JeffTT

and with some ( lots and lots of ) fiddling and twiddling and as if by magic the turbo is out!!! [ATTACH=CONFIG]69208[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]69209[/ATTACH] With the manifold nuts now easy to get to, the cause of all of the grief .... the blown manifold gasket! [ATTACH=CONFIG]69210[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]69211[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]69212[/ATTACH] Now just to put it back together......

There has been a few threads recently about turbo swaps without removing the engine and by pure chance in the workshop today I had the opportuntity to take a few pics when working in the same area. As it happens there was nothing wrong with the turbo, this poorly zed had a noisy manifold gasket but of course to gain access to the manifold required the turbo removal. Its interesting to see quite how involved this job can be and the lack of room, also when all removed the area looks like a bomb site!! Enjoy !! Jeff TT Starting off with the booster and brake master cylinder removed to gain some access. Down pipe and starter removed gives some more access. Removing the water feed banjo bolt gave the first view of the "awkward " turbo nut the two other rear nuts are a doddle. Continue................

There has been a few threads recently about turbo swaps without removing the engine and by pure chance in the workshop today I had the opportuntity to take a few pics when working in the same area. As it happens there was nothing wrong with the turbo, this poorly zed had a noisy manifold gasket but of course to gain access to the manifold required the turbo removal. Its interesting to see quite how involved this job can be and the lack of room, also when all removed the area looks like a bomb site!! Enjoy !! Jeff TT Starting off with the booster and brake master cylinder removed to gain some access. [ATTACH=CONFIG]69203[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]69204[/ATTACH] Down pipe and starter removed gives some more access. [ATTACH=CONFIG]69205[/ATTACH] Removing the water feed banjo bolt gave the first view of the "awkward " turbo nut the two other rear nuts are a doddle. [ATTACH=CONFIG]69206[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]69207[/ATTACH] Continue................

Would`nt it be funny if it was a replica based on an ferrari? Jeff TT

When driving your zed with a good load on the electrical system such as heater, lights, demisters etc. the alternator gets a little warm in fact very warm, what then do you think would happen to a warm or more so hot alternator plunged into cold water by virtue of a flooded road.............a busted alternator! Unusual I will accept, and in this case an engine busting flood too, but have seen alternators fail electrically from a big puddle splash, undertrays are a pain but do give water splash protection. Jeff TT

Yes agree with Mark, a close up with the fracture line outlined clearly shows it was not cut, a replacement will soon have it sorted, do not drive it until fixed of course. Jeff TT

Do you mean fitting new non Tein shocks with the Tein springs and top mounts ? of so provided they match up in piston and body length they should be ok. Jeff TT

Drivers footwell, top row 4th from left 10amp. (RED) Jeff TT

Having seen a few threads over the years by frustrated owners unable to match cambelt timing marks against the backplate, I had an opportunity whilst changing a cambelt this morning to grab a picture of the issue and the cause of the problem, it demonstrates why the cambelt & sprockets timing marks are often at odds with the back plate marks and why the backplate marks are for rough estimate only. The backplate holes have a small but not insignificant amount of movement around the fixing bolt and when tightened to the block can slip left and right if not held in the correct place, the picture shows the centre section where the left and right hand backplates meet, they have very specific cut out that are supposed to be matched up before nipping the bolts up, this one was clearly not centred and left the left hand marks a good way out, not exactly a problem provided your in the know... Jeff TT

As Mark explained removing the lower arm is the best way to access the ball joint, just remember to swap over the cone shape top seat. Jeff TT

Pin 20 is an earth signal, the 12v power to the reverse lights is ignition switched so if you do need a switched 12v signal supply that will not help, however if you just want the camera to power up when in reverse rather than the camera be triggered then you can pick up any 12v supply and use the pin 20 to switch the camera on/off. The ecu for the autobox is to the left of the engine ecu in the passenger footwell. Jeff TT

