dave_w11
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| posted on 7/6/06 at 04:24 PM |
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Micra head gasket problems.
Hello,
Has anyone got any ideas what the problem could be with my sisters car?....
A while ago there was a small radiator leak which as far as I know was only noticed when the car juddered to a halt having drained away all the
coolant. It was then fixed by putting some rad weld type stuff in, filled back up with coolant and used again for a while. From then on lots of
bubbles were coming out through the expansion tank.
We decided this was probably due to the head gasket leaking from cylinder to coolant thanks to the overheating (don't think it was just air
trapped in the system because it happend for quite a while and there were lots of bubbles) so we replaced the head gasket and had the head skimmed.
After doing this all was fine for about 4 weeks including a few long journeys and quite a bit of driving.
It just packed up again though and she had to get the RAC to tow her home. There was a warning light that the RAC mans fancy error reader thing said
was due to a misfire in cylinder 1 and the RAC assistance report says "signs of head gasket leakage. using water, smoke from exhaust + pressure
in system" 
Does anyone have any ideas what's likely to have caused it this time? (the radiator didn't leak again).
If I managed to mess up tightening the head bolts would it have lasted this long before suddenly breaking?
The haynes manual says that nissan says you don't have to replace the head bolts, but that haynes recommend you do anyway. In the interests of
cheapness we didn't  (doh!). Could this be the problem? I can't figure out whether they are the stretchy type of bolts that have to
be replaced or not but surely nissan would say you have to replace them if they were? The tightening sequence given is to tighten to about 35Nm, then
to 70Nm, then slacken them all off, then tighten to about 35Nm again and then angle tighten by 60 degrees. Is that a sort of tightening sequence to be
expected of stretchy bolts?
Anything else? I wondered if the thermostat could've been damaged by the first overheating and caused it to overheat again but I don't
suppose it would last as long as it did in that case? Might the rad weld have blogged up something it shouldn't have?
Is it worth just trying again with new gasket and new bolts and being extra careful when tightening them up?
Thanks very much for any help!
Dave.
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Browser
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| posted on 7/6/06 at 05:18 PM |
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Which model Micra is it? A K10,
K11 or
K12?
I had a K10 which did exactly what you've described and only after I'd got shot of it (2 weeks after doing the head again) did I think it
might have had stretch head bolts. The procedure you've described is the one usually employed on stretch bolts so you may need some more.
Hope this is some help.
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jollygreengiant
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| posted on 7/6/06 at 05:44 PM |
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I suspect that as you say there was a warning light, for that I infer an engine management light, then we are talking about the later version of the
micra engine. If this is the case then a known fact is that the cylinder liners are on rubber type "o" ring seals ont he bottom. Now what
happens when you do a head gasket is that the NEW gasket forces the liner down further and this can result in the liner cracking and or becoming loose
there-by giving another head gasket failure. If it is the Later engine then I have found it best not to replace the head gasket but rather replace the
engine.
K10 & k12 were not normally a problem. Just do the job properly.
[Edited on 7/6/06 by jollygreengiant]
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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dave_w11
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| posted on 8/6/06 at 01:09 AM |
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Thanks for the replies. It is a later 2002 K11 998cc. I'll keep an eye out for a cheap engine then. Think I need one from between 2000 and 2002
though which at least on ebay seem quite rare.
Looks like it might end up being used as part exchange as it is.
I've just spied a written off 2001 micra on ebay though. Might be worth buying that for the engine and selling the rest of the parts.
Any nice locost parts to be found in a micra? 
Thanks for your help!
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