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Hi there,

Just purchased an R32 GTS-4 off Carsales and encountered two issues. Wondered if anyone could give me a hand "diagnosing" em' ;3

First off, was travelling in a 50 zone today, and speedo was reading ~ 100km/h and I'm 99% sure I wasn't going that fast. The bend in the road I noticed this on would likely have caused me to slide around the bend at this speed.

I'm running stock R33 wheels (16") and no aftermarket diff.

Secondly, I took the car to my mate whose a mechanic (although he rarely works on Skylines) - he noticed what he described as "a huge amount" of gear oil leaking from the transfer case. From the engine to the gearbox, "the vehicle is A1, schmick, perfect, undeniably the cleanest car I've seen in a long ass time" (his words). But from the gearbox to the transfer case, there was, like I said, oil leaking. The guy I purchased the car off was with me and I asked him about it, he mentioned that he had no idea and that he had drained the oil and refilled it at the stick (just flicking it to the side and pouring it in), he used 2lt of - he admitted this was not the "correct" way to do it, but my mechanic said 'that wouldn't cause a leak of that size.'

Now, there was/is also a sponge lodged against the chassis/transfer case soaking oil. I want to hope this is just a seal or something small; but are there any other potentially major problems that come to mind? I want to get a ballpark in mind for the RWC this coming week.

I will edit/reply to this as I think of additional questions, but wanted to just say I really appreciate the support and feedback from you guys on SAU... the community here makes is very easy to transition from turbonerd computer tech to Skyline enthusiast :P

Also, here are some photos that I took today. I'm going to be getting a photographer mate to take photos as I upgrade shit gradually. I'll prolly add a link to my sig for those that froth over sedans.

http://i.imgur.com/wYUMYKH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/H4i5jkl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Cvlz66X.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/sD1wQPM.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/MiO2Y9C.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/NucLzDZ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Dl74AcZ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ThHohRJ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/yNhwtpa.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5Zd95vs.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/bygkotB.jpg

Cheers,

Joe

Edited by Cevzy

Hi mate, if he thought he filled the gearbox through the shifter he has made an important mistake and you need to check before you drive any further.

The shifter goes into the transfer case, it takes auto trans fluid not gear oil, and only about a litre (from memory, please check!). If he drained the gearbox that potentially means you have no gearbox oil atm either.

So you need to get it on a hoist/ramps/stands whatever, find the 2 filler bolts, undo them and see if you can feel fluid in both. Then undo both drain plugs, empty whatever is wherever, and replace them. From memory it's about 1l of auto trans fluid in the transfer case and 4l of gear oil in the gear box.

If everything else is in good condition this is a cheap and easy fix.

When you say "stick"

Do you mean Gear stick or Dip Stick?

Gear stick. Previous owner moved the gear boot and filled it that way.

Also, today the speedo went completely bananas - driving on the freeway at ~ 100, the speedo was beyond 180 km/h and trying to re-loop around back to 0 again. Completely f**ked by the looks of it. I have a friend who may have a spare one which he mentioned he might be able to give to me.

With regards to the gear oil leaking from the transfer case - (fairly sure) this only occurs when the car is running/for a short while after it stops . I haven't had any issues whatsoever and have driven the car for a total of about 10 hours now. The gauges all display healthy levels of fluid/volts/boost(12 on an RB20, thinking of lowering to ~ 8 as this is my daily) and I suspect the only 'weird' smell I can smell is after giving it heaps (either high revs or driving 80km/h+).

Keep in mind this is a GTS-4 so if it's oil pressure gauge has a recommended "normal" reading, it'd be good to know about that if anyone's knowledgeable in that area. xD

Cheers.

Edited by Cevzy

Did you read what Duncan wrote? If the previous owner put gear oil down the gear lever it went into the transfer case (and possibly overflowed as well). If he somehow ran a hose though the gear lever boot into the transfer case that's another story. You need to check.

If he drained the gearbox through the bottom plug and didn't fill it properly then it soon won't be just your speedo that doesn't work.

Also, can you make some recommendations for which auto trans oil and gear oil to put in my GTS-4? I assume it would optimally run on w/e GTR's use seeing as they're both 4WD?

Cheers,

Joe

Any quality (preferably synthetic) ATF for the transfer case.

Something like Syntrax 75W 90 for the gearbox or from Motul: Motylgear 75W 90

I had a post written out but closed the tab accidentally.