Some times because of financial reasons or just been keen undertaking work on your zed yourself can be very rewarding or sometimes can be less than, been able to know you limitations of either knowledge, skill or tools available can be a difficult but a crucial one. So case in point, this zed presented with a very smokey drivers side exhaust, in fact quickly filling the workshop so something was well wrong, the owner had recently ( 2 weeks previous ) removed the engine with the help of a couple of mates and fitted a pair of new turbo`s following the complete failure of the drivers side turbo.....erm yes same side again! Having spanked the best part of £1k on the turbo`s oil gaskets, ramp and tool hire , butties and beer for his mates this was a very unhappy owner, having covered just 10 miles before the smoke returned with avengeance. So with the previous trouble been recent and ongoing the engine was whipped it for a looksey. The new turbo`s were well.... obvious and seemed bolted up reasonable well, except for a few clips and bits ( the loose bolt in the pic is a bit of a slip up though) The clearly damaged o/s turbo was removed and returned to the turbo supplier and we set about looking into what had happened at engine level whilst we waited for the report on the turbo unit. We rotated the engine and performed leak down test on all cylinders, the results were not great but not looking in anyway responsible for the turbo damage.Oil lines were removed and blown out and all seemed clear, the sump was removed and the pick up checked, and all seemed clear. The report came back from the turbo company and was very detailed, the unit had been stripped and all parts inspected and the part damage was detailed, the shaft bearing had been electro scanned (?) and the results were conclusive, the bearing damage was done at the original start up! the ownder had been adamant he turned the engine over with the fuel pump fuse out etc several times, so what was the cause? back to the engine, the suppy tubes were all ok but we looked at the feed from the block a little closer and by blowing back from the gallery could see little strands of orange......yep silicon sealant. To be fair would this of been noticed by a garage doing the job, who to say, however just changing a failed part without knowing the cause is always a risk, investigating further the rocker covers had orange sealant showing....but the pick up was clear very strange, till later speaking with the owner and previously the shells had been changed after a slight knock had started, of course at that time the sump and pick up were cleared out! except some had already migrated into the oil galleries. Now our dilema, what to do? with the readings from the leak down test and the possibility of more sealant on the loose the owner decided upon a good used engine which we fitted his passenger turbo and of course the now repaired drivers side turbo, we spoke to the the turbo company and with a little persuasion they took pity on the guy and did the repair for a 50% discount but all in all a heavy lesson learnt. Jeff TT

Ok there are no cables in the gear lever area on autos for the reverse gear as it is build into the gearbox quadrant ie: under the car. Also Nissan wired the reverse lights with a direct ignition live feed to the reverse bulbs, the switch in the gearbox switched the earth / neutral return. If your camera can be switched by a an earth / neutral signal then you can connect direct into the circuit, if it requires a live switch then you can use a polarity convertor and use the same circuit, Note:Pin 44 on the engine ecu is for the neutral switch not the reverse switch,you can pick up the reverse signal under the bonnet or at the reverse light itself but the easiest is at the ecu for the autobox: pin no 20 have attached a pin out for you below. Jeff TT Engine ecu pin out for anyone wanting it

Trying to save some cash when doing certain jobs on cars can work but some times its a false economy. Case in point yes a 350z I know but at least its a z so moving on, having had a new clutch fitted 2 months previous by one of the High street clutch specialists the owner thought her big spends were over for a while, however when changing the clutch the garage had recomended she had a new slave cylinder fitted, the cost been around £120 extra, the owner concidered it an extra cost they would rather not pay for so the box was fitted and all seemed well. Of course the clutch pedal failed in under 500 miles and was subsequently recovered from the M6 slip road at junction 9, been so close to us the AA dropped it outside with a note to explain. Now the savings are now lost as unfortunely for this owner on her particular year 350z the slave cylinder that had failed is the concentric type, and to those not in the know that means its on the gearbox mainshaft and required the box to be removed......again! The good thing is the 350z gearbox comes out easily, with some clever clips and brackets making it a nice job, the slave cylinder was removed and was leaking a lot and no wonder there was no pedal. Once fitted up and gearbox back in the master cylinder was filled up and with fresh fluid and the bleeding started, the slave has a remote bleed nipple that comes back out of the gearbox so easy to get to but requires a different way of bleeding to that of a z32, basically with the nipple closed a second operator rapidly pumps the clutch up to 20 times and then holds it down whilst the first operator opens the bleed nipple, the pressure that had been built up shoots the fluid into the system really well, normal bleeding just does not work. So once all bled and a road test the owner paid over the phone and we recovered the car back to her home, a few hundred quid extra that could of been done 2 months before when the box was out....ah well. Jeff TT

