Thanks Santa (the neverending trials of the 400,000klm, 400kw, RB30, manual swapped Stagea)

[Duncan]

poor old girl picked the wrong night to sleep outside the other day...

[Duncan]

hmm pic previews still not working

[Duncan]

So I saw the oil pressure light flash on a steep hill the other day (no gauge on this car, I should get one), and checked the oil. It has been under 5,000 klm since the last service but the oil level was off the bottom of the dipstick (keeping in mind with a 4wd rb30 the sump adapter means the dipstick is further from the bottom of the sump than standard).

Anyway, I topped up a litre of oil and the level was good.

Couple of days later I got a set of Yoko AD09s fitted (good tyres, but I regret them for daily use as they are too noisy) and the shop mentioned the car was leaking oil badly. When I got home there was oil everywhere under the intake, turns out I hadn't put the dipstick back in properly and it had been breathing like crazy.

Put the dipstick in properly, gave it a degrease and took it to town and back. No further oil leak but it needed a good litre of oil which is not a good sign for blowby.

I did a compression test today and all came up good which was nice (the engine has been rebuilt reasonably recently).

Note BTW the first test for #5 was low, but on retest everything was pretty similar which is nice.

I suspect I just have loose piston/bore clearances and need to keep an eye on the oil level between services....it does have a minor leak from the rear main and also the sump/4wd adapter but not enough to explain using this much oil.

 

[soviet_merlin]

27 minutes ago, Duncan said:

Couple of days later I got a set of Yoko AD09s fitted (good tyres, but I regret them for daily use as they are too noisy)

What did you have on the car before that they are noisy in comparison?

[Duncan]

I previously had Dunlop DZ102 which are also a "ultra high performance summer tyre" 

Even with 4wd it struggles for traction in the midrange, and while wheelspin is funny I am looking to enjoy the drive, this isn't a race car.

For me, the Yokos are a step too aggressive; I guess they have 70% the grip of a semi slick but unfortunately they come with that distinctive humming noise too.

I find it hard to choose performance tyres for road cars. No local tyre shop has ever fitted, let alone driven on any of these, and there are limited back to back reviews. Manufacturer websites, yoko included, have about 5 different models they describe as the "pinnacle of ultra high performance tyres". And individual people's reviews aren't much use either as we tend to buy a set over few years and don't really get to check them back to back

[soviet_merlin]

I hear you. Was looking at tyre comparisons at some point and it's such a pain. And even the back to back comparisons that are done are just a bit arbitrary.

I have actually been keeping track of what people are saying about their tyre choices on the forums here. To get a bit of an idea of what to get next time around. Funnily enough @GTSBoy described the AD09s as quiet when he first put them on the car. I think in comparison to RS4Ss.

You are getting wheel spin on dry roads? That's pretty nuts. 400kw must just hit differently.

At this point I'd likely stick with Bridgestone Potenza Sports. Probably not a comparison or helpful though. At 260kw I have no grip issues, even in the wet. And the tyres are super quiet. I think they ship them on pretty powerful cars but they are all modern with proper traction control and all that.

[Duncan]

Yeah I guess I won't have to worry about it again on this car for a couple of years at least. They tyre shop were kind of funny, you could hear them pause then they saw the list price, came back and said they had talked to the manager and could do them for 400ea. I didn't want to say the tyres I'd just put on the Titan were $420ea, let alone what old Gordon Leven would make us pay for A050s.

Sorted a couple of minor things on the Stagea today. The MAP sensor is now mounted in the engine bay, higher than the plenum as stated on their webpage (no idea why) "Note that the sensor should be mounted higher than the intake manifold port that the hose connects to." Not really sure why it was on the tunnel under the dash because the supplied cable was long enough to get it to the engine bay.

https://dealers.au.linkecu.com/MAP-Sensor-MAP4

Also cleaned out the windscreen washers because they've been annoying me (of course, the navigator side one was fine, but the driver's was just a trickle.

