jiffo

Fairly certain my old 30 blocks had this filter by-pass valve. It's a steel ball and spring style which when operating, simply by-passes the filter. Yours would be doing this all the time. I think I can see the remains of the spring in one of the photos, also not good. Definitely needs attention. If you're doing a rebuild, you need to remove all gallery plugs, strip/clean/flush anything to do with oil supply. Don't trust any work done by a previous owner, as this clearly shows.

A Garnishee Order is a big deal and usually a last resort to claim finds via the Court process. I suggest your first step would be to obtain the services of a solicitor and let him take it from there. His fees and any associated costs would be presented to those who obtained the Garnishee Order apparently using incorrect info.

In my experience if the dipstick is hard to see the engine's been out and the tube has been bent/pushed under the plenum. The stick is in difficult spot, but I guess that goes for everything on a 26. OP has a 33 too, things are much worse on a 32.

As far as I know, these cars run coolant through the heater core constantly, cabin heat being regulated by the air mix door. That sensor in the hose at the firewall tells the aircon amplifier unit the actual coolant temp. If you've disconnected it you'd see a fault code 23.

3-bond isn't it? not a gasket.

I think your spray bar lube plan has merit for bearing lube and cooling if heat is removed via a suitable external cooler. But having seen older style sugar mill gearing (transmitting over 1,000,000 ft lbs torque) tear teeth from pinions/bull gears, always fitted with lube spray bars, and to hear that lube crack out from the meshing gears with the noise of a 30/30………If it's not designed for the torque, lube can't stop the damage. I may be wrong but typically in my 5 speed RWD cars, 1st and 2nd simply couldn't be loaded with the available hp due to wheel spin. Even 3rd would break away as the engine reached the peak power band. Perhaps a GTR is simply reaching that traction grip point in 3rd and as such the box must then cope with the full power. 4th was direct and so the strongest gear in the box.

I'm giving Valvoline Synpower 10W50 full synthetic a few tries. Engine has 125,000 (by the clock).

Been a while since I had an auto Nissan but I think the brake also needs to be applied. P, N and footbrake all have input before the key will turn, so there's a few items to check.

Fit the stock element back and see if things improve. So much B.S. regarding oiled filters, bloody thing blocked up on my dirt roads in no time. Chucked it for paper and all good. On the 33 there was a Commo element that was a direct fit, VN???. Have also done back to back 260rwkw dyno runs comparing new K&N, factory paper and then no element at all and goes what, no difference.

Thanks Bob, always looks great.

Mmmmmmmm shiny. When you get a chance, can you do the Nissan boot badge position too please Bob.

Once you've fitted the belt and test rotated a few times, I suggest you prove TDC on the balancer. Make a suitable piston stopper such that when it's screwed into No 1 spark plug, the crank stops slightly off TDC. Rotate the crank clockwise until No1 piston hits the stopper. Mark the balancer referenced against the TDC pointer. Rotate the crank anti-clockwise until No1 hits the stopper again. Mark the balancer referenced against the TDC pointer. Remove piston stopper and re-fit spark plug. TDC is now halfway between those 2-marks you scribed on the balancer. That's sorted the crank but I feel there's so many variables associated with building these engines that as a minimum, you need an adjustable exhaust cam wheel.

I shot this question to a pretty clever bloke on the UK forum and he suggested a 12V PWM running 80% duty cycle at 200Hz. Then I did some Googling to find out what a bloody PWM was and surprise, surprise it's not all that difficult. But if your reduced voltage works, then that's good.

I thought the change from low to high power assist was a hard cut but perhaps it's not. Perhaps it alters the duty cycle of the solenoid to give a smooth transition, thus variable power assist? If this is the case, I can understand why they wouldn't want the solenoid activated constantly.

This note concerns me. Does the solenoid normally run at full 12V or not?

Yes, doesn't smell right and would have caught out a few. Cars are getting on, 25 years service is a big ask and owners would be advised to think about replacing vital items like brake boosters, hydraulic hoses etc. The metal style can be serviced, not so the more modern plastic stuff. Another one is the fuel reg. When the old diaphragm starts to leak, all sorts of dreadful fuel economy and general running issues.

There's a massive story about the Fc in the DIY section, it's worth a read so you know what you actually need to buy.

Yes Cal, the brown plug (AAC) is ecu controlled, varying duty cycle signal. Your purple plug is the idle bump up for air con, just an on/off solenoid not hard wire linked to the engine ecu. Of course your aircon control unit (amplifier) does tell the engine ecu to control the compressor's magnetic clutch. Found a photo of the Rb26 air reg, buried under the plenum. They all look the same, 20, 25, 26, 30......horrible things.

I guess it's still the stock ecu. When cold, the stock ecu retards the IGN and so you will see higher boost. It's very obvious, even without planting the foot you'll hear the turbos working harder and the BOV's puffing on gear changes. But as soon as she reaches operating temp, it's back to stock IGN timing. There was a thread a few months back where blokes with Nistune complained of a similar problem. A kind person showed how to alter some parameter and then no more cold engine IGN retard. Might be worth a thread dig.

Although the air reg is IGN "ON" for power, it's actually all part of the fuel pump relay power feed which is controlled by the ecu. So once the ecu times out the fuel pump, power to the air reg is also cut. Attached is Rb26 system, 20 and 25 are similarly controlled.

Unless the idler is mounted on a machined surface you're in trouble. Belt will track true if everything is machined square to the line of cams/crank.

The air reg is simply a 12V bi-metallic strip valve, nothing flash. No ecu input, just power on when the IGN is on. Doesn't even need 12V, engine bay heat will eventually shut the valve. A pain to access on a 25, impossible on a 26. I hate them. Not to be confused with the purple plug idle bump up for the aircon. Or the brown plug for the AAC. Of course this is presuming the OP is talking about an R33 Rb25 and not a Neo.

I think I see what you're asking. The system runs a 12V positive feed to the resistor bank and from that bank, 6-individual feeds head off, one to each injector. The injectors are fired by the ecu grounding each injector. Joining all 6-feeds to that 12V positive and removing the resistor bank, you're setting it up the same as a high impedance Rb20.

Apologies re-the spelling, must have had a German moment.

Maybe alter the search parameters to "hydrolock, Deutschwerks" and you should get some hits.