Gareth87

It seems as though the smoke is on decel and therefore full vacuum. You could have a turbo oil seal problem or stem seals, that would be my first guess. My engine did a similar thing when i ran gapless total seal rings in it, but as your engine is standard, obviously that gets ruled out. Is there any chance that could be steam? if water is making its way into the cylinder you may see that. I would think its unlikely though. Im sure others will comment but that my 2 cents. G

I can vouch for this car being a serious fast car enthusiast myself . I have been in it on many occasions and i would have bought it by now if i didn't live overseas most of the year. Its such a quick, clean running, smooth and super responsive car. It feels like its on rails! G

Ok ill suss the timing. The fans... i have no idea what CFM they flow. Cant find anything on them to tell me either. Yes the radiator was cleaned and flushed after run in. Has anyone found turbo beanies to reduce engine temp or creep? G

Thanks for all the replies everyone. It definitely seems as though i will drop the back of the bonnet back down. I did that recently to try but only seemed to delay the onset of temp creep while stationary. Did nothing while moving. The radiator isn't alloy, its a standard radiator for the model car with an extra core and it's bled for certain. The temp sits around 80 when driving but when stationary in traffic it will climb into the 90s and i have to keep moving for it to come back down. So to me it has to be an airflow issue i would have thought. I know its not huge temps but if i eft it to sit there... it would keep climbing. The fans are on the engine side and like i said, with no shrouding, so i think dropping the bonnet and building a shroud will be a start. Anything else?? Thanks for the input, some interesting points there.

much bigger cams, head work, forged pistons, rods, external oil pump setup. The only thing i think could make it temp creep to do with the engine would be the head work and bigger cams as its a fairly lumpy idle and idles around 1000 rpm. Water pump was a new standard part. Interesting you say lifting the bonnet makes things worse.. wouldn't that vent hot air?

Hi everyone, I've got an annoying problem with my FJ20. Ever since i did a full engine build on it, i have had temp creep issues at idle. Its runs normally while driving at around 80-82 degrees with the thermos coming on at 82. However, it generally won't pull the engine temp back at idle. The fans will only just hold it at temperature or in traffic or a warm day, it will creep up slowly. I run a 10 and 12 inch curved blade fans and a 3 core radiator which i have had completely stripped and rebuilt. (helped a little bit) The back of the bonnet is also lifted but i still find myself looking at the temp gauge creeping up slowly. The fans don't run any shrouding so that will be something i will try to sort out and try. Could anyone recommend anything else to try to help bring the temp down at idle? Also, will a turbo beanie help? I run a big top mount turbo and gate and it pumps out some serious heat which is no doubt sending under bonnet temps sky high. but will this cause water temp to creep up? Thanks in advance. Gareth

cool, thats interesting, i don't know who told me that, i can't remember. For some reason i thought it was common. Thanks for the advice. G

FJ20 - 400hp @17psi. limited at 8300 rpm.

I just fitted a new LSD in my H190 live rear end and i'm using 90/140 Nulon heavy duty oil in it. Will a lighter oil make it bite harder or heavier oil? I also have a bottle of friction modifier. Should i use this as well? It turns 2 wheels on the gas all the time so far but i don't want any of this 1 wheel skid ripping on the gas. G

I understand that when using forged pistons, oil consumption tends to be increased. I'm just wondering by how much and what is considered normal? Also, what other factors will increase oil use? ie. Will thrashing it increase it drastically or not? G

i would have thought the turbo is a likely cause. If the turbo is worn to the point where the blades are touching the housing, i would surely think this would reduce power. Personally, i would say that if the turbo is stuffed, then replace it like were going to anyway and get it back on the dyno. You will very quickly know if it was the turbo causing your issue.

No, its not using the internal standard pickup. The standard oil pump and pickup has been removed. It is a baffled and gated sump with a pickup that runs horizontal across the bottom of the pan. Its like a slotted tube from memory. G

No i dont plan to keep testing it. But i didnt realise how common it is. That really surprises me with the GTR. Ive moved my oil pressure gauge to straight in front of me so i can really keep an eye on it. Ill have a look into the sump design, but without going dry sump, its about as serious as i can go. Cheers for the heads up though, if anyone has any more info, i would love to hear a little more about it. How about in drift cars and track cars without a dry sump... you wouldnt be able to completely remove oil surge would you? G

I'm curious to know a bit about oil surge. I run an external single stage wet sump pump and a custom 7.5 liter sump, with baffles and windage tray to go with it. I was told to run the oil level around half way up the dip stick but when i went for a spin up the hills the other night and went through some tight hairpins quick, i noticed a momentary drop on the oil pressure gauge. It dropped fast to around 40psi but quickly came straight back up again once i straightened up. I added another liter of oil to take it just over the full mark on the stick which seems to have stopped it, however, there is one really tight uphill off camber corner that i seem to note the slightest drop on. I really turned in hard to see if i could make it surge on purpose to test it but its hard to be sure if its the revs dropping or a slight surge (its hard to tell because watching the gauge and driving it pretty tricky obviously) I know oil surge is definitely not a good thing but im curious to know if anyone else experiences these problems under high cornering load and how much a problem a slight surge is. I hear GTRs have a pretty big problem with this. Any info? Thanks, G

