KrazyKong

It's hard to describe a feeling of being totally helpless. Despite my best efforts I continue to get screwed by mechanics, panel beaters, painters, whoever wants to make a buck. A month or so ago I backed into a building and pushed in the right rear. After going to several places to get quotes, and all the while mentioning I was after a job that would help restore the car back to the way it was, and thus not be so obvious it had been repainted in the right rear, I settled on a business. We'll call this business CC. So I dropped it off and waited 3 days before going to pick it up. First observations was that it was a nice job. Other than the bumper not quite matting up to the body, it seemed ok. But after a minute or so I noticed a blotch right in the middle of the paint job. Turns out CC had decided even though we had spoken about it and agreed not to fix it, that he'd fill in a tiny dent with some putty filler stuff. This ended up bubbling up under the clear coat. I brought this up and he agreed to redo this section of the car, but said I should wait a couple of weeks for this filler to stuff to harden properly. Come the two weeks I bring the car back in and wait another 4 days. I go to pick it up last night and CC seemed a tad evasive about how things had gone for the redo. Even mentioning this car was giving him problems and he didn't want to see it again. I noticed it didn't look as nice and sparkly as the first time I picked it up, but chaukled this up to him maybe not having time to give it a nice buff. I thanked him, even gave him some Christmas chocolates and asked if I could finally have a receipt. It was beer o'clock at that point so he said come back Wednesday for the receipt. Now today I saw the car in proper light and noticed a few things. My first feeling was one of being gutted. The colour of the area he's worked on does not match the door and rest of the car anymore. And because he's had to redo an area that wasn't supposed to have been touched, I don't think he's blended it properly. His first attempt looked ok and the blending and colour match were good. Apart from the swiss cheese bubbles in the clear coat it was a pass despite there being some grit in the paint. But it looks now as though he's had a few goes at fixing this area, even so much as masking off the car in the middle of the side and trying to cheat a line instead of painting all the way to the edge. The whole area is now blotchy and reflects light in weird ways that make you notice something isn't quite right. It doesn't even feel smooth when you run your hands over it. You can see all these pieces of grit in the paint too. Plus paint is now on the rear window seals whereas the first time it was done nicely with no overspray or marks on the seals. There is too much paint and you can see where it drooped or ran in areas. I head back there tomorrow with this gut renching feeling he's going to tell me to F off. I had thought I had asked all the right questions and done all the homework to find a person who would stand behind their work. CC said more than once that they guaranteed their work for life, just like insurance companies do. Now I know I paid him before the final job was complete, but I at that time felt he was an ok guy and would in the end do a nice job. So please don't all get on my case for trusting this guy and paying him at that point, I already feel like crap as it is. All up to fix my bumper and part of the body that got pushed in, has cost me $600. Now I look at the car and the dream has pretty much died. It's either time to sell the car, or I don't know what the next move is. A whole respray of the car perhaps, but then I don't have the money for that, am also worried all the original window seals and things will get wrecked and that I'll end up with an even more crap looking car that it is now. Who here knows of an honest, reputable and all around good guy auto spray painter on the Gold Coast or maybe in Brisbane? I'm more than willing to pay this person for their time to give me advice on what I should do. I'm massively worried now over this car. I think it's had 3-4 coats of paint plus various putty and stuff thrown in. It's just made it all worse. I've already taken it to another business I had been to previously when I was getting the original quotes, and they mentioned since I had had the work done elsewhere, on principal they wouldn't touch it. Even if I wanted to do business with them, I got the big no thanks basically. I'm desparate and honestly about to lose it at this point. This car was my pride and joy, but the joy is now on life support. The very situation I feared would happen, of one where I'd do all the homework trying to find someone I could trust to do a nice job, while pushing aside my distrust of mechanics and the situations in the past where I've been taken for a ride, is now playing out before my eyes. Help. I really mean it I kindly need some help.

I'm pretty sure my car is a standard and not an LSD. I don't have the LSD light on my dash. Is there another way to verify what's in my car? I went ahead and put in some Castrol Rear Axle LSX90 (GL-5) based on a friend having it in their '95 R33 GTST Series 1 Manual. However something strange is now happening which could be a co-incidence or not. I have an Auto as I mentioned before. The gear changes are smooth, but actually moving the gear selector from "P" to "D", or even "R" is hard to do. I can feel something thumping into place and is directly related to me moving the gear lever in and out of "Park". It's very similar to when you park facing down a hill and the car rolls a fraction when you put in and out of "Park". This happens in the morning mostly, and isn't as noticeable when driving home from work. However the weather lately has been warm so I'm not sure this is a temperature related issue. Previously the weather made no difference even in cold Winters to being able to move the gear selector smoothly. Is the gear lever/selector directly connected with the Axle oil, or only with the transmission fluid? I had brand new fully synthetic trans fluid put in the car for a service a year ago. What should I do? Will driving the car damage anything right now? Is my gearbox about die? or did I put the wrong axle oil in. My gut feeling is I might have the wrong axle oil in my car, but right now I'm not sure what to do.

