gareth29

going to shine a light up inside the sump today, see if i can see anything - the opening on the oil pickup tube is a bit mangled as well........

more pics as promised - dont know if it shows up too well but looks curved.

I'd be interested to know if anyone could identify the origin of this small piece of alloy I was horrified to find the other day. The edge with the hump in it seems to have been formed by casting, whilst the other long edge is where the break has happened. Machining marks are evident on both sides. I will add a couple more pics in another post - having problems

Removed the rear part of the cam today - the bolts holding the cam brackets down were only finger tight!! Assume that the cam was whipping around, only held properly by the centre bracket - where it snapped. Took off the timing chain cover as well - the view behind is a work of art - and who knew that cleaning off all that old silicone could be so much fun. LOL

I know it was up fro sale at auction recently - BCA Edinburgh i think

Btw, anyone got any tips for removing the pulley? The bolt is out.

Almost got the old one off (off to halfords to buy a puller) - having to replace a cam. Just wondered if it was worth replacing the stock pulley with light one? Any views?

Sorry no plans atm, but the dales are nice at this time of year and there are some great driving roads up here!

yeah, its a big relief to finally nail the problem - started taking off all the bits from the front of the engine this afternoon to get access to the timing cover. Cam-wise its probably going to be a used item from zmanalex - might give nissan a call tho, cos it is a very unusual problem i suspect - manufacturing defect?

After a short interlude due to flu and poor weather, just taken a look at the valve lifters - seem fine. Then I noticed that as I was turning the crank, that part of the exhaust camshaft wasnt turning! Turns out it has sheared, just after the saddle on top of cylinder no.4 and the rearmost bit that is supposed to work no.6's exhaust valves is loose and has not been working. So the exhaust valves on no.6 are permanently closed and hot combustion gas has been making its way back out of the inlet valves when they opened, causing the backfire. See photo below. Anybody heard of this happening before?

Sorry, I meant does alezain = alezan?

So what are the 3 additional colour options? I assume alezan = alezan?

Thanks for your views.

Just thought I 'd ask! How do you know most people prefer black? The alezan was an expensive option, so I assume most people just ordered black because of that, some people on here seem to really like the alezan and I haven't heard anyone express a strong preference for black.

Anyone interested in changing their interior from black to alezan, including handbrake grip, gear knob and steering wheel? Everything works and is in good condition, just a small area on driver’s side bolster where the colour seems to have worn away. Alezan was a £400 option over black leather when new apparently, so I would be expecting any swaps to in better condition than mine if anything and for you to come to me (Skipton, North Yorkshire) to do the swaps. My car is a December 05 car with 60k and it’s off the road (see “intake backfireâ€). The future’s Orange!

I'm interested - mine is a december 05 GT. I did originally want black seats but now got used the to tan. What I dont like is the handbrake grip, gear lever and bottom bit of the wheel in tan though. Seats are in good nick generally, but the drivers side has a small stain? or wear patch on the bolster at the side of the base.

I think this happens because when you pull the dipstick out, it smears oil all the way up the tube, you clean the dipstick, then stick it straight back down into the smeared tube, getting oil on the full length of the stick. Solution: Pull the dipstick, clean it, then wait a few mins to let any smeared oil make its way back to the sump, before checking the level.

Thanks atkin666, have read up on the leak down test now - but may as well have a look at the valve lifter action now it exposed. Trouble is i have no garage and its dark cold and snowy!

The "popping back" is happening all the time, but it really barks when you blip the throttle - it is only happening on no. 6 - the inlet tract is very black. Compression on this cylinder was about 180psi when i checked it.

My thought is that the broken spring is causing the valve to close too slowly and therefore still be slightly open when ignition takes place (I did a compression test and it was fine). How does a cylinder leakage test work?

Yes but thought i could see if one wasnt working properly by pressing down on it and comparing its action with the others?

Thanks for those names chaps. I've now taken the rocker cover off and I'm going to have a look at the intake valve lifters to try and see if one of the springs is broken.

Thanks, I was afraid that would be the answer!

Thanks alex, but can I remove the camshaft without removing the timing chain and case etc?

Thinking it may have been a sticky inlet valve, I've tried a couple of engine oil flush products on it yesterday, with no result. Now thinking it must be a broken inlet valve spring - does anyone know if its possible to change the valve spring without taking the timing case, chain, etc,etc from the front of the engine?