Captain Slow

Hey Folks, Just a bit of an addendum to this thread. I was feeling a little annoyed that all my efforts hadn't seemed to provide a positive result (not a new feeling haha) So I was thinking, this problem was seemingly a sudden onset thing, and consitering all alternatives have been addressed I must be left with a stuck ring. So what do you do when a car has been sitting for a while and is being cantankerous? A good old Italian tune up! I gave the car some good enthusiastic drives several times over a week period and the smoke appears to have cleared up i'm happy to say. It's been a few weeks and the car has been out several times and it's still good so result! Thank you everyone who contributed thoughts and advice, I very much appreciate it. Kind regards Ben

PS, can anyone tell me if there is an oil gallery near the rear cylinder? Ie. Could a faulty head gasket be allowing oil into the rear combustion chamber. Ta.

Thanks guys, I still need to do a coolant pressure test thanks for reminding me. Yeah smoke is more blue than black, no petrol smell, and no glycol smell really either. I remember when doing the compression test that the rear spark plug looked a bit oily where as the rest looked mostly dry if I recall correctly. Worth cleaning/replacing them all, going for a drive the re-inspecting them I guess. That might tell me something. Ben

Hello everybody, A short introduction, My name is Ben and I own a Z32 300zx twin turbo. I also am into many other cars unfortunately for my wallet and garage space, including VW's, Citroens and Peugeots, Jaguars, Pontiacs, and an eclectic assortment of other makes. Anyway, I was hoping to get some thoughts on a problem with a friends 280zx. I'll try to keep it brief. He hadn't drove it in at least 6 months when he took it out and after a few klms it started blowing quite alot of smoke. No a complete smoke screen but definitely more than enough to get you noticed every where you go. After a few test drives myself it mainly does it under hard acceleration and gets thicker the harder you push it. It's very minor or non existant at idle, with no puff on startup. He dropped it off to me to and here's what i've done so far. Some work is just for maintenance. Replaced valve seals Compression test - All ok around 150 160 psi New timing chain and guides and tensioner. New water pump Checked PCV valve, also tried disconnecting and plugging valve temporarily Checked it's not sucking trans fluid from the auto Checked same from brake booster Checked for blown head gasket with coolant test. Test fluid is blue and is supposed to turn yellow if HG is bad, but mine very slowly turned greenish so not sure what to make of that. It seems most likely i'm just left with rings. Although compression is good could it just have a stuck or broken oil ring? Anything I can do to test/fix? I think i've seen some products that claim to loosen frozen rings and lifters etc, worth a shot perhaps? Any thought's or other information would be very much appreciated Thanks guys Ben

Thanks I'll keep it in mind The repaired one is back on but im not convinced it will seal up as the material became pretty porous when welded. Waiting on a new radiator which should be here tomorrow so I'll know over the weekend what's happening. Ben

Hey fellas, Thanks again for your efforts I appreciate it. Due to the location of the power steering bracket the outlet had to kick back quite sharply so unfortunately Craig your one wasn't going to work, but thank you for trying to help. I managed to find a local workshop yesterday that has repaired the original one, hopefully it holds up. Thanks again Ben

Thanks for that mate. I'll have to double check but I'm not sure if that one will work as I think it will point right at the back of the power steering bracket. I'll check it out tomorrow and get back to you. Ben

Thanks guys I greatly appreciate your help. Craig if you could please post some photos here or email me at 300zedx@gmail.com that would be great. Ben

No worries that's cool. Thanks mate I appreciate it Ben

Lets give this a try.

Hello. I'm working on a friends 280zx and I've stupidly gone and broken the water outlet that bolts to the timing cover. I was trying to remove the threaded part that connects to the heater hose as it is all corroded. I may be able to have a workshop do a tig repair but thought I'd try my luck here first finding a replacement. Thanks Ben