What brand and weight are people using on their Skylines for the rear diff oil? I have a '96 R33 GTST Auto. It's pretty much stock accept for high flow, an air pod, boost grounding and a FMIC. I havn't upped the boost or done any other mods to the car. I saw this thread here http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/317121-how-too-change-front-and-rear-diff-oil/ where is mentions Am wondering if that is what people are actually using, or if they are using something else. I have no idea when the diff oil was last changed, so figured it was time I put some new stuff in. I'm using G&W Syntrans in my auto transmission btw, which is pretty much identical to the Castrol Transmax Z. Anyway, wondering what my options are as far as Brands for the diff oil, and the correct weight to use.

All belts including the timing belt were replaced by the dealer at compliance before I purchased the car. Since I'm the first aus owner, it really doesn't need a new one with so few kms on it. But it sure looks like it has to be removed at any rate, thus for an extra $50 or whatever a new timing belt costs, I suppose I could get it replaced again, but it just feels like throwing $$ away really. Actually looking at the picture, I'd cautiously guess it might still be possible to unbolt and slide out the pump with the timing belt still in place. Thus the only fiddly thing to get sorted again would be the electronic timing thing (?) that's bolted onto the outside of the cam cover.

Can this be done at all? Are you able to replace the water pump without having to disassemble and take off the timing belt plus the cam cover thing? Or are there bolts for the water pump that are behind the cam cover?

Sure thing Ty. I had a look on ebay for a water pump and someone is selling a brand new oem aftermarket one with timing belt for about $140. Not bad. Obviously there's labour to be tacked ontop of that. Do you remember who did yours for $400?

Went to get a pressure test done today, and it took the radiator guy all of 5secs to determine my water pump is on it's way out. Oh joy. Do people replace this and do the timing belt themselves? or is this a case of paying to get it done properly. I know I could replace the water pump part, but the timing belt part I wouldn't have a clue.

Does anyone know of a good honest place to get a pressure test done for my radiator/cooling system on the gold coast? Cheers.

Alright, will get a pressure test. Hopefully it will lead me in the right direction. Any idea on a rough ballpark figure as to what a pressure test costs?

I havn't been on in awhile, but of course caught up with all the new posts . Birds, can you see any difference between Syn-X and M5000 Sougi? It's possible they are one and the same, but could also be different products.

Very quick brief. Heater core failed last year, replaced it with a new one. 100kms later the radiator springs a bad leak, replaced it with a new one. Bought a nice new SPAC radiator cap. Flushed the system over and over. Filled with Nulon concentrate and de-mineralized water. Fingers crossed thinking all was good.... it's not At first I thought I just hadn't bled the system well enough, even though I was meticulous in doing it the first time, then did it again just to be sure I wasn't nuts. What's happening is the overflow bottle keeps draining. But the real scare is the coolant is dropping in the radiator itself. I don't see a leak at the bottle, rather I think the radiator is sucking the overflow into the system as intended when the levels get low. But it's happening slowly. So slow in fact it never leaves a trace like puddles or visible places where I can see water. Slow enough you can do hundreds of kms and not notice any difference. But fast enough that you could be in real trouble if you don't check the coolant after a few weeks. What to do? Get a pressure test? Have I got more serious problems here? Or could it be something more benign like a micro crack in a hose?

Recently I had a scare with my car. I smacked the curb and hit both wheels. After seeing a mechanic to check things were ok, and getting a full 4 wheel alignment done, apart from one instance where the HICAS light came on, it's not done so since. But all this has got me thinking. If my HICAS is all working ok, and I don't drift, what are the benefits in removing it? I have a R33 S2, so it's not a hydrolic system. If there is a benefit to removing it, can it be disabled and then re-enabled at a later date? Or is it a one way thing only once it's disabled and lock bar is on.

I was very close to trying that Nulon "synthetic" stuff after seeing the youtube video of the dyno testing other oils. But then the comments all mentioned the fan in front of the radiator and intercooler was 1-2 feet closer on the Nulon test only, thus explaining the gain in HP. Once I looked at it further and found out it's only Group 3 and not genuine synthetic at all I lost all interest and respect for it.

Motul's 8100 10w40 Xmax is quite new. It's only been in stores for the past few months or so. As to what grade it is, it won't be any less than 5w40 Xcess. Which would make it a group IV oil. Maybe on those super special days, you'll get this at $60, but it'll normally be around the $80 mark.

Any oil is going to be better than whatever you have in your engine at 20k since last change. I havn't tried the valvoline stuff, but if it's cheap why not try it.

