Ahh Fer Pete's sake not a-friggin-gain

[Ezookiel]

Checking the water level today, there's a nice brown oilly looking layer on the top. And a fine little stream of bubbles coming to the top when it's running.
Three heads/gaskets in a month and a half? It can't be possible

There aren't enough emoticons on the planet to express my feelings just at the moment.

QIM can't have stuffed the job up twice, so what the hell would be causing constant head gasket issues?

Funny thing is there's no water apparent in the oil, just a very thin oily look to the radiator water. The oil in the sump looks great and has only done probably about 700 or 800 since the last change,
Though the oil now does appear a little overfull, and it's never overfilled.

Can't afford to fix it, can't afford to get rid of it. This car is demon possessed.

[bazooked]

warranty?

[nottie]

if a shop has done the work then take it back as it should be warranted!
If ya done it yaself did you get the head machined?
Also is the machining if it was done a smooth finish or textured as a friend had a head of a yota machined and came back a little ruff and didnt end up sealing so was re-machined smoother and is fine now.

[Ezookiel]

This will be the second warranty claim on the same job.
He aint gonna be a happy chappy to see me pull into the parkin lot.

[chimpboy]

Have you had the block tested? You might have been replacing heads when the block is the problem.

Sorry to hear of your bad luck, you really seem to have a lemon of an engine there.

[BundyRumandCoke]

Has it really happened again? Or is the oily residue in the radiator just that, residue from when the problem originally arose? I realise that doesnt explain the bubbles.

[Chucky]

Maybe the bubles are just trapped air from the heater system.
Do the import datsuns run the rear A/C and heater setup?

I would get a pressure test on the cooling system.

Is your engine still getting hot? Have you lost power?


Also with the oil being overfilled, I would remove the sump plug and take a oil sample. Any water in the sump would sit on the bottom of the sump and the water level might be sitting below the dipstick level so it wont show up. Maybe a thin piece of wire and water detection paste might help you here, but I would just loosen your sump plug until you could see if any water comes out.
If you are worried about water in your oil you can take an oil sample and send it for a spectrol (SP) analyis test that will tell you excatly how much water, fuel, metal and any other chemicals are in your oil.

[Bunyip]

good old QIM there is 3 type's of motor's
1. petrol
2. diesel
3. QIM

take it back until they get it right knowing QIM they will might get it right around the third time if your lucky!!!!!!
sorry to here of your bad luck!!!!!!!!!!

[Ezookiel]

Thanks Chucky,
I'll give that a go tomorrow.
I wouldn't have tried driving it with overfilled oil anyway, so water or not I'd have drained some of it. At least I know more what to look for. I was told water in the oil shows up as white. There's no condensation under the filler plug if that's any help.
Another forum has also suggested that this time it may well be the block and not the head or gasket.
If that's the case, it's going to hurt, cause it means it won't be under warranty from QIM. However, it would also make more sense, cause I'm sure even QIM couldn't have got it wrong the second time to cause a 3rd problem.
Temp has been a dream. She's run better temp wise than I've ever seen her run. She rises steadily to 45% and then sits about there the whole time with the odd rise to 55% on hill climbs. For this vehicle that is unheard of. Now that was a bloody cold day, but still the only hill test I've had time to do with her since the second head gasket job. It coincided with the water turning brown in the cooling system, so may also have had a blockage shift (probably when the block cracked)
She is way down on power though, and not quite as smooth as recently, but it's hard to tell as the auto transmission is getting ready to die as well by the way she's been behaving gear change wise. Not going into top gear, especially on downhill runs, so keeps applying engine braking if you don't keep your foot firmly planted. Also won't go into overdrive type gearing when cold as well. I look forward to that expensive little device giving way next. It might as well, it's about the only other thing I haven't replaced.
So how much are we looking at for a block replacement repair fix whatever?

[Beastmavster]

At what point do you give up and put a V8 diesel in it?

[Chucky]

from memory didn't you gety a full engine rebuild off them?
And if so then they should have checked the block out when they did the rebuild.
If you have paid for a complete engine rebuild and they didn't check the block, they should still be responsable for it under warrenty.
After all, you paid them for a complete rebuild, you would expect to have a reliable,working engine after they have rebuilt it.

[blkmav]

Trailer it to Phil http://www.ontrack4x4.com.au/ What he doesn't know about fixing TB42s isn't worth knowing.

[Deleted User]

Probably a silly question, but the heads not cracked ???? Mine was - same symptoms.

[amtravic1]

I hate to say it but i have been reading the about all the problems you have been having with that vehicle for many months.
With the auto about to die as well perhaps it is time for a serious rethink about the future of that vehicle. Is it worth spending more money on? I am told Nissan autos are expensive to rebuild. You can pick up GQ Patrols really cheap now. Perhaps it would be better to buy another vehicle, maybe a petrol 4.2 on gas. I have seen them for around 4-5000. That would be less than what you will be spending to repair/replace a block and auto, and swap the good bits such as suspension from your current vehicle onto the new one. Hope you get it sorted soon, one way or another.

