Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Hi all,
So the time has finally arrived that I start the rebuild of my 2001 Wagon's engine,
for these of you that don't know, I bought this Partol after it suffered a injector failure on no 1 cylinder.
After replacing all the injectors and 4 new pistons i made the mistake of fitting a pirate head gasket.
I struggled from the very first day to get my EGT's down, even after fitting a 3" exhaust from turbo to tail, i still strugelled with high EGT's
Within a 1000 km after the repair the turbo blew and I replaced it with a new one.
within one week after replacing the turbo, the engine let go on me, no indication of overheating what so ever, although i did notice that it pushed the water out from the heather tank.

Opened it up again, and this time the damage was severe. 3 cracked sleeves and seize marks right through. the cause (in my opinion) - a pirate head gasket.
So after standing a few months, it is finally time that I rebuild it.

So a few questions in order that I do it right this time round.
1. I am getting the head gasket from Nissan, but there is 2 sizes 0.7 mm and 0.65 mm, seeing that I am skimming the head I would recon that I should use the 0.7mm?
2. When I did the engine the previous time (about 1000km ago) I replaced all the head bolts, must I replace them again, or will they still be fine?

I would like some input on the above, and will keep you all updated as the build goes on.
Currently the head is going for crack /pressure test and skim
Block is in to have new sleeves fitted
Crank is in to have checked
Ordering parts

Mooi man lets hope you win this time have you got the manual ?? Isn't there a size to measure head bolts to see if they are ok or not?

Tinus lotz wrote:Mooi man lets hope you win this time have you got the manual ?? Isn't there a size to measure head bolts to see if they are ok or not?

Tinus,
Myne is die Auto.
Ek sien in die workshop manual is daar specs vir die head boude.
Ek sal dit meet en check.

The head bolts are stretch bolts and are not re usable

I would just use the thicker gasket, as you mentioned you are skimming the head. It is such a small difference in thickness anyway that I dont see it having a real impact on anything

Tinus lotz wrote:Mooi man lets hope you win this time have you got the manual ?? Isn't there a size to measure head bolts to see if they are ok or not?

Tinus,
According to the workshop manual, the head bolts should not have a thickness variance of more that 0.15mm across the threads between D1(Diameter over the threads 10 mm from the end of the bolt) and D2 (Diameter over the threads 10 mm from where the threads end)
I checked all my bolts and the worst one is 0.14 mm, the rest are all 0.07 -0.09

Mooi maar hoeveel kos dit om ander te kry? Wil nie al daai moeite doen en dan werk hulle nie reg nie

For what its worth specially on high compression engines with stretch bolts if you have re used the bolts once before I would advice you to replace the bolts next time round cause you are going to blow head gasket or over heating
and don't buy them from a bolt & nut shop its not the same

Personally, I would replace the stretch bolts. That is my understanding of them in any case - use once, even if they are within specification.

I would be very disappointed in myself, if I were redoing a motor, if I decided to skimp on something only to have it bite me later.

Morning guys,

Yes, I have also decided that new bolts it will be.
Heard from the engineers that the crank is fine and no machining necessary, so that stays standard.
Will then order the parts today.

Wish you all good fortune...