tiberis

maybe have a look underneath at gearbox mounts? i know that my car was making some odd noises, turned out to be gearbox was missing 2 bolts and exhaust was hitting the boot.

only advice that i can give is from experience with my 1989 180sx (not a skyline, but from same era and similar build). what i noticed is that when stuff starts going (like radiator hoses) it's a good indication that other similar items are going to fail. ie when one radiator hose goes, get them all changed. i went through all the hoses on my engine in like 6 months, one breaking after another. so basically it's worth doing things properly once but if the previous owner(s) have respected the car then you will be fine. so things like not pushing it until the engine is hot etc.

belts are one of the more simple things to work on in a car. i would be concerned about that misalignment... the alternator belt also does your water pump, so it's kinda important. maybe check that it's the correct belt type? your alternator/ air-con belts should be 4-peak and the power steering should be 3-peak (the peaks are on the underside of the belt as they are ribbed belts). if someone has put a 3-peak on the alternator, it might be sitting in the wrong grooves which is what makes it look funny as well as making it squeal as it is rubbing wrongly on the pulley. you could always take off all the belts and have a good look at their condition (cracks, fraying or looking too shiny are bad) and make sure the correct ones are all there. i don't know all the belts off the top of my head, but the air-con is a 4pk910 and the alternator is a 4pk865 (or about that, the first number is number of peaks, the second number is the length of the belt). power steering is a 3pk###. this is all based off my R33, so it should be the same for yours.

were you able to get the door trim off at all? was thinking that you may be able to do it if you take out the front seat. would be a lot of effort, but i think it's coming to the point of trying all options. taking the seat out should let you get to the screws at the bottom, and you mentioned before that you were able to get the top part unhooked. just don't forget the couple of screws through the centre of the door in the arm rest thing. worst case, you may need to damage your door trim to get it off.. but a door trim costs less than a door if it comes to it.

ummm... more details? are the 2 things related? 1. make sure the belt on the power steering is correctly tensioned. if you are stationary and you turn the steering wheel, do the engine revs change? 2. yeah, always check fuses (Click for fuse box translation). possibly make sure battery voltage is ok (if alternator is dying you can get weird voltages which might blow some globes).

i have seen this in other places as well, supercheap to be exact, but it's what it says in the ryco booklet. they say for the RB25DE(T) to have a Z442 or something if it's made after '98. and it is that much smaller (smaller than the one for my house-mates 2.2L camry engine). now, i only have a R33, so i would be saying stick with the Z145A, which is what i use. and i would say that you should use the same for the R34 as well. a larger filter should have a higher flow than a smaller one (based on larger cross-section of filter). so i would say that maybe the Z442 or whatever is more expensive and they are trying to get money out of you, or the guy just doesn't know what he's on about. but if anyone else can have some logic over why a smaller one would be better, i would like to hear it.

From what i know/ have experienced (not that it counts for much ) the sensors don't die that often, so i would hope that the one from the RB20 would be fine. One thing i do strongly suggest though, is before you fit it in, make sure the contacts/ pins are clean and don't have any corrosion on them. that little bit of corrosion can create enough resistance such that you get a reading way off from what it really is.

usually there are 2 temp sensors. one for the gauge one for the ECU. the gauge one is supposed to be a cheaper less accurate one where as the ECU sensor is supposed to be more accurate because it's more important. this is also reflected by the fact that the temp gauge will normally always rise to the same point regardless of fluctuations in engine temp. either way, new sensor should be all you need, i've not really heard of ECU's half dying like that anyways.

sounds like i have some investigating to do... pretty sure its not the belts as i checked them when i got the car about a month ago... and i only have 2 to check. i hope it's just some loose nuts rather than a dying/ dead turbo.

Just wondering if anyone has come across this problem with their car/ if they know anything about it. when i get the revs over about 4500-5000+ i hear a screeching which sounds like it is coming from the engine bay. as far as i can tell it's engine rpm related because it doesn't matter what gear i am in. car is R33 with RB25DET. completely stock... not even a POD filter or exhaust upgrade. could it be something with turbo and the high stage boost? any hints would be much appreciated.

From personal experience, i would be looking at the alternator belt in particular. the screech on start would be the alternator kicking in and trying to charge the battery as quick as it can due to the charge lost when cranking. then usually the alternator starts spinning/ the regulator tames it down and the screech stops. there should be the correct tensions and where to check deflection in the engine manual that's floating around. oddly enough though, i currently have the opposite problem. at high rpm (4500+) i get a screeching and i have no idea what it is.

when you disconnect the temp sensor, the ecu should default to a look up table and say "i will assume the engine is cold for a while, then after a few mins it should be hot already' rather than look at the signal. what must be happening in your car is the sensor is broken, sending the signal to the ecu that the engine is hot all the time, hence it doesn't apply the cold start stuff it needs to. i would make sure the connector is clean of corrosion and is making a good contact first, reconnect it and see if it helps. if it doesn't then you need a new sensor, i can't imagine they would be expensive. very easy to switch out, just unscrew the old one and screw in the new one. just watch for the coolant that will leak out also DO NOT do this while the system is hot/ pressurised or bad stuff will happen (ie, getting burnt).