After reading a thread that Duncan created himself, I was thinking 2 litres of Chief Mohican Auto Transmission Fluid - ATF Dex III (link) for the transfer case ~ but wondered, it's meant to run on ATF despite it being manual yeah? It's a GTS-4 so I assume it operates very similarly, if not exactly the same as a GT-R gearbox/transfer case other than the diff ratios. Regarding what Duncan said above; that would make a lot of sense. The previous owner said, and I quote, "I just removed the gear-boot and tipped 2 litres of gear oil down the hole and that was it." - so it definitely sounds like he's filled the xfer case with gear oil instead of ATF as you recommended.

With regards to the gear oil, it seems Castol Transmax Z (Duncan's recommendation) isn't readily available from more places like SCA/Repco/Bursons, but this may just be the case in my area (Dandenong and surrounding suburbs).- so I had something like this in mind.

Anyway, I appreciate all the help. This week will be RWC, oil, speedo, coilovers and hoping this f**king leak goes away. :rolleyes:

Edited by Cevzy

Just on a couple of your other question.........8 psi is unachievable. 10 psi is standard for RB20. 12 is fine. Leave it there.

Oil pressure gauges on these things are not worth a pinch of shit. It might work fine. It might read low. You'll never know. Do not trust it.

Just on a couple of your other question.........8 psi is unachievable. 10 psi is standard for RB20. 12 is fine. Leave it there.

Oil pressure gauges on these things are not worth a pinch of shit. It might work fine. It might read low. You'll never know. Do not trust it.

Thanks for this info. All noted.

One other thing. Car currently has a manual boost controller on it. Mate of mine told me to literally remove it and just connect the hoses together using cable ties.

Do I just disconnect the controller from the turbo/wastegate actuator and run it straight to compressor? I've had a look for RB20DET DIY/tutorials but cannot find anything pertaining to it exactly.

Even the installation DIY's I've stumbled across are rather vague or do not appear to have the necessary information. I know the stock location of the wastegate is a bitch to access, but in my case, the manual controller itself is just waiting for cops in order to score an easy EPA :P

[photo for reference]

Edit; judging by the piece of paper I found with "how to adjust boost" in glove box, this is the exact controller I have - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Turbotech-manual-turbo-boost-controller-THE-ORIGINAL-/220798194994

Edited by Cevzy

Pic for reference on oil pressures

OEM oil pressure switches are notorious for giving up (but they are over 20years old) so false / flakey readings show on the stock gauge.

Replaced mine and works as it should ($110 from Kudos. Half price :) ).

Good aftermarket Gauge and Sender will be more accurate.

I believe the standard RB20 set up is as you suggest - connect compressor to wastegate actuator (set at 10 psi).

That said ^, which is true......I would just leave what you have alone. Just hide the boost controller down deeper under the power steering reservoir or strapped under the AFM and the po-po won't be able to see it.

So my first ever gear/transfer oil change went smoothly. Previous owner over filled transfer case like Duncan said and that was what was causing the leak. That's not even the good (or bad?) part.

I went to drain the gearbox and refill with Penrite 75W-90 and the amount that poured out would barely fill a 15ml medicine cup. One more day and bye bye gearbox.

It's now running with 4L of 75W-90 in the gearbox and 2L of Penrite ATF in the transfer case. It's about 50000000x smoother than before. Seals are A1, underbody is schmick again and there is zero sign of even the slightest oil drip.

Next on the TODO list is changing the front-left drive shaft boot/clamp as there's a slight grease "leak". Speedo is also being replaced in next couple of days. I was fined $249 for doing 120 in a 100 zone yesterday. Cops [country] were very friendly and waived the additional fees that would otherwise have been incurred for having a manual boost controller, turbo, car too low (news to me!), exhaust noise too loud; in exchange he asked to drive my car to my destination while his colleague followed us LOL.

Yey.

You were already told a couple of times in this thread that you had no oil in your gearbox.

I can't believe you didn't put oil in straight away!

Between Duncan's first post in this thread and my car being filled with oil, it was never driven, lol. Oil was changed yesterday around noon. I just didn't get around to posting until today.

Between Duncan's first post in this thread and my car being filled with oil, it was never driven, lol. Oil was changed yesterday around noon. I just didn't get around to posting until today.

Ok, glad it didn't do any damage!

Speedo all fixed.

RWC, Wheel Alignment & front-left driveshaft boot to go. :3

Really appreciate the help - you guys make it easy to love my 32 & the Skyline community in general. Talk about new addiction :P

Edited by Cevzy

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