R32 Gtr Engine Troubles

[Ikariya]

Hi all,

My first post here... But I desperately need some advice with my GTR.

2 and a half years ago I bought a shiny '93 R32 GTR in mint condition. It looked great, it ran great, I was pretty darn happy with it.

But since then it's been a downward spiral - almost everything in the car has started glitching or failing and it runs like an old bomb.

The previous owner had full service and repair history, I continued that tradition, it's been regularly serviced, and I've paid to have parts replaced as recommended by my mechanics (been to 2 different ones so far).

I've spent probably $8k on it in that time, not enough I know but I've got 2 months to go before it's fully paid off...

Just some of my problems:

- Loss of torque, particularly bad on cold start but sometimes random like after I've stopped at lights. There's a sort of coughing, spluttering noise from the engine and I feel the car pull backwards before launching forward again. Pressing down on the gas just produces a louder noise but not a lot of revs, like it's really laggy. There seems to be a variable threshold I have to push it to before the car will suddenly decide to accelerate.

- When the car does go, it seems to do it reluctantly. I feel vibration thru the pedals, kind of like there's a lot of friction going on in the engine - like it's got no oil in it, even though it does. The sweet roar of the revs have been replaced with a throaty, gritty, rough sound. A strong smell of burning oil comes into the cabin.

- The car gets coated in black soot around the rear end. My mechanics say this is "normal" but it never used to do that.

- Steering has gotten harder, like there's little assitance from the car anymore. It also "lags" so I can turn it a bit and that doesn't translate into immediate steering.

- I got a brand new ceramic sports clutch, which made a solid difference for a couple months, but now feels even worse than before. The defined friction point seems gone. When I push it in I hear a noise like "clack, clack, clack..." like something impacting on something else, loud enough that people sometimes look and wonder what the hell it is. When the car's idling in neutral there is an audible "scraping" noise like what you'd get if you dragged sheet metal along the road.

- HICAS light always comes on after 15 mins.

In a nutshell, the car turns heads for the wrong reasons now - it sounds like it's dying.

Every time I take my car in my mechanics say "it's just getting old" or "it drives like a normal GTR" but I don't believe it, the difference in the short time I've owned it is like black and white.

I did notice the car runs fantastic after a service, but that would only last a week. Now it only lasts a day, if that.

I'm told my air flow sensors are probably close to failing, and if I invested in a PowerFC unit it might solve some of my issues. What do you guys think?

The biggest problem for me is the labour cost of getting these issues investigated, which have never resulted in a permanent fix. If you know any good mechanics in Perth who aren't too expensive, that would be nice as well.

Thanks!

-Kenny

[niZmO_Man]

Which state are you in? Perhaps someone here can direct you to a workshop that knows GT-Rs

[DVS JEZ]

Have u taken the catalytic converter out to check it? Sounds to me like this might be partially blocked.

[MrStabby]

- Loss of torque, particularly bad on cold start but sometimes random like after I've stopped at lights. There's a sort of coughing, spluttering noise from the engine and I feel the car pull backwards before launching forward again. Pressing down on the gas just produces a louder noise but not a lot of revs, like it's really laggy. There seems to be a variable threshold I have to push it to before the car will suddenly decide to accelerate.

Run diagnostics via CONSULT, if that doesnt reveal anything get a dyno run to check AFRs.

- When the car does go, it seems to do it reluctantly. I feel vibration thru the pedals, kind of like there's a lot of friction going on in the engine - like it's got no oil in it, even though it does. The sweet roar of the revs have been replaced with a throaty, gritty, rough sound. A strong smell of burning oil comes into the cabin.

Sounds like its missing - could be AFMs/coilpacks. CONSULT/Dyno as above.

Oil smell could be gearbox shifter boots dead.

- The car gets coated in black soot around the rear end. My mechanics say this is "normal" but it never used to do that.

Cat is probably stuffed. Also your car could be running rich. Again, CONSULT/Dyno. I *think* running rich for a long time will eventually kill a cat.

- Steering has gotten harder, like there's little assitance from the car anymore. It also "lags" so I can turn it a bit and that doesn't translate into immediate steering.

If you havent replaced the fluid yet, do that. Check that the alternator is charging properly, should be 14-14.8 volts IIRC. Usually if the voltage is low enough to affect the attessa ECUs you'll know about it because you cant start he car.... maybe check the voltage at the attessa ECU (under the parcel shelf). Or is it the HICAS ECU that causes this.... cant remember. Search for it.

- I got a brand new ceramic sports clutch, which made a solid difference for a couple months, but now feels even worse than before. The defined friction point seems gone. When I push it in I hear a noise like "clack, clack, clack..." like something impacting on something else, loud enough that people sometimes look and wonder what the hell it is. When the car's idling in neutral there is an audible "scraping" noise like what you'd get if you dragged sheet metal along the road.

- HICAS light always comes on after 15 mins.

In a nutshell, the car turns heads for the wrong reasons now - it sounds like it's dying.

Every time I take my car in my mechanics say "it's just getting old" or "it drives like a normal GTR" but I don't believe it, the difference in the short time I've owned it is like black and white.

I did notice the car runs fantastic after a service, but that would only last a week. Now it only lasts a day, if that.

I'm told my air flow sensors are probably close to failing, and if I invested in a PowerFC unit it might solve some of my issues. What do you guys think?

Powerfc would only be a bandaid over something that's not working properly, so bad solution IMO. Fix what's broken.

It sounds like your mechanic has lower standards than you do, so you need to find someone better.