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Interesting problem with "oil check ball"?


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My dad and I are rebuilding my 1986 Nissan 720's Z24 engine that had blown a head gasket at 208,000 miles. We have just discovered what appears to be a check ball to stop oil flowback just laying in the oil filter housing. We went to the junkyard today to have a look at another K24 and discovered that mine is missing a "keeper" or something along those lines to keep  the ball and spring in their hole. Do they sell this part? Is this a common problem? Could I potentially remove it from the junkyard motor? Am I making any sense at all? I'm not even sure what to call this thing. All this being said I have gotten a lot of help from this forum and would appreciate any information on this topic.

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It's not what you think. It's a by pass in the almost unfathomably remote chance that your oil filter should become plugged. The pressure will force the ball inward and let oil into the gallery around the plugged filter. Unfiltered oil is better than no oil at all.

 

No they do not usually fail. Perhaps it was removed when hot tanked for a rebuild and the owner didn't know about it. If it's not there you've been running on mostly unfiltered oil.

 

15241-73400 is the Nissan part number. Just pry out the cage if still in the block and press or tap in the new one.

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I'm guessing they have updated the design a bit. Mine was originally (or at least to me) three separate pieces. A spring, ball, and keeper pressed into the block. I can see how this part would still fit into and function the same way just as an all in one. Or maybe mine just exploded and I'm just seeing the expanded view lol.  

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You can safely run without it if you tapped and plugged the hole.

 

I wonder how long it ran without it. That's a lot of unfiltered oil through the engine.

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Yea I'm not sure. I changed the oil in it when I first bought it and it was very soon after I began getting coolant in the oil. So figured I'm going to be that far into the engine so I might as well rebuild it. My dad had a d21 with this engine back in the day so he was pretty confident in his ability to work on it. We have got the new pistons and rod bearing installed, and I had the head completely gone through. The crankshaft looks amazing so I don't believe it could have been this way for long.

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