HailDamage

where are you putting the oil in? Into the oil fill port on the intake cam cover (making sure to be specific) does it have an extended or factory sump? Factory and i have AWD motor if makes any difference if you run the car after topping up the oil and then open the radiator cap do you have a milkshake? No it looks normal. is there a huge pool of oil under your car? No there is a leak somewhere but its definitely no putting anything on the ground.

How it looks after putting another liter in (6.5L approx total since change)

Is it possible its getting pooled in the SMIC?

I have put another 500ml in and the light still coming on and still low reading. I will keep going when rain pisses off. Had the car about 7 months always been funny with oil like heaps blow by and light coming on after oil changes etc. Has the no oil rattle when starting for a couple of seconds usually when cold.

Yes I already tried a dipstick out of another Stagea they were the same. Theirs had plenty of oil wiped put in mine nothing again.

No oil reading and oil light flashing but has oil So I have a weird problem where I have oil did the change about 2-3 months ago and now the dipstick isnt giving any reading when cold after wiping off. And when its cold after starting the oil pressure light comes on for a moment and does it randomly while driving not too often though. I know it has oil in it as it not puddling but yeah its got leaks. I put in another liter after seeing the dip bare but made no difference. So now I am not sure how to proceed and its my daily only one.

Alright I think I was on the wrong track with the diff/AWD system. I'm now certain the power loss is coming from a possible air leak in the trans. Yesterday on my first drive it was really sluggish and it turned out that the dipstick for the trans had popped up so I put a bit of tape on that to give it a better seal (is it supposed to have a rubber 0-ring perhaps?). Last night I went on a cruise and I noticed the pressurization of the gearbox was very inconsistent and at one point I even lost all power coming through the box for a few seconds but I don't think the dipstick came out again. Could be the seals, or I'm also thinking could it be symptomatic of a bad torque converter?

Definitely, that's why I made the thread to gather more information in a new direction of my diagnosis. I have done a few things since I got the car so this isn't my very first idea. I've had boost leaks which I'm faily certain are fixed or very minimal (yeah i know minimal is as good as bad boost leak). I had a faulty boost controller now replaced. I had spark plugs replaced and rocker cover gaskets replaced. I've had mechanics drive my car to confirm the auto box isn't slipping. But no you are right I haven't had either the ecu or timing looked at. At the same time I'm definitely getting a huge effect by flicking this switch. As for boost coming on early, I found after flicking the switch it felt like it came on a bit later but stronger and that's with a whining most likely on it's way out turbo. Before flicking the switch my gauge would read 10 or so but honestly felt the same as stock or maybe less. I don't know how I could possibly explain the switch affecting all of this so drastically, because I don't dispute that all it does is affect the gearbox mapping, but I feel more is going on than just that.

Yes I'm aware of this. When I bought the car I was made aware it had a issue with the trans starting in 2nd gear. The previous owner's fix was to stop and start the car again any time this happened. I've noticed that the issue with starting in 2nd has not been present at all for over a good month. Maybe that old problem is linked to why I am seeing an increase in throttle response when switching to snow mode and back. Could it be the switch itself?

Power loss diag update - snow button So I have come across something that seems to have fixed the very slow responsiveness of the throttle in my series 1 RS4 auto today. I met up with the local stagea owners over the weekend and I heard at some point that the snow button on the centre console pressurizes the Atessa system when it is flicked on. So I thought that maybe in my car it is not pressurizing correctly upon ignition and that might be why the car feels so sluggish. I tried it this morning I flicked the switch to "snow" and back to "power" a couple of times and there it was: torque, accelleration, response. I can now feel the difference between off boost and on boost more defined and the wheels spin much easier too. So is there any info you guys might have or know of about how the "pressurizing" of the Atessa system works? Should I get the awd serviced maybe?

I'm back with updates. I have had the oil leaks in top end repaired properly and leaks in the intake taken care of, except the pcv grommet failed and still chasing one. Used double sided tape to fit the pcv valve back into cover. The lag I was getting was from boost leak i believe and I still may look into more things while I'm leaving it stock. I want to check my cat out I just feel like there's still a very slight restriction somewhere. The boost gauge and mechanical boost controller went in today. I just got back from lengthy victory drive, can't tell how well it's holding the boost (speed camera central) but the car feels fantastic to drive to me. I did not expect to gain much difference boosting it as 2/2 mechs said turbo needs replacing asap, but the acceleration actually scared me a little.. (only driven NA subis and holdens mostly before). Of course I will try to find myself another turbo. A point of concern atm is the cold starts are a bit woeful. It starts real slow and has a loud slow tick at beginning. Mechanic says it may have misfire only on start up but not sure how I go about fixing that one yet. Otherwise once up and running purs like a dream all original (ignoring the intake noise of course). Power steering is working fine but leaks not fixed yet, are quite bad too. A transmission service will be on the cards, just can't afford to convert it full stop. I think the transmission is ok it's just what it is. Haven't gotten up to brakes or suspension yet but the new staggered v35 wheels are finally on.

I have realized that it's my gearbox slipping causing problems taking off, the day I got my exhaust fixed it wasn't slipping few days after the take off was laggy again but good power once already rolling.

Alright got an update on my progress. I have not gotten up to the diagnostics part yet but I can say I have regained a huge amount of power and seems to be running really nice, but I'm still seeking real life opinions at some point as I am not experienced in the slightest in rb25-fu. Now what have I done since last post? -pcv valve was sticky and was stuck closed so I cleaned it out boost/flow of intake restored, power improved a little bit but still felt like driving with the footbrake on. -had someone back into my car pushed in driver side fender and popped out but not straight anymore -replaced rocker cover gaskets but like an idiot left the cam seals alone because too scared to drop huge pile of old gasket goo into engine and turns out that's where the leak is. I have still got new moon pieces. Oh and dropped one of the cover bolts behind engine so seeking a new one, screwdriver wasn't magnetized. -Had exhaust leaks all fixed, pipe shortened and new hangers put on for correct fitment. Now at this point a huge amount of power/acceleration was restored. Before the problem was mainly when taking off from stand still. I was having trouble keeping up with goddamn Hyundais off the line before. Now the power comes on super early in the pedal travel and it's the shit! I never knew what a leaky exhaust system could do to take away so much power. I only wish it was louder like when I had no pipe behind the axle -Wheels balanced. The weights on fronts were counterbalancing each other and causing violent shaking in steering and now they've been balanced I can move onto what the suspension is doing, bushes etc. I think my next thing as said above maybe look at getting trans fluid changed as I feel like it doesn't always do what it's supposed to (like change gear at the right time, esp when opening throttle up) and change rims to smaller size, I need to organize a proper to-do list anyway. Also I hope this is helpful to any new comers and are extremely underwhelmed by their cars performance but like me have not much experience with bringing a previously ill maintained machine back to life.

I want to buy I have pm'd

I just changed the oil less than a month ago and the level seems fine. I think the sump plug started to leak as well. But no I don't have a gauge for oil yet.

Intermittent Oil light flash In the last week or so my car has developed a new behavior where it randomly flashes the oil light while driving. Seems to become more frequent if driving hard and I am getting engine cut outs as well. It started happening about the time I unblocked my pcv valve but I know it needs rocker cover gaskets as well which are on their way now. I have yet to see what condition the turbo is in and could possibly be leaking oil from that section. Has anyone had issues with their car after unblocking the pcv system?

I'm down for this one, was tossing up between this and a closer meet but I don't think there's going to be many at that one.

pcv system I've just been having a look at my pcv hoses and I took off the crossover hose with engine running and nothing happened. Isn't the engine supposed increase rpm if you take those hoses off? Could that mean there isn't vacuum? It did increase revs on my Subaru when I did that. There is also a lot of oil in my intake before the throttle body. I wasn't able to get the pcv valve out will try again later. I assume I should just get a new valve and grommet.

Hey I have this problem also, how was it fixed?

The spark plugs that came with the car. Still got a misfire I think will check the coils sometime. Probably when I get the new rocker cover gaskets.

Alright bit more detail on engine. It has had CAI removed and a HKS dome intake put on. I took it off to have a look and the part the goes into the pipe on back of filter has a chunk missing but clamps on fine. Now the oil has me a little worried. I changed it and the filter but now there seems to be very small amount leaking at the sump and maybe even the filter. I'm fairly certain the pcv valve isn't working because the hose that crosses the valve covers is pretty clean and the one leading into the valve has vapor on the outside where it starts. The rocker cover gaskets need replacing as well, I got one side from Nissan but I decided I want to get the full kit off ebay with all the grommets included. I have no yet been able to really inspect the turbo. The spark plugs have been changed but I didn't think to check the coil packs while I was in there. The plugs were real bad, the 4th one was split in half and the car obviously came a bit more alive after that. I used NGK bcpr6es-11 and gapped to 0.8mm myself. Before that a tank of fuel was only lasting about 200km, currently I filled it 6 days ago with a quarter left to go. The fuel filter is new because the previous owner put 91 in it... don't know about the pump yet.

old stagea mod or keep as is? I have just gotten hold of a 97 RS4 C34 Stagea and I have just been pottering around getting it running normally. Now few things it is an auto S1, approaching 300km on non-neo rb25det but unmolested afaics. This is the first time owning any turbo car, any Nissan so I haven't got experience living with these cars. My question is should I keep the car stock as possible and just work on the maintenance (it was a bit rough at first) or is it safe to mod this engine with high km's? I am thinking about getting a piggyback put in and a boost controller (sorry for being absolute noob) but I do not know what I am really doing, just looking for a small bump in power without sacrificing DD ability. It has a 3 inch dump and front exhaust into standard cat and 2.5, came without a muffler so I bolted on a Blitz one (doesn't fit under the bumper lol). I plan to go down in wheel diameter as it has 20 inch rims and it goes against the gearing I've been told. I have no issue with keeping it stock to DD if it is not safe to modify power. It does need suspension work done also mainly in the front. I got the car really cheap (drive away rego too) so maybe when I've got more cash I could try sell it for a lower km manual version?

Servicing recommendations? Hey, I am new and looking for good places that are reputable with servicing Skylines/Stagea etc. I have just bought my 97 C34 and seems to drive fine but the fuel consumption is just extreme! It's pretty much stock but running 20" wheels might not be helping it I'm not sure... Prefer SOR but not that fussed want to get it done right.

Pretty stock (3" dump) and a little rough, came complete with dead battery, rocker cover leak, broken pcv hoses and exhaust. And yes the rims are for sale.