turael

If the car takes forever to warm up, broken thermostat !

use the bleed screw as well. might be airlocked and not actually flowing - you can actually see water flowing across the top of the rad if you open the rad cap. you have a temp sensor? put it in the top hose. easiest way to see if coolant is flowing. if it isnt, the temp sensor won't read anything because it won't have coolant to read. does the top hose get hot? you shouldnt be able to touch it if it has boiling coolant in it. if its only "warm" then it sounds like coolant isnt flowing down it, maybe blocked thermostat or not bled properly. so hows the thermostat? here is what I would do: - open bleed screw, does air or coolant come out? - close bleed screw once purged and coolant is coming out - start car with rad cap off, let it warm up and take it to around 4000 - 5000 rpm to kick start the coolant flow. if it's airlocked, this can break it - done it before. - does water come out of the rad cap, or is it flowing across the rad? water coming out = blockage somewhere - if it's flowing, is the coolant getting hot? stick yo finger in. should be hot! - turn off, wait 10-20 minutes to let it cool a bit, then crack the bleed screw again (you will have to undo it almost the whole way and wiggle it to see if stuff is coming out) - if still getting air coming out of the bleed screw, repeat this process of starting, revving, bleeding the coolant should not really be boiling at any stage, especially under normal conditions in autumn. as regards to pressure and heat, the system will be hottest right after shutting down, as the active cooling stops (fan and flow). this will also increase the pressure in the whole system. if you have coolant leaks "sometimes" it will most likely be right after turning the car off. after a few minutes the heat dissipates.

Do you mean it's leaking from where the pump attaches to the block or through the spinning part? the seal from block to pump is just a gasket goo - could try tightening the bolts up a bit maybe?

The bunnings rubber foam stuff doesn't seem too perturbed about oil, brake fluid but it does absorb it, so if you were really messy and had a huge spill, it would absorb enough to be a huge pain. still, its cheap and you don't have to go rummaging through bins to find some...

From my experience with my RB you'll need to open the bleed valve to get everything out - make sure you are swapping all of it and not leaving any coolant in the engine (sounds like you are doing good so far) Not really a fan of running the engine while no coolant in it though? I've left my RB empty overnight a few times, doesn't seem to be too bad. whats the quality of the water coming out, brown or clear? keep flushing till its clear.

dunno if the rubber would like oil. it's quite foamy, it might absorb it, or even melt. if I remember ill drop an offcut into some old sump oil on Friday and see what happens.

Here's another random one, bunnings sells some floor protector mat stuff (in flooring section), comes in a big ish roll, its about 10mm thick rubber/foam stuff and has a sweet checkerplate pattern -> lol. also pretty cheap. Just another option if you don't want a bruised back from rolling around on concrete

follow the hoses that go from radiator to the engine, I think its the bottom one on RBs with the thermostat housing, looks like this: linky You unbolt that (After draining coolant), 3 bolts. pops off and inside is the thermostat! good luck

Well, here is my 2c: You topped up the coolant - did you use plain water or a brand of coolant? if it was coolant, was it the same type as in there before (guessing you wouldn't know this, as you just bought it)? Mixing coolant is a big no no and can cause rapid corrosion. What I would do, as soon as possible: - pick up a timing belt and water pump (may as well change pump at same time, as you need to fiddle with the belt to get the pump out anyway) + rad cap + coolant (i use nulon longlife) - drain coolant, use the bleed bolt up the top to get as much out as you can - change timing belt and water pump. will see the quality of the corrosion while changing pump. If there is a lip of rusty corrosion from the old pump on the block, remove that (screwdriver/scrape etc) before fitting new pump, use gasket goo. - check out the thermostat, replace if necessary - put all back together, run a few lots of clean water through, keep doing this until running clear - quick way is to leave thermostat out, disconnect a hose, block off on rad and use a hose to push water through rad, block and out the disconnected hose into a bucket. long way is to let car run with water in it, properly bled, heater open, until at temp, turn off, cool it down, drain, repeat until running clear. - apply the new coolant + rad cap - enjoy a much cooler car? hopefully. Still hot after that? try a diff gauge temp sender new rad maybe its running lean glhf

When it's hot it will be at its fullest, pretty much when you turn off a warm car your coolant will be at its warmest as it's not being cooled/circulated, so it will increase the pressure in the system and flow out the rad into the overflow. As it cools down the water gets sucked back into the rad. Tbh I don't understand how the coolant can flow back in, never really thought about that - surely it gets stopped by the rad cap... maybe it only sucks back in while the pressure is still high enough to open the cap. Really don't think it matters how high the level is on the overflow, as long as there's enough. If it's too high while cold it could overflow once warm and come out the overflow bottles overflow part. dawg. just my 2c of course not very informed on this topic

I meant if he accidentally bumps it into an earth as he puts it in and out. I know that you can't isolate it while submerged.

