Soo many problems! Soo much noob.

[guttershark]

Okay this car is a wreck.

Im preeeetty sure the head gasket is blown on the 1990' 240sx I just bought. During driving or Idle white gas comes out the exhaust. It doesn't smell like gas or oil either.

Apparently my cars steering rack is leaking and ALL the balljoints need to be replaced aswell.

The body is in good condition.

Heres the question.

I don't know too much about cars - I got a 240sx for a DD car cause I like the way it looks. Im not in it to race or drift and it's an automatic.

Would it be worth it to swap out the engine? Get something new? I'd like to keep it an auto but does that limit me to replacing it with a stock engine? The engine has 180 000 miles on it. And runs nicely aside the fact it seems to have a blown heagasket.

What would be my best bet? Get a stock engine or a faster one? In the future I will make it a manual. And once I know more about cars and driving I will probably get a standard.

I can't do the swap myself. At all. How much "approx" would it cost to lets say - get a new engine and pay a shop to swap it in in CAN dollars.

I paid 1800 for the car - body is practically mint for a Canadian 240 and Id say I need to put a grand into it to get it cert.

Would it be worth it in the long run? Or should I just sell it and start with a better car haha.

Im kinda leaning to fix it - cause in the end its gonna practically be brand new. But I am a student - finsihing my last year of highschool so it just might not be practical.

Oh yeah, Im gonna get a compression test ASAP.

[WoDan23]

Okay this car is a wreck.

Im preeeetty sure the head gasket is blown on the 1990' 240sx I just bought.

During driving or Idle white gas comes out the exhaust. It doesn't smell like gas or oil either.

Apparently my cars steering rack is leaking and ALL the balljoints need to be replaced aswell.

The body is in good condition.

Heres the question.

I don't know too much about cars - I got a 240sx for a DD car cause I like the way it looks. Im not in it to race or drift and it's an automatic.

Would it be worth it to swap out the engine? Get something new? I'd like to keep it an auto but does that limit me to replacing it with a stock engine? The engine has 180 000 miles on it. And runs nicely aside the fact it seems to have a blown heagasket.

What would be my best bet? Get a stock engine or a faster one? In the future I will make it a manual. And once I know more about cars and driving I will probably get a standard.

I can't do the swap myself. At all. How much "approx" would it cost to lets say - get a new engine and pay a shop to swap it in in CAN dollars.

I paid 1800 for the car - body is practically mint for a Canadian 240 and Id say I need to put a grand into it to get it cert.

Would it be worth it in the long run? Or should I just sell it and start with a better car haha.

Im kinda leaning to fix it - cause in the end its gonna practically be brand new. But I am a student - finsihing my last year of highschool so it just might not be practical.

Oh yeah, Im gonna get a compression test ASAP.

ok first thing is first....check your oil....if your head gasket is blown...there should be antifreeze and/or water mixed in with your oil and you said theres white smoke...which means you have started the car...therefore no blown head gasket....2nd.. white smoke does not mean oil or gas...it means water is getting in somehow....thats why theres no smell...ok now.. for an engine swap...an SR20 would be great...my local shop could do it for approx. $3600 U.S dollars depending on condition of the car...5 speed swap is $499...but if you wanna keep it auto you could always get your KA24 rebuilt for like $1000 maybe cheaper depending on your shop....hope i helped!

[GCIA4LIFE]

swap isn't too bad.i got my engine for $350 and prolly spent $150 on parts while installing it. Took me a month by myself and this was probally the first car i ever really worked on. jusz get a service manual and the ball joints shouldn't be that bad either

[audtatious]

...which means you have started the car...therefore no blown head gasket....2nd.. white smoke does not mean oil or gas...it means water is getting in somehow....thats why theres no smell...

Do what? You can drive a car with a blown HG up until the time there is too much coolant leaking in that you cannot ignite the gas. Burning antifreeze does have a "sweet-annoying" smell to it as well.

Gutter, check the oil. If it is foamy or has the look of whipped chocolate than you have a some form of HG leak or a cracked block.

[ghettoslide]

Say my '90 model this as well. The burn oils like crazy. I'm to 20-50 oil now trying to slow it until i can rebuild the engine. The smoke is white, yet i changed my oil and nothing looked out of the ordinary. I even cut the filter open and saw nothing. My coolant level is the same, because i check it daily to just be safe. After about 3200 rpm it starts to smoke bad. I found a hose running to a canister of sorts. I believe it to be emissions related. Anyway the hose was rotted through so i replaced it with some plastic hose i had laying around, the smoking let up a lot. It still smokes after 3200 rpm, but not near as much. I'll check the pcv valve next.