Share Your Knowledge About R33 Gtr

[fib]

Hi boys,

I'm a big fan of the Skyline but unfortunately I don't have a lot of spare time to chase parts. I'm a doctor working full time but I'm usually free on weekends. I live in the Bankstown area.

I'm hoping to tap into the local knowledge of skyline enthusiasts I'm not really after a debate as to what's the absolute best thing to do, more like whatever keeps your baby running as I'm using the car as a daily hehe

The car is stock standard and I intend to keep it that way (don't want police trouble).

Things I need help with:

1. Crappy oil from the guy I bought it from, some quite thick pennzoil - takes about 5 min warm up time before the car can rev smoothly. I'll be replacing the oil soon, I'm running 0-40 Mobil 1 full synthetic in the missus Saab 9-3 2001 (damn expensive oil like $90-100 for 5L), would it be ok to use the same oil in the gtr? I need something readily available. If anyone knows of where I can get Motul oil near Bankstown it would be much appreciated!

2. Oil filter - ryco ones from supercheap should be ok?

3. Air filter, fuel filter- where can I get these?

4. Spark plugs- probably stick with NGK, they have been good to me in other cars. Something about needing re-gap?

5. 100, 000km service - i'm at 92,000 km... should think about investing in the ~$500 100k kit soon yes?

6. Fuel economy - probably getting less than 400km/tank driving to and from work, half the time on the motorway and quite soft on the pedal... is that decent or should I look into the o2 sensor?

7. Is it worth it getting the car tuned? Seems to have quite a bit of lag (wife's saab 2L turbo accelerates smooth like a baby's butt and can probably rip me in a drag race).

Hope you guys can help a brother out with your wisdom hehe

Cheers!

Son.

[Pezhead]

Hi Son,

Most of what you've asked has been covered in the forums. Might try a search on most of it. Esp the NGK plug numbers. As long as you run stock boost you should be able to leave them gapped as they come. Only need to regap for higher boost levels.

For Oil ditch the Pennzoil. In fact Pennzoil uses a waxy additive that builds up in the engine over time - very bad! Thick oil is one of the worst things for the RB26. Make sure you stay under 10 cold (first number) and 30-40 hot (second number) - the OEM on them is 0w30 weight oil which you can get in Chrono 300v. I get mine from Unique Auto Sports in seven hills as do a number of members here. You won't find the Chrono in most auto parts stores. And it isn't cheap - about $100 for 4 litres / 50 for 2. Oh, also Just Jap stocks it too.

For the street I use Mobile 1 Full Syn as street temps and driving shouldn't be that hard on oil. I use Chrono for track work.

When does your boost come on? The RB is a rev motor so doesn't have a lot of torque (in stock form) down low. In fact I was very surprised when I got mine that under low RPM's it just doesn't seem to perform like I had imagined (mainly from video games and all the GTR banter). You have to rev it up and keep it on boost to make Godzilla come alive - very normal. Mine wasn't stock when I bought it so not exactly sure on when the boost should come on but I think for stock level should be on "full boost" by 3500 rpms.

Oh, and I would plan that 100k service. Engines do bad things when timing belts break, replacing the belt and tensioners is the big part of the 100k service.

[GTR-N1]

Eric's advice is good Son.

If you want a 'leg-up' (ie not a good Dr's terminology, but hey what would I know? I'm a pharmacist), try getting your 1st service done (prior to the 100,000Km service) at Just Jap at Kirrawee and you'll be permitted by Garry to inspect underneath the car and get some advice about anything about your car & the big service coming up. You can book there for a Saturday morning and they use Motul Oil. Ph 95450532.

If you prefer, you can contact Unigroup at Girraween, Hills Motorsport at Castle Hill or Powerplay Imports at Drummoyne (who use Elf Excillium Oil which is also good).

[fib]

Great advice boys. I'll likely take the car to a trusted workshop and follow your suggestions. Fingers crossed with the compression test

[HOT_R33]

The standard exhaust is a killer on these things. Very restrictive and they don't let the RB26 rev the way it should. On top of that, they rust very easily especially if the owner in japan has decided to take it to the snow a couple of times and neglect getting it rust proofed...like mine lol.

I still have mine stowed away in the laundry ready to go just in case the police decide not to like my 3.5" HKS item I have on there now.

If they guy you bought it off has been using crap oil, I would get the gearbox checked for wear & tear. Oil that hasn't been changed for a while can do massive amount of damage over time to these things. Some of them can be ready to strip that 2nd gear as soon as you give it a bit one day.

Enjoy the GTR life mate.

[Brandon]

400km/tank sound pretty bad. Mine before tune and after tune is still more than 450km/tank and theres close to 100awkw difference in power.

If you want to stay legal, get a custom exhaust and ditch any JDM recommendations. I can tell you 99% of any high flowing JDM (doesn't matter if its bloody JASMA 92 etc) will fail the noise test. Its 90dB from ADR standard. But of course that dont come cheap. But hey, thats doing it once and forget about it.

I use Royal Purple and no issues there. Ryco for filter is fine too. 100000 km sounds like an idea. Mine's sitting at 75000 km and and I plan on doing that maybe on the next oil change or the one after. This is mainly due to the age of the car more so on the mileage (I dont have logbook so I cant say its 100% genuine).

Yes its worth getting it tuned but I'll be getting the exhaust done first before doing it. Even if you're running slightly more boost, the exhaust will make a huge difference. Then again. tuning without exhaust mod might make a huge difference too but I dont have any experience with that.

[fib]

Just got back from my honeymoon and straight back to tinkering with my baby lol

I'm no seasoned mechanic, more like noob trying to learn stuff from the forums and trying it myself.

Managed to install a new air filter yippeee

Had a bastard of a time trying to get the oil filter out unfortunately. I can grab onto it but it just won't budge. I've changed filters in other cars no problem, just this one is in a nasty spot and my 'jaws of life' oil filter wrench cannot get a grip around it bugger! How do you guys do it? I'm contemplating an oil relocation kit but the missus voted against it.

New exhaust is on the Christmas list fingers crossed

Cheers,

fibbo.

[mxfly]

I never use those jaws wrenches as they can damage the filter itself if you use too much force. This is the thing I've used in very tight spaces, simple and effective

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-Oil-Filter-Wren...=item4a99a09d51