RobH

Can anyone help with this please?? I need to identify what my timing is doing across the rev range. Prepared to cough up some cash but not Nissan rates! :( Any other suggestions how to achieve this? Cheers! RobH

Cheers Stu! Think I might chuck the old TPS back on and see what happens. I'm just trying to elimate TPS as a cause of ignition timing being out by a suspicious 15 degrees... Anyone know what full advance is? Does it go by throttle position or RPM or combination? Cheers!

Hi All, Just tying up a loose end. I changed the TPS around about the same time my timing started going screwy and my car detonating. Checked the settings at the TPS connector (had been reading from AVC-R) and they came in at about 0.45 while closed and 4.55 when full throttle. I had to drop the closed voltage to 0.285 V (about as far as it would go) to get the reading to 4.1V when open - anyone able to confirm that these results are ok?? - I'm wondering if I've installed a dud TPS. TIA! RobH

It's a standard EPROM, the original will be hard soldered onto the board. Easiest to carefully cut the legs on the existing chip rather than tw*t about with a desoldering tool, then remove the pins individually. Solder a new socket in and insert new chip :) Adam - where in the NW are you??

Hi All, After suffering some really bad detonation we checked my timing and found it was out by 15 degrees (30 degrees advanced at idle). Set it back to 15 degrees and the det was cured although performance was still far from peaky. I can't think of any way that the timing can jump without the timing belt/exhaust cam jumping one or more teeth. We replaced my timing belt at the weekend and found everything was timed up right BUT the marks on the belt were two teeth out on all sprockets when at TDC (!?). Checked the timing again after installing new belt and still 15 degrees out with the CAS in its original position. The only possible explaination I can come up with is that the ECU was stuck in safety boost mode when it was originally timed hence it was retarded by 15 degrees and had to be advanced to allow the standard 15 degrees. I've recently bypassed the knock sensor which could mean that out of safety boost it was advanced by a further 15 degrees. What doesn't make sense is that it got gradually worse over the 2 weeks before I bypassed the det sensor :( also it always performed very well when it was standard - I'm pretty sure it wasn't i8n safety boost mode. I hope this is still making sense.... Anyone got any bright ideas?? Can the CAS fail internally causing the timing to go out? Can the CAS drive shaft on the Ex cam wear or slip in any way?? Any advice/suggestions appreciated. Best regards, RobH PS - I know this has also happened on another car!!

Hmm...fair comment but when you're faced with a bill for over £2K for a recon autobox and uprated cooler then the manual conversion is a cheaper option..;)

Labour will prob be a good chunk of the cost unless you can do the work yourself. Parts cost me about £1250 including an RPS street clutch from Smithy (nice!), the majority of bits from AndyZ and a few odds and ends from Nissan and a breaker in the US... Best bet is to find a complete car in a breakers and carefully remove the bits you need - rubber hoses and electrical wiring can add up to a ridiculous amount and most breakers simply cut 'em off... Definately worth the swap though...(for me at least) Cheers! RobH

Rich, Give me a bell on 01352 792709 or 01244 319411 for directions/times etc. Cheers RobH

No probs with me, Ben's gran is the only one likely to complain. We'll be getting an early start I think to make sure we get it all done on the day. Should all be in bits by late morning. Cheers! RobH

BTW I had my cam belt done by Hartwell Nissan Chester 18 months ago for £270 ish including parts... Having said that it appears to have slipped so I can't necessarily recommend them. RobH

Hey Rich!! Ben and me are doing mine this Sunday at granny's in Warrington. I'm bunging Ben some cash for his time/expertise/tools etc and getting some parts from one of my distributors (timing belt, water pump, thermostat, alternator and air con belts, anti freeze). Definately worth doing the whole shooting match while you're at it - shame to put it all back together and have the water pump go 100 miles later... Let me know if you need some help with parts (me) or work (Ben)... Ben - if you read this - hope you don't mind me offering your assistance!! PS all my bits are now here except the cam belt tensioner (mr Duff) and cylinder head connectors (collect on Fri) Cheers! RobH

Hi Andy, No, not tried Courtesy yet. Problem is I don't want to order one on the off chance that it's gone - too much cash to leave on the shelf :( Appreciate the advice on the bearing/tensioner I mailed to ask if you had a decent 2nd hand one - any thoughts? Cheers! RobH

Hi All, I'm having to get under the covers to have a look at my timing as it may have slipped a couple of teeth (!). While I'm at it I'm replacing the Cambelt (again!), water pump, thermostat and am thinking of replacing the 'auto tensioner' - as this may be the culprit if the belt has indeed slipped. I have been quoted almost £300 for the tensioner by Nissan but I can get a 'tensioner bearing' from another source for a lot less - can anyone tell me whether this is the same thing as the tensioner, just part of it or something completely different?? Thanks in advance. RobH

Oh...I've given this some thought (unusual) and come to the conclusion that the valve timing will be out - exhaust will still be advanced I s'pose. That's assuming that the belt has jumped a tooth... Anyone any observations..? Confirmation? Cheers!

