Blown head gasket

Aussie_Dan · Sep 25th, 2004, 08:40 PM

Unfortunately, i've just found that my 93 KA24 bluebird is blowing bubbles in the cooling system. I took it to nissan and they said that it's got a blown head gasket (just as i thought). i'm just hoping it's not a cracked head aswell... I was talking to a mechanic that i know and he said that if i get the head shaved, even as little as 40 thou, it may cause the timing chain to start rattling, because the head is sitting that tiny bit lower and the chain tensioner may not be able to take up the extra slack......
the car has done 198000 kms (120K miles) and doesn't have any rattles at the moment.
i have heialso heard that i might be able to get a shim to put underneath the head with the head gasket, to put it back to it's original height / compression ratio....
has anyone else had any head work done to their car and what were the results?????? should i be worried about the timing chain starting to rattle????
thanks in advance,
Dan.

**Asleep** · Sep 26th, 2004, 04:19 AM

you can get thicker head gaskets but im not sure if thats going to be a dealer part or an aftermarket part. try nissan first and see what they say. the oem head gasket is a good gasket. id trust it over an aftermarket one.