It absolutely pisses coolant (it is coolant) out of the bottom. It's running down the bell housing, and onto the floor, so it's from just left of centre at the back of the engine

 

But I'll be f*cked if I can see where it's coming from, let alone get my hand to it.

 

I guess when it expired, it blew some hose that's impossible to see.

 

Well f*ck it. I'm through spending money on this heap of shit.

 

Does anyone want to offer me something for it? For breaking or fix, you'll have to get it taken away on a flatbed.

 

1989 Jap import, 45k miles, cambelt has been done, uprated autobox cooler fitted, underdrive pulley set, painted engine covers, steel braided fuel lines, 90% silicone coolant & vacuum hoses, stainless boost hoses, stainless radiator hoses. Leather interior (needs a retrim).

Only mechanical problem (that I know of) now is this coolant leak from some mysterious place on the back of the engine. Maybe one of the hard pipes. Engine out job to fix I believe.

az, are you sure its not the heater matrix lines ?

 

they are at the back of the engine in roughly that place....

it does as craig sez sound like the matrix pipes which are prone to splitting

I replaced them both, both are dry.

 

Wherever it is coming form, it's coming from further down than my hand will reach. Which makes me think it's either where the heater feed/return join the head/water pump pipe, or the pass. side turbo feed (the one you cant reach without taking the engine out)

 

Come on. someone out there must want one of these heaps of shit?

 

[This message has been edited by aaronjb (edited 02-02-2002).]

Aaron have you considered breaking it yourself, I would be interested in some parts. How much you looking for whole car?

Is it a problem that will cost loads? Or is it a time problem?

I think leave it for a week or so, find the problem and then decide. I think your judgement will be clouded by rage at the moment.

 

Sorry to hear about it mate.

 

Stuart

JRTT - There's no way I'd break it myself, I dont have the space, time or the inclination anymore.. I'd be liable just to smash the thing into little tiny pieces with the biggest hammer I can find..

Not sure what I'd be looking for for it though.. I've sunk so much into it that I'll be paying it off for the next 20 years anyway.. I doubt anyone would stretch to 2k for it. Perhaps it can just sit in the garage and rot, make a nice present for whoever buys my house next.

 

Stuart - I can't feel the leak, let alone see it, so it seems like it's an engine out job to find & fix. I dont have the gear, or space, or inclination to do that, nor the money to pay someone else to do it.

Really sorry for you. You done nothing but put hard work into that car and when you got it running I thought that it wouldnt be long till you are using it.

 

 

Wewll I just had another look with an inspection mirror, and there is really only one bit it can be coming from, the passingder side turbo coolant feed.

Which i tried to change, but the only way i could see to get at the hose would be to have tkaen the engine out.

i guess it will just sit in the garage and rot

You can run the turbo's without the coolant ....

 

Just a thought.

Aaron m8, you really don't want to get rid of it after all the effort you've put in.

 

If you can wait a few weeks, I've got an engine crane and all the tools, if worse comes to the worst I'll gladly help you remove and replace the engine.

 

Drop us a line or catch you on messenger.

 

Tim

Don't waste all yer hard work Aaron, it WILL be worth it in the end, c'mon you know it.

The turbo's DO NOT have to have the water feed in, the passenger side turbo is the one that CAN come out with engine in, fiddly yes i know, but if you can find any back street garage with a 4 poster ramp, ask them if you can rent the space for a day and get it up there, makes life so much easier to do.

chill man, please........

smithy

Thanks for all the messages of support guys.. This car is *really* pi55ing me off at the moment, as you can probably tell!

 

Andy - I'm going to try your approach.. The only thing is that when I did all the work, I couldn't actually find all four turbo coolant feeds - which is a slight problem..

 

Anyway I'm going to try that, if that fails, then it's gonna have to be engine out - because I dunno where else water could be coming from (I've checked the metal lines head->heater and waterpump->heater, and they are dry, not dripping off anywhere on those).

 

Last time I filled the system, I tipped in a load of red dye - so it should be pretty easy to spot where it's coming from, I hope (thanks for that tip Harve)..

 

Tim - if it's engine out, then I might just take you up on that offer!

 

Cheers,

Az

Well, I've taken the inlet manifold off *again*. I've crammed my arm down the back of the engine until it bled. I can't find anywhere that it's leaking from.

 

Fuck this. As far as I'm concerned, I no longer own a 300ZX. I'm sick of the sight of the fucking thing now, I just want rid.

