DaveB

chuckie was organising something for braided lines for S2 standard brakes, I don't know how that is going but there was some interest in the brakes thread

Cool yeah me too; i keep looking at i30s 'cause they use about half as much petrol as a stag and still have climate control. but then i modify the stag some more... hmm.

oh no - you're going to sell it Dave??? damn... oh well at least you'll have some good photos of it to remember it by.

Just a thought: if it was the CAS sensor, and the timing is already going absolutely nuts by 4,000-5,200 RPM, should I be able to free-rev the engine to 6,000 or drive under light load to those revs without massive pinging? Basically what I'm saying is I don't think engine load makes any difference to the CAS sensor...

Thanks, *hopefully* this was ruled out by checking the static timing at idle ie. dial in 15 degrees on the ECU and the timing read 15 degrees; although the timing is read off the crank pully isn't it... hmm

Oh yeah, in case I haven't mentioned (thread is getting long...) I had the engine rebuilt and the head machined & rebuilt at the same time, January of this year it was finished. So it now has about 11,000kms since rebuild. This is another tuner that I have looking at the engine now, not the tuner who built the engine. They were... exasperated with the timing issues. 4 degrees maximum advance is apparently very low. When they started work on it all the timing had been pulled out to try to stop it pinging. So they completely remapped the timing from static and verified it matches what the engine is actually getting (verified at idle/low revs via a timing light). The engine just won't take any timing, and apparently the NEO RB25 'loves timing'; 16 degrees is possible at high revs high boost apparently.

Thanks guys, no I don't have AFRs, the tuner did suggest I swap a CAS sensor to try it out (but I think the tune's been 'corrected' now to have all the timing pulled out; so it isn't really pinging anyway now). they have checked that the timing belt is not a tooth out (pulled timing cover). He has Matt from Nistune there sometimes (in my case I'm not sure), and definitely has Nistune software. I think the only way to measure timing is from a data logging function which he said was telling him that all was well (ie. the expected timing of around 15 degrees advance at 5,200 rpm for instance). I *think* if I understood it correctly, the issue with reading the high-speed timing was that it is measured through the nistune software, VIA the CAS sensor (which could be faulty). So I need to substitute or replace that (seems NEO stuff is rare as hens teeth so I may end up just getting a new one; he said the old one 'felt weird' like a spun bearing or a bent shaft, said it had a lot of play in it. So maybe replacing it is not such a bad idea).

Well I have had it checked by a tuner which I think is reputable, and I have a bill for a day's work to diagnose the problem. Which is not exactly pinpointed at this stage (but if they did any more work on it, it would probably be cheaper just to rebuild anyway). But I'm fairly certain it's either: - cam sensor or - incorrect static compression The latter requires a rebuild. They builld the CAS sensor and reset base timing because it was reading high at idle. They noted it semmed "lumpy" and said it may have a bent shaft or something like that. Timing seemed to be behaving but they didn't have a way to check timing at high RPM to verify it was getting what the computer requested. So I could get a new sensor, and if it turns out to be not faulty then go ahead and rebuild. Or I could rebuild now on the assumption that it's very unlikely the sensor is at fault. I don't know the price of a sensor or a part number for NEO... I'm guessing about $400 from Nissan though Anyone have info on this sensor?

lol! Unfortunately it's starting to look as though the static compression went up. There is still a slim chance it's a faulty cam angle sensor; if anyone knows where I could borrow a NEO CAS unit from for a day so I could rule it out that would be appreciated If it's not that, well, then begins a bit of a saga to workout who will be sorting it out and who will be paying for it!

I suggest you call MV Automatics. Soo much info' on MVs on here, but here you go anyway: Address: 1 Stirling Rd, Blackwood, SA, 5051 Phone number: (08) 83700430

Very true. The desired result (ie. 'sports car' or 'daily driver') needs to be made clear to the tuner perhaps? Second the availability of '98 in the country... never take an import on a long trip without a bottle or two of octane booster!

Cool, will do. Yes have been running like this for about 8-10 months.

