Terrano 1 1989 head gasket failure

[newage]

Hello!

My name is Ludmil, I am from Bulgaria.

 

Here's my story.

3 Years ago I got a second hand Terrano 1 1989 from a dealer. I fit it nicely with LPG system, repaired the air conditioning, boughgt new tyres and the car became an excellent family vehicle for the outdoots.

 

However 8 months later the headgasket blew, between 2 cyllinders. Got it replaced and the head resurfaced.

 

Another 8 months driving and headgasket failed the same way, this time the at the metal ring. Got it replaced once again, you know, it almost ruined the family budget.

 

Now, a year later it started again puffing steam through the tailpipe.

 

I can't take it anymore, I can't afford the expenses. This time I will get the job done myself.

 

Please, advice me what to check, where to start from, what could be the possible cause of this continous failure.

 

A clue - when I bought the car, the radiator has just been replaced with new one. From the very begining it had erratic idle which I fixed by disabling the EGR valve. Remind you, the car is running on LPG.

 

Thank you in advance!

Edited August 22, 2010 by newage

[adamzan]

Maybe they were using ****** gaskets and they did not resurface the head properly? Just throwing that out there.

[jj big shoe]

Overheating is usually the reason for failed head gaskets. Your cooling system is good, right? Maybe you could try a bottle of Bars Leak Head Gasket Repair. If it works it'll get you by for a while, but I would plan for a proper repair in the future.

[frecklecolouredbrain]

quick tip: ignition temp for gasoline engines= 800C

propane burns at 1977C.

 

just thought i'd throw than in there for ya

[jj big shoe]

Remind you, the car is running on LPG.

Good eye, I glossed right over that. If LR89 is right about those temps, that might have something to do with it. I'd start looking into what it takes and what to look out for with LPG conversions.

[unccpathfinder]

I would suspect the temps to cause the gasket to burn up...if That's the case I would assume it would be able to see

[Mr.510]

If it failed in the same place twice (and probably this third time) either the head or block are not flat. When it first blew a headgasket it probably overheated badly and warped the head. Pull the head and have it and the block checked for flatness by somebody that knows what they are doing! Other than HKS metal headgaskets and the like for race engines I refuse to use anything but Nissan factory headgaskets. Other gaskets you can get away with but the money saved on aftermarket headgaskets just isn't worth the risk as far as I'm concerned. Gasoline engines running on propane are not typically known to have any failure issues, in fact they generally live twice as long. Not that it really matters but is this a VG30?