Hi folks. Anyone who was at Zedworld on Sat may recall my little escapade. I took Hollings out for a quick spin to give him a manual shift demo, only to pop the dip stick out of the block and cover the passenger manifold with my fresh oil. :blushing:

 

Anyway, after being mightily relieved to find out it was just the dip stick and not an impending engine melt down - Jamie very kindly degreased what he could and topped up the oil again. On my way home everything seemed to be well and I thought no more of it.

 

Then on Sunday I took the car out for an early morning blast - after overtaking a few slower moving cars I checked my mirror only to find I could hardly see the cars I'd just passed cos of smoke (slight exaggeration). So I pulled over and checked the dipstick again - it was fine. I blipped the throttle a few times while stationary and nothing again. So I got back on my way again. But I noticed a pattern with the smoke which was still being deposited pretty regularly. Every time I booted it, it was fine, but as soon as I lifted off I got a puff of smoke from the arse end. Trouble is I don't know where it was coming from - the exhaust or the engine bay.

 

I was telling myself it was just a bit of residual oil hiding somewhere that kept getting flung onto the manifold every now and then. But I don't understand why it did it just when I lifted off??

 

There isn't anything else which could cause a puff of somke when lifting off after gunning it, is there?

 

Your thoughts please

I'm guessing you were only able to gas it in the lower gears in town, 1st and 2nd are more or less ok for me, it's a sustained blast in 3rd or 4th that gives me a rear view whiteout after gear change..perhaps allowing longer for pressure build up..?

 

I can feel a forged engine and crippling pains in the wallet coming on.

 

Be interested to hear what the expert diagnosis is.

 

Cheers

H

Bad news leo, Hope all gets sorted matey!

 

Was a good ride though for the record ;)

Insanezed, wastegates open at a preset max boost (controlled by the actuator spring rating) and close when you lift off the throttle, recircs or dump/blow off valves operate (open) when you close the throttles (the vacuum created operates recirc/bov).

 

Turbo labyrinth seals are more likely to leak at lower revs, idle or even when engine is off and parked facing uphill.

 

Cheers

H

when i had an oil leak that dropped oil on my turbos and caused smoke to billow out from behind teh engine it was most noticable when i turned it off or when idling when hot. so i would assume if it was residual it would be the that you would experience it. n01 question is why did the dip stick pop off, syptom or problem? i would tend to agree that thsi is probally an issue with pressure relief from teh crank case because of faulty pcvs or something of the like. if i understand correctly the sump wil always have a higher pressure than the amibent atmostphere? to a degree hence the need for the "pressure control valve?" (ptu)? :/ so that this pressure can be vented safely and stay within emmisions regulations. if it was teh piston rings would it not smoke fairkly consisently, you should be able to see it puff up from the rear of the car when on the throttle, which tyouve tried with your broom trick. hopefully zedworld will give you a nice simple wallet friendly answer. that might be aload of absolute twaddle im not sure, im pretty much thinking allowed. but if that does make sense and please correct me if ive misunderstood or misinformed , ive learnt some things about engines since joing this forum.

Insanezed, wastegates open at a preset max boost (controlled by the actuator spring rating) and close when you lift off the throttle, recircs or dump/blow off valves operate (open) when you close the throttles (the vacuum created operates recirc/bov).

 

Turbo labyrinth seals are more likely to leak at lower revs, idle or even when engine is off and parked facing uphill.

 

Cheers

H

 

Ah yeah, what was I thinking?

what was the result of this?

I did another 250 miles in mine and it's now a basket case. I'm now not 100% sure that it's the internals that are knkd, sounded terrible when I got it home but I think this was just lack of oil. It's now spat any oil that was left all over my drive so it may just be an external leak that was spraying on the turbos/exhaust when boosting. Better build a forged engine though - just to be on the safe side ;-)

 

Cheers

H

On the compression test it should be.

 

Minimum compression on a twin turbo is 121psi and max is 174 with no more than 14psi between any 2 cylinders

 

On a N/A its 136psi minimum with a max of 186psi, again with no more than 14psi between cylinders

what was the result of this?

 

Very low compression on 2 cylinders, most probably piston rings.

 

Verdict - fooked :crying:

 

Weighing up my options at the mo, but most probably a rebuild ASAP.

 

Cheers

You have my sympathy mate, let me know if you get any good deals on parts etc, I'm in the same boat. Looking at Eagle rods and Wiseco over size pistons from the USA (guess wherebay) for about £850 delivered with duties paid. It's stuff like gaskets that are the killer, might as well do the timing belt whilst engine is out, do water pump whilst doing the belt...etc..etc

Cheers

H

Very low compression on 2 cylinders, most probably piston rings.

 

Verdict - fooked :crying:

 

Weighing up my options at the mo, but most probably a rebuild ASAP.

 

Cheers

 

maybe worth seeing if zxtt still has any bottom ends had some good stuff then basically hybriding the two blocks. use your heads etc. worth a thought to save your wallet and your ears getting a bashing from her indoors.

maybe worth seeing if zxtt still has any bottom ends had some good stuff then basically hybriding the two blocks. use your heads etc. worth a thought to save your wallet and your ears getting a bashing from her indoors.

 

Good idea in theory.

 

However, I havn't got any tools or anywhere dry to work on an engine. Nor do I have the inclination or patience. My expertise lies elsewhere, so I leave the experts to it!

 

The Zed isn't my main concern at the mo, so will see what happens in the next few weeks and then decide how much money I'm gonna spend/waste. If any at all. Might just weigh her in fer scrap.. and buy a proper car instead!!

christ dont go weighing the whole thing in, at least break it :D the vultures are already circling lol.

I might just park it on the road outside my house and let the local Chavs do the breaking.. With a bit of luck a few of them will kill themselves and I'll get fully reimbursed from the insurers.

 

Hang on - that's not the stupidest idea I've had. Brilliant!

 

Pure Genius :duffer:

I might just park it on the road outside my house and let the local Chavs do the breaking.. With a bit of luck a few of them will kill themselves and I'll get fully reimbursed from the insurers.

 

Hang on - that's not the stupidest idea I've had. Brilliant!

 

Pure Genius :duffer:

 

:detective:

Leo, Send Jimmer a pm on here. He is a wizard at rebuilding a 300zx engine and if you are looking for standard rebuild the cost will not be that much. The cost spirals out off control when upgrading to forged internals, bigger tubs, bigger i/c's, uprated clutch, etc.....

 

He can turn around a rebuild around very quickly and to suit your budget. Worth considering if you want to keep your zed matey.

 

Al.

Thanks Alan,

 

Already been in touch - Jimmer has been more than helpful.

 

Although I'm a touched miffed with the car, the Zed is far too good to let her go to waste.. and it was probably my fault the engine damaged occurred on account of me being a complete doughnut (but the less said about that the better). A rebuild it will be, just need to sought the funds first.

 

Cheers bud

Sorry to hear your bad news Leo...:sad:

 

I hope you get it sorted mate; and for not too many £££s. That's a tidy looking car you have and worth saving IMO.

 

Richard:cool3:

That's a tidy looking car you have and worth saving IMO.

 

Agreed!