Buying An R33 Gtr V-spec

[FordyR31]

Hey guys,

I went to look at an R33 GTR V-Spec with a friend, he is the buyer and not a member yet, and was wondering if there is anything that is a tell tale sign of a thrashed / well used GTR. I will post up my observations on what I picked up on going over the car but this is the first 33 GTR I have looked closely at and been in so I have probably missed a few key indicators.

I have searched this topic and found a page that listed a lot to look for but was a general guide for buying any car and was more of a refresher than giving me new knowledge that was GTR specific so i'm looking things that others have picked up on when looking and buying. I'll give you a run down on the car.

The car is a white 96 model R33 GTR V-Spec with 41,000km on the dash. Dash is a white nismo 320km/h dash and the centre guages r white nismo guages aswell (front torque, oil, boost). Where they a factory option? I don't believe Jap odometers but if they were a factory option then all the better. The rear diff housing has the cooling fins which I have read r V-Spec specific and has the oil cooler up font top right side of the radiator in front of it. Front lower lip is after market fibreglass but the car drives straight and there is no evidence of an accident or a dodgy repair.

Its fairly stock with the only mods being HKS pods, HKS super dragger cat back exhaust and under the dash is an AVC-R. The drivers seat had very little wear and the steering wheel was aftermarket so cant tell from that. The paint on the engine and plenum were pretty mint, I couldn't find a chip or srape etc. The car did run and start very nicely, revved nice and smooth but had a puff of black amoke coming on boost, I stood on the side of the road and watched him drive for a little bit, is thae puff of smoke normal normal? It was not constant, just a puff then nothing else while it revved.

One thing I did notice from the passenger seat was shifting from 2nd to 3rd giving it some after the gear change there was a quite a bit of vibration which I was a bit iffy off... I don't know if GTR's do that normally trying to get traction or not or if its a problem in the diff/gearbox etc.. I couldnt hear any scraping or clunking or anything tho so I put it down at the time as the rears spinning a little bit.

Sorry for making such a long 1st post but it will save a lot of questions being asked in the thread that I should have just said from the start.

It does have what seems to be a dry thrust bearing which we were told would be fixed. My mate was originally told it had a twin plate clutch, when i went withh im it was just said to be heavy duty. R twin plates heavy and hard to press in? Or can they be made to be light and comfortable? lol..

Aside from that the car was very straight, drove straight, no dents that I found and couldnt see any rust around the windows, inside the doors or in the boot under the carpet. The guards had not been rolled niether and no rust there. The engine bay looked fairly clean except for some what looked like oil that had sprayed under the bonnet and on the passenger side strut tower with some dodgy incomplete cleaning... The oil filter is relocated to the opposite side of the radiator support to the oil cooler and was told that the filter wasnt screwd on properly and squirted oil... Likely story?

Thanks in advance

Liam

[GTR-N1]

You seem to be quite cautious & that's a plus!

You've asked a lot of questions, and I'm not sure if I can answer them all.

#1 Nismo clusters are notorious for embellishing the odometer reading downwards when installed. Is this car coming with a log &/or receipt history? Sorry but I have to answer your Q with a Q.

#2 No rust or damage in the boot/wheel well and no overspary underneath would imply no shunt from the rear

#3 No scrapings on panel bolt edges in the engine bay would imply no accident at the front. Although you need to check crossmembers and rails underneath too. Check there for rust too.

#4 Try and trace the oil leak underneath to where the source is. Check around the oil filler opening for sludge. Check the dip stick for inconsistency or milkiness. Check the coolant reservoir for oil that shouldn't be there. Check for oil that might be coming down from the crank (which would indicate a seal or more likely the oil pump which is a $3K job)

#5 The vibration can be a concern. Test drive the car again on a Freeway and run it at constant speed for 15 sec. Then alter the speed and do it again for 15 sec. Then raise the speed again and run it constant for 15sec again. If you get the same vibration back again but worse, it will probably be the tailshaft. This is not uncommon on the R33 GT-R. If it needs to be changed, the V-Spec tailshaft is different from the standard GT-R.

#6 Thrashing? Stress on the crank (which is quite long) can lead to oil pump problems. But check the tyres to see if they're badly feathered. Smell the dipstick oil to see if there's a burnt smell. But all in all, it's hard to say. Some other SAUer can tell you more IMHO.

#7 A puff of smoke on boost is quite OK. It may be running a liitle bit rich - bit that's fine too.

#8 On the next run, just try slight accelerations and decelerations at around 40Km/Hr and listen for any clicking from the lsd. Also check the drive shafts by doing circles both clockwise and anticlockwise. No cracks in the CV boots?

Hope this helps,

Tez

[FordyR31]

I'll post my answers and findings to ur questions and suggestions under each one to make sure nothing is missed and in bold.. Pretty informative and a pretty good idea of what to do on the next test drive.

#1 Nismo clusters are notorious for embellishing the odometer reading downwards when installed. Is this car coming with a log &/or receipt history? Sorry but I have to answer your Q with a Q.

Nismo cluster read fairly true in regards to angle of the numbers of the odometer no history was in the glove box or mentioned, I forgot to ask also. It had a laminated and printed, off a computer, owners manual in the glove box but was not a genuine nissan booklet

#2 No rust or damage in the boot/wheel well and no overspary underneath would imply no shunt from the rear

I did check the spare wheel well, boot and under the bonnet for rust and signs of repair and I could not see anything out of the ordinary especially things like rust and repair marks/cover ups. I did not however look for overspray under the car.

#3 No scrapings on panel bolt edges in the engine bay would imply no accident at the front. Although you need to check crossmembers and rails underneath too. Check there for rust too.

