vern936

Just picked an s14a project up myself. Do you mind me asking bud - how much did you pay for your s14? PM if you'd rather not say on here! Get those pictures up as well!

Quavey is right - that was gonna be my next question. They do have problems with coilpacks. But another cheaper thing to check first - although it might seem a little obvious is the condition of the plugs. Have they been changed recently? Seems to have been some confusion on the plug change intervals so if you don't know of them ever being changed I'd change them anyway and while you're there check the state of the plug leads as IIRC they are known for seeing some abuse as the plugs are well recessed similar to the zed.

You had it plugged in to diagnostics mate? Would be the first thing to check see if the car can tell you what's wrong as the EML has been on.

IIRC PCV smoke is more traditionally blue anyway. I cant completely remember why I think it's to do with the temperature it burns at i.e. PCV smoke goes into the intake side and is burned in the combustion process in the cylinder. The smoke from turbo oil seals is actually from the oil burning in the exhaust so never actually enters the engine making the smoke white. I could be completely wrong about this though :blink:

I would definately say the turbo seal is on the way out mate I'm afraid. Mine used to do this very occaisionally from one side and then I took the car off the road for 7 months or so and the car was up on stands while I did the timing belt and a few other jobs and then when the car was put back together after the icy weather the right hand turbo now smokes all the time and the left hand one has started doing it occaisionally. Mine is the same colour smoke as yours - white, hangs around for longer than steam would and smells of burning oil. Also noticed that on mine now you can see the oil leaking out of the elbow join on the drivers side turbo and the inside of the downpipes/elbow have a black glaze from oil leaking into the exhaust and being burnt. Try putting your cats back on might stop the seals leaking for a while but just be aware that its a sign they're well on their way :)

Has anyone had a proper look at the sills - under the filler is a piece of p!ss to plate to the point where I'd offer to do that for you! Sills become a bit more tricky as it's triple skinned. Don't give up on her yet especially if you have the engine and gearbox already to make it good!

I'd be interested to know this too - even though mine actually has neither lol just straight pipes from each cat to each back box.

Are there passes still available for this? Unfortunately I won't be in the zed but sounds a good day out! EDIT: Just realised that the free passes will probably be for entering your car into the show as they normally do?? If this is the case I will probably head down and get tickets on the gate :) but I hope you don't mind Ceejay I may make a note of your mobile number to see where the zed convoy is at as it should be a pretty cool sight. Cheers, James

Cheers for the reply again bud. Yeah thats my thinking that even if it isnt the slave cylinder and I just havent bled it quite properly it's only a matter of time before the cylinder goes if its weeping already. I'll get one ordered up after the bank holiday - unless anyone knows of a way of refurbing them? Cheers, James

Cheers for the fast reply. I've tried cleaning both the areas and both drips seem to come back. I cant see where the drip on the exhaust is coming from. At the moment there's no chance of testing it on boost as I can't get it into gear. Cheers, James

Hi everyone, Sorry for the lengthy post - I've recently got my zed back together after having it up in the air over the past few months undersealing, changing the prop, doing the belts etc. Got her back on the floor last weekend and tried to move it round the drive to find I couldn't engage any gears. Checked the clutch reservoir and it was low/empty so I put some fluid in and bled it through but still no clutch. The boot on the slave cylinder looks pretty damp inside so does mean this is the most likely culprit? I tried to check the master cylinder using a hose clamp on the flexi pipe to the slave cyliner and the pedal goes really firm so I dont think that's the problem. Opinions please? Also, the engine wasn't particularly smokey before I parked it up (sometimes the odd bit after idling for a while) but now it will smoke the street out especially if you rev it - sometimes from both exhausts but normally from just the drivers side (individual pipes all the way down). I've made sure there's not too much oil in (drained some out till its half way on the dipstick rather than full) so I assumed the next step would be PCVs. But, when I was checking the clutch slave earlier I noticed on the drivers side turbo elbow flange is an oil drip so it looks like the exhaust/turbo is full of oil and its leaking out of the join between the elbow and the downpipe - is this a sign the turbo oil seal has completely failed after being standing? Thanks in advance, James

Try giving the wiring a wiggle and seeing if it makes any difference. I have an intermittent misfire on mine that is down to a missing clip on the PTU connector and when the engine/wiring loom moves it pulls the PTU connector slightly to an angle (it moves probably 1mm or less) which must move it out of proper contact with the PTU - it shows how easy it is to cause a misfire with anything dodgey on the wiring side of things.

You may be pleasantly surprised - double check the loom. Not sure if you mean that electric seats weren't an option in 95....but my 89 that had manual seats in has the plug for an electric drivers seat - the power connections on the manual seat were just blanks though.

Great pics and thanks for letting us know the route you took and the landmarks worth seeing! Keep them coming mate. I hope to do a similar road trip once I've got my zed on the road as I love the welsh scenery. Great sound on that first video! I had forgotten what a zed sounded like with mine being off the road for 6 months or so. Sounds really smooth, powerful and expensive! Lol. I'm gonna have to try and get mine back together ASAP to hear that noise again lol.

Engine sounds pretty normal but cant make out if I can hear like a noisey cambelt idler or similar or if its just poor sound quality. Sounds like a rough and notchy bearing but like I say could be just the sound quality.

Cheers fellas. Now that I know its so readily available and have plenty of sizes to choose from I can work out the diameter I'll need if i measure the circumference. I'll do so tomorrow and post up my findings for future reference.

Yeah that's the sort of stuff! Cheers mantav8! Typical the one place I normally check first has got it! I thought it would be more of a specialist thing than to be found on eBay! Cheap enough as well. Any ideas on the correct size? Suppose I dont want it slipping around the wires but dont want them pinched inside it? Cheers, James

Cheers for the birthday wishes everyone!

Yeah I did have a look on their site but they have 25mm advertised on there and it didnt sound like big enough? Unless you could sort of squash all the wires into it? Unfortunately I haven't got the original to measure :(

Anybody know any suppliers for the protective plastic that goes round the engine loom? It would be a great help if anyone knows of a supplier and the size (diameter rather than length) for where it comes out of the firewall and along the side of the plenum and also for the part that goes up over the plenum. It doesn't need to be anything special just plain black - I've just got tape round mine at the moment which looks a mess and I'm also worrying about baking the insulation on the wires with the heat. Thanks in advance, James

I've got to say having read this thread all the way through I agree with everything said in the zeds favour. I think sometimes smaller more revvy cars feel faster because the zeds power and speed is smoother and almost effortless you don't realise how fast you're actually going. And although I love Civic Type Rs for the sound of that crazy redline - having been passenger in a few different ones they're certainly well below the league of the zed and I have to say that even in the Corsa 2.0 redtop conversion I have I can normally embarass a standard type R off the line - they arent anything special.

If you've got the time and space to break a car have you thought about having a go at doing a bit of welding yourself? My car had some rot on the sills and on one of the arches but I took the decision to fix my one rather than mess about with other shells etc as I knew the history of it and didn't want to be buying a different shell/car with potential problems lurking :)

Yeah seen a few about locally but none of them seem to be on here. Yeah definately up for that but I gotta get it on the road first lol. Cambelt changed and exhausts back on today after undersealing it and fitting a one piece prop. Just gotta order a new radiator tomorrow and fit it when it comes then it should be off for welding and painting this week fingers crossed.

Where abouts you seen it mate? I've seen a couple of red ones about myself in Newcastle though rather than Stoke :)

Cheers for the replies. I'll hopefully get one ordered first thing on Monday. Agreed a fan shroud is a must! Nice work there with the engine bay bud! I'll be happy if I get mine half as tidy looking as that.