The reverse camera with the new head unit has failed, stuffed around for a while pulling the rear door trim off to check all the wiring, which was unfortunately OK...so not a good effort from the ATOTO camera.

And tidied up some wiring while I was under the dash....doesn't sound exciting but 20 years of mods on mods including multiple aftermarket alarms had it pretty untidy. I really need to pull the dash our and do it properly, "one day"....

[GTSBoy]

4 hours ago, Duncan said:

The MAP sensor is now mounted in the engine bay, higher than the plenum as stated on their webpage (no idea why) "Note that the sensor should be mounted higher than the intake manifold port that the hose connects to."

Standard (industrial) practice to mount pressure transducers higher than their tapping points to ensure that condensation (or any liquid) will drain back to the process rather than come into contact with the sensor element.

[Duncan]

Didn't get much done this weekend, but I did replace the reverse camera (the one supplied with the head unit had died....didn't last long, might see if they will replace it).

One other thing I did get sorted is the weatherseal under the bonnet above the wiper cowling has been loose, same issue on the race car. I picked up a few different aftermarket clips:

The CP0244 fit both the stagea and the r32 gtr, so that is a win. Got them from here:

https://www.carpartsclipsandfasteners.com.au/product_info.php/honda-crv-accord-integra-civic-odyssey-engine-cowl-bonnet-rubber-p-431?osCsid=2p206d03k3ccri0bou0mpv1d00

Honda parts. Hope I don't hit vtec, yo.

[Duncan]

So the ATOTO head unit has been mixed, Android features are great, bluetooth handsfree total rubbish (too noisy, went back to the Parrot). I am no audiophile, but it was also clear that it just sounded worse then the old but expensive Sony head unit that had been in there for about 15 years.

So, I added this little amp to the head unit, basically plug/play through supplied patch cable, optical audio link and a power run from the battery to supply enough juice. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005432564767.html?spm=a2g0o.order_detail.order_detail_item.3.6cf2f19cKEfUXr

So all up, the new head unit has been about $1300, not cheap, but I like all the 4g/wifi/hd reverse/full android apps like tomtom/racedash/TPMS etc etc.

I also got the factory speakers in all 4 doors replaced, although when I pulled the door cards off to measure the available depth I found to my surprise a set of pioneer speakers had been installed back in Japan.

Anyway, audio is not my thing (although speakers obviously are simple) so I got BDL in Canberra to install them, set up the amp gain and also add soundproofing to the doors.

plastic removed and door thoroughly cleaned

deadening installed on outer skin, and starting to seal the pods to the inner card 

All done, it was a very detailed and thorough job

And the good news is, between the Amp, better quality speakers and the sound deadening the audio is much better, even in a very noisy car.  No idea which of those made the difference or if it is a combination.

One day I'll add deadening to the rest of the car, but I need a reason for the dash to be out first

 

[Duncan]

So, at the end of all that, I put the dash/console back together, turned the ignition on started the car.

Except it didn't start. Again. And again, it sounded like a fuel problem.

So after a bit of stuffing around, I confirmed no power to the fuel pump relay. Traced that back, no continuity from the source near the battery back to the relay in the boot (yes Matt!) and found to my surprise that a shop somewhere along the line had used a pair of black/red wires as the feed to get enough current carrying ability. Not exactly dodgy but a single wire of the right size would have been nice.

However...it wasn't a problem, just a surprise. Checked the fuse just upstream.....and found a very melted 30A min blade fuse

And holder

Hmmm....that is a big fuse to be melting, clearly some real issue here somewhere.

I put a new fuse holder and 20a fuse in (full size so it actually matches all the other fuses/spares in the car) and followed the wires back.

 

 

 

[Duncan]

So, it turns out, as always, preventative maintenance is bad idea!

A while back I grabbed a set of new Plug and Pins for the race car fuel hat when Kudos advertised them, and a set of the Stagea while I was there. So, while everything else was in parts, I had depinned the old f**ked shells and swapped in the new ones.

