JeffTT

Mmm..no reason for any garage to be quiet at the moment given the millions of cars here. Fully agree. Jeff TT

If you mean the rear of the engine that would be either outer cam covers or the rear crank seal one is plenum off and the other needs gearbox out. Any outer cam cover leaks will run down the block and also fall on to the turbo`s / exhaust manifold and smell when you gun it hard, the rear crank seal will show between the gearbox and engine mating point, having said that it will get so messy it can be hard to tell between the two. A good clean off and then run the car again for a day or so and another look should show it out. Jeff TT

To be honest as far as that cam yes it is, however I until I strip the other covers off I am unsure if either of the other cams are wrong too, several years ago I had one in that all the cams were an alternate one tooth out so +1 -1 +1 -1 was weird as the belt had been changed as a service item in a Nissan dealership in Norway, the guy had a load of hassle with them and he finally shipped it over to us in a container so we could sort it out, since then he comes each year for a service and check over at a staggering...£1,000 travel cost (container both ways) some times our service in bill is less than £250 now that`s customer loyalty for you!! Jeff TT

Zed in the workshop yesterday for a near side turbo swap (yipee!! ... groan) and a request to sort out the poor running and misfire, had a brief look today and the engine hardly ran and was not at all happy, a quick timing check revealed a cold timing setting of +45 btdc !!! So right hand cam belt cover removed and engine timed to tdc and well the pic says the rest.. The belt is around 4 years old and seems in good order but does seem really tight so expecting a failed adjuster allowing a skip of the belt but has since extended out too far??? , maybe a tight camshaft bearing, or foreign object in there, either way a strip down to reveal I guess. Jeff TT

Yes cool, shame that non sprayed on his radiator cross member then eh!! Jeff

The tell tail signs at the cam covers leak can be at either end or just the middle or all three as in this case, the amount of oil that get flicks about can be quite conciderable. The inside of the right hand cam belt cover shows how oily it was inside Unfortunately quite a strip down to get to as the cam sprockets need removing as ell as the back plates and then all need cleaning of course. Jeff

Engine oil leaks are a pain, both in mess and the cost of topping the missing oil up on a regular basis. However some leaks can be more of a worry than others, the front top of the engine is one area to be wary of, any leaks in this area are almost certainly from the cam end seals and will be covering the cambelt with hot oil every time you drive it. As luck would have it a zed in the workshop last week was in dire need of cam seals so took some pics. Here are some of the underside Look horrible and trust me flipping mucky to work on!! continue..............

More common than you might think, starts off with a little fluid leaking out of the back of the cylinder seals, that takes the paint off the brake booster and then moisture just seems to find it most likely from the water content in the old fluid. Jeff TT

Zed in with a few jobs to do, one of which was "the brakes do not work", maybe found why master cylinder was only good for the bin! Jeff

Classic applying modern car hourly rate to a 24 yr old car with potential seized nuts and bolts and as ruisht1 mentioned the electrical connections! any mech worth his salt will also insist on a cambelt swap as well, water by pass, egr valve removal etc. etc so more like £800 if you want it doing right. Jeff TT

Sorry you cannot pm as your not a subscribed member however feel free to email me jeff@zedworld.co.uk Jeff

Most service parts are the same turbo or non turbo, a few differences such as power steering belt are different. Jeff

Following on from a thread I posted a few weeks back about the wiring loom for an auto box self igniting due to it falling across the turbo the insurance company came through and the work commenced on the repair. Now as the loom is an integral wired part of the gearbox and is not available seperately it was a case of repair only, the auto box fuse had also blown and the ecu for the same was damaged. Knowing if any internal damage to the gearbox electrical parts was difficult to predict but it was worth a repair try before writing the box off. So in the pics the loom is shown unplugged from the inner wing and hanging down under the car for easier access, the damage to the cables is clear to see. So each cable was replaced one at a time and insulated.When all of the cables were changed a section of flexible cable conduit was slide over and then two sections of heat wrap I took from an old starter motor cable. So to the test, with a slight apprehension it was started and tested with 100% success!! with all gears selection and no nasty noises. An unrelated wiring fault with the tps appeared a couple of days later due to an engine loom issue but that turned out to be a pre-existing issue but at least the auto-box got a clean bill of health. Jeff

Rich, the UK radiator has a 2 coolers inputs/ out puts on the side headers where the import radiators only have one side, so effectively an opportunity to pass the fluid through the headers a second time as to how much better this is is arguable, a nice air to fluid cooler is a much better option, something we have been an advocate of for many years. Jeff - - - Updated - - - :laugh:

When compared side by side they do look different, the top one is z31 and the lower z32 and thE z32 one been much dearer which seems very typical. Jeff

Just to clarify, the UK zed did NOT have a seperate cooler and used the radiator method the same as the import UK auto`s have the same fail issues that the imports do and mainly for 2 reasons, lack of service and lack of service ( prior owners often the case) As far as the op question the noise you hearing does in fact sound terminal, however if you have access to a ramp then get it up and drain the box, remove the sump and clean out the strainer, you will not get all of the fluid out of the the torque convertor but you can blow the cooler lines clear with an air line etc. No guarantee of a good result but what do you have to loose, a few quid for some fluid and you may be lucky. Jeff TT

Can confirm this is a super venue, had a great day there last year despite a mid afternoon downpour. Jeff TT

Hi Noel, Just found the link you need for the purple top 555 injectors you were enquiring about, have pmed it to you. Cheers Jeff

Hi Rich, Re: our telephone call confirm collection of your zed for Wednesday 26th when your back from your mini break, have a good trip. Jeff TT

EGR deleted. Jeff

Turbo elbows were removed when the engine was checked over all was completely dry. Jeff

Will need to speak again in the morning re: near side turbo gasket Jeff TT

That is how the engine arrived at our workshop, the plenum had been removed prior to then to be powder coated, the bottom pulley was so rusty I did not use it.The smoke issue did not show itself whilst we ran it up and set it up on the ConZult, the fast idle and 2.5k rpm emissions tests was fine too, nothing odd just a mechanical mystery. Jeff

This is the condition the engine arrived at our workshop in: If nothing was amiss why would it need checking over? as you would warranty it of course. Jeff TT

Hi matey, yes need to speak to you in the morning about your brakes :crying: Jeff TT