Unhappy Camper

[dead32]

hi guys finaly got my registration login 'first one didnt work'... no problems now though .. so aprox 2months ago i purchased my dream car and it was all thrills, prob did 500km worth of driving that first weekend.... shortly after this things turned sour, the engine popped the dipstick out, shortly followed by the catch can filling with oil then overflowing,, basicaly 1.5lts of oil for a 10min drive,, not good. being a motor mechanic i stipped the head off as i suspected piston/piston ring failure, sure enough there it was, now the car had 69,000km on it ' came from japan origianly, priv import'..it had a gredy front mount,full trust exhaust, 300zx single turbo running 1bar, apexi air filter,blitz blow off valve all managed by a plug in garage saurus ecu, the car went nice untill all else failed,now im trying to decide what to do, rebuild to rb20?(is it worth doing) or go for a 2nd hand rb25 and bolt that in, only problem is im finding it hard to find prices for rb20 bits, and i didnt realy want to put in a 2nd hand rb25..... just thought id come here and vent my frustration, any glimmers of hope you fellas might add id be more then welcoing, thanks for your time.... dead32

[Cubes]

Firstly...

What made it pop... Are you still running the std fuel pump?

[bbe]

rebuild bro...new new new

do a 2.4 woo woot

[satanic]

Stick a RB25 in it

[Abo Bob]

Firstly...

What made it pop... Are you still running the std fuel pump?

all managed by a plug in garage saurus ecu

my guess.

Well since you know your way around a car I say a second hand RB20 for not much money will be cheap. Get a tune after you install it. Failing that I think an RB25 upgrade will do the job.

[predator]

buy a 2nd hand rb25 and transfer all the stuff across..

Just a guess, but the ecu was probably tuned agressively for japanese RON fuel, not the weaker the aussie stuff.

[Cubes]

As he's a motor mechanic he should have been able to hear it pinging its nut off or at least seen the puffs of unburnt fuel in the revision mirror. But maybe not.

I'm always a little iffy about the fuel pumps in these old r32's.

[Blitz]

Stick a RB26 in it

Fixed.

[Benno31]

I have been told you can bore out a RB20 safely to quite a huge degree, I am sure someone on this board will know for sure and just how much.

It would be a cheaper and easier alternative to an RB25 which is really what is needed for torque reasons.

And it of course saves you the obvious hassles of locating a used RB25 for the right money and then trying to smash it in.

[predator]

rb25 would only be an extra $1500 or so at the end of the day.. and the benefits are cheaper than putting the alternative cost into the rb20

[Cubes]

The biggest benifit of the rb25 is not the large displacement its how well the head breathes.

[satanic]

If you're keen on getting a RB25DET; you can have ours - we aren't chasing that much money for it. And it'll come with everything you need to drop it in and turn the key pretty much.

[Remix-]

RB20 second hand replacement for the economical solution.

[Beer Baron]

turn the RB20 into a RB24. probably only cost around the same as the 25 conversion, and best bit is you get to keep your original motor, and original engine number. trying to get your car rego'd etc with engine numbers that dont match, and an engine swap can be a bitch. not to mention insurance is higher etc etc. no one has mentioned that yet, but i think it should be a consideration.

[predator]

get it engineered? shouldn't be a drama (depending on your state of course)

[Sydneykid]

Another one who ignored the first rule of buying a modified turbocharged car (import or not), get the tune checked on a dyno. Graph the torque, rwkw, A/F ratios and boost, plus have the dyno operator listen for knock. The best $100 you can spend.

cheers

[Roy]

What do you want to do with the car, how much power are you after etc etc?

A $600 wrecker RB20 will have you back on the road and provided the fueling etc is correct you will get years and years of loyal service out of it.

RB25???? Just make sure you do the sums and you knwo what it will csot you....just abotu every person that has claimed they can do it cheaply has realised its never as cheap as you first thought.

Best throw an RB25 box in with the engine, there is another $1500. Then do the timing belt, water pump etc on the replacement engine, the new talishaft, the new loom you will require with the engine and the mods to interface it into the R32. Then you have a std RB25 with unmappable ECU and a std ECU that reaks havoc when you boost up the std turbo let alone put a modified one in there.

So not all bad, but ppl say throw an RB25 in there...its not exactly a cheap option.

All up you can have an RB20 in there for $1500 including fluids, everything since you are a mechanic and can do the labour yourself

[MerlinTheHapyPig]

Another one who ignored the first rule of buying a modified turbocharged car (import or not), get the tune checked on a dyno. Graph the torque, rwkw, A/F ratios and boost, plus have the dyno operator listen for knock. The best $100 you can spend.

cheers

agreed! should always check tune when buying a skyline..

if it were me, i'd just slap another rb20 in (well i have a spare one in the garage), but if you can't do the mechanical work yourself, you're better off with a more permanent long-term option so you don't have to pay for labour to swap another motor if you get a dud. So perhaps consider a proper rebuild, or rb25

[predator]

A $600 wrecker RB20 will have you back on the road and provided the fueling etc is correct you will get years and years of loyal service out of it.

$600 rb20's? hmm

Best throw an RB25 box in with the engine, there is another $1500. Then do the timing belt, water pump etc on the replacement engine, the new talishaft, the new loom you will require with the engine and the mods to interface it into the R32.

the 100k servicing needs to be done anyhow.. whether its an rb20, rb25, rb26.

rb25 box, well can be left for a while with rb20 box (like mine) or buy another. An rb20 with similar power still requires an rb25 box at some point anyhow, with the tailshaft mods, etc.

Wiring mods? quite easy.. if you have the full rb25 engine loom you can work it out, direct to rb25 ecu. I'm not an auto elec, nor a mechanic, nor ever rewired a conversion. Factory engine+ factory ecu = engineerable to get it plated. Plus you save $400 on the PFC as opposed to getting the AP version (that's near a full tune).. readily available, and under the $1k mark. Plugs right in.

I've got the spreadsheet in front of me with the numbers, roy - it's not expensive. $2.5k for .. manual conversion + rb25 - sale of old rb20 parts. Just shop smart. My engine may not last forever, like any second hand engine, but there is always the option of an rb30det, or rebuilt rb25, or simply another rb25 to slot in. The framework is in place.

But each to their own

[C_DawG]

$600 rb20's? hmm

What are you hmming about $450-600 is the going rate for a short RB20.