 

Someone make me a reasonable offer and it's yours. I've sunk enough cash into this fucking heap of shit to put me in debt for the rest of my life, so I dont really give a rats ass about losing money on it.

 

[This message has been edited by aaronjb (edited 03-02-2002).]

Aaron, is the coolant system completely coupled up whilst the manifold is off, or can you block up all the disconnected hoses and fill the system up with coolant??.

if you can them I can find that leak for you very easily!!!just borrow my pressure tester which will presurise the coolant system and find the leak!!!!!!!

yours Syko.

syko - thanks for the offer, in the end I think I found the hose, just can't get to it..

 

So what I've done is bypass the coolant feed to the passenger side turbo entirely - the drivers side is still water cooled (because the lines are a bugger to bypass that side).

 

I only ran the car for a little while earlier, but there doesn't appear to be a leak (didn't really want to run it for long - I was getting very wet laying down in the rain ).. So fingers crossed, when I start it up again in a day or so, that there is still no leak..

 

Still, inlet manifold off, hoses rerouted, and back on again in a day.. not bad I thought.. even found the time to tighten my squealing accessory belts..

 

Think I could do with a bath now tho!

Yeah, come one Aaron, stick with it.

I know its easy for me to say cos nothing like this has happened to my car.

I wish i could help you but I dont know if I can.

Nice one mate!

 

See I told ya last night, once you know where it's coming from no worries...just a case of sorting it!

 

Nowt worse than a leak or a dodgey leccy problem to really piss you off.

 

Bravo!!!

 

Az,

So is it a pipe that's leaking or the turbo water jacket ? (or can't you see?)

Andy - leaking hose I think, unfortunately it's the one that I can't get my hand to properly, let alone any leverage on or a pair of pliers to to get those stupid spring clips off...

 

Or it could be the metal pipe there, a lot of those small pipes are very corroded on my car (some have gone right through near the end). So I figured it would be best to trim the system back to the good point that I could see..

 

Remains to be seen how the stock turbos hold up with no coolant feed (to one side at least)..

don't run the turbos without the coolant feed as then it will be an engine out job.

 

You need the right tools to work on these suckers. Buy these

 

1: MOST IMPORTANT TOOL - A fluro lead light, none of these normal bulb lights they're crap but a proper fluoroscent bulb thats about 8-10inches long so you can stuff it down places.

 

2. Find a pair of really long bent needle nose pliers (i think they're about 8inches long with a 60 degree bend then another 2-3 inches).

 

When working on 300's nothing even comes close to having the right tools ....

 

The drivers side can be done, you have to take the master cylinder out to get at the coolant lines, so if you've got the battery out the passenger side should be easier.

 

My legend auto tech guy can do all this shit in the space of hours so it can be done (but a little while longer) for us mere mortals. Shit he's changed my clutch master cylinder and then clutch line in an hour. His biggest thing he says to me is gotta have the right tools.

 

Don't give up man !

 

Rowan

Aaron mate, I know how u feel but finally got mine sorted out! If you ever need a hand when things go tits up just give me a shout, your only round the M25 30 mins tops.

 

 

Az, im the guy who fucked his exhaust getting your window ( think its you anyway). Gives me a sneeky excuse to tell the wife i need to upgrade to a nice SS performance one. HEHE

Seriously, how much do you want for it if u want rid? I might be interestred, contact through my bro, Timmy Turbo.

 

[This message has been edited by Leo Wanker (edited 03-02-2002).]

 

[This message has been edited by Leo Wanker (edited 03-02-2002).]

Oh joy.. so I can't bypass the turbo coolant feeds then

 

Strange, the drivers side can't have had coolant for a long while - the throttle body coolant pipes were (are) totally blocked anyway..

 

If that's the case.. then I think it's time it found a new home.. There's no way I'm dropping the transmission in my garage, just dont have the space.. And there's no way I can change that hose - if it even is the hose - even with pliers with a million bends in 'em.. I can't even see the thing, let alone get my hand to it..

Az,

Call Pete at SE. He was telling myself and Crazy Eddie that you can bypass the cooling when we were discussing the fate of the car with oil in the cooling system. (One of the potential causes was a cracked turbo housing that lets oil weep into the water jacket). I think[/] Pete said the race cars ran without water cooling so road cars would be fine, but you wanna double check for peace of mind.

Aaron, when I did my turbo conversion on my bmw the guy at Broady Britain Racing(B.B.R.)who supplied me the turbo kit said they never fitted coolant lines on the turbos' due to them being low boost, only with serious boost levels will u need them.

just my two penny's worth.