festy's silvertop GU
101 - 120 of 153 Posts
After reading this thread I thought adding a cabin filter to the AC seemed like a sensible idea.
I got a pair of filters off ebay for under $30, delivered the next day (CABIN Air Filter Nissan PATROL GU GUII GUIII 4.2L 2.8L 4.5L 3.0L 3L RCA318P 1998 | eBay) and fitted them this morning.
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First, remove the glove box (about 6 screws)
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Work out where to cut - just follow the seams inside the rectangle
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Hmmm... I better fit a new blade before I start, they're not meant to be serrated
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It takes a bit of effort to cut the plastic, but with a little bit of pressure applied and a rocking motion it's finished before too long
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Mine was surprisingly clean inside, just a leaf or two and some strange long synthetic hairs from a wig or something in the bottom right hand corner.
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As far as I can work out, this is the correct orientation for the filters. Pressure from the bottom clip forces the bottom filter inwards, which pushes the top filter upwards because of the ramp, making a better seal.
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Filters in place, with the bottom one sitting out a bit
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Clip in place, providing some pressure. It's not the correct clip, but looks like it will do the job ok.
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The air flow doesn't seem to have been reduced at all, which is a relief because it wasn't very impressive to start with...
I got a pair of filters off ebay for under $30, delivered the next day (CABIN Air Filter Nissan PATROL GU GUII GUIII 4.2L 2.8L 4.5L 3.0L 3L RCA318P 1998 | eBay) and fitted them this morning.
First, remove the glove box (about 6 screws)
Work out where to cut - just follow the seams inside the rectangle
Hmmm... I better fit a new blade before I start, they're not meant to be serrated
It takes a bit of effort to cut the plastic, but with a little bit of pressure applied and a rocking motion it's finished before too long
Mine was surprisingly clean inside, just a leaf or two and some strange long synthetic hairs from a wig or something in the bottom right hand corner.
As far as I can work out, this is the correct orientation for the filters. Pressure from the bottom clip forces the bottom filter inwards, which pushes the top filter upwards because of the ramp, making a better seal.
Filters in place, with the bottom one sitting out a bit
Clip in place, providing some pressure. It's not the correct clip, but looks like it will do the job ok.
The air flow doesn't seem to have been reduced at all, which is a relief because it wasn't very impressive to start with...
Today I fitted a set of weather shields and a bonnet protector. Should be straight forward enough?
First the bonnet protector - no issues there except some slightly ambiguous instructions.
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Then on to the weather shields, I thought I'd start with the rear doors. As soon as I held it up to the door I knew it wasn't going to fit properly.
There's a very slight step in the doors at the top of the window line, but a massive step in the weather shield that leaves the top edge a long way out from the door frame
A quick search took me to this thread, where I saw I wasn't the first person to run into this problem:
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Profile shot of the exaggerated step:
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front view:
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There wasn't enough meat to machine the step down, and I wanted to try and save the 3M tape that was on the back side so I grabbed my heat gun and heated the area for about 30 seconds on low heat setting, then pressed it between two flat pieces of aluminium to flatten most of the step out.
This was my first go, it turns out the top piece of aluminium wasn't as flat as I thought. All the dimples were from marks on the surface.
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I went a bit far with the first one and took pretty much all the step out.
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I re-heated it a bit and tried again with a sheet of paper in between and got most of the marks out. All the others came out fine first go using the paper as a soft jaw.
End result - they fit well and there's no gaps anywhere. The 3M tape survived the gentle heating with no apparent loss of stickyness :iconbana:
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First the bonnet protector - no issues there except some slightly ambiguous instructions.
Then on to the weather shields, I thought I'd start with the rear doors. As soon as I held it up to the door I knew it wasn't going to fit properly.
There's a very slight step in the doors at the top of the window line, but a massive step in the weather shield that leaves the top edge a long way out from the door frame
A quick search took me to this thread, where I saw I wasn't the first person to run into this problem:
Profile shot of the exaggerated step:
front view:
There wasn't enough meat to machine the step down, and I wanted to try and save the 3M tape that was on the back side so I grabbed my heat gun and heated the area for about 30 seconds on low heat setting, then pressed it between two flat pieces of aluminium to flatten most of the step out.
