RobH

Hmm...by quality I meant condition. I'm pretty sure that bits of gearbox in your fluid can cause sticking of sensors and solenoids. Also incorrect level would cause incorrect pressures. This is info that was passed to me when I had autobox problems. Mark you could at least say why you think these would not make any difference - I thought the idea was to share information?!

Some of the sensors are known to cause probs with gear changing in autos...TPS and vehicle speed sensor being the most common. Also, if it's a jap with a km/mph conversion it might be worth checking the convertor - can be wired out of the circuit to test. Could be a sticky shift solenoid - quite a job to replace. Def. worth checking fluid level and quality though.

Did your tyre fitters have rear and front wheels off at the same time?? I had awful vibes when swapping my fronts for my rears - of couse this will only apply to Jap standard 225's....

I'm sure you can reuse the existing bolts, Nissan reckon they should be replaced though (not expensive) - my pan was taken off, box pronounced DOA and pan was replaced for me to drive home (in second gear all the way) I paid over £20 for the pan gasket - what a rip off! RobH

Hi John, may be able to dig out a receipt with the Jap pan gasket number on it - will have to wait 'til this evening though. LMK if you need this... You should also get the set of bolts for securing it - think they were under a tenner - I have a new set somewhere if you want 'em. They have some locking compound on them I think - hence new set needed when replacing pan. As James says, replacing fluid under pressure is the best way to do it - a good specialist will be able to pump clean fluid through the whole box and convertor until it clears up - costs a bit as an extra few litres of fluid will be used... Cheers! RobH

Hi all, Still trying to identify a problem I have with power drop in the upper rpm range. Looking at the CAS at the moment, checked the voltage of the base setting (reference, pin 41/51) measured at the ECU and it fluctuates by half a volt or more for no good reason. Checked the voltage of the position signal (42/52) and it's spot on and steady as a rock, changes slightly for increase in rpm... Can anyone please tell me if the voltage of the reference or 'base' setting should be stable for stable idle rpm?? I would have thought so. If so, can this be due to a dodgy CAS or would that be too easy?? No error codes but timing mysteriously jumped to 15 degrees advanced a few weeks ago - timing belt has been replaced and is correct. Any input appreciated. Regards, RobH

Sorry to state the obvious but you may have a boost leak which doesn't really manifest itself until higher pressures... Took my ECU a good couple of hours to reset last week. If your det sensor circuit is trolleyed you're timing's going to be retarded as Jaffa says - don't think ecu reset will make any difference - AFAIK cycling the ignition should be enough if the problem was temporary - if not an ECU reset won't help. Engine will run hotter if timing is retarded and still running high boost - probably won't help :(

Hi, you can ignore the boost setting and just concentrate on the duty cycle if you're not trying to use self learn. It takes a couple of runs with your foot down to get into self learning mode - if it's not going into self learn mode then it may already be disabled which is probably best IMHO. My duty cycle is set to 65% - 70% depending on rpm. I didn't want to suggest such a high setting as I thought I may have a leak somewhere hence you'd blow the top off an airtight engine ;) You should use the peak hold facility to check what the actual max boost was rather than trying to watch while you're flat out...best just to monitor the boost and rpm (2 channel) Give me a bell if you need more...01244 319411 RobH

ummm...not quite. Here's how it appears to work (to me) You set the max amount of boost you'll reach by altering the duty cycle. The boost setting is like a guide - if you are using self learn mode and the duty cycle is auto learning (setting reads '***' meaning duty cycle is different for different rpm and the AVC-R will adjust it to give you the boost you set) then you can alter the boost setting and ignore the duty cycle. BUT as previous post - twin turbos are known to be problematic at best with self learning mode so you're really best off controlling it by adjusting the duty cycle and checking the readout. If it's too low, increase the duty cycle and try again, too high - drop the duty cycle. You can disable self learning in the 'etc' menu. LMK if you need help with this. Presumably you've set all the car settings up correctly in the 'etc' menu - car select etc...? Also you've disconnected the stock wastegate solenoids? HTH! PS don't worry about the fluctuating readings - that's digital technology for you!

Just to add to Steve's post, I (and many others) have found the self learn mode doesn't work with a twin turbo. It ends up overboosting. Best to set some values for the duty cycle in yourself (40% is a good place to start) and use the 30 second record/playback to see if boost is spiking or dropping, you can then make compensation by changing the duty cycle at various RPM levels. Did you get a manual with it?? It's quite informative once you get over the pigeon English. Anyone else on here using one of these with a manual box and able to tell me what duty cycle is giving you 1 bar?? Since my gearbox conversion I've gone from under 40% to almost 70% to get 1 bar - just wondering if I've got a pipe off somewhere or the EGR valve is b*ggered... Cheers, RobH

Hi, As Jezz says, these are made for HKS by Denso - rebadged and price inflated. Would be interested to know what price they sell for - please PM if poss. It depends which heat range you've selected as to what the gap setting is... Iridiums are available in standard, warmer and colder heat ranges than the standard Z heat range (NGK 6, HKS '30'). If you bought a '30' then the preset gap is 1.1mm. 35, 40 or 45 is 0.8mm. Any of these gaps should be ok for the Z TT. I think the idea is that if you need to put a colder plug in due to upgrades then the gap is preset smaller to allow for the increased combustion pressure. HTH RobH

Sounds more like warped disks Arthur...

