Commsman

My local store still has Ryco filters on the shelf, but that could change in the future. I had a look at one I bought the other day and it looks pretty much like the K&N from the link above, with anti-drain back valve and all. Higher price doesn't always equate to better quality. I know that from the equipment I supply in my industry. Often it comes down to better buying power, smarter sourcing of components, exchange rates or simply just oppressing some poor labourer in another country. Oh-oh, this could lead to another whole discussion on buying morally..... I'm confident most people would agree that changing your name brand of synthetic oil often is the most important thing. I see that the Nismo filter (link in iamhe77's post above) has a "feature" that it is designed for 15,000km of use. Now I would say that if anyone took that as good advice and left their oil/filter in for 15,000km between changes, a cheaper oil filter/synthetic oil combo changed at 5000km (ie 3 times to the others 1 time) would probably protect the engine better. Who here wouldn't change their oil even more often if they took the car out for a track weekend compared to daily driving? I think common sense prevails. I could go on with anecdotal evidence of a particular name brand of oil that would even stay in the engine long enough to finish one "V8 Brutes" race where another lasted the whole weekend, but that would achieve nothing. I believe everyone on these forums is here because they like their car/s and they would use whatever products worked for them.

That stance does look good. Should fix it....?

Yeah, I'm with you until it's proven otherwise.

Hey Angus, how likely is it that these will go ahead before Christmas? I will only have a small window of time to play with the exhaust so it would suit me to get hold of one by early/mid December. I could always get my local exhaust shop to fabricate one but would rather support SAU, especially if other members get a good deal from the group buy. Anyway, consider this a BUMP to generate more interest amongst M35 owners. Cheers.

mmmm.... So, if you buy [insert favourite brandname of synthetic oil here] at Supercheap, it's actually not that brand of oil at all but some sort of generic mineral based oil? I could understand their "home brand" products to be of dubious/non existent quality, but surely if you were using (say) Castrol Edge Sport then the oil they sell in a container labeled as such should actually be that?? I must have misunderstood what you are saying. Ryco may not be the absolute best filter, but if it's changed every 5000km with the oil I would expect it to be more than up to the job. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who's had a genuine problem with them and I'll make sure I use something else. I wish I had an Autobarn, or any other auto parts supplier for that matter near me, so I had more choice. If I'm going to drive 60km for a filter then I'm buying a carton of them and I'd want to buy the right one.

My local Supercheap pretty much only sells Ryco brand. It's the Z436 you are needing, but you can try cross referencing that filter with other brands. There's plenty of discussion on these forums about oils and filters and people are using almost every brand for one reason or another. I don't know if there's any fiolters with the nut on top, but I don't think it's neccessary. I just hand tighten mine and they come off OK with just a bit of effort.

Mate, that's EXACTLY what I wanted to hear. I'll do some dodgy maths now to show how the dump pipe mod will pay for itself (better fuel economy) in X months and with no downside how can she say no???

Sound's like I could get just the dump installed for a couple of hundred $ at most. I'm relatively handy on the tools but my selection has grown a lot smaller over the years (lost/borrowed & not returned) but I don't have ready access to a hoist. Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll keep an eye on this thread for the time to buy. Can anyone tell me if changing the dump pipe adds very much to exhaust noise? I've got to sell this mod to my wife (it's her car after all), so it's got to be all about the fuel economy and long turbo life. Power gains are only secondary (for her) but a big increase in exhaust noise will leave me in the dog house for a loooong time.

Can anyone tell me if changing the dump pipe is a DIY job? Would most people tackle this themselves or take it to their favourite exhaust shop for fitting? In any case, I'm thinking seriously about it.

Hi Sean There's another thread (http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Airbag-Light-t254024.html) on the forum which talks about airbag light issues. If yours is an intermittent fault or maybe something not too serious, you may be able to reset the alarm by following the key on/off sequence that is described. I'm not sure why Stagea's seem to suffer from this problem so much. Maybe they have more of this SRS gear installed than other cars.... I've got a flashing warning light the same as you but all my other airbag equipped cars (with many more years and kms under their belts) have never had a problem. Anyway, the common culprits are the "clock spring" in the steering wheel, seat pretensioners and the airbag module itself. Chris on this forum is the resident expert on these but he's in Brisbane so pretty hard to just drop over from Canberra. You could try getting the actual codes read by someone with the diagnostic tool (local Nissan dealer or most good mechanic workshops) and they may also be able to reset them. Knowing the codes may lead you closer to the solution. A few owners have found they've needed to buy new seats. I'm hoping that's not required in either of our cases. Have a (longish) read thru the other thread and see where it leads. Good luck with the new baby on the way.

Nice work! Nothing like a big exhaust to make a huge difference over stock. Hate it when that happens tho. I reckon you've got to be far enough ahead so that when you are about to hit the speed limiter you hit the brakes instead and they can see your brake lights so they know you've called it off. All under controlled conditions, of course .

You are entirely correct. The App does want the weight of the vehicle, including driver, fuel, cargo etc so it can calculate power. I took a stab at 1700kg, but I weigh a whole heap more than 20kg I can tell you! I thought the calculated power was a bit optimistic and it would have been even higher had I input weight at 1800kg, which could be closer to reality given fuel in tank and me in driver's seat. I don't know if it is clever enough to allow for the extra driveline loss of AWD / auto trans etc, but I suspect not and that could be the reason for the rubbery power figures. I like your idea of running a similar test to confirm. Anyone want to lend me their SS Sportwagon for about 6 seconds?