This was my first go, it turns out the top piece of aluminium wasn't as flat as I thought. All the dimples were from marks on the surface.
I went a bit far with the first one and took pretty much all the step out.
I re-heated it a bit and tried again with a sheet of paper in between and got most of the marks out. All the others came out fine first go using the paper as a soft jaw.
End result - they fit well and there's no gaps anywhere. The 3M tape survived the gentle heating with no apparent loss of stickyness :iconbana:
This afternoon's job was to have a go at improving the stereo's audio quality.
I'm definitely no audiophile, I'm usually either listening to AM radio or music best described as crappy garage band recordings - but the rear right speaker was so blown that it just hummed and buzzed, so time to replace it.
I also discovered today that the rear left speaker doesn't work at all :-|
The front doors have had tweeters installed by the PO so I assume the factory speakers are long gone. Regardless, the fronts sound ok so I have no plans to replace them.
After reading a few threads on here about choosing speakers to fit in the OEM positions, I ordered a pair of Pioneer TS-G1645R speakers from Ryda's ebay store. They were about the cheapest 'name brand' set I found, so I'm not expecting concert hall performance from them.
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So I set about removing the door card, and noticed a few bits of black foam falling out the bottom. Once I saw the speaker I worked out what they were The other side wasn't much better, but at least it hadn't completely fallen apart.
The old speaker, and the replacement:
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No problems with speaker depth
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Before I went to cut the plug off the wires, I thought I'd have a go at moving that socket to the new speaker.
De-soldering the wires:
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and it's off
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Then soldered onto the terminals of the new speaker
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While reassembling the doors I remembered one of the rear window switches had been playing up recently, might as well clean it while I'm here...
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I cleaned the terminals with a cotton tip and they came up well. I gave the springs a little stretch to apply slightly more pressure to the ball bearing, which hopefully will give the rocker a firmer contact and prevent arcing for a while.
The sound is much better now. Hopefully the kids will be able to hear the radio in the back without deafening me now!
I'm definitely no audiophile, I'm usually either listening to AM radio or music best described as crappy garage band recordings - but the rear right speaker was so blown that it just hummed and buzzed, so time to replace it.
I also discovered today that the rear left speaker doesn't work at all :-|
The front doors have had tweeters installed by the PO so I assume the factory speakers are long gone. Regardless, the fronts sound ok so I have no plans to replace them.
After reading a few threads on here about choosing speakers to fit in the OEM positions, I ordered a pair of Pioneer TS-G1645R speakers from Ryda's ebay store. They were about the cheapest 'name brand' set I found, so I'm not expecting concert hall performance from them.
So I set about removing the door card, and noticed a few bits of black foam falling out the bottom. Once I saw the speaker I worked out what they were
The other side wasn't much better, but at least it hadn't completely fallen apart.The old speaker, and the replacement:
No problems with speaker depth
Before I went to cut the plug off the wires, I thought I'd have a go at moving that socket to the new speaker.
De-soldering the wires:
and it's off
Then soldered onto the terminals of the new speaker
While reassembling the doors I remembered one of the rear window switches had been playing up recently, might as well clean it while I'm here...
I cleaned the terminals with a cotton tip and they came up well. I gave the springs a little stretch to apply slightly more pressure to the ball bearing, which hopefully will give the rocker a firmer contact and prevent arcing for a while.
The sound is much better now. Hopefully the kids will be able to hear the radio in the back without deafening me now!
A few more jobs ticked off the list recently...
A couple of weeks ago I was driving my GQ and it dawned on me that I never heard the thermo fan engaging on my GU (although the different fan blade shape could have something to do with that?).
A quick comparison of the two showed that the GU's hub had a lot less resistance, and it looked pretty cheap and nasty too.
So I ordered a Tru-Flow hub from Roadrunner, rather than play ebay roulette.
Here's the Tru-flow hub and the hub it's replaced:
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It 'feels' a million times better than the old one, and seems to be moving a lot of air through the radiator. The apparent difference in quality between the two is amazing.
