R33 imports and winding back odo's

[zymotic]

Ok. My skyline has 60k on the clock and its a 95 yea sif thats genuine.

austats says that av car in Japan does 10k per year.

So my car would have done (on av) 80k.

My clock has been wound back and has stopped + there is a knocking sound under the dash wheneva i start but goes away within 3 secs. Could the 2 be related?

Final question I have a sticker right at front of my rb25det with 100,000 km on it and some jap writing. Is this saying yes we changed the timing belt at 100k or that the owner needs to change the belt at 100k.

My concillation is the int, mech and ext are all good and motor runs nice. Hoping that at least because that sticker looks new that the timing belt change was recent.

Or does that sticker just advise the owner to change it at 100k (hope so).

Can anybody with that sticker confirm or deny???

[RTHRTY3]

Where's the exact location of that sticker again, might check mine aswell.

But km less then 10km a year av, could also mean that they don't drive it that often right? Mayb just city driving?

Anyway where's the sticker located, under the hood i presumme and on what?

Cheers

p.s. You can also tell how much a car had been driven, by lookin at the interior, i.e seats, carpets, how faded things look etc.

[Driver]

that knocking sound could be a lil motor slipping used for ure aircon?

[zymotic]

the sticker is siting on the black plastic right at the front of the engine near the belts facing skyward...

Interestingly enough my interior is great (still has a new car smell - that totally spins me out).

Engine is clean and original and exterior is 95% spot on...

Gear shift and steering wheel both have a little wear (looks like owner didint know how to look after leather) but nothing excessive.

Pedals are worn but not much really probably 90% tread left on clutch pedal.

Just wish i had some way of really knowing for my own peace of mind and to keep tabs on the timing belt issue etc

[pentae]

My Silvia came in with 60,000 on the odometer.. it was wound back because every time the car reaches 69,999 it rolls back over to 60,000 again.

It doesnt bother me because i've had the car for almost two years and it was in excellent condition when i bought it and i've had absolutely no major problems with the car.

[Birnie]

I know the sticker you mean. I have it too and from what I've been told, it is just a reminder to change your timing belt at 100ks. But, (as a freind told me a week ago), seeing most cars are wound back, alot of people change the belt straight away to be on the safe side, cause if it breaks, you are stuffed ! Well, going on his advice, I still haven't changed mine either..hehe (slack arse) But yeah, pretty sure that's what it is.

So not that is has been changed, but a reminder to change it when you reach 100ks...

[zymotic]

thats what I'm hoping for maybe someone can give me 100% yes or no maybe not

[akeenan]

its a reminder

[2fardown]

I wouldn't be to sure on that.

When you buy a new Timing Belt that little silver sticker comes with it. If someone has written kms in pen on that little sticker, that's when your timing belt was changed.

The only reminder the mechanic needs to change your timing belt is when your car gets near to 100,000kms.

So your timing belt has been changed at some stage.

Another little indicator is sometimes they put the kms on the battery when it has been replaced and the date. Check on that also, could give you an indication.

[zymotic]

yea read that in another forum bout the battery might take it out tommorrow (I did check while it was connected with a mirror but should have a proper look).

The writing on the sticker is actually typing and is the same as the jap writing ie the sticker wasnt written on thats how it was originally.

But now im thinking that even though the sticker is only a reminder that doesnt mean the car hasnt done more than 100k does it.. unless they rip it off during the service

Guess I'll just have to rely on the cond of the car the evidence is a bit sketchy (unless the battery tells a story). Bastards i noticed another sticker on the inside of the bonnect something to do with radiator cleaning/coolant it showed approx 60k but the date had the year purposely ripped off...

[hippy]

imho just about all cars are wound back ... so they can get that little bit of extra money cause a car looses quite a bit once it gets past 100k ... i wouldnt' be surprised if 95% of cars coming in are wound back ... it doesn't really matter theres nothing u can do about it ... just look after it right thats all .. i'm pretty sure the previous owner of my car is an old man because i found these sunnies in there LOL interior was ok ... i'm sure the car had done about 90kk when i got it it was 40k

[2fardown]

Winding back the odometer is not just limited to the import market....remember that.

[akeenan]

Final question I have a sticker right at front of my rb25det with 100,000 km on it and some jap writing. Is this saying yes we changed the timing belt at 100k or that the owner needs to change the belt at 100k.

if this is the sticker you are talking about i still agree with what i said before

[51jay]

The sticker in the pic is a reminder to change the belt at 100,000Ks. think about it ....if you've wound it back to 60,000 you would hardly leave a polite little note saying you changed the belt at 100,000 would you.

Sensible thing to do with all imports is to change the timing belt AND the waterpump asop and start off fresh.

[Guest RedLineGTR]

the sticker is just a reminder...u get another sticker to put over that if u want when u change your timing belt...to a genuine nissan item

[zymotic]

yep thats the one just a reminder eh...

ok well thats good in a way. Still a chance my car MAY have covered less than 100k...

maybe

yes but should get belt done to be on safe side anyways will do soon then

[4150]

Yeah it's just a reminder, I picked my R33 up with 32K documented kilometers and it has the sticker.

BTW I only put an average of 5K on my car a year, most cars around the Tokyo/Yokohama area don't really see a lot of kilometers since most people use the trains to get around(cheaper and faster plus parking sucks). So some of the low kilometer Skylines running around are actually genuine.

[Grey skys]

If your car had grade papers with it chances are that the odo hasnt been wound back. The cars at the auctions are also available to the japanese to buy as well, not just for export

[Jetdat]

one thing i noticed when looking for my r33 for about 8 months was that most skylines' had digits on the odometers that were out of alignment...this to me was a sure sign that someone tampered with the clock readings...out of dozens of r33's i looked at only 3 had 'aligned digits' on the clock as well as almost no wear on interior parts like pedals, handbrake, gear stick, seats, carpet etc. etc.

interestingly these 3 were all privately imported by people who went to japan to buy their skylines...

i am the proud owner of one of the 3, test done on the car prior to purchase also claimed km's were genuine, the engine is very quiet at idle i.e no bearing noises, gearbox is very good also.

the car had 50+ kms; after two years and as driven daily now has 90+ and never missed a beat.

car also came with a lot of paperwork such as auction documents, cancellation of rego in Japan etc., and seem to support the odometer reading.

but there is always a small doubt in my mind.......

[Henros]

That sticker is just a reminder. The English translation is: "Timing belt change (underlined part): Please change at 100,000 km"