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Super sexy and lightweight wheels, shame I only have two rears, suppose finding the fronts to make up the set would be possible....any thoughts guys. Jeff TT

Super sexy and lightweight wheels, shame I only have two rears, suppose finding the fronts to make up the set would be possible....any thoughts guys. Jeff TT [ATTACH=CONFIG]69047[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]69048[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]69049[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]69050[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]69051[/ATTACH]

The rubber boots also come with this type of dump valve also. Jeff TT [ATTACH=CONFIG]69033[/ATTACH]

The rubber boots also come with this type of dump valve also. Jeff TT

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Poor idle and stumbling can be caused by many set up issues but also by leaking/ poor sealing after market dump valves. However there is another issue we are seeing more and more commonly in the workshop and with the advent of inexpensive dump valves on ebay and similar looks set to continue. Today in the workshop was a classic example of this very issue, a zed came in that has been off the road for around 2 years, the engine was struggling to run and had a huge flat spot when statically revved, with an MOT booked for the afternoon I had to act fast. Whilst it would tick over sort of when warm the ConZult diagnostic was not revealling too much, which is ok, it just means getting a little more involved. A boost leak test soon revealed a massive air leak and not too far from the intake area, with the after market dump valves in sight I instinctively went directly to the rubber bungs that are supplied with the ebay units, these are essential and form part of the installation when fitting the valves. So you can see in the pictures below the rubber boots look in reasonable condition when in place or held in you hand, however pinch them between your fingers and the boot opens up, the rubber material is just way to soft and the constant flexing cause by the increased negative vacuum when on the gas then swapping to equalised pressure when backing off just wears them out. Shame really as they fit so well, they are just made out of the wrong material, the other concideration is the deteriation of the boot goes unoticed and the effects slowly get worse until any idle or hesitation problems are too bad to live with as more air is drawn through the rubber boot rather than the air flow meter.....if you have these fitted to your zed it would be worth a check now!! Jeff TT [ATTACH=CONFIG]69027[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]69028[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]69029[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]69030[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]69031[/ATTACH]

Poor idle and stumbling can be caused by many set up issues but also by leaking/ poor sealing after market dump valves. However there is another issue we are seeing more and more commonly in the workshop and with the advent of inexpensive dump valves on ebay and similar looks set to continue. Today in the workshop was a classic example of this very issue, a zed came in that has been off the road for around 2 years, the engine was struggling to run and had a huge flat spot when statically revved, with an MOT booked for the afternoon I had to act fast. Whilst it would tick over sort of when warm the ConZult diagnostic was not revealling too much, which is ok, it just means getting a little more involved. A boost leak test soon revealed a massive air leak and not too far from the intake area, with the after market dump valves in sight I instinctively went directly to the rubber bungs that are supplied with the ebay units, these are essential and form part of the installation when fitting the valves. So you can see in the pictures below the rubber boots look in reasonable condition when in place or held in you hand, however pinch them between your fingers and the boot opens up, the rubber material is just way to soft and the constant flexing cause by the increased negative vacuum when on the gas then swapping to equalised pressure when backing off just wears them out. Shame really as they fit so well, they are just made out of the wrong material, the other concideration is the deteriation of the boot goes unoticed and the effects slowly get worse until any idle or hesitation problems are too bad to live with as more air is drawn through the rubber boot rather than the air flow meter.....if you have these fitted to your zed it would be worth a check now!! Jeff TT

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