I also picked up a cheap and nasty oil catch can, I think it was the cheapest on ebay that had a removable top. For some reason it stinks like pesticide
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Top quality stuff, love the tooling marks. But my favorite is the anodized swarf :shock:
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First problem - those fittings are about 5.5 mm ID, no way they'd do. There's enough meat there to open them up a bit though
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A bit of an improvement, but still way too small
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I scrounged around and found an old heater hose fitting that has a decent inside diameter, but I'll use my enlarged fitting until I can get a second replacement.
The reason I wanted one with a removable lid was so I could put something inside to try and grab the oil vapor out of the air as it passed through. Obviously an empty can won't work too well, so I thought I'd try some perforated aluminium mesh (a.k.a. leaf guard for gutters).
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No idea how well it will work, but time will tell...
A couple of weeks ago I was driving my GQ and it dawned on me that I never heard the thermo fan engaging on my GU (although the different fan blade shape could have something to do with that?).
A quick comparison of the two showed that the GU's hub had a lot less resistance, and it looked pretty cheap and nasty too.
So I ordered a Tru-Flow hub from Roadrunner, rather than play ebay roulette.
Here's the Tru-flow hub and the hub it's replaced:
It 'feels' a million times better than the old one, and seems to be moving a lot of air through the radiator. The apparent difference in quality between the two is amazing.
I also picked up a cheap and nasty oil catch can, I think it was the cheapest on ebay that had a removable top. For some reason it stinks like pesticide
Top quality stuff, love the tooling marks. But my favorite is the anodized swarf :shock:
First problem - those fittings are about 5.5 mm ID, no way they'd do. There's enough meat there to open them up a bit though
A bit of an improvement, but still way too small
I scrounged around and found an old heater hose fitting that has a decent inside diameter, but I'll use my enlarged fitting until I can get a second replacement.
The reason I wanted one with a removable lid was so I could put something inside to try and grab the oil vapor out of the air as it passed through. Obviously an empty can won't work too well, so I thought I'd try some perforated aluminium mesh (a.k.a. leaf guard for gutters).
No idea how well it will work, but time will tell...
I believe they work better if you fit a baffle between entry & exit that extends about halfway down inside. This forces the oil mist to take a longer route rather than just in & out in the lid space.
The stainless scourers from Coles works well inside.
The stainless scourers from Coles works well inside.
Exactly. Without a baffle the gas will flow directly from intake to exit.
Stainless steel scrub buds make the best filter media.
Thanks guys, I'll be copying the SS scourer and baffle idea.
I'd hoped that forcing the air to pass through two layers of the perforated mesh would suffice, but judging by the amount of oily residue on the end of the vent hose it doesn't look to be very effective :?
I just got back from 4 days camping at Yarrangobilly. The trip down was pretty uneventful, I'm still a bit nervous about the cooling system but even loaded up with the 6 of us plus a full roof rack in 40* weather it barely ever got above 95* running down the freeway.
The long climb out of Talbingo was a different story, I was struggling to keep the engine from going over 110*. I drove it again the next day, this time taking it slower and with much lighter throttle and had no issues at all.
On the way down we stopped at Blowering dam for lunch. While I was checking over the car I found the oil level was very low, so headed back to Tumut to pick some up. I should have known something wasn't right...
Fuel economy averaged 15.4L/100km, not too bad considering the load, the drag inducing roof bag, and the fact that I haven't got around to properly setting the pump timing yet :doh:
The trip home wasn't quite so smooth though. Around Yass the clutch started slipping in 5th so I slowed down a bit and dropped back a gear but it was still flaring like mad.
When I pulled over, half a cup of oil drained out from between the back of the engine and the bellhousing :evil:
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I nursed it home slowly, sticking to 95-100 in 4th and being careful not to let the turbo spool up because it seemed that anything over about 5 psi the clutch would let go.
I cleaned it down when I got home and after only a quick drive there's engine oil leaking out of the bottom of the bellhousing and from the clutch fork cover.
I was told that a new heavy duty clutch was fitted when the engine conversion was done (and the pedal certainly feels a lot heavier than my GQ did) but I'm guessing like with everything else they cut corners and didn't replace the rear main seal, and now 18 months later it's let go and wrecked an almost-new clutch. Not happy, Jan :angryfir:
This afternoon I've been researching clutches and getting quotes on the work. Paying ~$1k in labour is going to sting, but there's no way I can do this job at home myself.
