How To Improve Reliability Of My 32 Gtr?

[Yawn]

Hey guys i recently traded in my 33gts and topped some money onto that to get myself an 89 r32 gtr

Ive only owned it for a week or so but what are the normal problems that arise with these cars? Im aiming for reliability so any problem areas that i should be careful about? Also, i noticed when i drop gears it sounds like a backfiring system. Its like a pretty loud POP but it only happens sometimes. Can anyone enlighten me? This is my first turbo car btw so sorry in advance for these noob questions =P

Thanks

[Yawn]

sorry guys just realised i should have posted in maintenance and sorry i should have done a search first ><

[TTT]

I would say best option...

1.) full service replacing all oils and fluids (engine, diff, gearbox, power steering, attessa, brakes, radiator, etc..), spark plugs, all filters (oil, fuel, air), timing belt, water pump, and probably other belts.

Clean injectors.

Compression test to make sure it is healthy.

Now that the car is Healthy.... buy and install these.

2.)new fuel pump, power fc, boost controller

3.) tune for safe tune, on our fuel, at something below 1 bar boost.

this should give you a decent power increase, and have a car which is safe and probably last for a long time if treated right.

I'd say the above would cost under $5K

guessing $2K on service and $3K for parts and tune

[rev210]

as mentioned keep under 1bar.

Don't go upping the power level through bolt on turbo's etc. An old motor is a ticking time bomb with more power you are speeding up the clock.

[cowie165]

Popping sounds are usually unburnt fuel combusting on hot exhaust parts. Mine does it very occasionally. Apparently the stock ECUs run rather rich. Nothing to stress over though.

If you are after reliability and have the boost restrictor in, leave it there. As it's an 89 model you should overfill your oil by 1L. And remember not to flog the car until it is warm - most turbo failures occur when guys stomp the gas and the ceramic exhaust wheels are cold and shatter/disintegrate.

This has kept my 1989 RB26 working without a rebuild. And rev210 is spot on dude, adding power to an old motor must be done carefully.

[SECURITY]

im suprised noone has mentioned the oil pump. it is major, but it happens alot and is a top cause for rebuilds on these things.

ive seen more oil pumps on r32 gtr's go than tyres do on a commo at summernats.

[wreckedhead]

best way to improve reliability is to sell it and buy something new with warrenty, that way you dont have to drive it everyday and hope it dont break down on you and cost you 6000 to rebuild. just my thoughts

[Yawn]

best way to improve reliability is to sell it and buy something new with warrenty, that way you dont have to drive it everyday and hope it dont break down on you and cost you 6000 to rebuild. just my thoughts

sorry but i cant afford a newer car than this with around this sort of stock power T_T

im having hell at the moment just after buying it heh

thanks for all the replies guys but just wondering how much would it cost to replace the oil pumps?

my theory is that if its cheaper than changing the engine if the faulty oil pumps cause a major engine failure then its worth changing =P

Edited March 12, 2006 by nauzilus

[Amaru]

sorry but i cant afford a newer car than this with around this sort of stock power T_T

im having hell at the moment just after buying it heh

thanks for all the replies guys but just wondering how much would it cost to replace the oil pumps?

my theory is that if its cheaper than changing the engine if the faulty oil pumps cause a major engine failure then its worth changing =P

Its not. Fixing the oil pump problem requires removal of the engine from the car, and removal of the crankshaft from the engine to press a collar on to the end of the crankshaft (which drives the oil pump). Engine R&R is ~$2000-$2500 depending who you use, and the crank collar work would come to about $1000 or a little bit more.

Other option is to chuck an R33/R34 GTR engine into the car which have this problem fixed.

If the oil pump fails while you are driving, you can expect to be up for a full rebuild. Unfortunately theres no way of telling how bad the problem is until you remove the engine from the car and take the oil pump off. It comes down to luck basically.

[NAman]

I’d also recommend an oil cooler- adds just that little bit of extra “cool” oil to your engine when it may need it the most...

