lil Stevie

haha, big spanners aren't the half of it bud....

yeah there doesn't seem to be oil in the water, and looking down the oil filler cap there doesn't seem to be water in there either, although there is the odd bit of white smoke out of the exhaust. I did a compression test and one of the readings was suspect, however it was a stone cold engine and my battery was on it's way out. when tried again warm it did seem ok. There was however (before changing the rad and flushing the system) some white foam stuff would appear in the rad while bleeding. but not straight away, only when up to temp so was assuming that was coming from behind the thermostat. put it down to the k seal it's had over the years. Here's the other thread with the compression test results etc http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?177037-Big-F*cking-Problems

Anyone else with any insight? can the piston rings be changed with the block in? Any other jobs I could do while the heads off?

Good news Lee. Hope it's all running sweet.

Got two rad caps with the rad, tried it with both of them (it appears it's not actually a japspeed rad, just a generic alloy one with no markings on it, and they've thrown in an extra japspeed rad cap) Any idea where it could be leaking from? As for pulling the block although I could probably get access to a crane it's then having somewhere to put it once it's out. my garage is not available at all. and the dinning room table may not be appropriate. If the turbo's are coming off anyway I figure they could be removed with the manifold so would make things a little easier. plus I don't fancy uncoupling the box on my drive either, that's a **** on a lift nevermind been on your back. I think although I may need to check, but Jeff may of changed the water pump when he did my timing belt in December. If not I may aswell add it to the list of jobs to be dune.

To try and cure the problem of the coolant boiling over As some of you know I bought an alloy rad and a new thermostat and changed the hoses. While all the hoses were off I managed to flush the system through each one of the holes with the front pipes off to check the flow, and it all seemed good. managed to get rid of all the minging brown water too. Got the new rad fitted and bled up ok, but something still didn't seem right. After every test drive with my ear close to the rad cap I could here the coolant bubbling, It was no where near as violent as it was from the old rad, it was shaking the overflow bottle or leaking out onto the road. (the old rad cap was rated at 1.2 bar, and the new one is at 1.3 bar) and the temp gauge wasn't shifting at all, just showing a nice running temp. So I haven't really been driving it, just little runs after trying to bleed it a little before each one, (because the level had dropped so needed topping up) I took it to work with me the other night and it's only a short drive and I don't even think I put it in positive boost, but the sound was still there when I stopped, I could also here a bubbling sound towards the back of the engine but everything was still dry. After a few hours I opened the cap to see what the level was like and it hadn't really changed but there was some pressure built up. Anyway something finally gave yesterday and it pissed all the water out, I wasn't far from home though so managed to get it back ok without the temp even moving. I took a video when I pulled over, lots of steam but hard to see where it's coming from, I thought it was from the turbo pipe which was weird but I think it's just dripping there from somewhere above. So I was mentally preparing myself for a head gasket change. Even when I thought It could just be a hose somewhere or a blockage, I figured If I'm going to go to the effort of taking the plenum off I may aswell go the hole hog and get the head off too. Me and a few friends are going to attempt it on my drive while the weather's still nice. So where's the best place to get the kit from? is there a write up any of you have used and would recommend? and what other jobs should I do whilst the head is off? My thought's were valve stem oil seals, full egr delete, water bypass, replace any and all hoses (where best to buy them from?) and not sure if it's possible, but can I change the piston rings with the block still in? Also it did cross my mind that with the manifolds' off, it would probably be wise to do something with the turbo's too. is there a recon service or is it just better to buy new, or is it just as cost effective to upgrade them and get bigger one's? I'm aware this is going to be a costly exercise, but does anybody have a ball park figure how much I'd save between doing it myself or paying somebody else to do it? Luckily I think I should be able to get the head skimmed at work so that could save a few bob. As always advice comments and support welcome.

Hmm, yes that one is a little bit special. I'm just going to have a guess. I'll use my strut brace plate as a template and try to work it out from there.

I was quite happy having a go myself. I've got a few night shifts coming up with nothing to do in them so was hoping for a project.

well if you wouldn't mind....:whistling:

that would be class. cheers bud.

Nobody got one kicking about?

Did we ever get any further with some dimensions for the brake braces? http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?173853-just-fitted-brake-booster-brace-pics/page3&highlight=brake+brace Really nice drawing from Zed-Racer on the old thread. would love to have a go at one in the next few weeks. Or if anyone has one lying around un fitted would appreciate you talking a tape measure to it.

Excellent. I'll get on to Mjp tonight.

I've already got them, got some red silicone short one's, and some red silicone rad pipes to go on. was toying with the idea of polishing the metal hard pipes too, or powder coating, haven't decided yet. where would I get a new thermostat from? I was just going to test it like the service manual states.

Sorted Radiator ordered, and group buy price honoured. Cheaper than any on eBay, and much happier with a reputable brand. Just to be sure think I'm going to whip out the thermostat too and check that while the rads out. busy day Saturday :biggrin:

Thanks for the info guys. I'm gunna try giving japspeed a ring tomorrow. fingers crossed

Well I don't have an auto box now, it's been converted, so does that mean I don't need to worry about the difference between the two?