Just leave it, who cares. Unless you really don't like the whine The 040 in my 180 has buzzed, screeched and sounded like it was shitting itself from day 1 been in there for years now, as far as I'm concerned it's pretty normal

Hit the bolt with some penetrating oil like wd40 and let it sit for a bit maybe tap it with a hammer... its just rusted inside and seized. As far as I know, coolant coming out of the rad means it's having issues flowing, like its pushing water into the rad but it can't flow out back into the engine. This can be caused by airlocks, happened to me on my rb buggy. Definitely need to get that bleed screw undone first. brace the bracket with something and get a breaker bar on it.

Have any of you guys used nibblers for sheet steel and aluminium - and what do you think of them? In particular talking about the drill attachment type: http://newstyledirect.com.au/store/images/D/nibbler-pic3.jpg Any advice on using one to make a straight cut, aside from obviously clamping a guide rail? Also, it's Friday.

Grab a copy of the FSM and look in the diagnostic section - run the ecu self diagnostics. It also has sections on how to test the cas, afm etc on voltages it should be producing and stuff. Grab a mate and a multimeter (and a carton.. haha) and get to work. you could possibly undo the fuel line and see if its pumping fuel (while its doing the not starting thing) to rule out fuel pump issues. Changed fuel filter? It does sound like the fuel pump can suit those symptoms though. when you take the key out and put it back in it will reprime the pump, effectively kickstarting it. so maybe it's failing - you have one to test replace with?

You can get a rad cap from supercheap or something, don't pay for an OEM one Coolant level dropping means you are losing coolant somewhere generally. you can bleed the system properly with the bleed screw up the top near the throttlebody, loosen it all the way until either bubbles or water come out (might want a toewel to mop up the mess). I guess it would only take the smallest leak to do what you are describing - maybe it's only evident when its warmed up.

Well petrol doesn't conduct so you don't have to worry about that - I guess you mean if something accidentally shorts it. You could get some fuel hose and slip it over, don't use tape or anything like that.

Wonder how long he cranks it for - I had an SR sitting around for ages once that had to be cranked for a good 20s before it would start. I've also had an RB25 sitting for about 2 years without starting, fresh fuel and plugs and it started almost on the first crank. <3 RB

Fresh fuel and fresh plugs. Fresh oil too while you're at it. If you haven't adjusted the tune for the bigger injectors, take them out and put in the old ones and see how that goes.

Hey Yeah I was thinking fault codes from the ECU - if ECU talk picks them up and it's not showing any, then the electrical side of things is probably OK Just reading over your post here, you need to flush out your cooling system ASAP - you have mixed coolants, and this is a big no no. There is a bleed bolt on the top of the engine on the intake side near the throttle body - open this and drain from bottom of rad, fill up with water, run the engine (with heater on inside the car so the coolant is flowing through the heater pipes), keep draining with water until its flowing clear. Then run some cleaner through. Then repeat the rinse until flowing clear (the nulon cleaner is orangey), and finally do your nulon longlife coolant. Remember to let engine cool a bit before draining it. That's what I would do right away. Next, check all the plugs you would have fiddled with to change the sparkplugs - all coil packs, ignitor maybe.

so ECU doesn't pick up any errors? (have you done the self diagnostics)

This doesn't help you but it might help others looking at this thread: Best Mandurah import mechanic is Tim at Sik em Wrex Racing.

there are two knock sensors on an RB25, they do 3 cylinders each they are on the intake side of the block around level with the oil filter I think, on either side.

Would the engine oil be milky yet if it was HG fail? and would the water have oil going into it? are you bleeding with the heater on to open those pipes up (if relevant / still have heater pipes)? regarding pump stress going through many cores - I wouldn't worry about that - I have a standard rb25 and its pumping water to the rear of a buggy through like 8 metres of pipe total and about 8-10 bends, also the rad is sitting higher than the engine so it has to pump all the way up there. does it fine if the water level is going down before its going into overflow bottle, it has to be going somewhere, no leaks around back of block or near the inlet mani area? blowing any smoke? edit: looks like i missed a few pages of the thread, woops. haha

Blowing smoke at all? Grab a multimeter and check your AFM. The Nissan FSM has the instructions - you just check the signal pin on the afm to earth (engine/body) to see what voltage its reading. 0.3v ign on but not running, and something like 1 or 1.1v while running. Easy peasy and will rule that out. Next find your consult plug in the drivers kick panel / fusebox area, and do the ecu self diagnostics. again, instructions in FSM. This will give you some flashes on the dash to tell you what the ECU reckons is wrong. Match the flashes up to the chart in the FSM and go from there. If there is no flashes, then it's probably an air leak. You have a compressor and an airgun? Take your air filter off and use duct tape or something to seal up the end, unplug a vac hose in the intake system (before throttle body), and shove the air gun in there and let er rip. You could also rig up a tyre valve to do it with a tyre inflator but that's more effort. Anyway you'll want a friend to help you find the air leak. try wetting your palm and holding it around the joins of the IC pipework. also with the engine off and intake pressurised, you will likely just plain hear it hissing out. I think the last thing could be a borked IACV thing - maybe its jammed open/closed or something, don't know too much about how that works