Ok so after a lot of trawling i decided to take the plunge and buy a z32 after a string of hondas/skylines etc... found a peetty much mint uk auto tt for 2.4k with a new engine 7k ago! I snapped it up and was instantly impressed i love it the torqe's addictive and i love tue way tue auto box slips the clutch on a down change to smooth the change! The idle was lumpy so i took it to darren at d2 he did a cracking job found an air leak on the egr (thanks to a crap repair job by the previous owner) anyway he did a great job and even complimented the car saying it was one of the cleanest uk cars hed seen in years! i was dead chuffed with the car after he had worked on it ( highly recomended by the way d2's in strood if u didnt know), he told me there was a small oil leak coming from the vvt solenoid so i booked it back in to get it sorted and a cambelt change plus a few niggly little things.

 

A few days later i drove the car to huddersfield it was faultless and breazed up there anyway on the return jorney i checked the oil before i left and it was fine got home and noticed the oil pressure was a bit low i checked the oil and there was next 2 nothing in there :( all i can think is the leak got worse on the way back, topped up the oil and started the car with crossed fingers and bated breath but sure enough theres a definate knock coming from the rear of the engine so after a lot of swearing and a little bit of crying i decided 2 ask u guys if its an engine out job or if u can do it by taking the sump off assuming the cranks not knackered as well any help would be greatly appreciated as im a complete noob to the zed world

To be honest mate, if it was only leaking a bit and then you took the car on a long journey and it completely lost all its oil, i would say it was the garages fault, they clearly didn't fix it, but make it worse...

From your post, it doesn't sound like the garage did anything with the oil leak, other than make you aware of it. So its not exactly their fault.

 

Sounds like its new engine time..

As the TV advert says 'Shoudl've gone to..........

 

Zedworld !'

to be honest, although you can do it from under the car, you would be better off getting the crank checked. so engine out get it on a engine stand and have plenty of room with which to work with.

 

You might also want to check where the oil leaked from, and get that repaired as well.

 

Engine out is not as bad as it seems, it looks a lot worse due to the amount of cabling that is draped across the engine.

 

in D2s defence they are actually really good with zeds, so would be surprising if it was darren's fault, but i doubt it.

 

If he made you aware of the oil leak and you continued to drive it with out getting it fixed, you cant exactly say it was D2's fault.

To be honest mate, if it was only leaking a bit and then you took the car on a long journey and it completely lost all its oil, i would say it was the garages fault, they clearly didn't fix it, but make it worse...

 

A garage will only do the work the customer asks to be done, if the garage made the customer aware and they failed to get the job done, its hardly the garages fault.

 

Must of been quite a leak though in order to lose all the oil.

Best thing to do would have it recovered/trailered to a specialist where it can be looked at and diagnosed properly. Then you can see what needs to be fixed.

 

Was the oil level still on the dipstick when you checked it? Remember that of the 5 or so litres that the engine holds the dipstick probably only represents 1l or so of that.

a leak from the VVT solenoid is not going to empty the engine of oil. as its at the top of the engine on the intake cams.

Dont get me wrong i dont blame d2 at all i asked darren 2 check it over and he found the leaky solenoid and because i needed the car that weekend i said id bring it back when i could and he advised i keep an eye on the level if anything he did me a favor i broght it to him on monday and he moved work around to fit me in so i could get the car back on friday if anything its my stupid fault for settin the cruse control at 90 and cusing home at 3am my guess is the constant high oil pressure forced more oil passed the solenoid and out the back! When i checked the oil there was a small amount on the bottem of tue dipstick and took about 2 liters to put it back to were it should be, is it worth sorcing a reconditioned engine to save stripping this block down?

a leak from the VVT solenoid is not going to empty the engine of oil. as its at the top of the engine on the intake cams.

 

He told me there was a small oil leak coming from the vvt solenoid so i booked it back in to get it sorted and a cambelt change plus a few niggly little things.

He told me there was a small oil leak coming from the vvt solenoid so i booked it back in to get it sorted and a cambelt change plus a few niggly little things.