Last weekend I had a crack at fixing my mirror. It took me way longer than half an hour. Most of the time was actaully on trying not to tear, break or wreck anything. Once I had finally got to where the golden contact thing was, some glue was all it took to set back in place. Now the mirror is working nicely. Fingers crossed the other mirror doesn't do this too. This isn't something I really want to do again. PhilKenSebben, any tips on fixing a problem where neither mirror folds in or out? Yet you can still adjust the mirrors themselves. It's for a friends car. That to me sounds like more than a contact coming off, rather wiring, fuse or something else.

Maybe if said in person, but saying people are having a wank on a forum comes out as calling someone a wanker. The reality is, it's going to come across as the same thing. And what for? Because people are talking enthusiastically about a product which you neither have used or know anything about. Better to say nothing, or learn about it rather than put people down because they endorse it. You don't know the level of peoples experiences with using Sougi. Many have used all forms of oils, from RP, Motul, Redline to all the retail oils and Sougi. Thus there is some knowledge there when it comes to talking about this oil.

If using Sougi brands me as a group wanker, then so be it. More for me, and less for you when it comes down to it. I stocked up on S6000 for $55 a bottle. I'm more than open to trying any other Group V ester based fully synthetic 10w40 oil for $55 per 5L, but we all know none exists. Not even Motul 8100 was ester based. For the tools slamming Sougi and rating up Motul, if you'd read the posts for well over a year now if you'd bothered to go back in this thread, you'd see that all of the Sougi fans rate Motul just as highly as well. No one is putting down Motul, rather saying Sougi S6000 is as good as Motul 300V, which would make it better than 4100 and at least on par with 8100. The M5000 is easily as good as the 4100 but more in line just under Motul 8100. Sougi has it fans, not just on this board, but on many other car forums as well. It was a great oil, possibly one of the greatest if you factor in price. Now that it's no longer in production, the search has been on for the best alternative. Motul 8100 10w40 X-max comes to mind, but so does Sougi M5000 which still is available in places, plus the Syn-X which seems to be almost the same as M5000. If you're going to have a go at people for using Sougi, get informed beforehand otherwise you come off as a right idiot. Because no one using Sougi has had a crack or put down folks for using Motul.

nicr4wks, thanks for this info. I haven't had a chance to try this yet. However since first posting about this, the HICAS light hasn't come on again. I went on a car cruise yesterday and drove almost 400kms and no problems. Also connected a consult cable to my car using Nissan Data Scan and checked for any fault codes. It said no faults found, and everything else seemed in order. If the HICAS light comes on again, I'll run the diagnostic mode and cross my fingers for the best I think.

Pipster, how does Syn-X compare with M5000, S6000, Motul or the other oils you've used in the past?

To cut a long story short, the other day I scrapped a curb trying to cut onto a roundabout. Both the lefthand side wheels hit, causing the car to lurch out, and feel like I had run over something, or someone had put on he brakes. Took the car to a mechanic the next day and they visually inspected underneath. Nothing appeared out of place. Then took it to the tyre guy and was advised to get a full 4 wheel alignment which I did. Fast forward a week or two, and since then no problems. However today while driving I notice the HICAS light turns on and stays on. Once I get to where I'm going I turn the car off. Then immediately turn it back on, and the light does not come on. My head is spinning at the moment, rough day at work, havn't been paid for weeks and then this happens. I've tried reading a little on the HICAS, but wanted to ask my specific question as I have no idea what's going on. Did my slapping the curb cause this? or does my bad car karma continue yet again. I'm not one for coincidences so feel either hte alignment did something, as I saw them tightening things under the rear axle, or who knows. I might implode in a moment. Still havn't had lunch yet today. Arrrrh.

Haha, I have 4 bottles I think left of S6000. I've never tried the M5000 and would if I didn't already have the S6000.

Totally agree. GW's marketing department are muppets. Sougi S6000 is quite possibly the best oil around after Motul 300V Chrono, yet it was bottled and labeled just like all their $5-10 plain vanilla 20w50 crap. Even still their cheap stuff is incredibly good, but the perception is that this is all the company makes. They make a whole range of incredible products. Their synthetic trans fluid is as good as Castrol Transmax for half the price. Sougi M5000, Syn-X are fantastic products as well. At the end of the day however GW is a company who produce products to stock workshops, mechanics, the mining industry etc. The retail part of it is a joke and it shows. But it's not their main focus or from what Birds mentioned in the past a significant revenue earner. That's awesome to hear . And it came in a 5L, not 4L bottle right?

rehab, that is one oil I have in mind to try one day when my Sougi stocks run out. It looks decent to me, but after using HPR10 I was pretty much put off Penrite for good.

When my stock of Sougi runs out, I'll give SynX a shot. By then though their Sougi alternative might have seen the light of day. Would like to hear from those who have used the new Motul 10w40 Xmax. Anyone tried it yet?