TB42 blown head gasket???

[shaunGQTI]

Hi all, i am suspecting i have a blown head gasket in my tb42e patrol ( symptoms are using coolant, strong gassy smell from radiator , constantly over heating and runs rough) im no mechanic but thats my guess. pulled thermostat out today and there was three holes drilled around the edge whitch makes me think previous owner had over heating trouble....


I have only owned this wagon for about 3 weeks and im also having ignition problems. i was driving down the road and it just instantly dies and wont start with no warning. got a quote for a new distributer and was $1038 (genuine nissan) which is too dear for me... already purchased a new coil, cleaned the maf sensor and it hasnt fixed the problem.

I am at the stage of thinking of converting to a td42 as i dont want to attemt to fix my head gasket to find i need a new head or something, when for a bit more money i could just convert to diesel (which is what i was hoping to do later on down the track anyway) not really sure on costs/difficulty etc... so if anyone could give me any ideas on what to do???? that would be teriffic as im stuck inbetween a rock and a hard place at the moment.... cheers guys

[Bloodyaussie]

Welcome to my world mate.... hope you sort it!!

[shaunGQTI]

yea not good at all hopefully get it sorted soon.

[BigRAWesty]

Ok. Diagnostics time.
On gas? Guess it is as you can smell it threw the radiator.
Have you done a compression test?
Have you checked of leaks around the intakes, hoses, head etc.

Ignition.
Have you checked voltage at alternator and battery?
Are your terminals in good condition?
Are spark plug leads in good nick?

Just Off the top of my head, if your smelling gas threw the radiator I'd be checking the converter first. The father in-laws 80 recently had the same issues, didn't overheat but was really using the coolent. The internal gasket goes and allows water into the intake and gas out into the cooling system..
It still doesn't help with the overheating.
Have you flushed the system? Maybe a radiator clean out is on the books. Also check down between the aircon radiator and engine radiator as there could be a whole heap if carp in there blocking air flow threw..

That's just a brief list of basic things to check anyway.. Lol

[shaunGQTI]

thanks westys accessories, sorry, i didnt mean "gassy" as in gas i should have said fuemy it just smells like exhaust fuems , anyway i have flushed the coolant, but didnt even think to look inbetween air con and radiator... will have to check that!!! havnt done compression test as of yet, cant seem to spot any leaks anywhere?? altenator and battery terminals in good order And checked voltage, all seems ok but not entirely sure on plug lead condition. will replace them soon anyway. thank you for tips

[GQ TANK]

Pull the radiator cap off and start the truck - do you get a volcano of water or lots of bubbles. if so then most likely the head.

dying could be a lot of causes - most likely a intermittent electrical joint some where.