Now that the Z32 hangs out in the garage and weather is crap, it’s time to have some things done for the upcoming season.
The engine is not supposed to stay in the chassis for long but at least for the season 2012. So it must be as reliable and strong as possible, because the main goal of the year is to test the car, handling and suspension. As the servicing documents of the Z did not give me a clue about what was changed when, I decided to service all the basic components. First off was an engine oil and filter change, which is very straight forward to perform.
What bothers the Z32 mechanic a lot more though is the timing belt… this component is heard to be weak and should pickily be changed within the recommended period from Nissan. This part is also the most time consuming and frustrating one to change…
This solely because the VG30DETT is a MESS in the engine bay. But hey, what else shall we motor heads do in winter. 🙂
BTW: sorry for the blurry pics, but my iphone is always at hand when wrechning…
You need to wrench a lot and remove a great amount of components, in order to make yourself a way to the timing belt. 4 intake hoses, a few vacuum hoses, a few clips, water hoses, visco fan, shroud, radiator, belt covers, 3 auxiliary belts, etc.
What you reveal once taking off the upper belt covers is exhilarating. Now you perceive the glory of a V6 with double over-head cams, which has nothing but disadvantages to an inline-six (e.g. RB25/26) , performance-wise as well as „ease of servicing-wise“… 🙂 Ok sorry for that, I’m a bit biased.
Back to topic: IMHO the biggest challenge is now at hand. Assuming, that a normally equipped garage is not featuring all the necessary special tools for each an every car. Although the service manual told me to stick something into the starter hole at the flywheel to lock the crank shaft, so actually no special tool required. But first I didn’t feel very good about locking the crank with some screwdriver (seemded to be the „redneck approach“) and second (and maybe most important) I did not want to remove the starter in a cramped engine bay as this. So I again had to manufacture a tool on my own.
Since my RB25 also needed such tool when building it, I had a nice base to work upon. I basically „only“ turned it around and welded in another pair of studs that fit in the holes of the VG30 pulley. And this now allowed me to properly lock the main pulley the professional way.
Dont‘ forget to turn the crank to TDC. The rest was quite easy then, provided you have the suitable nut to loosen the main bolt. Now the bolt was loose but of course the pulley would stick on the crank like a moron. Time for the next special tool…
Since this was not the first pulley I had to pull, the required tool was at hand. Though it was a close one, since the AC radiator opposite the pulley doesn’t give you much space.
Success. The pulley was off and the wrenching could continue. The remaining belt cover can be removed and you have access to all the components you need to.
The belt could now be removed and also all the idlers and the tensioner. Since I only wanted the engine to be ready for one season, I only replaced the necessary parts. Also be aware that the servicing parts on the VG are somewhat expensive. I replaced the idlers and the bearing on the tensioners along with the timing belt of course.
The assembly took me even longer than the disassembly, because I wanted to take extra care that everything is assembled correctly. The worst thing that can happen to you is, after having finished and test running the engine, having to take all the crap apart again for a silly mistake.
As mentioned I don’t know about the servicing motivation of the pre-owner, so I changed some other components. The fuel filter (because it is so easy to get to 🙂 ), auto fluid, cooling fluid and the spark plugs.
The plugs are not that easy to change, but I expected it to be a lot worse to be honest.
The worst thing is actually, that all the clips of the coils are extremely brittle and crack when being removed. The good thing was, I found a slightly torn vacuum hose at the fuel pressure regulator. Normally I wouldn’t have found that one… good opportunity to replace.
As the stock airbox was cut by a moron, I couldn’t resist mounting a proper air filter instead of the old air box.
Now that the Z32 hangs out in the garage and weather is crap, it’s time to have some things done for the upcoming season.
The engine is not supposed to stay in the chassis for long but at least for the season 2012. So it must be as reliable and strong as possible, because the main goal of the year is to test the car, handling and suspension. As the servicing documents of the Z did not give me a clue about what was changed when, I decided to service all the basic components. First off was an engine oil and filter change, which is very straight forward to perform.
What bothers the Z32 mechanic a lot more though is the timing belt… this component is heard to be weak and should pickily be changed within the recommended period from Nissan. This part is also the most time consuming and frustrating one to change…
This solely because the VG30DETT is a MESS in the engine bay. But hey, what else shall we motor heads do in winter. 🙂
BTW: sorry for the blurry pics, but my iphone is always at hand when wrechning…
You need to wrench a lot and remove a great amount of components, in order to make yourself a way to the timing belt. 4 intake hoses, a few vacuum hoses, a few clips, water hoses, visco fan, shroud, radiator, belt covers, 3 auxiliary belts, etc.
What you reveal once taking off the upper belt covers is exhilarating. Now you perceive the glory of a V6 with double over-head cams, which has nothing but disadvantages to an inline-six (e.g. RB25/26) , performance-wise as well as „ease of servicing-wise“… 🙂 Ok sorry for that, I’m a bit biased.
Back to topic: IMHO the biggest challenge is now at hand. Assuming, that a normally equipped garage is not featuring all the necessary special tools for each an every car. Although the service manual told me to stick something into the starter hole at the flywheel to lock the crank shaft, so actually no special tool required. But first I didn’t feel very good about locking the crank with some screwdriver (seemded to be the „redneck approach“) and second (and maybe most important) I did not want to remove the starter in a cramped engine bay as this. So I again had to manufacture a tool on my own.
Since my RB25 also needed such tool when building it, I had a nice base to work upon. I basically „only“ turned it around and welded in another pair of studs that fit in the holes of the VG30 pulley. And this now allowed me to properly lock the main pulley the professional way.
Dont‘ forget to turn the crank to TDC. The rest was quite easy then, provided you have the suitable nut to loosen the main bolt. Now the bolt was loose but of course the pulley would stick on the crank like a moron. Time for the next special tool…
Since this was not the first pulley I had to pull, the required tool was at hand. Though it was a close one, since the AC radiator opposite the pulley doesn’t give you much space.
Success. The pulley was off and the wrenching could continue. The remaining belt cover can be removed and you have access to all the components you need to.
The belt could now be removed and also all the idlers and the tensioner. Since I only wanted the engine to be ready for one season, I only replaced the necessary parts. Also be aware that the servicing parts on the VG are somewhat expensive. I replaced the idlers and the bearing on the tensioners along with the timing belt of course.
The assembly took me even longer than the disassembly, because I wanted to take extra care that everything is assembled correctly. The worst thing that can happen to you is, after having finished and test running the engine, having to take all the crap apart again for a silly mistake.
As mentioned I don’t know about the servicing motivation of the pre-owner, so I changed some other components. The fuel filter (because it is so easy to get to 🙂 ), auto fluid, cooling fluid and the spark plugs.
The plugs are not that easy to change, but I expected it to be a lot worse to be honest.
The worst thing is actually, that all the clips of the coils are extremely brittle and crack when being removed. The good thing was, I found a slightly torn vacuum hose at the fuel pressure regulator. Normally I wouldn’t have found that one… good opportunity to replace.
As the stock airbox was cut by a moron, I couldn’t resist mounting a proper air filter instead of the old air box.