JeffTT

Thanks, been a little wait to get it done but will now get some more use I think this Summer. Jeff

Ok yes know that model of OS Giken clutch well, they are very high clamping on/off and very noisy in operation producing a very load ringing sound when in neutral unless the clutch is depressed. They are very high end as I said and as such very expensive, circa £1500+ there is a repair/reconstruction kit available that includes all of the friction plates and the intermediate rings from O/S Giken, last time I checked it was £800!! What you need to consider is what power you will end up with and what you want from in terms of driveability, say a puck clutch will be strong but can be give a small judder at take off especially when fitted to an old flywheel, full face clucthes are nicer to feel and give the best all roundness providing power is not over 350psi, a used OS Giken clutch is still worth £200 to £300 + even if worn out so maybe use that to buy something else, for me I do not like the noise they make but thats me. Jeff TT

So finally the rain stopped and the sun came out around 6;30pm!! so straight to the Shell garage for £50 worth of super and off we go and what a difference!!!!! I loved my auto when it was working correctly but at my modest level of upgrade ( 14psi /JWT Eprom) the manual makes the performance so much more accessible. Mad that even though we work on zeds 6 days a week every week could not help smiling all the way home, ( the long way around of course) So did not take any pics whilst doing the work but did a few today with my phone below. Ok so a different level for changing gear now?? An extra pedal too... New pipework arrangement an extra master cylinder... Reverse lights connection.... More electrical connections....Neutral switch... Organic full face clutch with high load cover... Checking all ok... Ticking over waiting to go Need a kip now!!! Jeff TT

Ok can see now you meant the hicas ball joint not the rod end that I thought you meant. So I can see many have tried to explain how their own experience of how removing them went, both good and bad. If you can hold on a couple of days I will get a breaker up on a ramp and do the whole process with pictures to show how it is done, even if your half way it will help retrieve the situation. Jeff TT

Ok some weeks back ( 3 months!!!!) my autobox which has served me faultlessly for 10 years suddenly developed the usual signs of failure. With a manual conversion sitting on the shelf I could have dropped ito straight in but with our normal busy workshop taking 99% of my time I thought it would be nice to use the main parts from the kit but with all new parts that wear out. So I took the time to put together new hydraulic slave and master cylinders, new clutch, flywheel, new one piece propshaft, remapped a manual ecu to suit my requirements, new lower and upper rubber gaitors, new upper leather gaitors, new gearshift bushes, new pedal rubbers, new peddle shaft bushes, gearknob etc.a new engine rear crank seal was done as it would be silly not to. So with Saturday workshop completed yesterday Jamie helped me massively ( big thanks) removing the autobox before leaving at 2.00pm it took me most of the afternoon and into the early evening before eventually turning the key at 8.00pm to a fully operating manual zed!! even with full workshop facilities and having done scores of conversions for customers it still a buzz when it all works first time, access to rewiring the reverse lights into the original loom and connecting the neutral switch direct to the ecu is so easy with the box out I wonder why so many are not done? So there we have it, left it at the workshop as was raining outside anyway so back this afternoon to go out for a drive!!! Jeff TT

Strange that you are not having any running issues as the most common cause of the engine light is either a corrupted chip, faulty chip socket or just a faulty ecu,. Jeff TT

UK and Jap cars after 1990 have the oil pressure unit on the passenger side, the early 1989 zeds had the sender on the drivers side above the oil filter. Maybe not, see above Jeff TT

Before you go head long into a cat purchase, be careful that you have been told correctly what the problem is. Your Lexus is OBD2 compliant and as such has a whole host of sensors reporting back to the ECU, these can often ( wrongly) produce a generic code that will bring the engine management lights on but will not point directly to the actual cause just a rough idea. If the car felt the same with the light on ie: not in limp home mode I would first be checking 02 sensors as these are among the very few that can cause an eml light without actually triggering the limp home mode. A code check/ scan may show some other errror codeds unrelated to the issue today but one`s that can be used to build a picture if what is the current problem this to be honest is where you need a specialist not a main dealer who will be happy to throw parts at the problem with you collecting the bill until they hit on the correct solution! personally I dont think a cat can be ok one moment and gone the next. Do a google search for anyone close by and also check out the Lexus forum as always the best place to start is often the forum that suits your car. Good luck and spend your cash wisely. Jeff TT

