In The Market For A V35 And Confused

[LatinR33]

Hey Guys,

Sorry if these questions have been answered before but have searched through lots of different threads and there are very conflicting stories regarding these seemingly fantastic cars. Don't want to make an expensive mistake.

I am currently searching through japan auction houses for an immaculate condition 2005 or newer V35 coupe in manual. After doing some research on this site have seen that the newer cars that are specifically manual transmission have excessive oil burning consumption which is a big issue and common. As you can see now I am reconsidering my search criteria. Is this true??

Do any members on here who drive manuals suffer such issues? the most stories I read are mainly from second hand information so would like to hear from owners of manual newer model V35's to see if this is true.

Any other opinions regarding manual later model V35's would be good also.

Anyways thats it thanking you all in advance cheers, never had an issue with my old R33 but from what I can see the RB25 is more solid than the V35 engine.

Cheers

[LatinR33]

Anyone =(

Basically I would like information on which is the best year and transmission V35 to buy. I was going to buy a newer model to avoid the electrical issues but it seems the older models do not suffer the oil issue.

Any information you can provide me would be great. The G35 american forum is saying it is the rev up engine supplied in the 2005/2007 models of manual transmission. Would this mean a nice clean 2004 model would be the best compromise?

Is buying a manual a bad idea?

cheers again

[xscape237]

I could be wrong but i didnt think that the "RevUp" motor was available on the JDM V35?

[08r3308]

xscape you are right we jdm never got revup

i think most oil burning is in usa with infinity cars that are build there not jap?

most of usa build v35 burn oil form what i can see on that site

[LatinR33]

I was under the impression the manual v35's have more power hence have the revup engine.

Do we have many manual owners here?? Any issues?

[turbosuk]

mine is an 03 6sp have had it for 2yrs only prob ive had was the door lock actuator

[LatinR33]

You must be one of the lucky ones.

[NISMO]

I had a manual for a while - 03 model.

No probs at all with the car, other than window actuator on the drivers side.

Mine saw a few track days as well. No excessive oil burning nothing.

I did change the clutch on mine, but i think the stocker wore out due to huge rear tyres and extremely sticky Pilot PS2's.

So i don't think turbosuk is lucky, more like the norm. I actually can't remember any "major" faults with any of the JDM manuals.

I also agree that the JDM didn't get the "rev-up" motor.

[LatinR33]

Interesting seems the 2003/2004 manual is the way to go. Would still like to hear from other manual owners.

The 2006 350z also suffers from oil burning excessively and new engine replacements is common supposedly.

Edited April 5, 2010 by LatinR33

[xscape237]

I have an 03 manual. Had it for almost a year so far. Not a single problem (yet).

[rb26stagea]

I had 2 '03 manual cars (sold one)... The only issues I have had are a door lock actuator on each car, and the crappy bose sound system in one car: cd player didn't work (common), and the subwoofer didn't either. Other than that, both cars were fantastic...

[LatinR33]

I have an 03 manual. Had it for almost a year so far. Not a single problem (yet).

Did you import it yourself or buy it locally here? How many K's?? Seems the older models are the better models in manual as the only issue reported is the window door issues.

[xscape237]

Import myself. Had 60,000 kms, now 80,000.

Put it through 3 track days, a skidpan day and a beginners drift day so far.. Its holding up well

[manda23]

I also have a manual 03 . Not one dot of a problem. Nothing im really suprised not a door or a fault wrong. I dont do track days i drive to work and back and weekend fun.

Mine did come with loads of extra's though i think the previous owner really had alot of pride in taking care of it .

[NISMO]

Interesting seems the 2003/2004 manual is the way to go. Would still like to hear from other manual owners.

The 2006 350z also suffers from oil burning excessively and new engine replacements is common supposedly.

I still haven't found anything to suggest that the cars 03/04 is different to the 05/06 - engine/drive train wise.

Of course they dropped the Brembo's in the 05/06 but other than that, the rest is the same.

Given that the slightly updated interior and the fact that they're newer cars means they go for more at the auctions, its natural that there would be more 03/04 owners here.

Just saying don't take a lack of 05/06 owners as something is wrong with them. Its just that they cost more so less of them.

Personally if i had the choice i would take the 05/06 anyday, as the little updates in the interior actually look a lot better (to me anyway). That and its a series 2, so any little niggling issues would have been ironed out.

Oh and the 06 Z is a different engine - well same engine different specs. It is what the US guys call the "rev up" motor so not surprised it has the same issues. But again, this is a different engine to the JDM 05/06 V35. As far as i know.

[LatinR33]

Thanks Nismo your responses are really appreciated. Out of curiosity what is a "rev up" engine?

Have you heard of many cases of the oil pooling around the spark plugs? Especially the spark plug closest to the firewall?

[NISMO]

The rev-up engine is what the US guys got in their series 2 (05/06).

It was pretty much the exact same car/engine package just tuned to 220kw instead of the 206kw that the 03/04 came with.

This is the engine that the US guys i believe are seeing oil issues with. (off the top of my head. Haven't followed the US sites for a while now). Its also the same engine in the 06 350Z you mentioned.

Can't remember hearing about the oil issues in the plugs, and didn't see any in mine.

The US sites are great as there's alot more of the cars in the US than oz, and compared to Japan the sites are in English, but remember the car would have a different tune to the JDM car so I wouldn't automatically equate a US problem with a JDM problem.

[rb26stagea]

Damnit: I KNEW I'd jinx myself: as of today, I have the (very common) window actuator issue in the drivers door: the window works up/down perfectly, but it has just stopped the courtesy drop when you open/close the drivers door...

[LatinR33]

Seems like the main issue is the windows on the JDM specs.

Hoping to get a 2005/2006 manual V35 in white (grade 4.5) but they seem to be rare. Still going to keep searching in regards to the two oil issues (consumption and in the spark plugs).

[Kam-80]

Thanks Nismo your responses are really appreciated. Out of curiosity what is a "rev up" engine?

Not sure if V35s ever got the RevUp but they were first seen on the 350Z Anniversary edition, not a lot of detailed specs but apparently new camshaft profiles, stronger con-rods and crank-shaft. Nissan claim is a lift in power to 221kw and also an increase in red-line to 7000rpm. Apparently there's an issue with tolerances in the piston rings which caused excessive oil burning. This was an issue for me and after some lengthy testing Nissan Australia replaced my engine (long motor) with a new one, which has fixed the excessive oil consumption of my car (averaged around 300-400ml per 1000kms during testing).