Hi everyone, Picked up an RB20 box to replace my broken one and thought this time round i would try some different oil. Its behind a 400HP FJ20 so it takes a bit of load. (i know an RB25 box would be better) What is the best oil to use in this box and whats the capacity of oil? about 2L came out but its been leaking a little. I know redline is good stuff but is it really necessary? Ive looked around on the forum here but i seem to find a lot more about engine oil rather than gearbox oil so far. Any help would be great, Thanks, G

I does sound like a drain back problem, i dont think it would have anything to do with removing you tappet cover. I used a cheaper jap brand of filter on my FJ without a drain back valve and it made a pretty good rattle at start up, i changed to a ryco, with drain back valve and it cut a lot of the rattle out. You could always spin off the filter and stick another brand or something on there and try that? Easy test and pretty cheap. G

i think the cam timing will also determine how much vac you will have at idle.

I just re checked the leads for resistance and moved them around and found the following. #1 - 12-13 #2 - 15-16 #3 - 18-19 (up to 20 depending on how i hold the lead) #4 - 13-14 (up to 16, 17) G

Hey Troy, Thanks for your input, i have been extremely pleased with turbosmart and how they have handled the issue with my gate. I have yet to road test it, but when i put the gate back on yesterday and pressure tested the system again, there was not even the hint of a leak from where it was leaking previously, so for that i am very grateful. However, i will give you feedback as soon as i drive it again. I will pm you a link, which i am keen for you to read, not for my benefit, just an interesting read. Now as for the AFR's. That is a valid point you have raised about the plug fouling. however, i will call the dyno back and get them to checkup what AFR it was running, but from memory it actually leaned off after 7k rpm. nothing richer than 11-11.5. The one thing that i do recall, which i no doubt feel is a problem, was just as it was being backed onto the dyno, the engine was stalled and took a lot of cranking to start again. When it did, it smelled very fuelled up. So i can only guess it fouled a plug before the first run. The plugs came out when i comp tested it and we cleaned them there and then. It proceeded to make normal power again. The plugs im using are NGK racing competition B8EGV. They are a fine tipped plug. In addition Troy, those runs are layed over each other, but are from 2 weeks apart. Before i noticed the issue and then after. My concern in all of this is im worried about what consequences this may have on the 4th pot. I know the plenum design isn't great but like i said before, it have had plugs running the same before. G

Hi To4GTR, Thanks for your reply, i can answer your questions to me no worries, There is no extra timing chain rattle, in fact, i get no timing chain rattle at all. No Cat in it, as engine is pre 85. The gate was leaking boost pressure, ie, when i pressurised the system by putting a blanked off silicone tube over the comp cover with an air fitting on it and pressurising to 20psi, it was pissing air out of the gate. This is now resolved. Turbo is fine, has less than 10ks on the turbo and 0 shaft play. The RX7 injectors which are in it, were tested last week. All fine as well. The next thing is the manifold, i think a standard manifold is most probably better also, but i have had even plugs before with the same manifold. I think however, a custom plenum is next on the agenda. Would a different heat range plug help? G

I just measured the leads then, i think i was using the multimeter correctly, (had it on the 2000k setting)? Anyway, #1 - 10 #2 - 13 #3 - 16 #4 - 12 I have no idea what im looking for with leads so any info would be great. As it runs an electronic dizzy, is it worth checking anything there? Thanks, G

it was $960 for the pump and then the price of a custom sump, mine was around $300 from memory as the engine builder did the whole engine including the sump. Then some braided line and a mounting bracket, the belt and modification to the crank snout. Around 2k in total i think. I dont have much of an idea what a new aftermarket high flow internal pump costs for an RB, but i thought 2k for a big oil setup was pretty good. G

i didnt read every letter of all the previous posts, however, I have a FJ20 engine in my ride which dont have the best oil pump in the world from factory in them either. When i built my engine i used a BDG external oil pump. Its a single stage belt driven unit with a mounting bracket off the side of the engine to mount it and a plate with a spline welded onto it bolted to the front of the harmonic balancer. We machined off the 3rd pulley from the balancer and bolted the plate there in its place. The pump was $960 and then once the internal pump was deleted, it was a matter of tapping a fitting into the block and making up a pickup in the sump the suit. Base pressure and peak pressure can be set very easily via an allen key adjuster and spring selection. Maybe worth considering... just a thought. Please ignore the control arm chop. It has been boxed in and strengthened since these pics.

Hey guys, i just had my injectors cleaned about half hour ago and they were pretty much fine. In fact, #2 was pumping out the most fuel. But they were all within a 4% tolerance. I need to check the lead to that pot now but i think the fuel side is fine. Would that cylinder running rich cause any problems? if there was enough fuel for it to glaze i would have thought it would show by being down on power or drive poorly or something. Does anyone think it will be a problem to drive? Also, i had the radiator rebuilt and cleaned which i picked up today. He said it was around 20% blocked. Which isnt much, but maybe enough to creep up the temps at idle. Anyway, opinions on the injector situation would be great. Or do you still think its the plenum design even though ive had good plugs colours in the past. G

What if, however, you made up an extention plate from where the A arm bolts on? There must be some way to make something to allow for a camber adjustment. (Thanks for the pic mate!) G