Mike Duffy

Ok, ignore this. I was reading the dip stick wrong!!! Drained the oil out this morning and it was the right amount. See other thread for more serious problems!!! http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=44728

Does anyone want to give me the bad news about what gone Pete Tong this time, based on the video clip below? I've got a pretty good idea already... When driving, I get clouds of dirty smoke and backfiring from the exhaust. And to cap it all, I've only just put the engine back in after fixing the big end bearings. www.symatix.co.uk/300zx/ItNeverRainsButItPours.wmv

Oh don't worry. It's coming straight out in the morning! Symptoms I've got though are clouds of smoke out of the exhaust, with a definate oil smell to them. Hopefully this has just been caused by oil surge leading to oil being dragged through the PCV system. Does this sound right?

I'm trying to diagnose something. Does anyone know what the effects of too much oil would be? A garage I took my car too has overfilled it by at least one inch above the max mark, possibly two.

Forgot to mention. I broke one of the water pipes at the front of the engine so big thanks go out to Dave at Petrol Heads for the quick and extremely reasonably priced supply of a replacement. Cheers Dave. Top bloke.

Well it's all back in and working (for now). Took me 15 hours to get it all back in so not as good as taking it out I'm afraid! The oil coming out of the turbo is normal, according to the turbo people. When I turned the engine upside down, it simply leaked past the metal seals which aren't designed to hold it under those cirsumstances. It's the same as turning your engine upside down and expecting your piston rings to keep the oil in. Replaced a load of oil hoses anyway and I'll have to keep a regular eye on the oil level to make sure I'm not still leaking. And I've got a very detailed illustrated guide to engine removal and refitting nearly ready which I'll post up somewhere shortly.

Your guage is probably fine. More than likely the bearings on the pump have failed causing loss of fluid, the belt to fall off, air in the system and therefore gurgling, hissing etc. Easy way to tell. Top it up and start the engine. The pump should drip like a Wigan girl if it's faulty. It's not a massive job... a couple of hours if you've done it before.

Can't think who you mean Turbot. Anyone, enough of this, I've got to pop down to my local Nissan dealer in St Helens for some parts.

You don't say! Presumably they used to be...

No joke mate. The odd thing is it didn't smoke in the slightest! I didn't notice any oil when I first removed the small pipe going to the downpipe. However, I turned the engine upside down last night (with the help of the crane) to make working on the bottom end easier. Once it was upside down, that's when I noticed the oil. I agree, it does seem like quite a large amount. I can't see anywhere else it could have come from except from internally (i.e. it couldn't have dripped from anywhere else unless one of the oil cooler pipes draped itself across there while it was being turned). I can only think it's been collecting in there slowly over the last few days when it's not been used, and has come out after the inversion. Anyone know how much a recondition of the seals, etc, in both turbos would cost? They're Turbo Technics hybrids.

What do you mean?! That's the special lightened "brown rust effect" pulley from cast-iron-pulleys.com. Best on the market.

I quite agree. Last time, the low oil was due to numerous factors, all of which I put right (broken PCV pipes from the cam covers to the throttle bodies, leaking oil cooler pipes, various other leaky pipes). The oil level was fine until recently when it started requiring top ups. Does the following picture look suspicious to anyone...?

One of the big end bearings has gone again due to running low on oil. Bit stupid of me as this is exactly what happened last year. (Note to self: check oil every week!) Took me seven hours to get the engine out, which personally I don't think is bad at all. Especially working with a trolley jack on the driveway with no help from anyone else. I even wrote down full instructions (and took a few piccies) as I was going along so I can do a detailed engine removal write up for you boys ('coz I'm such a nice bloke!) I've got access to another car for two weeks so I'll be putting the engine back in the weekend after next. Should be plenty of time to get the crank out and sort the bearings. I'll keep you all posted.