[SECURITY]

you dont need to remove the engine to change the oil pump.

you just need to take your radiator/condensor/fmic/front bar off as they tend to need a hydraulic puller to get their balancers off.

after thats off its a matter of removing your timing belt gear, dropping your sump, replacing the oil pump and putting it back together.

it would take a few hrs at the most to get it all done with the right tools.

it took me just over an hour to get my oil pump off (i dont have a front bar on my car), and that included taking my radiator and condensor out and dropping the sump.

[Duncan]

you can't drop the sump on a gtr without taking the flywheel off and front driveshafts out

[SECURITY]

oh that sucks.

sorry mate, i forgot about the front driveshafts. i thought it'd be the same as gtst for some reason.

[Amaru]

As Duncan said, its basically an engine out job to change the pump on the GTR. Changing the pump doesnt fix the problem though, at the end of the day youre still going to have a short nose drive on the crank. The only real way to fix it is to pull the crank from the engine, grind the nose of the crank, press a new collar on and grub screw it in for good measure.

Pro Engines do this for a really good price, and use a JUN copy crank collar. Is basically identical to the JUN one, but a few hundred $$ cheaper. www.proengines.com.au

[Yawn]

thanks for all the info guys

btw lets say my engine blew and i wanted to replace it with lets say a 34 rb26dett, is it a straight fit?

how much would it cost too roughly?

cheers

[NAman]

Justjap:

Have a look around JDM JustJap, SSS etc....

http://justjap.com/engines.htm

Omori Built RB26DETT -$9800

New GTR N1 Block -$3450

New GTR N1 Engine -$12500

GTR RB26DETT [used] -FROM $6500

i'd like to have that Omori Built RB26DETT -$9800

R34 N1 Turbos, Full Loom

With Harness & ECU

But befor it goes in get it looked over and make sure it's got stuff n1 water/oil pumps etc

[Yawn]

what does omori built mean?

damn a brand new engine..

might be able to afford it after a yr of working part time at maccas.. lol

on top of the cost of the engine i should put aside how much roughly to get it fitted in?

[wreckedhead]

what does omori built mean?

damn a brand new engine..

might be able to afford it after a yr of working part time at maccas.. lol

on top of the cost of the engine i should put aside how much roughly to get it fitted in?

sorry dud i dont mean to offend you in any way, but after asking so many questions it seems to me like your not the kind of person that can maintain a gtr, its not as easy as everyone thinks, and working at maccas is a big no no if you wanna drive your gtr weekends esspecialy when things start going wrong. better sell it for what ever you can get for it and buy something more in your budget, maybe turbo excel or civic or anything else

[Yawn]

sorry dud i dont mean to offend you in any way, but after asking so many questions it seems to me like your not the kind of person that can maintain a gtr, its not as easy as everyone thinks, and working at maccas is a big no no if you wanna drive your gtr weekends esspecialy when things start going wrong. better sell it for what ever you can get for it and buy something more in your budget, maybe turbo excel or civic or anything else

ouch..

everyone has to start somewhere man.. gimme a break. =.=

im sure not everyone has a cushy office job like maybe u do but ill do what i can

btw if i dont ask u guys here who are pros at skylines where else can i learn about this?

[NAman]

what does omori built mean?

damn a brand new engine..

might be able to afford it after a yr of working part time at maccas.. lol

on top of the cost of the engine i should put aside how much roughly to get it fitted in?

Omori is a tunning house back in the land of the rising sun...

Serriously- wait till your over 25 before you buy one of these things-

better/stable job

lower insurance

other intrests

for now just get some thing NA, cheep to run and insure: excell, mirage, lancer with evo kit, civic with vtec badge or kia with bonnet scoop, don’t stretch your self with a loan.

Labour is about $80 hour

I'd think it would be about 10 hours minium to pull out and put in an engine

Then plus another 5 hours for the initial dyno tune and many tunes after that to get it perfect

Just do a search on engine swaps and dyno tunes

Float round the forums for a while and do some back-reading

The answer is here- you just have to find the right posts! or try at Skylines down under...