naiwiboo

um yeh well documented in drips and drabs and intermingled with lots of other stuff about police helping people with beeping horns, people rewiring brakes to horns, people not knowing what the problem was, etc. thought i might put it all down from problem definition through to cause and solition - plain and simple in one post so the next poor bastard that has this problem doesnt have to trawl 5 posts over an hour like i did or worse still get ripped off by some b/s artiste mechanic! just trying to make the world of cars a bit easier to live in dude

Ok this is to clear up any issues people may be having about funny clunky/metallic noises coming from their steering wheel when they turn corners, here's the lowdown. Also, this comes in conjunction with your horn intermittently blasting on for no reason while you turn corners. (i've tried to include as many keywords in case people are searching for this too) This noise, which is best descirbed as a metal-to-metal 'tink/clunk' noise, which can also be felt through the wheel occurs most obviously when turning the wheel to 180 degrees and beyond. It can also be felt, along with a lighter 'tinkle/rattle' noise when travelling along bumpy roads, train tracks, etc. As a bit of history, my car first developed this noise after i had travelled over some unmade, corrugated dirt road and has continued on from there. situations like this can cause the problem, and from there on you're stuck with this annoyance. The reason i write this is because this annoyance turned into a 'not roadworthy' the other day when i took my car in to get its rwc ticket, ready to sell the car. The guy claimed that because he doesn't have a technical knowledge of the steering wheel, he couldn't rule out that it was a problem with the airbag (even though the airbag light came on and disappeared as prescribed) and therefore he wouldn't give me the rwc. Cut a long story short, after being hassled by many nissan dealerships about how they don't have a manual for the car and therefore they can't work on it (how incompentent must the mechanics be to need a book?), and other people wanting over $200 to fix the problem because its 'technical' and involves a shock-horror 'airbag', i decided to take matters into my own hands. If you have this problem please do not be fooled into thinking its some massive effort to fix. Quite simply, my routine to fix the problem (all up 20 mins) was this: Phone Repco, ask if they have a T50H attachment (T50 torx tamperproof) Go to Repco, buy T50H for $9.09 Come home Disconnect battery, pump brake pedal (discharges any extra charge) Pull airbag fuse Remove Shroud around steering wheel (5 phillips head screws) Disconnect airbag wire (biggish brown clip in right of steering column, covered in foam, sits just next to ignition) Disconnect other connection of airbag wire (right under steering wheel, centre-not even sure if i did this) Pop out two little plastic covers out of the side/rear of the steering wheel Use T50H with ratchet, undo bolts-mine needed some arm strength to initially get moving-CAREFUL-the airbag wants to fall foward with them out VERY CAREFULLY and slowly remove airbag (it's attached to the front of the steering wheel) about 4inches Sight noise-causing-weight, sits at the top of the wheel, in a little 'holster' type arrangement (as soon as i touched it a bit i recognised the sound immediately) Remove annoying little weight Throw weight in bin & swear at it Place airbag back in place Tighten T50 bolts Replace plastic covers Re-connect wires Replace shroud, do up screws Reconnect battery, replace airbag fuse Check car starts(a good sign)/airbag light boots up (and then disappears) ok DONE Now, i don't know about horn function after this has been done, it should be ok, but i had already diverted the horn wire to a switch (horn is the brown one in connection of 4 wires-follow them from the steering wheel back-you splice*not divert* the common ground-black-to your new switch as well) a few months back, so i still had horn functionality whilst i didn't actually know what the problem was inside the wheel. And also, on my series 1 anyway (1995), you don't need any special gadgets to reset the airbag light, it works fine I can happily say now, however, that it's all fixed and thank god the problem is gone for good. For those with an inquiring mind, the weight is there as a counter balance for road vibrations, honestly the difference is like 10% more daihatsu-feel without it, within like a week you won't remember any different, plus if you've had the problem for months like me, having a noiseless steering wheel is heaven on earth So, if you have any a-hole mechanic/nissan man/import specialist telling you its a tough job and it will cost lots, tell them to stop being a clown! Any questions, fire me a PM PLEASE-i bear no responsibility for anyone taking apart steering wheels that have airbags in them because there is always is a chance they can go off (although in theory they need charge to). I have merely documented my process. Also please note it is totally illegal and against ADRs to replace an airbag wheel with a non airbag wheel!

as a sidenote, ive got a ER33 - no hicas n/a tho.. so its not exactly a track weapon hehehe

hey na when r u going 2 sell ur safc? is it the new one with the four arrow buttons or one with the single dial?

damn sorry guys - next time i'll do a search {slap on the wrist for me}

Hey out there, I'm asking this question for a friend who's considering getting a '32 GTR. Just wondering if anyone can give me any feedback if they have imported thru Prestige Motorsport - ie how was the process, any hassles with shipping, etc. Please DON'T post replies here, please PM me, cos otherwise that would be unfair on Prestige. Cheers!

obviously i waited til he said it was sold! - i was letting everyone who missed out know of this deal (even tho its not as good as what the safc here was sold for) in case they were really keen on getting one!

check out http://www.partsco.co.nz/ - thats where the group buy got em from (if u don't have any luck locally

if you want a mechanical noise from the front of your car u could try throwing sand in your brake calipers.. but that would just sound nasty alternatively you could try to get something stuck in your air intake but i wouldnt recommend that either

by the way - with insurance expect to pay thru the arse until you're much older unless youve got a wicked rating somehow or live in a good risk suburb or insure 3rd party - its not much extra for the turbo so think about that (although turbo theoretically requires much more $$$ to keep running so no good for budget - i like my na 5spd auto - it does 550 - 600kms on a tank of ultimate/optimax hwy driving)

rb25de is a great engine - i love it - more driveable day to day i reckon than turbo laggin around the place - but i do a lot of driving so that suits me... the rb20de was only in the r32 to my knowledge - for god's sake don't buy a factory r33 rb20 cos its an rb20e - nasty horrible piece of crap they made for company fleet cars for fuel economy and nothing more - produces something like 97 or 105kW believe it or not its true cos i almost bought one by accident! these things should be sold for no more than 10 grand they are that shit! i test drove one and it had only a little more go than an old 3 series bmw (my previous car) hehehe

just another note - i dunno about the difference with hi flo cats - havent read that much about em really... my order of mods is (with the pod air filter done - have you done that?) cat back mandrel bent system, extractors, spark plugs (i know not really a mod but hey), timing, apexi super-AFC II, hi flo cat (?)

yeah ive just posted response in the other thread - check that out - Daalder Exhausts in Box Hill - Matthew - good bloke $100 to install extractors (including cutting off final cone, rewelding a 2.5" cone and fitting a flange so you can drop out cat-convertor for pipe for track use only!)

get coby extractors from nz - check out the info in the group that was done about a month ago - extractors u'll get for about $300 and install for about $100 and get a hi-flo cat (about $300) and/or a straight through pipe (for track use only!) check out Daalder Exhausts in Box Hill - speak to Matthew - he's a great bloke and really good to talk to - can tailor make a system depending on your requirements - loud/quiet/whateva and is really good on price!

post in for sale - parts section dude!