Newbie from VIC

[DraftySquash]

Hi all,

From the western suburbs here. Just got my 2000 R34 GTT registered today! Got it imported from Japan through a mate who is doing them and managed to find a decent one. This one has only done 110,000 Km and had no body rust etc. so was very happy.

I used to own a 25Gt back in 2015 (ate Ramen noodles for years to save up for it), but unfortunately, it got stolen TEN DAYS after I bought it!! Came back from Uni and the car was missing - cops found it in Springvale a month later with a lot of needles  😒
It was too late by then and I had moved on to a different car (300ZX), and after that one got broken into around 2018, I was in a very bad place and decided I would never buy a car again because it was just pointless!!! ~yeah, I have some very bad mojo~ 🥺

But now, with a stable job and a secure garage, I thought I'd get the R34 4D again but not as a daily! I love the R34s but a GTR is still a bit off my pay grade so settled for the GTT instead. 

 

The first step for me is to get this car serviced and have all fluids, belts and spark plugs changed. I might do the brakes at one point too but atm they are fine, the fluids are what I want changed since this car probably sat in a garage for a long time. I'll then get some coilovers since the suspension needs to be changed anyway (the dust cover kit is disintegrating). I'll also upgrade my car alarm to a Viper system and then look at rims and tyres (I'm a sucker for TE37s - might have enough saved in another 3 years for that).

 

Today:

I was planning to do the oil, coolant, air filter and fuel filter change this week. Started on the oil change today and MY GOD what a pain!! I used to think the 300ZX engine bay was cramped - oh I was so wrong! 😂 I've done the usual services on my cars before so it was not like I was going in blind. I looked up all the forum details about what oils to use, what coolant to use, what points to use to jack the car or place stands etc but I did not expect it to be this hard. Long story short - all I managed to do was the oil and filter change. I think I might end up taking it to a mechanic for a coolant change because my SCA stands and trolley jack just can't get far enough underneath to the cross-member and I don't want to be crushed under my favourite car....yet.

Side note: In Dandenong, there used to be a shop that lets you hire their hoists - does anyone know if they have those around? I can't seem to find the Dandenong place anymore. I contacted them off FB almost 6 years ago and I'm not in it now. If anyone know of one, that would save me some time going to a mechanic for the basic services.

Oil: Dark and gooey but no metal pieces.
Oil Filter: Was a b***h to take off but no red flags
Air filter: Yucky! Was black (Smells like fuel which makes me think it may have been running rich? - am I way off?)

 

Concerns:

I have but one concern atm and that is that there was a very small amount of oil leaking where the engine and the transmission connect (Automatic). It may be the rear seal? It's not a massive leak and it does not affect the oil pressures or leak oil all along the driveway. It's been falling into the cover this whole time. I've taken the cover off so I can check the garage floor from time to time. 

I also have not seen my engine temperature gauge ever sit at cold and slowly move up to the right spot, but that might be because every time I saw the car today, it was running. I'll check that again tomorrow. ATM it just sits right in the middle. I may just be paranoid but I don't want an overheating engine while my gauges say everything is fine. 🙈

Other than that, I'm very happy with the car! Feels like it's about time I went back to spending my weekends driving or cutting my arm on stupid sh*t in the engine bay.

 

PS: I will post a pic later on because I underestimated soooo badly today and it was dark by the time I finished!

PPS: I broke the two damn plastic pins that hold the intake funnel section to the front bar. This is the piece made to bring cold air to the airbox. The connection to the airbox is fone, but the two clips just broke off! Should I be worried? Anyone else done that? 

[DraftySquash]

Here are some pics from the auction:

[DraftySquash]

And this is where the leak is happening:

 

[Murray_Calavera]

I'll just leave this quick tip here after reading your joys of getting the car in the air. It should take no more then 10 minutes to get the car safely up on stands. 

So for the front, jack on the tow recovery points (marked in red). Put the jack stands under the lower control arm mounting point (marked in yellow). This photo is of a R34 GTR, however the process is the same.

For the rear, jack under the diff (marked in red). Put the jack stands under the rear subframe or where the lower control arm mounting point (marked in yellow). Which point you use will depend on your stand, pick a nice stable point. 