If you mean the rear ball joints on the hicas arms you need a ball joint splitter like this Jeff TT

Just drop me a quick mail to jeff@zedworld.co.uk so I can give you a detailed reply. Jeff

No he did not, will be a surprise to him when he collects it. Jeff

Yes ancillary belts were toast as well, the pictures of those will appear in another thread as they have their own story to tell!! Jeff

So a cambelt service is a normal run of the mill job yesterday but one that reminded me of how easy it is to get things wrong if you do not know how to check things correctly. Have heard a few owners here and our own customers sometimes suggest the cambelt is ok because they checked it by looking behind the right hand cover, now whilst you can check its general condition its no where near acurate enough to make a long term decision on. So back to the case in point, take a look at the first picture below of the belt I removed, it could be taken as a belt in good condition, even the timing lines are still there as is the Nissan logo further round. Picture two of the teeth even look fine and sharp edged with little sign of wear, however picture three reveals the true condition of the belt when bent over, the teeth seats are delaminating and in some area`s the teeth are lifting away from the main body of the belt......close call or what? Given the mileage of this zed and this was not the original belt either then the its clear the belt condition is due to age rather than wear and tear with the rubber just deteriorating over time.....now your gonna want to check your eh ??? Jeff TT

Discovered in a breaker shell we were about to dispose of and remembered we had not removed the ecu, the ecu has a US designated number on the front and the zed it came from did have a few US parts fitted such as adjustable front shocks as well as rears and the correct touring and sport button for them. A few minutes to take the lid off and presto a genuine JWT conversion, there is a serial number written on the inside that fits with a full conversion by JWT an expensive way to doing it for sure!! make for a nice display item in the workshop cabinet. Jeff TT

Had a new breaker delivered today, the transporter had some other cars on including this BMW E46 soft top, massive damage with all panels bashed in, some worse than others and including the roof and all airbags deployed. Add to that the near side front wheel and suspension ripped off, but look at the cabin area and seats all in good order, heard it said they don`t make cars like they used to ...... no they don`t there much more survivable now in a crash!! Jeff TT

Lol!!

Whilst waiting at the lights tomight I read the text on the car in front of me and thought what?? discount for unemployed...... am I missing something here? a week or so ago I had a conversation with BT about our low use phone calls at home as I use it for the broadband only and have a zillion free mnutes on my mobile we use less than a pound in calls per month, I asked if there was any better deal, after giving me some options we agreed on a good deal I was happy with, but as we closed the deal I thought I would ask if it could be improved upon, she said if I was unemployed I would have got a better deal...what??? so smarting from that I was dumbfounded to see the car in the picture. I know there are thousands of good honest and needy people who find themselves unemployed but its becoming increasingly common to hear that once unemployed the benefits make it hard to compare working wages... or am I just lucky to not be one of the 2 million? Jeff TT

Bit of a drastic way to change the brake pipes Pete!!!! Jeff

Is causing a display issue for you? sorry if it is just testing it anyway Jeff

As Groover said they will not sell or ship individial items be it a bumper or a diffuser, however where the sticky point is any distubutor has to promote the whole range not just one item so when an order for lets say 20 diffusers is made they also want the same order for bumpers etc at the same time to get the full discount....not going to happen in the UK not enough demand!! tried to explain the to the Twinz but fell on deaf ears, shame because they do some good kit unfortunately they want the ditrubutor to make a huge order up, my feelings are they promoting a great product but will little capital funds or are not willing to risk their own cash in pre-production. Jeff TT

Aha!!! see I am not a fool, knew something was not quite right, please resend..... Regards Jeff

Something ha changed in the last 20 mins now getting pop up messages for new pms....excellent work!! Jeff TT

The terms that the Twinz want to work with make it impossible for any UK based reseller or agent to operate especially with such a small market that the UK is. Jeff TT

Thanks for that as an added note several of our own sent pms have not been responded to and i wondering if they are being received ? jefftt

Have noticed since the new format that the pm system is not 100% reliable with both inbox and outbox pms going missing prime example is kassa steve and others are under the impression that we are not replying to their messages , but we are not receiving all of them, can a mod please look in to this with some urgency . In the meantime i would suggest emails are more reliable Jeffatzedworld.co.uk jefftt