Even when I turn the regulator up to the top, I can stop the wrench turning with my hand. I've had the same problem in the past with a ratchet wrench which I put down to just buying a crap ratchet wrench. I've not had this compressor long and I thought it would be good for everything I needed it for. I won't be happy if I've got to buy a bigger one already!

Does anybody know if this compressor... http://www.diy-compressors.com/shop/direct-drive-compressors.htm#pp231 (The OL 231) should be able to power this wrench... http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/s.nl/sc.9/category.50/it.A/id.6694/.f I've got both and it just doesn't work! :confused: The wrench claims to consume 4cfm at 90psi. The compressor claims to supply 8cfm at 116psi.

Doesn't matter. I just read your other post about this. Search was my friend. I'll give it a go tomorrow.

Hey Andy Which nuts are these? Do you mean the ones attaching the rod to the control arm? Never seen the rose jointed jobbies so wasn't sure if there was some other nuts on these?! The reason I ask is I've had the car in the air today and tried to crowbar every suspension member to find out where the play is that I can feel. This also started a few months ago, a few weeks after fitting some tension rod bushes (PU ones though). Same thing?

Ok. Worked it out. The fuse supplies the boost sensor, part of the engine management, the "light test" relay and the alternator light. As many of you will know, the alternator light works by having one side connected to the +ve battery side of things (and thus the alternator) and one side connected directly to the alternator. If the alternator output voltage falls below that of the battery, a potential difference exists across the warning light and it glows brighter depending on how big the difference is. Now as the fuse had gone, all these devices had lost power. However, they were all drawing power from the alternator through the alternator warning light. This is why the light was glowing dimly. The voltage drop across the light meant that the other devices were receiving a reduced voltage. This sent the boost sensor totally out of range. It also allowed the other warning lights to illuminate by being a low enough voltage to fire the relay (other side connected to +ve) and a high enough voltage to allow the engine management system to work. But with the reduced voltage, this caused the unwanted side effects. Thought I'd post this in case anyone was interested. You've probably all lost interest by this last line anyway!

No problem mate. Whenever's best for you. Hopefully I won't have any urgent need for it in the next few days! Glad it was of use.

Bought myself a MIG welder to fix the holes in my four year old HKS Super Dragger. And I've got quite a few. The exhaust may be stainless but the welding on it certainly isn't! Take a look at the attached photo which shows where the welds attaching one of the brackets rusted through. Does anyone know where I can buy stainless steel sheet from? I'm either searching very badly for it or it's not to be found on UK Internet sites easily. Or if I were to buy this locally, what should I be looking for? I'm totally new to all this and haven't a clue where to look or what to ask for. Thanks for any advice.

It's in the fuse box in the engine compartment on the passenger side (the one you've done some shiny cover for!). It's dark now and I've had a few beers so I can't be ar5ed looking until tomorrow. However, it's the one at the front of the car nearest the engine.

I've spent the last few weekends stripping bits of dashboard to pieces and putting it back together again, lying under the car inspecting the sensors, etc, with no joy whatsoever. So today I spent a few hours pouring over the wiring diagrams. And what a donkey's ar5e I feel now... should have done this in the first place. The afore mentioned warning lights all pass through a single relay. This relay shares the same power supply as the boost sensor. And all this passes through a single fuse. So oddly enough, when I checked the fuse it had blown. Fitted a new one and everything's alright again. And the dodgy idling... the fuse also feeds a power supply into the engine management system. Quite why the car carried on working at all I don't know. Even showed a code 55 (all clear) while the problem was there! Idling is fine again now with the new fuse. So next time I've got a dodgy electrical problem I can't diagnose, I'm simply going to remove every fuse in the whole car and test it before I start stripping things out!

Took it back and got another one. This one's fine so original was faulty.

It's rated at 6 bar so that's what I'm running it at. I've also tried higher with no luck.

It's a Rockworth one if that's any help. But the torque I'm talking about is just grabbing hold of the turning part with my hand. It struggles to even drive a screw in!