onespiritbrain

[emoji15] yeah..... I used to think 7000 miles on Dino oil was just fine till I opened up the valve covers on that engine and saw that it was encased in sludge like one of those YouTube videos of the old lady that never changed her oil. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Geez these heads are 10 times dirtier! But the cams and bearings look much much better. I’ll post better pics tomorrow. All of this definitely has me worried about the bottom of the engine... with the oil light on warm starts... I may end up checking it out. We’ll see. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I just looked and the cam bearings look 10 times better on this other engine.. I guess I’ll be cleaning these heads up. I think I might as well get the driver head as well while I’m at it because the one at my house looks pretty poor too. I wonder if this was caused by an over tightened timing belt... I did drop this other engine and it landed on the oil pan and passenger head. It left a dent but it’s only a small place outside of where the valve cover should seal. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wish I had taken the cams out before I spent 6 hours scraping the gasket material off........................ I will pull the cams out of the old motor today to see if its any better in there. The upper intake is off and all the brackets that bolt to the heads are off so it won’t be too much work. This motor was making a grinding noise from the beginning. I chalked it up to and idler bearing but now I wonder if the worn cam bearings were where it was actually coming from. Thank yall Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Best gasket scraper for aluminum heads ever: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Chased all the threads and prepared the block surface. I also scraped all the buildup from the valve reliefs because there was at least a millimeter in some places. I figured it’d be better to have light scratching than eventually damaging a valve. Does anyone know if these little indentions are put there on purpose for some purpose by Nissan? Like to grip the gasket?? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This passenger camshaft is worn.. the driver side is fine. Also the passenger is way dirtier behind the cover at the rear of the cam. There were large flakes of hardened sludge floating around in there... probably blocking the main gallery intermittently! Makes my stomach hurt. Also on the passenger head and the second bearing seat I see a small crack that runs across where the cam rides and even off where it doesn’t ride.. However that is the best looking cam bearing of both heads. It’s nearly perfect haha which is good to see, makes me feel a little better Driver Passenger It is what it is and I have to live with it because I have no money. Oh.. man... as I was typing that I remembered I have the other engine at work. I don’t want to do that at all. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is as good as I can get it. I scrubbed the daylights out of it with wads of aluminum foil and a mixture of toluene, xylene, mineral spirits, ethanol, and d-limonene. I am thinking about grabbing a honing stone from work to get these tiny little raised areas where those indentions are.. I just don’t want to ruin it after I’ve gotten so far. They are really very flat. A .001 won’t go under anywhere, even with it as it is now. If it’s not passing a .001 then shouldn’t I be good?? My intake valves were surprisingly clean. The one on the right all I did was wipe it down with a dry rag. They have what feels like an adhesive on them. I’m guessing the seafoam I poured in thru the brake booster line did the trick. The exhaust valves look terrible though! The one in the picture below was letting air blow by during the leak down test. I plan to clean them all up with a brass wire wheel. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am going to use pure brass wire wheels to clean up the block and now I’ll be sure to stay away from the pistons. Yes, and I am so glad it was bad enough to see the failure. I was worried as this job progressed and got harder and harder that I’d get down there and not be able to find the failure. But it was glaring the moment I lifted the head off the block. I honestly don’t have the $$ to have these things milled... not for another two weeks anyway. I’m using no scratch scotchbrite pads (the blue nylon ones), a Delrin scraper I made at work (brown thing in the picture below), and balled up aluminum foil to clean the old gasket off and it’s working better than last night. There are these little marks though, it’s from the gasket and it’s four tiny little indentions all over the head surface. I wonder if that’s okay or not..?? It looked like someone has had to change the valve cover gaskets before (and did a crap job) but everything deep down looks like I’m the first one to lay eyes on it. The only marks are my own, everything was pristine before I started banging around, of course besides the gaping hole in the fire ring.. I’ve always used Castrol GTX but the first oil change I did on this engine was full synthetic and I haven’t strayed from that. I did one 10w30 synthetic change and it sounded like I put a cup of sand in there. Other than that it’s been 5w30 synthetic. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does anyone know what material the VG33e pistons are made of? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What a job... The driver side head doesn’t come off with the exhaust manifold still attached because the oil dipstick cannot pass thru......... that should be in the FSM for sure. And that’s my biggest most important tip so far with all of this: Take the driver side exhaust manifold off before you loose the head! Also you have to be able to loose the EGR tube at the manifold or you can’t remove the heat shield, then you can’t reach the nuts to loose the manifold.... That’s cylinder #6. You can see the fire ring is split and that’s the same place on the cylinder that was clean. You can see it great there. That fire ring is the culprit! I brought it inside since I don’t have a good surface to work with outside. The smell is quite bad. It smelled like the rest of the engine until I removed the rocker shaft bolts, then whew it smelled like a giant vat of burned oil. I am having significant trouble removing the old gasket material.. I think I might end up having to have them milled just to get the gasket off. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Big difference. Current progress. I am worried about the heads. The rocker shaft cutout drug the bolt heads pretty badly.. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Never mind I see it now there’s a little tiny bolt at the front on the driver side and the back on the passenger side and the diagram actually shows 14 bolts including those. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Which bolt is actually the first one for the passenger side which I assume means left-hand cylinder head. Number one for the left hand cylinder head and right hand cylinder head is not an actual bolt that I can see.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well that must have been what all that crazy valve train noise was about not long ago... a big piece of crap must have blocked or clogged something! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This guy was hanging out the whole time last night until he flew on my neck and I had to kill him.. Made some serious headway last night with the short time I had to work. The upper intake is indeed a pain but without the hood and with long tools it wasn’t as bad I was anticipating. It’s that power steering tensioner you gotta watch out for.. This was a complete shocker. When I put this engine in this area was dark red with varnish and contained thick hard sludge in the crevices. It is waaaaay cleaner than it was.. I am guessing this is from the synthetic oil??? Or water in the oil??? Here’s where it’s at. Oh and those gloves right there, or any tight fit leather mechanic gloves like those, are an absolute must! For a bigger job the $20 they cost should be figured in. They made such a big difference last night. My hands were more of a tool themselves than just the part of me that uses a tool. When I get home today I’ll post a side by side to show how much it cleaned up under those valve covers. More to come. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I seriously hate the power steering belt tensioner. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah I know. I was asking if you had to have yours milled. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Did you have to take your heads to the machine shop for milling? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I ordered my parts today and borrowed a car from my best friend. I’m ready to get this knocked out! My goal is to have everything done by next Saturday the 4th of August. And so it begins.. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do you have a thread started with pics and tips and stuff?? I’m about to have to do my head gaskets. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was saying “crap crap crap” before I even entered the chamber.. #6 is quite noticeably cleaner than the rest... It kind of looks chewed up also.. You know, when I first started this engine it was knocking loud. I thought it was a rod bearing but now I think it was detonation. And that detonation probably compromised the head gasket. My guess is that the injector for that cylinder was probably not firing well and caused powerful lean detonations. I’m glad the search is finally over... this has been a rollercoaster ride. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dbl post

Yeah man it really was bad haha. Passenger side is next once I get this disappearing coolant figured out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A starter which is permanently engaged and whose bearings have seized could give all the symptoms you have. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk