DaveB

Looking forward to it... you might find you have more power too, if it means you can run a few more PSI boooost

I have some superpro bushes and at maximum adjustment, I only have 4 degrees on the passenger's side and 3.5 on the driver's. That's simply not enough - even my mate's VP commondoor wagon has about 7.5 stock. Simon thanks a heap for that link to the adjustable bush ones - man there's a lot on Nengun which I haven't noticed before. It's somewhat reassuring that they have those listed as being specifically compatible with C34, and it's a special 4wd version so hopefully heavyduty. EXPENSIVE though. They are adjustable though, right?

My xenons got butchered at compliance; they also cut all the waterproofing off the back to do the re-wiring, nicked my xenon inverters ('ballasts'), and glued the face on the lights, with some glue dribbling down the back of the light covers and baking on there going nice and brown. Not all of this I realised when going through the compliance process. Set of new xenon lights is upwards of $1,000. You should be!! The wait is the killer... but yours is a very short one by the sounds of it, so you're lucky !

Cool, so the G35 is obviously quite compatible, since you are viewing fuel usage info etc. I thought you had to re-chip the stereo... nice

Sounds good Chook; I only wonder about getting it all out, I'm sure some of that flushing agent I put in will be still hanging around in the engine to thin out the oil, no matter how long it's left to drain. Update - (dunno why I keep posting about this must be bored ) 10W40 oil has made things a bit quieter with the ticking only intermittent when the engine is cold, but as it warms up it begins to return to its normal volume. Not as loud as before, but nearly.

Flush seemed to work well; don't know if it did any good since I change my oil so often anyway, but it sure came out fast Plus managed not to burn myself so that was good. 10W40 synth in now but noise still there... not actually sure if it's quieter or not. After running it for a bit I can't hear it inside the car; might have just needed to pump around a bit.

Thanks Nick. Yeah I'm really hoping it's 'up top' and not 'down low' too. Sounds just like a tappet rattle... but I have very little experience with decent engines. Oil change tonight and I guess the bus tomorrow.

Ah ok thanks Simon. Pity everything has to be pillowball; probably it'll wear out in no time and just start making more noise... would be just my luck. Might have to look for something compatible in the whiteline catalogue.

What's this about the Nistune costing $1200??? Mine cost around $400 and that was the price installed in my ECU, including express post of my ECU back to me.

What about the adjustable castor arms? (radius rods?) R33 or R34 both fit S1/S2 stagea?

Not sure which ones, but I know they're in the Superpro catalogue too 'cause I have some superpro caster bushes on mine. Only gave me a bit under 2 degrees though at maximum adjustment. If you need to know the part number I know a workshop you can call to find out...

Yeah cheers Adam; I've run 0W40 (mobil 1) a few times before and it was great stuff; never any ticking at startup and quiet. The 0 degrees C viscosity probably not so important in oz I guess (tho maybe in winter). Pity it's so damn expensive. It's louder than injectors; quite loud when engine is warm, and definitely only one. Got Shaun from Boostworx to have a listen and he was pretty sure it was tappet(s); was pretty loud. Edit: no missing/jolting; just cured a misfire problem by biting the bullet and going for a set of splitfires, 7 range copper plugs (BCPR7ES) gapped to 1mm, running beautifully. I have heard my injectors before, but they weren't this loud.

Thanks Iain, that sounds like the stuff I got: I tried an audio recording too... not fantastic though, the auto gain control plays around with the levels, sounds worse in real life... but you get some idea tapping.wav Got it booked in for Friday 9th; in the meantime I will (tomorrow) flush the oil with the Nulon gear (pour into engine, idle for 10-15 minutes, drop oil straight away with filter - getting it all over the driveway no doubt ) Then will replace with some 10W40 semi synthetic. Being as I have heard the NEOs don't have hydraulic lifters, I don't think the oil is the real problem. But it should make it quieter and thus make me feel better about driving it until I can get it to the workshop.

Well I took the car to my local performance workshop who have seen it a few times before now, and I think the guy there was impressed by the sudden change in volume since he tuned it barely a fortnight ago (and on the same oil; it was barely week-old oil when I got it dyno'd). If I have this right, the earlier RB's apparrently are more sensitive to oil pressure fluctuations on overrun (basically get cruising and lift off accellerator) - apparrently under those conditions there is a drop in oil pressure and their tappets then sometimes go bananas when the oil is a bit thin (30 weight often the case). But the R34's, with the solid shims (no adjustment - have to re-shim) are not as susceptible to this change in oil pressure (I don't know if they're hydraulic lifters or not) and he hasn't heard one become this noisy so suddenly. So, it's booked in for next week to get the tappet clearances checked out; they'll pull the rocker covers and identify which one it is and see if the shim has moved in the bucket, or something similar. I remember the old 60's stag (talking Triumph Stag here ) engine in my dad's TR7 had the same trouble with shims; used to sound like a jackhammer when you got them wrong. It was always doing heads, too... :S Will let you all know how it turns out. I hope to get out of this with just an hour or two's labour and get some new rocker cover gaskets fitted professionally to boot (mine are less than 20,000K's old and weep like anything). If it has to be head off though, well, it'll be getting some more work before it goes back on...

Thanks Chook. So the two ratings are at 0 degrees C (5W) and 100 degrees C (30) (in the case of 5w30?) Interesting something which I should have done some research on ages ago... the info' must all be out there Matter of interest where did the quotes come from? I guess it makes sense that the hot engine needs thicker oil. I'll definitely use a 40 grade oil next time; but... the loud rattle at start-up from one tappet is bad and not going to go away with an oil change, makes me think there is still something wrong. Hopefully I will know in an hour or so... have heard that the NEOs have hydraulic tappets and flat followers, something like that...

I see thanks

Thanks all, I don't know what the oil flush is that people have mentioned (cheap oil? Pour some kero through Not sure I'd ever be satisfied I'd gotten it all out if I did that...) but I do change the oil at least every 5,000 K's and every time I fit a new filter (bloody messy) 'cause it's only ~$9 (and 1 hose down with detergent afterwards). Always use a 10w40 full synth. or semi synth. (but last time the super-expensive stuff - the castrol edge - was cheap at under $50. It was 5w30 but there are a few people on here with stag's who mention using or having used 30 grade oil...). I will definitely change to the 40 grade asap (probably do an oil change tonight) but also I should be able to get the local tuner to have a listen to it this afternoon. I'll keep you all posted... I know whenever I read somebody trying to explain a noise that their engine is making I think it seems a little hopeless to try to troubleshoot it, in text, but still I got some interesting/helpful replies still so thanks all.

Good point

Don't know how much rewiring was required to fit the Haltech but for $400-ish you could get a Nistune installed in your stock ECU. That's *if* you have access to a workshop who can tune with the Nistune. Pretty sure it can handle Z32 AFM (well I will find out soon 'cause I will be getting a Z32 AFM sooner or later).

What m/c will you be using? Is the R34 m/c a BM57 as well?

Thanks guys. Chook I thought the first number was the cold viscosity? My theory was the thinner it is on startup the quicker the oil would get into the turbo... this is probably flawed I always thought 60 was very thick? But SK likes that thickness too. I would suspect oil thickness to be the culprit but it seems to be worse when the engine's warm (ie. after a drive) and it's only one tappet by the sounds. Tonight after driving it a short distance and rather carefully, I pulled up and rev'd it slowly to ~4000 and it was still noticeable from inside the car, sounded a little like a jackhammer with the engine sound. But then driving home it was quiet. Oh... and I have been running this oil for more than a few hundred K's, including a dyno run. Bah tomorrow I will try to get a mechanic to listen to it; I don't want loose tappets! They drive me nuts. Probably some 10W40 oil will fix it... or probably just mask it a bit (). Just got the 30 stuff 'cause it was full synth (Castrol edge) and cheap at under $50.

Interesting 'cause that's a newer engine than mine. It's still running but it's getting noticeably louder almost every time I start it, and I read somewhere that it can cause valve stem damage and stuff like that from excessive tappet clearance. Anyone know if these engines have any adjustment for clearance, or do you have to re-shim?

Hi all, Last oil change I changed to Castrol Edge 5w-30. I've done maybe 1,000Ks? and I've had a tune on it (week before last). Last Thursday or Friday sometime, I noticed a tappet tick at startup, and then over the last few days I've begun to notice it at about 1,500RPM, then it goes away above that. So I figured it was just oil pressure, exacerbated by the thinner oil. But now it's getting louder and at 4,000RPM it is quite noticeable (beginning to sound a bit rattly). Sounds like cylinder 5 or 6 (at the back of the engine) and sounds to be coming from the exhaust side, doesn't sound like the block (hoping like heck it is not the block!). Is a re-cam & replace lifters a head-off job? Will it be an engine out job? Anyone else had this in their stag'? Mine's S2 250RS4 (so NEO RB25).

One of these type units got my stagea back after it was stolen obviously... recommended

Oh yeah, that might actually convince me to "upgrade" to an M35 ...that is, if I was convinced that the M35's auto gearbox could handle that sort of power I wonder how strong the ATTESA system is in the M35 as well?