+1 for checking fuses. It says you have an S13, so fuses are behind the kick panel in the driver's foot well and there are some main ones in the engine bay near the battery. check over both sets for any that are dead/ look funny. most of the major electrics ones are in the engine bay set. (there should be a translation diagram floating around the silviawa.com forums, otherwise i have one and can post it up here for you). faulty brake wiring *should* just blow a fuse, but if some one has gone to the effort of making them dodgy then who knows. i would check the connectors to your battery as well, you have mentioned they are/ were loose. make sure there is no corrosion (powdery white stuff) around the terminals and make sure that when the terminal is on it's the right way up (yes, the terminals have a taper and are thicker at the bottom than the top) and that there is no carbon build up from any arcing that may have occurred when loose. also make sure the negative/ ground cable is fixed securely at terminal and engine.

rev drop with brakes would be linked to the fact that our brakes are 'power assist brakes'. ie they use the vacuum from the engine to help you push down the pedal. there should be a hose from your brake booster to the intake plenum which provides the vacuum. if this hose is cracked/ damaged/ your brake booster is broken then when you press the pedal, it's letting air into your engine that the ecu doesn't know about, which leans out the mixture and the engine dies. is the electric issue a direct result of the brakes/ engine issue? your wording there seems a bit unclear to me. after braking the engine dies and electrics die? or before stalling but after braking?

Engine oils are gold/ black. auto transmission oil is usually red. maybe they forgot to seal something up properly. i would advise against driving the car much until you get it looked at.

i'd be more than happy to give it a shot. i can do the main fusebox/ relay box for the engine bay for a R33 easy enough seeing as thats what i have. If you wanted it for another model i would need 1 (or many) photo(s) of the panel to translate. likewise, the prev owner for my car (who i'm finding out was a bit of a twat) has ripped off the notice on the sun visor in my car, so i would need a photo of that as well. the higher the resolution/ size of the picture the better. either PM them to me or post them here and i will see what magic i can work.

there are quite a few hoses all around the engine, but there are 2 main ones for the heater box that come from the engine and through the firewall. i have split one of these before in my 180sx and they are a pain to get to because of being in a very tight space. just remember that it may not be a very obvious hose being in 2 pieces kind of thing, usually there is a small slit in one of the hoses and it can be hard to tell which one it is. look again at where the coolant is coming from, see if you can trace it's path back up the engine to locate roughly the position of the leak. it may also be worth replacing more of the hoses when you are doing one, because as one goes several could follow (as happened in my 180... 5 different hoses later...) It may also be worth checking your engine out such that it didn't get damaged with the heat, things like head gaskets sometimes like to go and/ or warping the head entirely (in a worst case). Hope this helps.

I assume by "it wont unlock either" you mean that it is locked right now... that would be why it doesn't open, so the question is why is the door stuck locked? Have you tried both using a key and the latch on the inside of the door? either way, you may have to attempt to take off the door trim and have a look at the locking mechanism, something may be caught in there or it may have rusted/ jammed for some other reason. but i would say have a look and go from there. (edit for spelling)

Well i assumed the moment you resorted to swearing you must have been rather annoyed at something. And i save money where i can, sticker Vs. paper for a fuse panel isn't system critical. If i were buying say a turbo, then i know to stay away from Ebay for starters and the 'too good to be true' rule applies. Also, thank you very much for your continued replies, i now have over 10 posts

You have to be a tight arse to save money? So when you go shopping you choose the most expensive of everything because you don't want to be a 'cheap arse' and save some money? If it was like $2, i probably would have taken the Ebay option, but I did it because it's giving something back to the community. I am trying to learn Japanese, so this was just a fun exercise for me that had an extra benefit to other people. I'm sorry i like helping people (o.0)? I'm not saying everyone HAS to print out the one i created. Unless you are the Ebay seller and you are crying because of hurt sales (which i doubt there would be much), i say why are you complaining?

Alternatively, the valve controlling the flow of water through the core could be stuck/ disabled/ broken. I would have assumed it was like the CA engine and always had hot water flowing through it, but on my R33 at the back of the engine i noticed a flow valve on one of the pipes with a control wire passing through the firewall. If this is the item at fault, i imagine there would be more effort to find out how/ why it's not working.

Judging by the location of those pieces, i would say that one connects to the other. Just checked my car (R33 GTS25T) and the charcoal canister connects to both of those hoses you have disconnected there. It goes straight down to a 90 Deg 3-way connector. So not sure where the rubber hose goes to in Pic2, but the metal hose would be a breather from the fuel tank if it's going to the charcoal canister. But yeah, go back to workshop and get them to fix it if it's their fault.

Also, trying to get my post count up so i can reply.

Hey Guys, Just a post to say hi to all, it's good to be part of the Skyline family. I Previously had a 1989 180sx and i was on the silviaWA forums as 'Crispy'. I have recently acquired me a 1993 ECR33 4-door with an RB25DET. All in good nick over all and 140,00Kms on the clock. There is a bit of a history with the previous owner including loss of license and it having to be re-rego'd. but now it's mine

Print + 4 little bits of blutac == Win in 2mins. I know some people like to have it looking far more professional, but for the average person, how often do you look at the fuse panel?