If some of you rememeber I had something at the back of the engine go about 6 weeks back and steam everywhere.

 

Cars been in garage since till I could afford to sort it out. I thought it was one of the little water pipes at the back.

 

Anyway, towed it to local garage (bramford engineering in ipswich) so they could have a look at it.

 

They reckon there is a little pressure thing at back of engine block.. thin metal plug around where the little pipes are (above the turbos) and that this has rusted through and that's where the steam burst though.

 

Does anyone know what this thing is ?

 

They are saying they will need to take engine out or gearbox, clutch out to sort it, so obviously best to go with geatbox/clutch out.

 

Does that seem sensible.

 

That being the case, I was thinking of getting them to replace all the little hoses. Courtesy nissan do a kit for them, but not got time to get from states. Does anyone in UK sell the kits (nissan uk claim you have to get everything individually).

 

Also, seeing as geatbox and clutch is coming off, I figure the clutch is on it's last legs, so might as well do that too. Is there any benefit in fitting an RPS clutch rather than a standard nissan one ?

 

stu

Engine out? LMFFFAO - sorry but that is just STUPID!!! It takes around 1 1/2 to 2 hours to remove the upper intake MAX. Then everything they need is there - why pull the engine FFS???

 

In terms of what clutch to go for - that is entirely dependant on what mods you have/are going to have in the next year or two....

 

HTH

 

CheerZ,

 

Andy

Andy,

Could they mean a core plug ? Is there one down there somewhere ?

Hi Guy's

Have been through this myself.

Came home one day and noticed coolant on the floor of the drive.

Of course it was the middle of winter and bloody freezing.

Anyway had a look under the car the next day and the coolant was coming out of the bottom of the gearbox, there is a small drain channel there.

Not a job for me christmas week!!!!!.

So drove it to my local Nissan garage, had to fill up with water 4 times in 6 mile!!!!!!!

Anyway they got it up on the ramps and sure enough out the bottom of the gearbox is coolant escaping.

They said it was one of the core bungs at the back of the engine block( there is 3 ). Between the engine block and the gearbox.

So left it with them to remove the gearbox and fit a new core bung.

Well i get a phone call the next day, basically they came and picked me up to show me the car. The gearbox is out and it isn't the rear core bungs!!!blx!!!!.

Anyway, fill the car up with water and it comes pissing down the back of the engine, it's like a bleedin waterfall!!!!

They said we can only fix it by taking the engine out!!! for feks sake!!!!!.

Not alot i could do with the gearbox already out!!!!.

I get a courtesy car over Xmas, the engine comes out and sure enough core bung 90p worth!!!!. Apparently it's right at the back of the engine in the vee.

Anyway while the engine was out had the cambelt changed, rear crank oil seal, cam seals, plugs etc and the brake pads changed.

the bill came to £1100.

he he good fun owning these Zeds!!!

;)

Cheers Dave.

Originally posted by AndyP

Andy,

Could they mean a core plug ? Is there one down there somewhere ?

 

If they do then its still upper intake off then lower intake - lower intake will take an extra 30 mins to remove but then I can't think of anything they wouldn't be able to access. While they are down there, get them to replace the det sensor and its sub harness too ;)

 

People are far too keen to pull the engines on these cars - always makes me wonder if they actually know what the problem is and are doing it in the hope the fault is obvious once out. Also, of course, engine out means nice high priced job ;) All IMHO of course ;) :D

 

HTH

 

CheerZ,

 

Andy

I think when people jump to the 'engine out' philosophy its possibly a warning that they dont really know for sure and if its not what they first thought they've wasted their time on it and so its easier to pull the engine in case its something else. That or they dont know there are other ways of getting to the obscure parts - which proves they dont work on these cars at all.

 

If you dont mind paying the extra - make sure you get other things done like Andy said to at least make it worthwhile to have the engine out so you arnt here again if something else goes!

Andy, thanks for advice.

 

yeh they think it is a core plug. They reckon they can see staining under it, and that that is what has gone. But they say that

they can't get to it without taking gearbox out, then trying to get

to it from below. I thought it would still be above the turbos and so difficult to access still, but they reckon this will get them in.

 

I did ask them why they couldn't just take the manifold off the top, etc but they figured this wouldn't get them down far enough.

 

The thing is, I need a clutch anyway.. it's done 50K and is nearly done.. I've been adjusting it, etc but it's on it's last legs.

 

Provided that the _can_ get to it with the gearbox out, plan is to get them to replace the core plug (maybe all 3 would be best), and I've ordered a complete set of the turbo water by-pass hoses (what you get in the kit from courtesy nissan) from my local nissan dealer too (about same prices as courtesy and no customs and all that shite). So I'm gonna get them to replace as many of the hoses while they are in there, seeing as they are all now 14 years old. Will they need to take the top stuff off for them ?

 

I suppose the only thing is if they take gearbox out, and still can't get to it.. but if you say it's only another 2 hours labour, hopefully that won't be the end of the world then.

 

stu

Yeah the plenum WILL have to come off to replace those hoses... I see where you're coming from with the clutch etc - it was the engine removal that worried me ;)

 

CheerZ,

 

Andy