The bolts holding the front 1/4 panels on were painted white same as the panel. I did not get under to check the crossmember or rails for rust

#4 Try and trace the oil leak underneath to where the source is. Check around the oil filler opening for sludge. Check the dip stick for inconsistency or milkiness. Check the coolant reservoir for oil that shouldn't be there. Check for oil that might be coming down from the crank (which would indicate a seal or more likely the oil pump which is a $3K job)

I did look around the head gasket area and turbo manifold/inlet manifold and saw no signs of any oil leaks, the engine did look very clean. I checked the oil filler cap which was fine, did not check the dipstick. Coolant was fine both in the radiator and in the overflow tank.

#5 The vibration can be a concern. Test drive the car again on a Freeway and run it at constant speed for 15 sec. Then alter the speed and do it again for 15 sec. Then raise the speed again and run it constant for 15sec again. If you get the same vibration back again but worse, it will probably be the tailshaft. This is not uncommon on the R33 GT-R. If it needs to be changed, the V-Spec tailshaft is different from the standard GT-R.

The vibration was on acceleration. Cruising around at 50 and 60, in an industrial area, the car did drive fine, I did notice the vibration through the seat after changing fairly quickly into 3rd so thats y I thought maybe just getting traction. I will try and get it out on a faster speed limited road tho to check it further.

#6 Thrashing? Stress on the crank (which is quite long) can lead to oil pump problems. But check the tyres to see if they're badly feathered. Smell the dipstick oil to see if there's a burnt smell. But all in all, it's hard to say. Some other SAUer can tell you more IMHO.

Again did not remove the dipstick to check and the tyres were new all round, new yokohama DNA on the rear and new bridgestone potenza's on the front. Very new

#7 A puff of smoke on boost is quite OK. It may be running a liitle bit rich - bit that's fine too.

I to wasn't overly concerned about it and could smell it running rich on idle also

#8 On the next run, just try slight accelerations and decelerations at around 40Km/Hr and listen for any clicking from the lsd. Also check the drive shafts by doing circles both clockwise and anticlockwise. No cracks in the CV boots?

We did do a couple of tight turn arounds at the end of streets, both in a clockwise direction, didnt hear any noises that could indicate a worn CV, did not get under to check if anything was cracked and did not drive at 40km/h lol.

Hope this helps,

Tez

Thank you very much for your reply, it has been very helpful and has picked up on a few things I did not check or know to check. I'll be sure to read this again b4 we go for another test drive.

Thanks Liam

p.s any1 else who knows of other things not mentioned please let me know.

Edited November 12, 2008 by FordyR31

[Moelders]

I'll post my answers and findings to ur questions and suggestions under each one to make sure nothing is missed and in bold.. Pretty informative and a pretty good idea of what to do on the next test drive.

Thank you very much for your reply, it has been very helpful and has picked up on a few things I did not check or know to check. I'll be sure to read this again b4 we go for another test drive.

Thanks Liam

p.s any1 else who knows of other things not mentioned please let me know.

I would suggest make sure you drive a few of them, and don't buy until you have!

My R33 V-Spec has ~80k kms on it, and the gearbox is beautifully smooth and certainly has no noise or grinding in it.

Are you in Sydney?

[FordyR31]

I have told my mate to drive as any as he can to compare even if he has no intention of buying the specific one he is testing. He wouldn't have a bar of it. I thought it was a good idea aswell lol. Yes we r in sydney. He went and looked at a very cheap one and woldnt test drive it coz it had passenger door damage... I dont know what he is thinking.

[jay1]

if you no someone who is a grease monkey would be good

[FordyR31]

it usually does help.. I thought it would help me more asking owners of 33 GTR's of their findings and experiences to get a bit more specific. I know the usual things to look for for need to know certain things that are charactistic to the 33 GTR that can be signs of wear etc..

[CARSICK]

That suggestion about checking out tailshaft wear is good advice.

The uni joint in the middle can get a bit weak, which means that static speed tests at about 100Km/Hr, 110Km/Hr, 120 Km/Hr, 130 Km/Hr (keeping an eye on the rear vision mirror) are worth it mate.

[FordyR31]

Thanks for the advice guys we went and inspected it again... The vibration was non existant on variable speeds and accelleration. No signs of rust underneath and the oil has just been changed but after half an hours test drive no burnt smell and no milky residue.. Thanks again for all the tips

Liam

[eeiko321]

thats a nice car in your display dude!

one of a kind

[NISMO]

Gotta agree with the comments already posted. Drive a few and compare the cars.

A genuine low k car will drive like a low k car. There is no reason why you should hear clunks, heaps of rattles etc etc.

My 32 has less than 60000k's with books and it drives like it. Smooth gearbox, and virtually zero rattles. Pretty much like a new car.

[FordyR31]

thats a nice car in your display dude!

one of a kind

Thanks its an HR31 GTS-X. Its my daily. There r heaps around, R31 skyline club makes u feel less exclusive!

Gotta agree with the comments already posted. Drive a few and compare the cars.

A genuine low k car will drive like a low k car. There is no reason why you should hear clunks, heaps of rattles etc etc.

My 32 has less than 60000k's with books and it drives like it. Smooth gearbox, and virtually zero rattles. Pretty much like a new car.

He has bought the car coz he is impatient but it seems to be really good. No rattles bumps bangs or squeaks at all. It does drive like a low K car.

[NISMO]

Thanks its an HR31 GTS-X. Its my daily. There r heaps around, R31 skyline club makes u feel less exclusive!

He has bought the car coz he is impatient but it seems to be really good. No rattles bumps bangs or squeaks at all. It does drive like a low K car.

Good stuff sounds like another happy GTR owner :-)