Ian

[bogged]

He aint gonna be a happy chappy to see me pull into the parkin lot.

that is known as stiff shit.

[Ezookiel]

amtravic I am thinking that way and have been for a long while - even while fixing this one.

Some awesome ones have come up, but mostly one's my bank manager would just laugh at me for even thinking about.
Problem is that can't afford to fix this one, and can't afford to replace it either.

I may have no choice but to try chemiweld this time around and see if that can get me through a few months till I can find either it's replacement or fix this one. Chemiweld ran an old Magna for 3 years without another issue.

[Ezookiel]

from memory didn't you gety a full engine rebuild off them?

Rebuild probably isn't the right word for what was done.
Two pistons had seized, or "grabbed" as he described it, so was new pistons, new head, new gasket, honing of cylinders, and a fair list of other things I don't remember from the invoice, but probably not a full rebuild.

The block wasn't an issue at the time apparently.
Weird thing is the block had supposedly been fine, and the car hasn't come even close to overheating since so how you crack a block without overheating it is anyone's guess. And I know the block hasn't gotten too hot because it has stickers all over it from QIM's last work, that show max temperature that has been reached, and so far 99degrees is the only part that has darkened, which I assume is ok for a block.

[Ezookiel]

Trailer it to Phil http://www.ontrack4x4.com.au/ What he doesn't know about fixing TB42s isn't worth knowing.

I'd love to, but it's just a tad too far from Canberra for convenience.

[up2nogood]

The block wasn't an issue at the time apparently.
Weird thing is the block had supposedly been fine.

Some part of the engine (being block or head, more likely block) is either warped or cracked. Given the engine got hot enough to have the pistons melt in the bores, it is more than a little likely that the block is damaged.

With this type of overheating it is quite foolish for the mechanic to not insist that the block be removed for testing. But if he left it alone at your instruction then you don't have much of a leg to stand on. However, him being the expert if he said to you 'she'll be right, we won't worry about the block" then that is his problem now.

[Ezookiel]

Nice to know, cause I certainly didn't tell him not to look at the block.
It would be like me telling my Surgeon how to operate.

[pongo]

After reading this, i would still get QIM to do all my motor work regardless.

If i remember correctly, didnt they use 2nd hand pistons and rods, instead of a full rebuild. I am prob wrong again, but im sure it was you.

For all the troubles youve had with your patrol, incl the battery issue ( again im pretty sure it was you) , id be selling it and geting something else.

You say you can afford to replace it, I cant see how you can afford to keep it. i put a shitload into a 4runner that still has issues, so i bought an old MK SD33T and im happy again. I lost a lot of money but i couldnt afford to loose anymore.


AS for warranty claims, he may bring up the issue that you continued to drive the patrol even though you were aware it wasnt operating within factory specs, thus voiding your warranty.

Goodluck, and talk to the old bloke at qim about his vette and the vette club, you may get a beeter deal. Then again, why not drop a chev in and sell the old tb42 with receipts on ebay.

Cheers

[Ezookiel]

Pistons and rods were not second hand as far as I know.
Head was brand new and not reconditioned as I remember him commenting specifically on having sourced a brand new one and emphasising the "brand new".

Battery issue was setting fire to a back seat with a spare battery put loose into a vehicle, which was hardly the fault of the car, more the dope - me - who put a battery unenclosed into a car near the metal backing on a seat..

I definitely am looking for another car, but need to keep this limping along till I actually find something that won't be as bad a lemon as this one. I found a superb 80 series, with unsolicited vouching from others as to the sweetness of the vehicle, for sale that is a dream car being sold very reluctantly by a person who has loved it more than I love my wife, but has hit some financial issues that has forced his hand. But then the $30K that it's going for is just as much of a dream to me as his vehicle is.

If it's still for sale in a month or two I'll see what can be arranged.

I haven't driven my vehicle a single Km since finding the oil on the water (it's a very very tiny bit of oil, but still enough to concern me).

It's still a mystery why the head gave out a second time, but haven't been able to fault the service QIM have given so far, and even if the 2nd head was his fault - which may well be debated - he took it on the chin and did it again at his expense, so certainly can't fault a person who rectifies mistakes that might not even have been his.

I won't be doing much more fixing to this than to get it running enough to get by till I can find another vehicle, or to get this one to the point where I can sell it off one way or another. Once QIM are open for business again I'll seek his opinion on the whole thing and then have a better idea of what's going on. My wife's uncle who does all his farmmachinery servicing, and has replaced heads on everything from tractors to 4bys and utes, believes that having only just had the head done, and having seen the amount of bubble, that it may have been caught in time to just retension the head bolts, hence the need to let QIM have a chance to make an assesment on it.

Will let you all know the result once everyone is back to working hours and I can get it assessed.

Thanks heaps for all the input, it sure helps to have some idea of what you're talking about when you go to mechanics with issues.

