MerlinTheHapyPig

when my gauge reads zero... my mental argument is that the red warning light doesn't come on, so not to worry. When that light starts coming on, then i'll worry!! My guage has been playing up for roughly a year, and i've been drifting the car, almost weekly. So, if something was wrong with the oil pump, i figure my engine would have blown itself up a long time ago

first of all, determine which cylinder is out. This is done by unplugging the coil pack lead for each cylinder in turn and see if the engine revs change. If the engine revs don't change, then you just unplugged the cylinder that isn't working. spark ------- remove the coil pack, put a screwdriver end on the terminal, and hold the screwdriver near a bare metal part somewhere on the car, you should see a spark jump. Or alternatively, you can take out the spark plug, connect it to the coil pack, and it should spark (i think you may have ground the spark plug for it to work) compression -------------- buy a compression tester gauge. Or borrow one with engine at operating temp.... -start car -unplug fuel pump (plug in boot of car), let car die. This disables fuel pump & re-leaves fuel pressure -remove all 6 spark plugs and coil packs & crossover pipe, cover etc. -for each cylinder - screw in comp tester (make sure you get the ones with the rubber hose on them) - crank engine 7 or 8 times with throttle to the floor - record reading if compression is less than 127psi, or there is a variance of more than 10-15psi (pay particular interest to the cylinder is not running), this indicates comp problems. Do the test again, but add 10ml of oil to each cylinder. Record the results for both tests, and post them up on the forum. Low compression is bad, it indicates internal engine problems. fuel ---- Never done this on skylines, but you can try it. Hold a screwdriver against the fuel injector for the cylinder that isn't running, listen through the handle, see if you can hear the injector firing. Compare what you hear to another injector. Injectors on skylines are hard to get at, because the manifold loops around the fuel rail. Anyway, if a cylinder isn't running, there are only 3 general causes... Fuel, Spark or Compression. These are the 3 things a motor needs to run.

haven't used the nolathane ones, i don't think they will be too hard, their website is http://www.nolathane.com.au/ this is what the faq has to say on the issue... anyway, whiteline bushes use polyurethane, which i think is the same stuff nolethane bushes use anyway? oh also, the whiteline adjustable camber bushes (r32 gtst) state +/- 0.5deg camber adjusment the nolethane camber adjusment bush kit states +/- 1.5deg camber adjusment i haven't researched cost, but i'd probably be going the nolethane kit.

oh, i've also found the nolathane adjustable camber bushes are alot cheaper than the whiteline ones and do the same thing. So, you should compare prices for both before you buy.

3 things to check... 1-check that it's sparking 2-Do a compression test 3-Check that the injector is firing. (never tried this on a skyline, but i've done it on other cars, you can hold a screwdriver against an injector, and listen through the handle end and you should be able to hear it firing... Might be a problem trying to do this on RB's because injectors are hard to get at due to the intake manifold.)

does anyone know if there are anything similar to the jaycar fuel control kit which works with karmann vortex type air-flow meters? (i.e use a frequency as opposed to voltage) I'm looking for something like this for my Cordia, this would be perfect, but it only lets you use a voltage based scale. I guess an SAFC would be the alternative, but the jaycar kit seems more tunable & i would also use the boost control kit.

it's a common problem with rb's, i would recommend buying an aftermarket gauge to determine if you actually have oil pressure problems or if it's the stock sender.

just wait till your stock clutch packs it in, then get a button clutch or something.

for front, whiteline adjustable camber bushes will do the job, and are also cheaper than an adustable arm (ie. aftermarket lower control arm). And safer. You can't get camber plates for skyline (like you can with s13 mcpherson strut) because of the front suspension configuration. I haven't found much need for camber adjustment on my skyline (neither front or rear), aslong as it's not excessively lowered. The bushes are good for fine tuning though.

i've been checking for leaks regularly, and drove on the track on the weekend. No leaks at all. Geoff's lock bar works a treat also i might add. Just remember to get a wheel alignment, I knew my alignment was out by a fair bit before i put the lock bar, i think i slightly bent one of the tie rods removing the thing, and we did a rough alignment at the track on saturday (using a tape measure). It was running about 30mm toe on the rear, we fixed that up.... was alot better after that!!