You've probably already read this but it's worth repeating. When jacking up the car or using stands, stay away from the chassis rails/pinch welds. Even the factory jack point, stay away from that too unless using a factory jack.

I used those jack points for years without issue until I turned into an old man and bought a QuickJack lol. 

[PranK]

Welcome @DraftySquash!

If you open an image in Dropbox, just right click it and 'copy image' - you can then just paste into the editor here. I have fixed your images but the auction pics just linked to the same pic twice.

With the engine temp, are you saying you've only ever seen the car at temperature? I think if its sitting idle and the temp is in the middle, it sounds ok. Just keep an eye on it if you're worried and see what happens in traffic as thats the real test.

@Murray_Calavera we've been in this new house almost 3 years and I haven't gotten the garage cleaned up but as soon as its tidy in there a Quickjack is my first purchase! Especially with how often I have to lift the BMWs! 😭

[DraftySquash]

18 hours ago, Murray_Calavera said:

I'll just leave this quick tip here after reading your joys of getting the car in the air. It should take no more then 10 minutes to get the car safely up on stands. 

So for the front, jack on the tow recovery points (marked in red). Put the jack stands under the lower control arm mounting point (marked in yellow). This photo is of a R34 GTR, however the process is the same.

For the rear, jack under the diff (marked in red). Put the jack stands under the rear subframe or where the lower control arm mounting point (marked in yellow). Which point you use will depend on your stand, pick a nice stable point. 

You've probably already read this but it's worth repeating. When jacking up the car or using stands, stay away from the chassis rails/pinch welds. Even the factory jack point, stay away from that too unless using a factory jack.

I used those jack points for years without issue until I turned into an old man and bought a QuickJack lol. 

Thanks a lot @Murray_Calavera
So I assume when using a trolley jack, I should jack up each side one at a time and put the stands up? 

And with the stands, do you put them on the actual control arm mounting? or the frame? I THINK it goes on the mount itself as it's a thicc boy, but just want to be sure.

I have uploaded the pic here:
I'm talking about what's highlighted in blue vs green.

And yes, I saw a lot of comments and forum posts about where NOT to jack up! 

[DraftySquash]

On 02/07/2024 at 11:28 AM, PranK said:

Welcome @DraftySquash!

If you open an image in Dropbox, just right click it and 'copy image' - you can then just paste into the editor here. I have fixed your images but the auction pics just linked to the same pic twice.

With the engine temp, are you saying you've only ever seen the car at temperature? I think if its sitting idle and the temp is in the middle, it sounds ok. Just keep an eye on it if you're worried and see what happens in traffic as thats the real test.

@Murray_Calavera we've been in this new house almost 3 years and I haven't gotten the garage cleaned up but as soon as its tidy in there a Quickjack is my first purchase! Especially with how often I have to lift the BMWs! 😭

Thanks a lot @PranK

I just tried again, but I seem to keep getting CORS error on the site. ERR_BLOCKED_BY_ORB
It maybe the Chrome browser that I'm using? But I just don't seem to have any luck 

[PranK]

Post a link and I'll add it.

[GTSBoy]

1 hour ago, DraftySquash said:

do you put them on the actual control arm mounting?

Yes. On the inner end of the LCA, where the bush and mounting bolt go through. This is where the car carries the weight transfer between the suspension and the body already. Best place.

 

[Murray_Calavera]

2 hours ago, DraftySquash said:

So I assume when using a trolley jack, I should jack up each side one at a time and put the stands up

The front yep, one side at a time. The rear though, under the diff you'll do the rear all at once which is nice

[DraftySquash]

@GTSBoy and @Murray_Calavera: Thank you for your help!!! I feel less stressed about doing the coolant change over the next weeks now.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to change the fuel filter. I have been looking at it and thinking what a pain taking off those clamps are going to be 🤣

 

And a special thank you to @PranK - you've had to repost my images 3 times now!!! I appreciate all your help 

[Murray_Calavera]

4 minutes ago, DraftySquash said:

thinking what a pain taking off those clamps are going to be

You'll be fine mate, it's an easy job

[DraftySquash]

On 2/7/2024 at 11:28 AM, PranK said:

With the engine temp, are you saying you've only ever seen the car at temperature? I think if its sitting idle and the temp is in the middle, it sounds ok. Just keep an eye on it if you're worried and see what happens in traffic as thats the real test.