Umm...what do you use the feeler gauge for? I'll have a bash with the multimeter tonight. Cheers!

Hi Mr D, Ben checked it for me the 'proper' way so it should be a true reading. So if the timing belt has jumped and we've reset the base setting will other pulleys still be out of sync? What I'm trying to say is will the car still be set up wrong although the base setting is now correct? Cheers!

Hmm.... I replaced my TPS around about the time this started to be a problem. I had some erratic idle probs so I replaced and reset the TPS - settings still look fine according to the AVC-R reading though... RobH

Nigel, Sounds like we have a similar problem - mine was at around 30 degrees too! Mine also seemed to get gradually worse - can't think why that would be...there is a known problem with wear on a locating pin on the crankshaft on early Z's apparently. Since setting your timing back have you found performance to have degraded i.e. peak power and torque down? I've borrowed an ECU just so I can rule my existing ECU out. Will test at the w/e. Cheers! RobH

Hi All, My timing was out by over 10 degrees (advanced) - this explains my detonation problem I guess :( Problem is why and how it was out by so much?? The problem seems to be quite recent so something must have changed/broken - I'm not convinced that the belt could have slipped - surely that would have put it out by much more anyway(?) So I have no detonation now but the car feels a bit flat running at 1bar :( is the timing solely controlled by the ECU or could something else have got stuck/broken which may mean timing had got stuck advanced and now can't advance when ECU tells it to (because it was set back to 15 degrees)? Anyone in the NW got a ConZult? Hope this makes some sense! Any advice appreciated as ever. Thanks and regards, RobH

Hi Simmo, I'm trying to get to the harness connector so I can check resistance - s'posed to be possible to test the pump condition this way - or at least should show if it's definately shot.. I'll have a look cheers! RobH

Doh! No wonder I couldn't find it in the fuel system section of the manual... OK, I know where the controller is then - had that panel off yesterday. It's a jap auto 2+2 with manual box... Still searching for the fuel pump harness connectors though (in boot under panel?) Cheers!

Hi All, I need to do some testing on some fuel system components but need to find 'em first! All the 'how to's' I've read are based on a US 2 seater - fuel tank and compnents are in a very different location on this. I have found something that looks like it was designed by Heath Robinson beneath the rear drivers side passenger seat (near the speaker) - seems to have a load of fuel pipes running into it so I presume this is the fuel pump control unit (?) It's covered by a big rubber 'hump'. Would I be right in thinking that I have to remove the panel (4xphilips) in the middle of the floor of the boot to get at the fuel pump harness connectors?? Any advice appreciated - sorry if this appears really dumb! Cheers! RobH

Ben - nice one mate!! Could definately do with some temp replacements just to rule a few things out - especially the MAS as a quick and easy 'rule it out'. Mr Duff - you could have a good point there, it does sound like my turbos are being 'bled off' into the exhaust - a bit of a whistle when I go on boost and a 'gush' when chnaging gear on boost. Problem is how do I remove the EGR - I understand it's a b*gger of a job. I'm highly suspicious of the fuel pump pressure control unit - Mr Duff mentioned this in response to an earlier post. I get a tapping noise from it - not quite the 'buzz' that signifies a knackered unit but very supicious all the same - it also coincides with some light detonation when under moderate load.... Any advice/help gratefully received. RobH

Not at all, all suggestions appreciated. Been out in it this afternoon and it feels a lot better although still lacking any punch above 5000 rpm. I've recently bypassed the det sensor as it tested bad. Also, using AVC-R which I can adjust to compensate for any boost leaks etc - boosted up to .81 bar yesterday but presume it was the engine holding back that prevented more. Done some checks this afternoon. The air flow sensor was reading 1.2V approx while running but only 0.5V (which then drops by 0.01V per second approx) when warm and ignition off - anyone done this test and have any figures for a known good one?? From what I've read, 0.8V is normal for warm and not running (?) Tried to examine the fuel pump/flow regulator etc but had difficulty locating it - are UK/Jap and US models very different? I'm pretty sure I found my pump under the hump in the boot behind the Drivers side speaker and the regulator next to the rear passenger side seat...didn't do any testing on either as I wasn't sure.. Any advice appreciated! RobH

Hi All, A bit like SRAEs problem I think... I've noticed for some time that my power seems to go a bit flat when I floor it - my head goes back as the turbos kick in but power levels off when I give it some throttle. After a 500 mile journey - trundling along at 70-80mph, I floored it a couple of times when almost home, nice as the turbos kicked in then massive drop in power - really noticeable - even the other half commented. Feathering the throttle allows much better acceleration than flooring it. Apart from that I'm still getting some detonation with moderate acceleration in the higher gears - sounds like air flow sensor or fuel pressure to me - anyone any other thoughts? Any one got a known good MAS I could borrow to test please?? Pretty please??? Thanks in advance RobH