I'm leaning towards going for an Exedy Safari clutch, but wondering whether the Safari HD would be a better choice?
Either way - once again just as I get the funds together to do the suspension, something expensive breaks... :evil:
I'd hoped that forcing the air to pass through two layers of the perforated mesh would suffice, but judging by the amount of oily residue on the end of the vent hose it doesn't look to be very effective :?
I just got back from 4 days camping at Yarrangobilly. The trip down was pretty uneventful, I'm still a bit nervous about the cooling system but even loaded up with the 6 of us plus a full roof rack in 40* weather it barely ever got above 95* running down the freeway.
The long climb out of Talbingo was a different story, I was struggling to keep the engine from going over 110*. I drove it again the next day, this time taking it slower and with much lighter throttle and had no issues at all.
On the way down we stopped at Blowering dam for lunch. While I was checking over the car I found the oil level was very low, so headed back to Tumut to pick some up. I should have known something wasn't right...
Fuel economy averaged 15.4L/100km, not too bad considering the load, the drag inducing roof bag, and the fact that I haven't got around to properly setting the pump timing yet :doh:
The trip home wasn't quite so smooth though. Around Yass the clutch started slipping in 5th so I slowed down a bit and dropped back a gear but it was still flaring like mad.
When I pulled over, half a cup of oil drained out from between the back of the engine and the bellhousing :evil:
I nursed it home slowly, sticking to 95-100 in 4th and being careful not to let the turbo spool up because it seemed that anything over about 5 psi the clutch would let go.
I cleaned it down when I got home and after only a quick drive there's engine oil leaking out of the bottom of the bellhousing and from the clutch fork cover.
I was told that a new heavy duty clutch was fitted when the engine conversion was done (and the pedal certainly feels a lot heavier than my GQ did) but I'm guessing like with everything else they cut corners and didn't replace the rear main seal, and now 18 months later it's let go and wrecked an almost-new clutch. Not happy, Jan :angryfir:
This afternoon I've been researching clutches and getting quotes on the work. Paying ~$1k in labour is going to sting, but there's no way I can do this job at home myself.
I'm leaning towards going for an Exedy Safari clutch, but wondering whether the Safari HD would be a better choice?
Either way - once again just as I get the funds together to do the suspension, something expensive breaks... :evil:
It's been a while since my last update...
A day or two after my last post I had a truck change lanes on top of me. The old girl took a pretty hard hit, but still managed to make it the short distance home - just.
It took 4 weeks for the insurance company to sort out the repairs, they were painful to deal with at every step and when I finally got the car back there was still some unrepaired damage as well as some new damage caused during the month in the shop, but I doubt there's any point taking it any further.
That was my first insurance claim in 20 years of driving, I was astounded by the level of incompetence
So between not having my car for a month and then being disheartened by the repair process, not a lot has been happening to the patrol recently.
When I was re-fitting everything that I removed before dropping it off for repairs, I noticed that my UHF wasn't picking up any signal while my H/T was hearing the local repeater nonsense. I tried a spare antenna and lead and got a signal, so not a radio issue.
My antenna is a GME elevated feed. I unscrewed the whip, and saw that the coax had been pulled out of the antenna
That hole in the solder is where the coax center conductor used to be
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No connection, a 'wireless' antenna?
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Just some remnants of the coax braid left
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GME appear to have gone out of their way to make sure you can't replace the coax in these antennas.
I eventually managed to repair it, but didn't take any photos for some reason. You need to remove the outer metal tube, which will reveal a thin inner metal tube that the coax runs inside.
It has a crimp in the bottom which shreds any coax you try to feed through. I gently tapped a round punch into the bottom of the tube to remove the crimp, then the coax could be fed through easily.
The whole antenna base seems to be held together mostly with glue, so have some Araldite on hand for reassembly.
I'm guessing the coax might have been reefed on while it was at the repair shop, because I was using the UHF the weekend before with no issues... Oh well, it's fixed now.