ah, yeah sorry. I mentioned that because some people think buying an adjustable strut brace will give them some degree of adjustment in terms of stiffness. Just wanted to clear that up incase people were under misconceptions on what adjustable means. Front strut braces make much more difference than rear strut braces, because on skylines, the upper control arm/link is attached to the chassis, so any flex between the strut towers will alter the wheel alignment. They are less noticable on the rear because everything is connected to the subframe. Anyway, nice writeup, getting a front strut brace is a good cheap mod. I was quite happy after installing mine.

there is no such thing as an "adustable" strut brace the "adjustment" is just so the brace can be fitted to a range of vehicles.

you can remap r33's, but you need a daughterboard to be able to do it. It's not uncommon for cars to come from japan already remapped.

firstly, might have better luck in "forced induction" or "general maintainence" if the CAS isn't sending a signal, the computer won't know when to spark. so there is some logic in what the racq was saying. it definantly won't be coil packs, because usually you get only one cylinder misfiring. I would suggest ignition module or cas. see if the computer is reporting any fault codes. There should be a tech article / faq on how to check for error codes.

a friend has commented, using his rx7 which came with a 1-way mech from japan, that it would struggle to do donuts, where you are on/off gas alot, as soon as you are off gas, it unlock straight away and the car starts to understeer / straighten up. He didn't mention anything about the car jumping to the side or anything. Perhaps this is caused by the engine braking, locking up one wheel There was a thread a while ago, on changing an lsd from 2-way to 1.5way, i think it was a cusco diff, and i got the impression that you can do this to some diffs with relative ease. Maybe do a search on this see if you can dig up any more info.

take it back to mechanic who did service. let them figure it out. it sounds like it could be some part of the exhaust hitting, maybe the tailshaft or one of the driveshafts. That happened to a friends silvia. I think flange on cat was hitting tailshaft.

just be careful using the claw puller, because the skyline balancer (well rb20 don't know about other motors), has rubber between the 2nd and 3rd pulleys, so if you use a claw puller behind the largest pully, it will put stress on this rubber section and can break it. I managed to get mine off this way without damaging it, and it was stuck on pretty hard, but i had a spare one handy so it didn't really matter if i broke it. Correct way to do it, is to use 2 high tensile bolts in the bolt holes and the right sort of puller.

he was asking a serious question. i wouldn't be too worried, as links mentioned it's probably just some of the crap left in the bottom of the sump. Oil going black isn't usually a problem, that just means it's doing it's job. Mine takes about 2,000 kms to go black, then i change it at around 4-5,000kms (or sooner depending on how much drift i'm doing). anyway, speaking of oil and drift, get an aftermarket oil pressure gauge, and keep an eye on it. stock r32 dash gauge can't be trusted.

could just be a "happy" dyno. you can't accurately compare dyno runs from different dyno's. I would have expected 150-160ish from stock-ish rb25det. but hey, you gotta be happy with that!

skyline driveline is quite strong. I haven't heard of anyone snapping driveshafts with a welded diff on an r32 or s13 silvia But, same theory applies with either diff, though there is less wind-up at low speeds with the 2-way, so theretically it's probably better. But with a weldy, 99% of the time it'll be the welds on the centre or ring gear/pinion that goes first.

kaaz 2-way mech ~$1,100 from memory can order from www.garage-13.com if you want to save money, welding it is just as good as a 2-way imo.

yeah, all done! fark that was a pain i ended up taking off the rod end on the other side and once i had it out, i could get a good grip on both ends and it came eventually. car is ready for tomorrow's drift practice at winton! now i might pack the car, then relax with a beer. 3am start tomorrow morning

still struggling with the tie rod end.... I have one end off, and the other end i can't crack, because when i turn it with the shifter, it turns the thing on the opposite end. Can't get a good grip on the flattened sides of the rack.....

most people do the water pump & seals at the same time as they do the timing belt. you can use oem nissan items, though if the water pump isn't weeping, and you're not leaking any oil out of the seals you can leave them as-is. i'd also check/replace spark plugs, and perhaps fuel filter.

gtrgeoff sold me mine