Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

My car is in pristine condition, engine is running great, but since tracking it for the past few months there has been an oil leak which is getting worse and worse.

Today on track, after the 1st session (hot day Eastern Creek) I stopped in pit lane and damn oil was dripping out from all over the place. There was a massive puddle at the end. It wasn't so bad each session after that, but still, oil is leaking everywhere.

My mechanic cannot fix the problem as he cannot reach it. It's on the other side of the engine (not the turbo side) and he says:

A) It would be a waste of my cash to do an engine rebuild now as my engine is in such great condition.

B) Maybe I should wait until I blow it up!!!!??? LOL. It's a catch 22 as you can see... engine is going hard, car is perfect but there's an oil leak no one can get to without lifting the engine out, which means I should just do a rebuild?

Any advice would be appreciated. I want to make this a bullet proof track car! Any suggestions on price for a rebuild would be ghreat (what budget should I set aside?). I already have new injectors and head gasket ready to go on, new radiator too and HKS 2530 turbos, all ready to go on... so maybe I should just do the rebuild, install turbos and go all out for stronger internals? Pistons? Conrods? Is $10k enough for all this?! Or am I looking at MORE?!

ANy help appreciated. Thanks in advance guys. Loving the GT-R more and more and always knew I'd have to look into a rebuild at some stage. I'm up for the commitment!

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/57268-help-rebuild-rb26-advice-needed/
Share on other sites

Well mechanic says it's on the other side of the turbos. And the engine does not need to come out if you are installing turbos.

I will see if I can just fix the leak without a full rebuild. Report back soon.

you can replace the turbos without lifting the engine, but it is very fiddly and may drive the mechanic mad, so it is prefferable to just lift the engine and replace them

so if i were u i would just have the engine lifted while getting the tubos changed, and get the oil leak fixed at the same time.

forget about rebuilding if its a simple oil leak, what for!???

plus u need to change the turbos(lift engine) anyway so even better.

it all depends on how long u want the engine to last... eventually its going to blow. how long determines many factors

as a question... couldnt u just hoist the car up and get to the leak from below?

btw ive just paid for my engine build which is a 25/30 combo - $5400 inc labour - includes new pistons, linished and treated rods, complete head work with all new valve springs, guides etc

LOL, not to sure what the fuss is about.

If you have a leak, it must be fixed!

Just get it fixed or your motor will fail due to oil starvation, especially if its leaking as bad as you say it is.

I don't know why you would rebuild it for the sake of it, unless you were planning on some major mods or power increase. (Or you are loaded with cash, in which case it shouldnt worry you getting a oil leak fixed)

Is the oil leak on the same side of the engine as the turbos or the opposite side?

anyway, whichever the case...your mechanic is an idiot. I can get to anything on those engines without removing anything. It's just a matter of having the right tools.

There really isn't many possibilities for oil leaks on the turbo side except for return lines and feed lines. That's assuming is't engine oil.

If it's on the other side then it'll probably be the oil pressure sender leaking or the oil filter not on correctly(tight). Those couple of things asside from the sump are really the only places that oil can come from the side. Front and back are a different story. PM me for more details or if you want some solutions.

There should be no problem fixing the leak?

I don't see why the mechanic is unable to reach the leak? The engine should not need to be hoisted either.

Source where it's coming from and fix it asap, otherwise you do a lot of damage in the process of doing trackdays while it slowly leaks.

PM me if you like

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Haha that's wholesome as! Looks like we're raising a generation of female rev heads and classic shit box owners 🤣
    • Haha nice, my kids are the same two older boys say cars are boring while younger girls like them. My 1.5yo daughter watches D1GP on YouTube with me, holding a toy plate for steering wheel and making brmm brmm noises
    • Took the car out to see if it still starts, sure does. Daughter wanted to for a spin too, she loves it when it doses, also cries when we come home and try to take her out of the baby seat 🥲  I actually put the seat in for her brother, but he absolutely hates the shitbox. Anyhow, so after looking at real boats, and transoms, bait tanks etc. and scupper valves attached to them, I came up with ideas to improve the catch can. The primary goal was to stop the interior smelling like vented catch can shit when the windows are down OR when the HVAC is not recirculated. My catch can has a sump drain/feed at the bottom, 2x cam cover inlets, 1x outlet back to the intake pipe and 1x vent at the top. The initial theory was at idle, and off boost there would be just enough suction from the intake pipe (pre turbo) to pull back any smelly shit from the catch can before it could escape out of the vent (which does have 1x layer of foam and a fine mesh screen on top). It kind of works, however on hot days, the motor is breathing more than the suction provided from the intake pipe (pre turbo) and there's a bit of vapours escaping (not a bit amount, but enough to piss me off). I could have just sealed off the vent, however it would mean each time I take it to the track or decide to drive it with a bit of enthusiasm, I would need to remove the seal. To address this, using scupper valve idea, I used a 3mm sheet of rubber and cut essentially a valve that requires a bit of pressure to crack open and vent. Took the shit box for a drive today, came back and parked the car. No heavy stench, great success ☺️ I still would swap for a F80 LCI or W204 2012+ C63 AMG, if anyone is keen 😅
    • I'm with Kinkstaah on this one. Do it once, do it right. So much better for your mental health. The sneaky thing about the fuel pump wiring is that it will work perfectly fine for the longest time. Until that one moment when it decides to shit the bed. And it's not worth the paranoia from not trusting the car anymore. At least other mechanical issues announce themselves by developing some noise or other warning. If you have the funds, I'd suggest to go with a good kit like Frenchys and get the work done by a trustworthy shop. No regrets there. The only downside to the Frenchys kit on the Stagea/R32 GTR is that their fuel level sender is not on point. But looks like the R33 kit maintains the factory sender so should not be an issue. This is what the botched setup on my Stagea looked like before it stopped working. It had melted its way quite a distance down. Glad it didn't burn down the car.   Some links I came across when I looked for solutions: Radium sells a DIY wiring kit that looks promising. I didn't buy it though, I let my workshop decide on wiring. https://www.prospeedracing.com.au/products/radium-diy-fuel-pump-hard-wiring-kit-17-0031 https://www.radiumauto.com/DIY-Fuel-Pump-Wiring-Kit-P368.aspx   You can also get cheap replacements for the locking ring depending on how mangled it looks: https://www.kudosmotorsports.com/Nissan-17343-79900-Fuel-Tank-Outlet-Locking-Ring-for-Nissan-S14-S15-BNR32-R33-R34-AWC34 There are tools for unscrewing it as well so you don't have to abuse it with a screwdriver and mallet. The Frenchys one is expensive but I'm sure there are cheaper ones.
×
×
  • Create New...