 

the vvt solenoid is not going to cause you to lose all your oil unless the damn thing has fallen out and your engine turned up side down with out you noticing.

 

to fix the issue, Darren who knows what hes doing with 300zx's, would have to take the plenum off, and then the intake cam covers, undo the 2 10mm bolts to replace the vvt or at least its seal, then put it all back together.

 

But still, your not going to lose all your oil from that if its leaking with the vvt in the way unless its been over the course of around 3 years with out fixing it or filling it up.

 

ooh.....

Dont get me wrong i dont blame d2 at all i asked darren 2 check it over and he found the leaky solenoid and because i needed the car that weekend i said id bring it back when i could and he advised i keep an eye on the level if anything he did me a favor i broght it to him on monday and he moved work around to fit me in so i could get the car back on friday if anything its my stupid fault for settin the cruse control at 90 and cusing home at 3am my guess is the constant high oil pressure forced more oil passed the solenoid and out the back! When i checked the oil there was a small amount on the bottem of tue dipstick and took about 2 liters to put it back to were it should be, is it worth sorcing a reconditioned engine to save stripping this block down?

 

 

IE: didnt get it fixed.

Edited July 26, 201114 yr by vodkashots

the vvt solenoid is not going to cause you to lose all your oil unless the damn thing has fallen out and your engine turned up side down with out you noticing.

 

to fix the issue, Darren who knows what hes doing with 300zx's, would have to take the plenum off, and then the intake cam covers, undo the 2 10mm bolts to replace the vvt or at least its seal, then put it all back together.

 

But still, your not going to lose all your oil from that if its leaking with the vvt in the way unless its been over the course of around 3 years with out fixing it or filling it up.

 

ooh.....

 

 

 

IE: didnt get it fixed.

 

He didn't say the second part until after :2guns:, he should of said it in the original post then the mix up wouldn't of happened.

He didn't say the second part until after :2guns:, he should of said it in the original post then the mix up wouldn't of happened.

 

booking it back in to get sorted and actually getting it sorted, 2 different things lol

 

ill let you off :) :winkiss:

Hmmm something else must have gone then maybe crank seal? Def no oil in the water and i can see it coming from the bottom of the block/gearbox, guess its gonna b engine out job then, wot u reckon on buying another engine?

Hmmm something else must have gone then maybe crank seal? Def no oil in the water and i can see it coming from the bottom of the block/gearbox, guess its gonna b engine out job then, wot u reckon on buying another engine?

 

would depend if the knock is really bad and is indeed coming from the crank.

 

only problem is sourcing a decent engine with history so you know your definitely getting a good one.

You should swap your knocking engine with Baz, his has knocked for over 8000 miles and still not blown up :D

You should swap your knocking engine with Baz, his has knocked for over 8000 miles and still not blown up :D

 

I thought that knock came from baz not the engine?! hehe

Tell you what, me and Mikey witnessed it the other day first hand, it's very much the sound of a rod about to throw itself, yet seems at the same time to be a very clean knocking that doesn't seem all that threatening, very very odd situation. I'd be nervous driving it around tbh, but then I get fussy if I hear tappet noises.

These are hard to work on if you are going to do it DIY the first time, a lot of garages even struggle with them unless they are a specialist.

 

I would speak to jimmer on here about a possible rebuild, best get it out put a new gasket set in and fully investigate and cure all the issues at the same time. The other thing while it is out is you can get all the deletes done as well as the water bypass and new tubs if you want them.

 

Good luck with it all

i think ill take it to d2 and let them sort it out i havnt got the gear or the garage to even think about rebuilding it or taking it out myself plus being my first zed it all looks a bit daunting under there!!

would depend if the knock is really bad and is indeed coming from the crank.

 

only problem is sourcing a decent engine with history so you know your definitely getting a good one.

 

yea true may be better the devil you know

Thing is, oil can travel, seal wise you`ve got the rear crank, front crank, all the pulley/cam seals the pulleys themselves, the rocker covers(this is where the vvt solenoid can leak as it`s only liquid gasket sealing the cover, bloody stupid of nissan that one!) Also return/supplys to and from tubs/ sump. Then you`re on to internals.