So still trying to fix the Zed, and having some cooling problems, the radiator is boling over into the overflow, tried changing the rad cap but no success, more worrying thing is that the bottom of the radiator seems to be staying cold where the top is boiling. Don't think it's the hose either at the bottom. So thoughts were to get a new alloy radiator and I've already got some silicone pipes to fit anyway. then take off the water pipes on the block and check the thermostat. Question for now is, which radiator to go for? I've seen a few on eBay for around the £118 mark, and zcenter have one for £120. Has anyone bought a bad one? Car was an auto at somepoint but is now a manual if that makes any difference. Any help or thought welcome as always.

haha, all in good time. :laugh:

So update from yesterday, couldn't manage a cylinder leak test, couldn't get it sealed, either coming out the exhaust of the inlet, so gave up on that. Tried a coolant leak test, and all seemed fine, although the adaptor cap was a bit of a tight fit and if it was pulled in the wrong way the seal would break and it would loose the pressure. But when it did have pressure in it, it was holding, and couldn't see any leaks. So conclusion is that there was air lock, and no anti freeze in it, so the relief has blown on the cap and it's all come out of there. also the filler on the radiator doesn't look quite as round or symmetrical so it could of warn somehow, i'll take a photo when the weather's a bit better and see what you think. As for the turbo seals, after our failed cylinder leak test, decided to fire it up again and run it to try and make sure the coolant was bled. Is it normal for the level of the coolant to move when the engine's reved? i.e either overflow if it's high or drop? or should it stay completely still regardless of engine speed? Anyway exhaust was smoking like a gooden, especially if it was reved or boosted. after a while we were happy with the coolant so took it for a drive to see what it felt like and monitor the gauges. It was like a james bond smoke screen, there was some tit in a clio ehind me at one point with his window down, and he was a bit close, and just generally looked like a tit, so I slowed right down and left myself a gap in front, then just give it some throttle, must of covered his car in shit. thought it was a little funny. anyway gave it a good drive down a local dual carriageway and it was smoking quite heavily, got back on the 30 road on the way back home and tried giving it little blips and little bits of boost, and the smoke was getting less and less, to the point were it actually seemed like it had stopped. so turned around and went to give it another blast on the dual. and low and behold no more smoke, still want to try it with a car behind me and hopefully get a video to be sure, but it is looking good. (however temp gauge was misbehaving a little, so thought there could still be some bubbles in it) Got it home and decided to do another compression test while it was warm. was getting on a bit though and due to the warmness got the tester stuck in a cylinder once or twice so only did the accessible four and left the back two, and they were all coming back between 145 and 150psi, even the really low 90 one from the other day. (and that was with throttle pressed, actually tried it without the throttle pressed and didn't actually see any difference) After that took it to the steep hill at the bottom of my road to help with the bleeding process and got a few more bubbles out of the coolant, (and put some anti freeze in it this time) let it run for quite a while so thought we did a good job. after that took it for another blast checking the gauges and for smoke, all seemed good until on our way back and the temp gauge started rising again, got it home to hear a hissing noise yet again from the back of the engine, turns out I made a real schoolboy error and left the old clip on the rubber hose from the other day when I put the new jubilee clip on, and that hose has split right around where the clip was, managed to cut off the excess and pull the rest back over the metal pipe and put the jubilee back on, so its sealed again, but looks like that hose is gunna have to be changed after all. Overall though it is looking like the head is fine, and so are the turbo's. So my spirits are a lot higher. Once again thanks for all your help guys.

Well the dodgy one was definitely wide open throttle. Was hoping to do a warm compression test tonight. Would a cylinder leak test class as drastic?

Cheers. Will hopefully determine the problem tonight. Going to try a coolant pressure test to, any idea on what pressure to take it too? Don't want to make more leaks. Also was still going to try a cylinder leak test on that dodgy cylinder, is there a write up for that?

I thought there was another bleed nipple. Anyway, got the fuel leek fixed, didn't have to take off the throttle boddies, my mate just had small girly hands. Fired up ok, was smoking loads at the start, but put that down to the oil in the cylinders (although my mate has small girly hands, they're not all that steady). Tried the block test a few times from cold and when up to temp, and no colour change, so guessing that means head is fine. After it'd been running a while it still seemed to be smoking from the exhaust. i'll take a video tomorrow. Is there any way to check the turbo seals? going to try the cylinder pressure test tomorrow hopefully too. Also checked the fan, and it works, but that's the first time I've heard it, so guessing that temp sensor's fubar Thanks for all your help so far guys.

Well the only time it sounded bad was when we fired it up to try and circulate the water when it was as hot as the sun. After it cooled down after that everything seemed to be running OK. As for bleeding the cooking system. I know this is a little late, but where's the bleed nipple?

Well could have access to a cylinder leak test and a coolant pressure test hopefully sometime this week, so will give them both a go. We were working from Groovers post in this thread http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?164744-compression-test&highlight=compression+test He said lower limit should be around 128, and as I said engine was stone cold so we thought the 125-130 readings were reasonable, but yeah that 90 one is concerning, however with some oil in it, it did shoot up to 140. but I was also worried about the 100psi jump on some of them with oil in, could that indicate ring problems? It still sounded ok when it was running last, no knocking or anything, but not sure what it would be like when it was up to temp. I do like your thoughts on getting the fuel leak sorted and firing it up. my mate shares the same view, just get that done, do the leak tests on the cylinder and cooling and then see what it runs like.