Perfect, nice to plug and unplug, and firmly clipped (old ones no longer clipped in, they were held by 400,000klm of grime)

Anyway....turns out for some reason I ended up with a high resistance connection between the new plug and the factory fuel hat which melted the new power plug, the wiring at the pin, the outside of the fuel hat AND the inside of the fuel hat too......basically the sort of issue that could burn your very unique car to the ground.

So not good....plus the car was dead again.

It never ends

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Time to drill out the connectors and put in bulk heads 

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

It's kind of funny the mod of the month is sound deadening lol

@R3N3 😎

[soviet_merlin]

Not going to lie, I have already been looking at getting some sound deadener as well...

 

@Duncan Which speakers did you end getting?

[R3N3]

@Duncan

i recommend the Frenchys Performance fuel top hat.

Edited September 18, 2023 by R3N3

[R3N3]

1 hour ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

It's kind of funny the mod of the month is sound deadening lol

@R3N3 😎

Haha. Spot the old dudes in the build section who want nice silent cars haha

[Duncan]

On 18/09/2023 at 4:25 PM, R3N3 said:

@Duncan

i recommend the Frenchys Performance fuel top hat.

So, that is what happened next.  I had bought their previous model (v2) hat and baffle for the race car, but did not install it when it arrived because I wasn't happy with how the baffle connected to the tank for heavy race use; I was concerned it didn't have enough support in the factory pump mount to hold such a large baffle with a half fuel tank and high Gs....so it sat on the shelf until now.

One of these

 

To get to the point, I though it was a pretty mixed product. The hat itself is excellent with quality connectors and the overall design was good, but:

- it includes a level sender but deletes the low fuel light. No good for a thirsty cruisey car, no mention in their listing

- the baffle mounting plate did not sit firmly in the factory tank. Kevin responded to a weekend email by 6am monday which is awesome, but only to say 'yeah nah that's how they are, try bending your car a bit'

- the level sender does not sit snugly in the holder and would fall out. Instructions show a cable tie holding it on but I could not route it they way they showed, had to disassemble and drill for cable tie to hold it properly

- their supplied printed instructions included (barely legible) wire colours for 32 GTR but not stagea

- the hat does not fit under the factory cover (they do say it "might not" in the listing)

Also note, their newer design seems to resolve some of these issues, so good on them for continuous improvement

Frenchy's instructions for fitting are here: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5856/9281/files/Nissan_R32GT-R_Baffled_Kit_Installation.pdf?v=1617089123

[Duncan]

Anyway, I decided to fit it anyway since the car was dead (I do have a spare factory hanger, but what is the point if the pump draw causes problems again)

So to address the baffle issue, I did some test fitting in the fuel tank (yes, of course the tank was about 2/3 full of fuel, and yes if it is 2o outside a tank full of fuel is also 2o....), and worked out if I spaced out the provided baffle plate from 3mm (it is supplied as 2x1.5mm laser cut stainless, very nice) to 5mm it sat firmly in the holder. I made the new plate the whole size of the baffle, not just the mount size to help it all sit flat on the floor and reduce strain on the tank mounting. I can confirm stainless sheet is expensive, and cutting with an angle grinder does not give the same beautiful finish as frenchy's laser cutting

After adding 2x 1mm extra sheets, total height of the holder was 5mm and a great fit

Other than that, after properly seating the level sender, new properly sized power from the relay and earth, wiring the sender to the factory wiring and adding higher foam to the underside of the boot floor cover it was all in and good to go again. The good news is the pump that was in the tank (Aeroflow 525lph) fit straight in the holder which was nice.

For reference the stagea factory sender wiring is:

Pin 1 - Red wire - Fuel level to dash

Pin 2 - Aqua/black - Low fuel Light

Pin 3 - Black - earth for sender/light

The fitting instructions say see the wiring section of the website for wiring diagram, there is no diagram for v2 hat but the v4 hat instructions https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5856/9281/files/FPG_V4_Wiring_Guide_for_R32GTR_In-Tank_Surge_Tank.pdf?v=1617411172 say:

Pin 1: Red

Pin 2: Black

Pin 3: Grey

Note those instructions don't say what each pin in the hat is for with the sender, just some colours (which don't match either 32GTR or Stagea). 

