Nissan 200SX Club - South Africa

Guys I need some help.....

My headgasket is shot! Its pissing out oil and I can feel my car is low on power.

Where can I get a gasket for my CA18DET and dont even try to say at the Nissan Dealership. (They charge you R800 for it)

What is the going price and give me some specs, part number, where to buy, thickness and things like that.

I know some of you have had some experience in this area.

Well i cant really help as im up in rust free GP. but just as an indication on price i got a full payen gasket set for R600 and some change

mmm...ok thats quite alot!

Thats R200 less than the original Nissan part.

Im a bit broke here...cheaper!!!!

HancoB wrote:Guys I need some help.....

My headgasket is shot! Its pissing out oil and I can feel my car is low on power.

Where can I get a gasket for my CA18DET and dont even try to say at the Nissan Dealership. (They charge you R800 for it)

What is the going price and give me some specs, part number, where to buy, thickness and things like that.

I know some of you have had some experience in this area.

That R800 nissan gasket is the BEST Value for money you'll get and it will last, dont even think of a cheaper option as its normally a DE gasket, Phinx has tried the chearper ones (Megaseal etc) and they last about 4 months!

The next options up that are more expensive are custom copper items or cometic.

My opinion, dont skimp on the gasket or you will be changing it again in a few months...

It's a big job to replace. And I wont' trust a R100 gasket unless you wanna redo this job in a few weeks.

Go Payen or better. Remember that the price Daniel gave was for the kit, so the head gasket (if sold seperately) would be a fair bit cheaper. I'm guessing in the R200-R300 range.

ok sure But thats still alot of money.

I mean to put it into perspective when I SC'd my golf I had a copper gasket made for a comp ratio of 8.5:1 and that cost me R186 excluding vat.

ok ok I know thats for a 8 valve golf but still. Its kinda cheap dont you think???

Only problem is the people who did that for me only do VW gaskets!

with all due respect...

dont be a doos and skimp on the important stuff... a complete Nissan Gasket set is R1855-00... save up a month or 2 and just get it done right the first time.

that's a small price to pay for a bit of piece of mind...

Remember I live in CT. We dont get paid that much down here...I'll have to save a year! he he

Im planing on doing a good job but I have learned my lesson in not buying the OEM parts. Its just a "name" on the packaging that you pay for. The exact same materials are used to produced the same product. That I can prove to you.

Its all a money making thing.

So my question still is : Where can I find a copper gasket for the CA18DET?

I blew my head gasket over a year ago and replaced it with a Payne head gasket which was listed for the CA18 DE (normally aspirated) and have done 50 000kms running at 1 bar boost. The car is my daily drive and do 75kms a day with no problems. I got the gasket at an Auto Zone outlet for about R350 and would not try anything cheaper as the work to replace it again is not worth it.

if you think that 2-3 hundred bucks is a lot of money, then my suggestion is that you sell your sx, and get a golf. that will be cheaper!!!

wait till you start shopping around for wheel bearings. at over 1000 bucks each, its really gonna break the bank.

if you find a decent head gasket for less than 400 bucks count yourself lucky, but i reckon you are in for at 700 bucks!

the last time i replaced mine i used a nissan HG, for the ca18deT, and it only cost R650-00. granted that was a while back.

Thanks I have a golf!

And a SX and no i'm not selling!!!!!!!

I'm looking for a copper gasket!!!!!!!! Then I dont mind the price coz I know Im getting something good.

The OEM and cheap gaskets are exactly the same. Just with a different packaging!

OK then...

a copper gasket will have to be made custom.

or you could have a multi-layered steel gasket for over a grand. i was recently quoted 1250-00, plus minus very little, from a few different suppliers.

the nissan head gasket is better than the payen one.

the payen one is good enough, and cheap enough, to make it the best value for money.

you can pay less than the payen one for some other gasket but its going to be a real piece of crap.

you can also be stubborn about it - but you asked us for advice. remember that!

i must say i dnt believe the payen gasket is any worse than the nissan item. Infact doesnt payen make the nissan gaskets.

Anyway if i could afford it id have gone for the MLS HG VC mentioned.

they have brought us bmw, mercedes and adolf hitler... why not look to them for a head gasket??? elring, das origional

Elring Klinger Gmbh is the leading German gasket manufacturer at the cutting edge of gasket technology. They are (OE) suppliers to numerous car manufacturers, just a few of which are Mercedes, BMW, and the other German car manufacturers, which speaks for itself.

so why not help us to get the part number for such an item, and a store that we can buy it from, and an estimate on the price of such a thing???