So, when I turned on the car today, the temperature gauge was actually at Cold (phew) and then it gradually climbed to normal temperature. 
 

random question on the oil pressure behaviour. It sits at 4 or just below it when stopped or cruising. 
when I give it gas while driving, it slowly climbs up to just past 4. I’ve read that just below 4 is normal, but is it weird to see the pressure go up when I give it gas? 
I can kind of understand the pressure building when the engine is accelerating but hoping to be less paranoid about my car and learn her in’s and out’s 😂

[GTSBoy]

Should run up to about 6 or so at high revs.

But the stock oil pressure gauge is a piece of shit and can't be trusted, so make few to no decisions based on what you see it do.

[Murray_Calavera]

@DraftySquash

Yeah... maybe think of those gauges as a super rough estimation of oil pressure and engine temperature. 

If you want to see your actual engine temp and oil pressure, you're going to need an aftermarket solution. I'll post a photo of my dash, this is a much neater solution in this day and age. I can't think of any reason why someone would start adding individual gauges. 

So grab your dash, then add sensors for all the extra things you want to see. 

As for what to expect from oil pressure, super quick run down = cold oil, higher pressure. hot oil, lower pressure. Low revs, lower pressure. higher revs, higher pressure. The values will change based on the viscosity of oil used, the actual temperature of the oil, the type of oil pump used, then more nuanced stuff like clearances in the engine. 

[DraftySquash]

@Murray_Calavera ohhh.myyyy.gawwwwd 😍 that dash is so much cleaner. 
yeah I’m someone who loves older cars, but hate using old tech. A digital dash would always be the way forward. Did you install that yourself? 

Thanks for the explanation on oil pressure. I’ll just take it as reference. 
 

Also, your engine light is on 😅😅😅

[Murray_Calavera]

2 minutes ago, DraftySquash said:

Did you install that yourself? 

Yep, I installed it, the sensors, wired everything up so things like the factory blinkers work etc. Fortunately it's not a hard job, just time consuming sorting the wiring out. 

If you think this dash is nice, you should check out the actually sexy dashes lol. There would be a fair few people out there that think the IC7 is ugly. 

The new and sexy Haltech dash - 

https://www.haltech.com/news-events/uc-10dash/

Here is a, I hate having money option from Motec - 

https://precisionracing.com.au/product/motec-c1212-display/

[Murray_Calavera]

It's so pretty, but I cry at the price (this setup was about $7,500 USD)

 

[DraftySquash]

On 2/7/2024 at 9:33 PM, Murray_Calavera said:

Yep, I installed it, the sensors, wired everything up so things like the factory blinkers work etc. Fortunately it's not a hard job, just time consuming sorting the wiring out. 

If you think this dash is nice, you should check out the actually sexy dashes lol. There would be a fair few people out there that think the IC7 is ugly. 

The new and sexy Haltech dash - 

https://www.haltech.com/news-events/uc-10dash/

Here is a, I hate having money option from Motec - 

https://precisionracing.com.au/product/motec-c1212-display/

Hahaha you know what? I was just looking up these aftermarket dashes for the R34 GTT and I saw the Haltech one and I thought that would be nice. I think it’s the double gauges that do it for me 😅

 

Yeah I might never be able to afford the Motec 😂😂

Atleast for the time being, I want to update the bulbs on these gauges so I can actually see what it shows. Currently feels like I’m trying to read numbers while in a movie theatre 

[Kinkstaah]

42 minutes ago, Murray_Calavera said:

@DraftySquash

I can't think of any reason why someone would start adding individual gauges. 

Well, the R34 has 3 big gauges in the center already that aren't of a great amount of use...

And you can get dual gauges like this:

https://www.glowshiftdirect.com/10-color-digital-dual-pressure-gauge/
https://www.glowshiftdirect.com/10-color-digital-celsius-dual-temperature-gauge/

Throw an AFR/Wideband in there too, and well, save yourself thousands and thousands of dollars. There's also this:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/313586179215 which will give you a gauge in the ash tray slot which is otherwise useless and you can arrange your dual gauges, wideband, boost gauges or whatever else you dream of :p

My head unit also uses Torque which can read ODB2 and customize any possible ODB2 channel (tho this is not R34 natively available)