A day or two after my last post I had a truck change lanes on top of me. The old girl took a pretty hard hit, but still managed to make it the short distance home - just.
It took 4 weeks for the insurance company to sort out the repairs, they were painful to deal with at every step and when I finally got the car back there was still some unrepaired damage as well as some new damage caused during the month in the shop, but I doubt there's any point taking it any further.
That was my first insurance claim in 20 years of driving, I was astounded by the level of incompetence
So between not having my car for a month and then being disheartened by the repair process, not a lot has been happening to the patrol recently.
When I was re-fitting everything that I removed before dropping it off for repairs, I noticed that my UHF wasn't picking up any signal while my H/T was hearing the local repeater nonsense. I tried a spare antenna and lead and got a signal, so not a radio issue.
My antenna is a GME elevated feed. I unscrewed the whip, and saw that the coax had been pulled out of the antenna
That hole in the solder is where the coax center conductor used to be
No connection, a 'wireless' antenna?
Just some remnants of the coax braid left
GME appear to have gone out of their way to make sure you can't replace the coax in these antennas.
I eventually managed to repair it, but didn't take any photos for some reason. You need to remove the outer metal tube, which will reveal a thin inner metal tube that the coax runs inside.
It has a crimp in the bottom which shreds any coax you try to feed through. I gently tapped a round punch into the bottom of the tube to remove the crimp, then the coax could be fed through easily.
The whole antenna base seems to be held together mostly with glue, so have some Araldite on hand for reassembly.
I'm guessing the coax might have been reefed on while it was at the repair shop, because I was using the UHF the weekend before with no issues... Oh well, it's fixed now.
The aftermarket alarm installed in my Patrol has a turbo timer function, but like most generic turbo timers it causes problems with the sub tank controller
Looking at the wiring diagram, I assume it's because the turbo timer keeps the ignition circuit energised and the sub tank controller never expects to see the ignition circuit live when the accessories circuit isn't - so it panics for some reason that probably made sense to the engineers who designed it...
I pulled the controller out and had a look to see if it was going to be easy to reverse engineer.
The controller module:
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Inside there is a relay, a microprocessor, a watchdog supervisor, a hex inverter, and a bunch of transistors, zener diodes etc. The PCB is conformal coated.
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The microcontroller is a Hitachi H8/3294 (datasheet)
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I couldn't be bothered trying to extract the firmware and I couldn't see anything interesting or useful on the PCB, so thought I'd just try a simple diode between the ignition and accessories pins instead.
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I did that 2 weeks ago and the sub tank light hasn't come back on yet, so fingers crossed that's fixed it but time will tell.
While I had the radio out to get to the controller module, I remembered I hadn't wired up the reverse signal for the rear camera, so I went hunting for a convenient place to tap into it. I searched the forum but didn't find any obvious answers so maybe the next person searching for the same thing will see this ;-)
There's a couple of connectors behind the passenger kick panel, I assume for an optional navigation system.
The reverse signal is a yellow wire on one of those plugs, second from the end and middle row of pins from memory.
It's a very easy spot to pick it up from and doesn't require cutting into the wiring harness at all.
Looking at the wiring diagram, I assume it's because the turbo timer keeps the ignition circuit energised and the sub tank controller never expects to see the ignition circuit live when the accessories circuit isn't - so it panics for some reason that probably made sense to the engineers who designed it...
I pulled the controller out and had a look to see if it was going to be easy to reverse engineer.
The controller module:
Inside there is a relay, a microprocessor, a watchdog supervisor, a hex inverter, and a bunch of transistors, zener diodes etc. The PCB is conformal coated.
The microcontroller is a Hitachi H8/3294 (datasheet)
I couldn't be bothered trying to extract the firmware and I couldn't see anything interesting or useful on the PCB, so thought I'd just try a simple diode between the ignition and accessories pins instead.
I did that 2 weeks ago and the sub tank light hasn't come back on yet, so fingers crossed that's fixed it but time will tell.
While I had the radio out to get to the controller module, I remembered I hadn't wired up the reverse signal for the rear camera, so I went hunting for a convenient place to tap into it. I searched the forum but didn't find any obvious answers so maybe the next person searching for the same thing will see this ;-)
There's a couple of connectors behind the passenger kick panel, I assume for an optional navigation system.
