Buying A R33

[R33 Eddy]

Hello this is my first post after a few weeks going over the site looking at a number of diffrent Skylines and finnaly i have the money to buy a R33.

So far i have found a Alright R33 that looks like it is in good condition but today it was sent to RACQ for a check and these are the major points (below), that came back about the car and cause im still learning all about skylines i would like your feed back on the cost of these items (new or recon +install) and if it would be nessasary to fix them.

Incorrect non ventelated battery fitted, contaminated coolant does not meet specifications, cracs in engine cooling fan. outter lenses TD headlights deteriation. Oil seepage at areas of cylinder head. fluid leaks at areas of power steering pump, hoses and front steering rack. Intermittant harshness at camshaft drive belt area further investigation required. manifold preasure dump valve noisy. engine intake wet with oil further investigation required. engine misfires underload.

this 1995 R33 has about 80 000km on the clock.

thanks

Ed

[predator]

sounds about standard for an old r33, they're picky.. too much intake oil could be a worry.

sorry, but it hasn't done 80,000km

[R33 Eddy]

is that all?? i just would like to get this car tomrrow but i need to know if ill be spending big bucks in 6 months time cause the head is totaly fu****.

would it be worth under 14K mark?

[_MRR33]

Sounds like a few too many problems, I'd keep shopping.

[_MRR33]

It has oil seepage at areas of cylinder head, thats not the greatest sign, also fluid leaks at areas of power steering pump can't comment too much but it isn't a good sign it's got wet oil in engine intake and the engine is misfiring.

RACQ are good, but a performance shop would know alot more ..but hey, it's up to you but if I knew it had problems like that - i'd stay away and shop around. I know you want a Skyline now, but better you find something in better condition.

Have a look at the For Sale section on this website, some good buys there.

Edited August 3, 2006 by R33MidnightRacer

[predator]

Ok, I'll expand:

Incorrect non ventelated battery fitted,

They have to be a sealed battery, due to the strange config of the R33 boot. It's cheaper to fit a non-ventilated battery, but having gas escape in an enclosed space is a no-no. $150 problem to fix I would say by getting a proper enclosed battery.

contaminated coolant does not meet specifications

coolant is dirty, or not the official nissan coolant. I doubt this means much, but it *may* mean signs of poor servicing recently. It on it's own is not enough to kill an engine over 12 months. 2-3+ years sure. From what I gather a lot of japanese are not sure what 'coolant' is.

outter lenses TD headlights deteriation

They all do that.. nissan had a poor design on the polycarbonate headlights on the r33.. they all get moisture in there a little if left overnight outside, etc.

cracs in engine cooling fan.

The rb25 fan isn't great 11 years on.. afterall it's plastic, and spins at xxx rev's per minute x 11 years. Plastic tends to degrade a little after that time. My daily driver exhibits similar problems, it's simply age.

Oil seepage at areas of cylinder head.

Depends which areas they are talking about.. rocker cover gaskets aren't too expensive. Engines get old after 10 years, they leak a little where they can.

fluid leaks at areas of power steering pump, hoses and front steering rack.

in my experience, after 10 years, the rb engines nearly always leak at the power steering pump, original hoses get old, hose clamps losen. I fixed a power-steering leak on my car simply by fitting proper hose clamps and retightening.

If it's near the rack, likely the rack is going.. pull off the boots and check carefully. A few spots is ok.. rack pissing significant amounts of oil requires replacement rack = $800 or so with fitting.

Intermittant harshness at camshaft drive belt area further investigation required

Possibly timing belt tensioners or timing belt is getting past 100k mark (re: it hasn't done 80k/km, thats almost impossible in a 11 year old car, driven "once week" in japan or otherwise)... 100k service will pretty much guaranteed fix that problem, and is recommended anyhow.

manifold preasure dump valve noisy

Not quite sure exactly what that means, if it means "valve train noisey", yes, all nissan engines have a noisey drive-train, especially after 11 years.

ngine intake wet with oil further investigation required.

Blow-by from pistons. Most turbo engines around 10 years do that. It's really the amount that is significant.

My daily driver has "oil around intake" (i.e. enough to put finger and notice). It has done 280,000km, and it drives fine, and has another 50,000km or more in it.

engine misfires underload.

probably mistuning, poor choice of spark plugs, dead coil packs, or other mucking about. Not end of the earth - a massive number of rb25 do that .. type in "r33 misfiring" and "all dates" and you'll get like about 5 years of posts on the topic.

Most importantly.. does it have a compression test? That will be a kicker on the "buy" or "no buy" to me. Sure 10 years ago I would have not bought a car that had a mechanics test report such things as above. I've now learned enough to know a little better.

[R33 Eddy]

Most importantly.. does it have a compression test? That will be a kicker on the "buy" or "no buy" to me. Sure 10 years ago I would have not bought a car that had a mechanics test report such things as above. I've now learned enough to know a little better.

Im not sure if RACQ did a Compression Test and i will be calling them up tomorrow to find out if they did this and more about the report cause for $200 im annoyed they didnt go into more details.

another thing they did a Power balance and passed but i have no idear what a power balance would be.

passed on engine fumes, exhaust smoke. mountings. drive belts and ignition system.

[predator]

Yeah, that's what annoys me about these sorts of tests - they list it, but don't tell you why, or whether it will really degrade your purchase. But at the end of the day, it's your money, plenty of r33 around. A workshop is never a bad choice, as they look at the car compared to others of that type and has seen maybe 50 R33 and can tell you whether it's the same, worse, or better than other R33 they have seen.