Good luck Dean. Nice car, got my vote too.

Reading Spoolin12's post piqued my interest so I "borrowed" my daughter's I-Phone and installed a free App called Pocket Dyno to see what it showed. I did 3 runs tonight (14 deg outside) in my wifes stock NM35 (well, I have removed the inspection plate on the airbox) and it's about as heavy as any Stagea could be. The first 2 runs were in auto mode and I launched at fairly low revs. Afterwards I realised I was so interested in what was going on with the app that I forgot to put my foot flat to the floor . The 0-100 times were 7.91s and 7.32s. My last run was in manual mode and I changed up before the redline. The app returned a time of 6.89s but I reckon a proper go at it might drop the time by a tenth. The other info it provided: 0-25km/h 1.05s, 0-50km/h 2.42s, max G's 0.55 and 166 whp (124kw) based on me inputing 1700kg as the total weight. I would almost bet those last figures aren't right.... I don't know how accurate the Pocket Dyno times are but maybe they're not too far off the mark. Not bad for a free app though I suppose. So, I don't think anyone here would debate that a Stagea isn't great value for money, but faster in a straight line than a SS Sportwagon? Tell him he's dreamin'

Hi Chris, I'll give a call to tee up a time as soon as I can get half a day free. Could be a week or two though. Thanks for your help.

You may be right but hard to tell since the guy we bought it from isn't saying too much. All I know now is that it can't be reset via the "proper" ODB2 gadget at the workshop nor have I been successful with the DIY method. I hope you don't have continuous problems with yours as it wears thin real quick. Interesting issue with yours re. it being related to the boost. I wonder what the connection could be there... I think when I find out what these unplugged yellow connectors are for I'll be a whole lot closer to solving it.

I'm about 2hrs away so won't be able to drop in this week, but if I'm no closer to sorting it out when I visit for the other work I'd appreciate your input. I think I'll explore some manuals/wiring diagrams to see what I can learn. Re compliance/registration - I'm not sure how long the fault has been around but can only guess it happened after those things (but before I got it) as I can't see how it could have passed.

Also Chris, what is the go with those connectors of mine under the seats that aren't plugged in, and look to have no where to be plugged in? Do they have no bearing on any of this? Can Nissan really design a car that needs the seats replaced when an airbag component fails? My X-Trail is about the same age as the Stagea & it's never had any airbag warning lights active. Is that just a matter of time too? All these unanswered questions.....

Is this the only option? Any idea of the cost (they are the leather seats)? If what you say is true and, depending on the cost, we may be waiting a while to get you to do the cruise/english conversion we spoke about the other day..... Cheers.

Sorry to dredge this topic up again, but my light has been flashing since I got the car so I can't be certain if something is just broken or perhaps not connected. (You'll need to hear me out..) And, before anyone asks, here's what I have done already: 1. Checked all fuses using a multimeter 2. Tried to reset the light by the method mentioned elsewhere in this forum 3. Had my local mechanic try to reset the error codes with his computer thingy (that'll be the technical term I'm sure ) BTW, the error codes (as displayed on the computer thingy) are: B1161 CRD RH (OPEN) and B1166 CRD LH (OPEN) A short time Googling these ODB2 codes shows results from Toyota and GM products with a few anomalies. eg. Toyota list them as: B1161 Inflatable curtain RH open circuit (84?) & B1166 Inflatable curtain LH open circuit (88?) which sounds a lot closer than GM's "B1161 = Lamp circuit failure". Since I don't have curtain airbags, I started looking under the seats for signs of seatbelt pretensioners having been activated etc and was greeted with this (see pic): Now I've read that yellow connectors are typically associate with airbag circuits, so could this be the "open circuit" referred to in the ODB2 error codes? I also found a picture of under Bis-e Bee's front seat (thanks mate) and it confirms the yellow plug is connected (see other pic). But.... my car doesn't appear to have anywhere to plug in the free connector. Any ideas anyone?

In case anyone wants more details of the M35 cabin filter, RYCO supply 2 types (made in Israel) and this is what it says on the box. RCA100P is a particle filter that supposedly filters pollen, fungus spores, dirt & dust, bacteria & soot. RCA100C is a carbon activated filter that supposedly does the same as above and also adds odours, exhaust gases and ozone!! I had read previously the RCA100C was the one to get and it cost me ~$40 at my local Super Cheap Auto (~$60 at the Repco store). The other filter was cheaper but I don't know how much, sorry. So for those people out there allergic to exhaust gases & ozone, get the carbon type, otherwise I'm sure the regular one will be sufficient & save you a few bucks.

Hi Alex, I'm new round here too. I may have been told the wrong info re the english conversion, but I was led to believe it was available already. I'll have to confirm now. Re your smoke smell, if you don't have leather seats, use Ambi-Pur carpet freshener powder (my missus likes "rainforest") and sprinkle it over everything (seats included) and leave for a few hours before vacuuming. You can leave a bit inside the ash tray/s and open them every now and then for an extra hit. Gave this tip to the importer of my first Skyline many years ago. He couldn't believe how quickly we removed the smoke smell. Unfortunately we are having more trouble with ours because the smell seems stuck in the leather seats....

Hi Guys, my local Repco mechanic couldn't clear my flashing airbag light with his plug in gizmo. I tried the solution above and it didn't work but did give me a repeating series of flashes which, I assume, helps with the diagnostics. My airbag light did this after following the procedure above: 9 flashes, pause, 10 flashes, pause, solid for 2-3 secs, longer pause, repeat Now to find out what that all means.......