The reverse signal is a yellow wire on one of those plugs, second from the end and middle row of pins from memory.
It's a very easy spot to pick it up from and doesn't require cutting into the wiring harness at all.
I finally dropped it off at a local mechanic to get the clutch and rear main seal done on Monday morning. It was meant to be a 1 - 2 day job - but as usual, there were a few issues that delayed things
After reading various forum threads I opted for the NSK-7235STHD Exedy Safari Tuff HD clutch, and requested a genuine RMS be fitted.
But when I dropped it off, I forgot to explain the whole engine conversion thing to the mechanic :-|
I got a call Monday luchtime asking how long I'd owned the car, and did I know it was meant to have a 3L engine? :mrgreen:
He'd called up Nissan to order the RMS and quoted the VIN, and got a bit of a surprise. So he ordered a seal for a TD42ti, but that didn't fit so he'd then ordered another one for a 4.2 GU.
I gave him the year and model of the engine and a sample VIN to match, but by then he'd already found that the second seal didn't fit either so had ordered one of every type available from Nissan :twisted:
Next call was Tuesday midday, still waiting on the seal assortment but the flywheel was back from machining, and when he'd pulled the old clutch out he found there was no retainer clip on the fork so would need to track one down :shock:
So all up it took a day longer and a few hundred $$ more than expected - but considering all the mucking around involved, I'm happy enough. It was the first patrol they'd done, and he reckoned that even with a hoist, a transmission jack and 2 big guys it was still a horrible job, and if he was doing it again he'd pull the engine out instead.
I'm glad I didn't attempt this in my driveway at home by myself :rofl:
After reading various forum threads I opted for the NSK-7235STHD Exedy Safari Tuff HD clutch, and requested a genuine RMS be fitted.
But when I dropped it off, I forgot to explain the whole engine conversion thing to the mechanic :-|
I got a call Monday luchtime asking how long I'd owned the car, and did I know it was meant to have a 3L engine? :mrgreen:
He'd called up Nissan to order the RMS and quoted the VIN, and got a bit of a surprise. So he ordered a seal for a TD42ti, but that didn't fit so he'd then ordered another one for a 4.2 GU.
I gave him the year and model of the engine and a sample VIN to match, but by then he'd already found that the second seal didn't fit either so had ordered one of every type available from Nissan :twisted:
Next call was Tuesday midday, still waiting on the seal assortment but the flywheel was back from machining, and when he'd pulled the old clutch out he found there was no retainer clip on the fork so would need to track one down :shock:
So all up it took a day longer and a few hundred $$ more than expected - but considering all the mucking around involved, I'm happy enough. It was the first patrol they'd done, and he reckoned that even with a hoist, a transmission jack and 2 big guys it was still a horrible job, and if he was doing it again he'd pull the engine out instead.
I'm glad I didn't attempt this in my driveway at home by myself :rofl:
It's been 3 months since I added the diode to the aux pump controller and I haven't had to reset it once, I'm calling that a success :bananaro:
Now finally, time to do something about the suspension.
First the panhards. Nothing too flash, just a Roadsafe set off ebay.
The front took me almost 2 hours to fit, mainly due to a damaged nut.
Immediately all the front end shake disappeared, as well as a shimmy during right hand bends that I had assumed was wheel bearing related. I hadn't noticed how bad the panhard bushes were until then
Next, new bushes for the rear LCAs. I seem to only get about 6 months out of aftermarket bushes, so went with genuine parts this time.
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The front end got new springs (Dobinsons C45-134 45mm), radius arm bushes, spacers and new nuts and bolts everywhere - because every second bolt on this car seems to be damaged, cross threaded, or just wrong.
For the rear - new springs (Dobinsons C45-103 45mm) and Firestone air bags with 2" spacer blocks.
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The front end took the better part of a day to fit, but went smoothly enough.
Its not constantly hitting the bumpstops now, and sits a bit better too
Before:
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After:
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Then before I could fit the rear springs and air bags I broke my collarbone, so they will have to wait until I can hold a spanner again :|
Now finally, time to do something about the suspension.
