put some oil in and compression tested again and it gave 150, So he said the rings are bad and the head gasket is goin bad but it can be saved by some solution , I went to pep boys got the solotion it was a 40$ can -,- Put it in the radiator and it did the trick !

Now I dont expect it to hold it over much longer

( Also sad to say the leak is still there because Im boosting low but I havnt had the car do that jerking rpm thing on me )

I figure Its time to sell her... but this would just break my heart to do so but I cant afford to support all the problems Ive been getting , I knew I would have some issue with a 300zx TT when I got it but I didnt expect it to be this bad... I dont want to let her go , its been my dream to have her so now I come to the thought of just doing this my self... but I am no mechanic I'm a starter for sure..... a noob at its best....

So I ask for advice, What should I do, Should I sell her .... or should I attempt at this on my own..... ive already had alot invested in the car to just let her go like that but this isnt her only problem...
She has a lifter tick
The throw out bearing is making a whining noise that goes away when I hold the clutch in,
The drive shaft isnt sitting right on the back axle
My 4th gear grinds pretty bad but ive gotten used to it and know how to change gears slowly with out grind
and theres a leak in the top of the gas tank ( Not a problem really)
and theres just a BUNCH of unconnected things in my engine bay its not even funny -.-
it would just take alot to get her in tip top shape....

Should I attempt at this my self because I can only financially afford the parts... MAYBE

Or just sell her and cut my loses and it was good knowing you?

[300ZXttZMAN]

Sell it cut your losses.

Buy a beater that you can drive for a few years. While your driving the beater save up for a Z32. Once you get some money to get a good Z buy one.

While your saving stay on NICO! Learn as much as you can, ask as many questions as you want inside of the threads. You need to learn about these cars.

You will learn what to look for when buying one and how to fix it. Also get your self a good set of tools.

Good luck.

[t.mcginley.jr]

Unless you can pull the old engine/trans/wiring harness out and put in a rebuilt engine + trans and a new wiring harness, just sell it. When you have that many issues it's easier to start fresh with all new stuff, but that's expensive even if you do all the work yourself.

[johnshop]

This post makes me sad man :/ like others said sell her, if the funds are not there with All those problems the best thing to do is let her go.

One thing tho, its been like 4 months since I have my baby, and in these 4 months I have learned more about how to fix stuff than I have ever learned before... its frustrating but this is the nature of these beautiful cars.

Good luck and its time to let her go sadly man

[SmokeyMCN]

Its a heart break :/ I have invested so much in her already that the previous owner had done wrong...

I too have learned a fair amount about these cars especially with this twin turbo. I also have a 93 N/A Convertible that is just in PERFECT condition, shes my back up car for then the TT doesnt work, I know it should probably be the other way around but my TT is just so much nicer and has so much more in her I just prefer to drive the TT,

Anyways, my question based on this is, since I do have my other zx, Should I just keep this ZX until I can afford to fix it and just do things one at a time, or its just such a lemon its not worth it?

Its funny because people warned me about this before I got it but I didnt think it would be this bad :/

This car meant everything to me, I bought her she was a primer gray with a messed up bumper and one big apexi n1 exhaust on,

I put a stillen front and back bumper, two exhaut tips, and painted her the Lexus 1g0 color... shes gorgeous! :x in my opinion that is lol

[t.mcginley.jr]

This car meant everything to me

If that's the case, you should keep it and save money up to fix things over time.

[SmokeyMCN]

Thats what I would want to do, I talked to a mechanic I know and he said he could have my head gaskets replaced for about 800$, I do have just about that much saved, I could have it fixed and slowly do things one at a time but I just dont know if it would be worth that because of whats all wrong with it, or what would your opinion be on putting a new engine in it? to take care of the head gasket and the lifter tick and anything else that could be wrong that I dont know about?

But thenc omes to the idea of everything else like the throwout bearing and the clutch and 4th gear grinding and the "loose drive shaft"

I'm so indecisive because of what I already have invested in her and i fear if I get another tt I would have to go through all that again....

[johnshop]

I would save for an engine better. those 800 bucks are not going to do much really.

Save and trust me the wait will be more than worth it.