Nissan Repair: nissan sunny 1996 (with nissan sunny 2000 engine) smoking problem because of head gasket (i believe), gasket seal, wiring faults

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

I have a nissan sunny 1996 ex 1.4l. About seven months ago my engine started emiting white smoke occationally. This happened after we changed the head gasket seal (the seal on the plug pipe / over the gasket cover) and then kept on happening very frequently but not all the time. Finally the engine ceased breaking the connector rod.  I have upgraded the engine and gear (nissan sunny 2000 1.6l [manual engine - gulf specification]  and gear box from a japanese edition.

Now, for 7 months everything has  been going great until last week. 2 weeks ago we painted the old gasket cover(from the ceased engine)& since it was of matching size with the new engine, we tend to install it. (however we kept the gasket/plug pipe seal from the old engine)  Now, after a week the symptoms have appeared again. I am not ready to loose this engine as it is a rare find, clean & powerfull as like a new engine. I have custom made headers installed on this new engine. The ECU is the same from the old engine (1996 1.4l).  



The vehicle had some wiring faults and had the a/c compressor coil blowed up so we fixed some of the wiring ourself.

All these was done under the supervision of my friend who is a mechanic & now he is on vacation and is not available for another 2 months.

another mechanic told me that we might need to change the valve seal/piston seal which is going to cost me around 2000 bucks (at the moment unaffordable) or use engine smoke stop oil temporarily.

I doubt the gasket/plug pipe seal since this is all happening after we put on the old gasket cover. but then there are no oil leaks. i have changed the oil valve (on the cover ) since it was weak.

please suggest on what has to be done as i dont want the car to be parked for long and the engine to be ceased either

many thanks


ANSWER: Hi Ahmad -

I have a question. I am sorry, I do nmot understand what part you exchanged with the old engine - was it the cyinder head, valve cover, or something else?

I need to know and understand what happened in order to go on with the diagnosis.

PLease get back to me -
thanks
calvin

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i am speaking about the Tappet cover.

On the old engine we had changed the plug pipe seal (4 round seal that fits beneath the tappet cover over the plug pipe[whatever you call it]. It started smoking (especially on highways or after 60-80kmph, however it was not continuous and smokes now and then. THe old engine finally ceased breaking the connector rod.

Now on the new engine, we swapped the tappet cover from the old engine (after painting it - for looks) while keeping the same plug pipe seal (which we had changed) and now the same symptoms.

the smoke is white + i get some burning smell

i checked with another mechanic but he says we might need to change the piston seal or some crap like that

i am still to check the oil level & the condition of the plugs today. but the plug wires has no oil on it & there is no oil leak around the tappet cover either.

please help

many thanks for all your help calvin ..


ANSWER: Hi Ahmad -

OK, first of all, can you check the compression? Somehow you are burning oil, and we need to find out why.

If the compression is low, spray some oil in your cylinder through the spark plug hole and recheck. If the compression increases, it could be the rings. If it stays the same, could be the valve seals.

Get back to me after you do this -

Thanks
aloha'
calvin

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi calvin

thank you very much for your reply.

There is no visible leak around the tappet cover. Check the oil level, reduced around 200-300 ml (not much of an issue) since we had some oil burned & the tapped cover changed couple of times.

The plug wires is dry. Am yet to check the plugs and the compression. Will keep you updated on this.

Can you think of anything else which might be causing this. I mean how can the same symptom happen with two different engine on the same car. Can i be doubting the whole wiring (the wiring was burnt & we did a manual fix of the whole wiring set that runs under the hood) Or could it be the ECU unit faulty? Since i am running on a 1996 model ECU Unit on a 2000 model engine?

Also i have another question. As you see the new engine (2000 model) was picked from a manual transmission (gulf specs) vehicle & the gear was picked from a japanese make, the gear seems to shift all 4 gears(being automatic)  under 60. I dont know what you call it, but it seems like its slipping.

Lets say, i drive the car real slow, it will shift all the gears below 60kmpg. However, if i drag the car along with greater speed the gear shifts late however delivering good speed.  Sometimes i believe the gear doesnt retire well.
Do you think its caused by the ecu unit or should i go for a matching gear and engine.  

To give you an instance, when all the gears shift below 60, it feels as if you are at 40kmph  while on 3rd gear (as in manual transmission)

i hope you understand my explaination.  

many thanks

Answer
Hi Ahmad -

Try putting an additive in your transmission. In my experience, one product stands out as awesome. It is called AT205, and here in Hawaii, Carquest sells it. I have had issues where transmissions are shifting erratically, not going into gear, or not shifting at all, and this additive has helped. Try putting that in your trans. The fact that it came from a different car should not matter. If you have trouble finding this additive, let me know and I can get it to you -

Thanks Ahmad - and let me know about the compression.

Aloha
calvin