Their R32 wiring colours  https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5856/9281/files/BNR32_Factory_fuel_hanger_wiring_identification_and_testing.pdf?v=1673844784 says:

Blue/Green: Level Sender

Red: Fuel Light

Black: Level Sender

Again, no pin numbers to cross check, first and third description are the same, and the colours don't match what is listed in the fitting instructions. 

Bottom line, I wired it as follows for C34 and the sender works properly (but not low level light of course):

Factory Pin 1 - Red wire - Fuel level to dash - Frenchy hat pin 3 

Factory Pin 2 - Aqua/black - Low fuel Light (now inop) - Frenchy hat pin 2

Factory Pin 3 - Black - earth for sender/light - Frenchy hat pin 1

So, it is all working now, but was much harder than it could have been due to design and instruction issues.

The (im)perfect crime:

[R3N3]

11 minutes ago, Duncan said:

Anyway, I decided to fit it anyway since the car was dead (I do have a spare factory hanger, but what is the point if the pump draw causes problems again)

So to address the baffle issue, I did some test fitting in the fuel tank (yes, of course the tank was about 2/3 full of fuel, and yes if it is 2o outside a tank full of fuel is also 2o....), and worked out if I spaced out the provided baffle plate from 3mm (it is supplied as 2x1.5mm laser cut stainless, very nice) to 5mm it sat firmly in the holder. I made the new plate the whole size of the baffle, not just the mount size to help it all sit flat on the floor and reduce strain on the tank mounting. I can confirm stainless sheet is expensive, and cutting with an angle grinder does not give the same beautiful finish as frenchy's laser cutting

After adding 2x 1mm extra sheets, total height of the holder was 5mm and a great fit

Other than that, after properly seating the level sender, new properly sized power from the relay and earth, wiring the sender to the factory wiring and adding higher foam to the underside of the boot floor cover it was all in and good to go again. The good news is the pump that was in the tank (Aeroflow 525lph) fit straight in the holder which was nice.

For reference the stagea factory sender wiring is:

Pin 1 - Red wire - Fuel level to dash

Pin 2 - Aqua/black - Low fuel Light

Pin 3 - Black - earth for sender/light

The fitting instructions say see the wiring section of the website for wiring diagram, there is no diagram for v2 hat but the v4 hat instructions https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5856/9281/files/FPG_V4_Wiring_Guide_for_R32GTR_In-Tank_Surge_Tank.pdf?v=1617411172 say:

Pin 1: Red

Pin 2: Black

Pin 3: Grey

Note those instructions don't say what each pin in the hat is for with the sender, just some colours (which don't match either 32GTR or Stagea). 

Their R32 wiring colours  https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/5856/9281/files/BNR32_Factory_fuel_hanger_wiring_identification_and_testing.pdf?v=1673844784 says:

Blue/Green: Level Sender

Red: Fuel Light

Black: Level Sender

Again, no pin numbers to cross check, first and third description are the same, and the colours don't match what is listed in the fitting instructions. 

Bottom line, I wired it as follows for C34 and the sender works properly (but not low level light of course):

Factory Pin 1 - Red wire - Fuel level to dash - Frenchy hat pin 3 

Factory Pin 2 - Aqua/black - Low fuel Light (now inop) - Frenchy hat pin 2

Factory Pin 3 - Black - earth for sender/light - Frenchy hat pin 1

So, it is all working now, but was much harder than it could have been due to design and instruction issues.

The (im)perfect crime:

Awesome work.

It’s a bit unfortunate about the issues but hopefully they continue to develop them further. I have just the top hat in the 33 so didn’t encounter the same issues other than the cover being a tight fit. I also have their radiator fan shroud (A+) and will be buying there full AC kit shortly.