First the panhards. Nothing too flash, just a Roadsafe set off ebay.
The front took me almost 2 hours to fit, mainly due to a damaged nut.
Immediately all the front end shake disappeared, as well as a shimmy during right hand bends that I had assumed was wheel bearing related. I hadn't noticed how bad the panhard bushes were until then
Next, new bushes for the rear LCAs. I seem to only get about 6 months out of aftermarket bushes, so went with genuine parts this time.
The front end got new springs (Dobinsons C45-134 45mm), radius arm bushes, spacers and new nuts and bolts everywhere - because every second bolt on this car seems to be damaged, cross threaded, or just wrong.
For the rear - new springs (Dobinsons C45-103 45mm) and Firestone air bags with 2" spacer blocks.
The front end took the better part of a day to fit, but went smoothly enough.
Its not constantly hitting the bumpstops now, and sits a bit better too
Before:
After:
Then before I could fit the rear springs and air bags I broke my collarbone, so they will have to wait until I can hold a spanner again :|
10 months later, and my new alternator has developed quite an oil leak :ranting:
I'd previously had good experiences buying chinese alternators, but I had my doubts about this one from the start when it was sent with the vac pump fouling on a stud
It was advertised with a 5 year warranty which I'll be taking them up on, but I expect that will be a long and frustrating process so will need to either resurrect my spare alt (the one I didn't think worth re-sealing due to shaft wear) or buy a decent one and keep the replacement one as a spare. I wonder where I put those seals I bought last october?
Either way, I can't do anything about it until my shoulder heals...
Was it from trump autos or auto8?10 months later, and my new alternator has developed quite an oil leak :ranting:
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I'd previously had good experiences buying chinese alternators, but I had my doubts about this one from the start when it was sent with the vac pump fouling on a stud
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It was advertised with a 5 year warranty which I'll be taking them up on, but I expect that will be a long and frustrating process so will need to either resurrect my spare alt (the one I didn't think worth re-sealing due to shaft wear) or buy a decent one and keep the replacement one as a spare. I wonder where I put those seals I bought last october?
Either way, I can't do anything about it until my shoulder heals...
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
Auto8 - I recall you had some dramas with a warranty claim on an alternator didn't you?
My shoulder's getting better so time to get back to that list of jobs...
I was procrastinating about fitting the rear springs and air bags, not a job I was looking forward to considering I don't have a decent spot to work on cars anymore - the best I can manage is a sloping driveway :-?
Also I had gotten the impression that fitting airbags wasn't a fun job - and having a LR tank was going to make it worse.
But actually it was all a breeze. I wasn't expecting to be able to do one side at a time, but just managed it.
And installing airbags might be a pain if you do it without removing the springs, but doing it all at once was dead easy.
Removing the old spring - I *almost* had enough travel in the shocks
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Old vs new springs - I was surprised that the old springs were slightly taller than the new Dobinsons 2" HDs when unloaded, but relieved that it means I should still fit in the local shopping center car park - I clear it by less than an inch
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New springs and airbags fitted, with a 2" spacer under the bag.
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I put 12psi in each side and checked them again the next day to test for leaks, all good.
We're taking our camper away in a few weeks so very happy I got the rear suspension done beforehand.
I was procrastinating about fitting the rear springs and air bags, not a job I was looking forward to considering I don't have a decent spot to work on cars anymore - the best I can manage is a sloping driveway :-?
Also I had gotten the impression that fitting airbags wasn't a fun job - and having a LR tank was going to make it worse.
But actually it was all a breeze. I wasn't expecting to be able to do one side at a time, but just managed it.
And installing airbags might be a pain if you do it without removing the springs, but doing it all at once was dead easy.
Removing the old spring - I *almost* had enough travel in the shocks
Old vs new springs - I was surprised that the old springs were slightly taller than the new Dobinsons 2" HDs when unloaded, but relieved that it means I should still fit in the local shopping center car park - I clear it by less than an inch
New springs and airbags fitted, with a 2" spacer under the bag.
I put 12psi in each side and checked them again the next day to test for leaks, all good.
We're taking our camper away in a few weeks so very happy I got the rear suspension done beforehand.
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