Yes should have said; it's a Nistune. I guess you mean other tuners? The workshop who built the engine have had a couple of goes; I'm not unhappy with them I just thought I'd try another tactic. They first found that the timing was set too advanced (needed to rotate CAS I think) and then I had a cat collapse which caused pre-ignition because it was blocking the exhaust and causing the load points to go weird apparently. But after fixing all that it still seems to have these big 'holes' where I get pinging. One of them is in overdrive, which is annoying. I've always used "BP Ultimate" since it was built; I replaced the fuel pump soon after the engine was rebuilt (like a week) - maybe the sitting had something to do with that. The pump was OK, it just wouldn't spin one day and I pulled it out and put 15V through it in a tank of kero and that cleaned it out. It's now serving well in a rodeo lol. Thanks for the comments guys. I have recently upgraded the SMIC to a better SMIC () and I have booked a more 'thorough' (read as: more expensive) tune on Monday at another reputable workshop who work closely with Matt from Nistune, and the first thing the tuner asked was if the CAS sensor etc. had been checked. He said the first stage would be diagnosis. So have fingers crossed... I guess I'll put '98 in it. It's only another 4 cents/litre after all. Bah one day when fuel gets too expensive I guess I'll just have to sell the stag and get an i30 or something lol. But that's sacrilegious.

Ok so on the face of it this looks obvious - 98 RON is better fuel - less detonation etc. I have always used, and had my stagea tuned on, BP ultimate '98 (or the occasional tank of VPower ) However I'm getting a lot of pinging. A lot. It's shown up since I've had the engine rebuilt (another story...) and is actually worst under low load, and seems to get worse as the RPM goes up (still, low load). So cruising in overdrive it shows up all the time. If I accelerate just enough not to kick it down out of overdrive it gets real bad (so obviously I don't!) I'm about to get a more thorough (I hope) tune done at a workshop with a new digital dyno etc. and the technician says he can recreate any load-point, so hopefully he can fix the pinging on the dyno. But I was wondering, should I put 95 RON fuel in for the tune, to make sure the timing is 'safe' enough... eg. for those SA summer days?

Is there a Bowie reference in here somewhere?

I second the Maxxis Z1's being noisy; I had the 235/45 17" version on my C34 and the road noise was noticeably louder; almost sounded like a worn diff'. But Maxxis also do the "V1" Victras, with less of a jagged tread pattern. I'm running those now and they're a lot quieter than the Z1's were. They're a very good performing 'cheap' tyre IMO (V1's in 235/45/17 were about $150 iirc?)

ot but I definitely recommend the higher stall... factory stall is 1,800rpm (pfft), 2,800rpm with a high-flow turbo gives 10psi at launch

Can you describe the shaking? Is it like a side-side vibration, or a surging/rough running of the engine, etc. Especially, do you feel it through the wheel?

I have one but the paint is a bit weird... a shiny layer has worn off in places leaving a slightly different grey colour underneath so not perfect. U can have it for $20 plus postage if it suits you though. DaveB

Call Mike at MV Autos, Blackwood: M V Automatics Motor Engineers & Repairers - Blackwood, SA (08) 8370 0430 Address 1 Stirling Rd, Blackwood SA 5051, Australia MV's did my shift kit, stall convertor, and all auto servicing; Mike's the first person I would call

AFM or fuel pump are my votes (and being M35, in that order)

/\ exactly what I'm doing; the coppers are so much cheaper and work at least as well IMHO

I had them machined down by 6mm (3mm metal removed), so that they match stock size (290mm). I *wish* they had've worked for me without machining down... that was a bad night. Spent ages fitting them and then went for a drive down the road only to find they were binding and started smoking and subsequently had to swap them again. See my post here for pic's of the scoring on the edges where they were rubbing on the caliper. Actually those rub marks came in handy, apparently the brake guy used them as a guide to machine them down Now they fit and work great; no binding, smoking or even squeeking - FINALLY I've got some nice new rotors which aren't warped (and are slotted). EDIT: Brake guy was pretty keen to warn me about the dangers of running thinner rotors. Obviously the piston travel is greater, and if you let your rotors and pads get too thin then the pistons will pop out of the caliper or jam in the bores (no brakes or locked front wheel/s). However, I believe these rotors will be OK as long as I don't let them wear too much (which shouldn't be a problem as I don't think even my stock rotors had worn appreciably). My reasoning is because the minimum thickness of the stock rotor and the 954S differ by about 4mm (from memory) and the 954S rotor is 2mm thinner when new (from memory; I think it's something like 30mm vs 32mm stock rotor). Therefore I should have at least 2mm of rotor to wear, to stay within rated spec's (before the new rotors become thinner than the minimum thickness of the stock rotor and the piston travel in the calipers becomes excessive). Please don't be put off using the 954S's as I think they're great value, even with machining (which can usually be done for $30-50 cash for the pair) - remembering stock rotors aren't slotted, even if you fork out $230+ each for new rotors from Nissan. The (S2) stag just has to be so damn difficult to match stock rotors and pads

Which rotors did you use on the front, RDA 954S? I've had my set machined down and will be fitting them tomorrow.

Oh sh*t, that Josh...