The belts are a bit of a PITA. They're all the same type - just different lengths. I think I used a 1010 (alternator) and a 965 and 925 for air con and power steering (can't remember which was which). The Jap import has a shorter alternator belt than the UK though... My brake shims have long since disappeared, I believe you get them included with the genuine Nissan brake pads though...(could be wrong) RobH

A lot of people seem to suffer from worn propshaft centre support bearings. 'fuzzy rear view mirror' is the usual symptom. The repair kit is about £250 I believe. HTH RobH

Should be reasonable - extra long life double platinum as are the standard NGK PFR6B-11C, also the same heat range. Only thing is Champion in general have a reputation for being problematic..

My engine occasionally stalls when I'm trying to parallel park, dabbing the brakes/clutch a lot. Could be vacuum related I guess as obviously the brakes and clutch work on vacuum servos. I reckon the vacuum could drop to almost nothing (or would it be too strong?? - I haven't really thought this through, I'll get my coat) if you're hitting brake and clutch at low speed.... Maybe more that the vacuum pressure is changing quite suddenly when using clutch/brake and upsetting intake?? My farthing's worth. RobH

Hi Stuart. You need to modify an old HT lead/plug cap so you can fit it into the spark plug aperture onto the plug terminal in cylinder 1. You put the other end in the coil pack that you should have previously removed. You connect the timing light sensor to the new HT lead between coil pack 1 and spak plug 1. Battery connections are as normal. Mind your HT lead doesn't pop out and crack you with 25000 volts though ;) The loop on the PTU is apparently useless at best. Cheers! RobH

Hi Rich! Glad to hear you're running again. Can't imagine why the ECU diagnostics can have caused a problem.....still not convinced the turbo timer isn't involved in some way. May be worth checking battery voltage as you did a lot of cold cranking trying to get it started. The PTU can fail on individual cylinders but more likely is a complete failure. LMK if you want to try my known good (although badly repaired) PTU. Cheers...

Hi Mark, not cheap !! I'm having one cheek of the drivers seat recovered (the one that wears from the rubbing from getting in and out of the car - upright lower RHS) it's costing £50 + £10 if he has to use a colour matched spray to get a perfect match. On the plus side I get to keep the spray to touch up any imperfections on the rest of the seats... Had a couple of quotes round about the same price. HTH! RobH

Hi Mark, I'm just having a seat partially recovered. The guy said that a special leather spray paint/dye is often used to colour the leather and he'd probably have to get one to make mine match. If it's applied too heavily it looks crap - sounds like what has happened to yours unless someone went the cheap route and just got some plain old spray paint! For general cleaning I use some turtle wax leather cleaning wipes - they're ok but they won't remove your dye. Cheers!

LMAO! There must be at least ten of us in Chester/E Port that need one on occasion - perhaps a topic for discussion on Saturday??

Stu, I used to have a magnet on a flexible spring like the 'total recall' type three arm grabbers - in fact the two came as a kit for £2.99, long since broken and thrown out but I'm sure your local motor factor will have one. It was shrouded in metal and plastic so only the end was really magnetic - should be ideal for your retrieval job... Sorry you're still having trouble. Presumably the jump lead from battery to plenum didn't help?? Only thought I had was if you'd had the thing sprayed recently you may not be getting good ground on a number of components... Cheers! RobH

Moi?! - LOL, Stu, that was for AndyP Nah - just that you would think static timing would be static...only explaination I have so far is cas slipped or drive from cam has slipped...

The thought that crossed my mind was that the timing might be out as a symptom of some other incompatability or different sensors/readings from manual to auto.... I'm not suggesting that your timing might be out Andy - mine was out by a very large, obvious (and suspicious) margin. But your possible drop in top end power since manual swap rang bells for me. Cheers! BTW - I thought it didn't move too!!

Hi guys, Thanks for the respone. The old belt was timed up fine and yet the CAS was out by a long way. The new belt is also timed fine and CAS is still in the adjusted position. I see what you mean though Stuart, it was actually Nissan who installed the previous belt and timed the CAS and it worked fine for a year or so. It also worked fine before I first had it replaced. My only thought was that the CAS may have been set while the car was in safety boost mode and hence the ignition was retarded, 15 degrees advance would compensate if safety retard was 0 degrees... What I hope to achieve with a ConZult is to see that the ignition timing advances and retards as it should (although I have to admit I can't find any info on what it should be doing). I have a nasty feeling it's stuck advanced somehow and I have adjusted the CAS to compensate. Not sure if the ignition timing follows the same pattern as the VTC timing but if so it would explain why my low speed and high speed are a bit crappy but my (very short) midrange is a pleasant interlude. If I can see that the timing is advancing and retarding correctly then I'll leave the CAS and spark timing alone as being 'good'. AndyP - this may be of interest to you as I have a manual conversion. Ben also has a manual conversion and suffered the same 15 degree timing advance!! An old post I've just read says you have a drop in power at high revs since your conversion. Can anyone point me to some information regarding ignition timing maps? Cheers! RobH