RACQ is more for the "safe purchase" above all else, those that would never look an R33 anyhow, and go for a Commodore, Pulsar, etc.

p.s. I'm not sure what a "power balance" is either!

[AlphA]

Predator that was an awesome run down on those items he was aking about.

Ed, your probably thinking ahh she will be ok I will just get it and deal with the problems it has but mate honestly if you have the money do not rush into it.. dont go for the first car you have checked out.. if even the smallest amount of doubt then forget it and walk away! So many Skylines on the market now dude.. dont buy a lemon..

[AlphA]

** Get a Skyline or Import mechanic to check over it they deal with these cars every day and 99% of the time they will do a compression test and lift it up and look under it. Well worth getting that done coz its hard ta tell if they have been in crashes these days... very sneaky I tell ya!

Hey might take you an extra week to find a new one worthy of a test drive... at least you dont have an instant money pit!

Wait till the mods come !!! then its a fun money pit!

[FATGTS-R]

What did they report on Suspension/brakes/drivetrain? Previous repairs?

Predator summed it up pretty well. But understand there is potential for a couple thousand in repairs if your paying other people to do it.

If it needs a rack theres $800 as mentioned. I had intermittant harshness from cam belt and it was a shot bearing so $400-$600 for timing belt and bearing/seals change. The battery at $150 and its at a possible $1500 already.

Then theres the oil leaks from head, oil in intake and the missfire.

Which could simply be tightening the cam covers, slight blowby from 11 years and a new set of plugs.....or a rebuild.

As others have mentioned, if you dont get this one and see another one I would take it to a workshop with a dyno for the inspection. Then it can be ramped up to see what its doing with a/f ratios as well. A simple tired fuel pump can kill the engine which RACQ wont pickup. Also get a leakdown test performed.

[WogsRus]

I broght a nissan Skyline from Joel, at Aussie Car Complaince, can't be more happy, comes with all log books, and service records, in japanese. All original books and mats, and has only done 72k, and all i payed was 14.5 delivered from sydney to tassie.

YEEHHHHAAAA

[JCMarshall_Law]

Buy mine instead, it has none of those problems

See sig.

haha, shameless plug.

[R33 Eddy]

Hmm thaks guys, the owner of the car had it checked out and apparently spend $1300 on fixing up stuff and the power steering was included in it (waiting on receipts to prove this), but what was fixed ill have to wait till i see a report.

Im trying to get the guy find out and see if he can take it back and get it fixed propporly or ill drop my price i will offor him.

im also ringing RACQ today to talk to the inspector and see what he thinks of the car.

Also im wondering JCMarshall_Law if you took your car to RACQ what would they find i know you might think nothing but im sure they wold find something.

[stink]

Hey Eddy,

Mate i am a noob to the whole seen and just recently bought a car and am impoting it. Not sure how much money you have mate but for 16k give or take a bit depending on quality you can get yourself a nice clen stock 33 imported complied and ready to go depending on who you go with you should get a warranty as well. Mine has a three year nation wide warranty, these warranties are by no mean as good as new car etc but at least you have some peice of mind in what your buying. My importer gave me a report on the car i ended up buying which has a description of what the car is like and if there is something wrong with the car that not on the report i can pull out of the deal.

Llike others have said mate just sounds like theres a alot wrong but hey get a mechanic who knows these cars to look at it and you will be right

Cheers Stink

[JCMarshall_Law]

Yeah, I'm sure they would find something, they are really picky about bullship things, I still have the RACQ report from when I bought mine, all it had on it was "wiper blades inneffective (they seem to work to me), brake pads noisy, headlights discoloured (which was easily fixed by the way) and oil in the inlet" - which is a completly bullshit fault - they are designed that way - it is cam cover scavanging system, even new cars will have a bit of oil in the inlet, that is why people buy oil catch cans.

I can tell you what they would say: "wiper blades inneffective and oil in the inlet" and they would probably mention the modifications - which are all legal. There would probably be a few things I have not noticed, it is a 11 year old car. Ultimatly it is a very good car - especially for its age.

Good luck with that one dude, make sure you see those recipts.

Also im wondering JCMarshall_Law if you took your car to RACQ what would they find i know you might think nothing but im sure they wold find something.

[R33 Eddy]

well i been on the phone all day to the seller, RACQ andd his Mechanic and its looking ok so far.

He also mentioned he got a offor from a Dealer for a bit less then $14K and didnt need to prove or fix up anything.

[hobbsy]

is this the first skyline you've looked at? i'd suggest you look around a bit, there are tons of R33s around the 14-15 price bracket, you can get a great condition series 1 for that price. make sure anything you're considering buying you take to a import mechanic and get it on a hoist.

also if the seller says he got an offer from a dealer for 14k.. thats most likely bullshit.. doubt a dealer would touch most r33s for over 11 or 12 these days.

and RACQ guys are thourough to a fault, and some of them obviously don't know jap cars too well.. few weeks ago my mate got an RACQ inspection on a rotary.. it pointed out the car had "noisy tappets" among other things.. rotaries dont have tappets haha. but in their favour, they will definitely pick up any major faults so not a complete waste of time. just that a good import mechanic will find and run you through any problems while the cars on the hoist, tell you how much it will cost to fix, and be able to tell you wether or not the car is worth the price.. most will charge less than RACQ too.

Edited August 4, 2006 by hobbsy

[Modena]

Look around more. The first Skyline I was prepared to buy had too much things go wrong, lucky I had RACV check it, I kept looking and found another Skyline. No problems at all.

Be prepared to pay extra for good quality.