[Rb25sil80]

from memory didn't you gety a full engine rebuild off them?
And if so then they should have checked the block out when they did the rebuild.
If you have paid for a complete engine rebuild and they didn't check the block, they should still be responsable for it under warrenty.
After all, you paid them for a complete rebuild, you would expect to have a reliable,working engine after they have rebuilt it.

Ive been stuck in a similar situation recently. Paid for a "full engine rebuild" on my daihatsu feroza, was fine for about 11 months then started running like shit. Milky oil, milkshake under the filler cap. Big sprey of shit out the back of the motor onto the box. To me it was an obvious headgasket, mechanic was trying to tell me it was probably a cracked block, therefore not covered under warranty. If it wasnt a cracked block it would have been covered. I wasnt prepared to gamble, woulda been at least a grand to take the motor out and pull it all apart them im fucked if it is a block.

So we stuck 2 bottles of chemiweld into it, drove it to a caryard and traded it on a nice 02 hilux! Havnt looked back since. Hope nobody bough ta maroon feroza from the southside of bris recently

**edit**
Someone else made the comment that you should really think about whether or not to keep this car. Ive been faced with this decision on both the cars I owned. Added up what i'd spent on the feroza in the 12 months id owned it, bout $6500 and I only paid $7500 for it!!! Glad its gone. And as for the 180sx I used to own, would have poured over 15k into that car over the years, blown motor after blown motor. Your story sounds oh so familiar, sad thing is, once you've had this many problems they never seem to come good.

Good luck with it though mate, hope you have more luck than me!

[shakes]

.......And while doing this checking of my water levels, which were down about 0.5 of a litre, I noticed the water had gone really really really dirty brown looking.
It had been running coolant, has new radiator, new hoses, new pump, new everything, including two engine rebuilds

not somehow related? ie. sludge been dislodged opening a path for the water to get into the water.

call the engine rebuild mob, if they know apples from oranges they will be able to tell if water is in oil or vice versa using what was mentioned in other posts.

sounds alot to me like they took BIG shortcuts in the build properly, little(major) things like acid dipping and crack testing the block....they will try claim your "I cant afford it" as their reasoning for these shortcuts.

good luck with it all man, this is the reason i also own a pulsar

Simon

[nottie]

simple question to ask Ask them if they checked the top of the block and if they decked it to make shore it was true? (decking is machining the top of the block to make a true flat surface)
Perhaps when the engine is all sorted and running sweet then instead of rebuilding an auto then perhaps put a 5 speed cog box into it Cheaper for shore! And also weigh in to your thoughts that perhaps when engine auto/gearbox is sorted then perhaps youll have a well sorted vehicle. No point fixing everything then selling it i think anyway. But then sometimes things just seem like it never bloody ends.

oh yeah was the head re torqued after a specific amount of klms as your friend may be right it may need another tighten.

[Ezookiel]

That's exactly the equation I keep looking at.
If there's only this one more thing to fix she'll be a good vehicle but I could sell it and someone pick up a bargain they need to only do the one last job on, and they'll get all the benefit of the money I've poured into instead of me.
But then it could be this one more job, followed by one more job, followed by... etc etc.
It's always a hard equation to weigh up.

I asked when the second head gasket went, whether they'd had the two edges machined, or if there was a possibility from all the previous overheats that the block was warped and not fitting the head properly, they assured me that "this is their job, they always make sure the edges meet perfectly by getting it all machined" or words to that extent.

I'm really really hoping it will just be a case of retightening. Which was done after the first head replacement, but hasn't been done since the second one. Apparently some brands of cars have very specific instructions about how they're tightened, some bmw's requiring doing somethings while hot, then redoing while cold, etc etc. Are these heads the same?
I was also told to ask if they used new bolts, and to find out if this particular model uses "torque-to-yield" or "Angle? Angular? Ang-something bolts which have to be replaced each time, and must be new or the whole system doesn't work properly.
Someone want to fill me in on what these type of bolts are all about? And whether the 4.2 uses them?

[bogged]

before you do anymore guessing or worrying, why not just take the thing back and see what they say?

[Ezookiel]

The moment they reopen after the holidays, I'll do just that.
It's just information as to what my be the cause, what may have happened, and what can be done about it, so that I can talk to the guy from an informed position that I posted here for, and that's what I have received, and for which I thank you all.

[bogged]

The moment they reopen after the holidays, I'll do just that.
It's just information as to what my be the cause, what may have happened, and what can be done about it, so that I can talk to the guy from an informed position that I posted here for, and that's what I have received, and for which I thank you all.

the problem with that you may have 231948239 ideas, but none of them may relate to your problem.

Just wait till he hands you a lie and tries to get out of it, then post that, then people will pick it to bits.

[tj81]

hmm, fun and games it sounds.

My bet, i think its the block. If two pistons have as you said "grabbed" then id suggest the block has had it.

will be interesting to see what the story is. keep us informed