Posidrive Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 My Zed has recently starting smoking a bit more than usual and appears to be consuming a bit of oil although not alarming amounts (she has done 80k) but it occours to me that I probably have some engine wear and ts better to fix ealier than later. I realize that this is a how long is a piece of string type question, but where do we start cost wise for fixing such issues. Plus can anyone recommend a good place to get engine work done in the Swindon/Wiltshire area that won't break the piggy bank. I normally use Owen Developments near Abingdon for general servicing since I completely trust thier head mechanic, Mark, but they are (a) very very busy at this time of year now that race season has started and ( not by any means cheap (not a critisism since you generally get what you pay for but there are limits to what I'm willing to spend of a 7 year old car). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planetsurfer2 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Your probably better getting rid and getting another one. Having just been through this myself, I think it's more economical to sell the car and get an '07 or later. Other choices are get a second hand engine from ZMANALEX (if he has any) and have someone fit it Engine rebuilds start at about £3000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmck13 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Get a garage to do a compression test to see if it is engine wear first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ds2000 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Richy from http://www.performance-autoworks.co.uk/contact.php is top notch. He's done alot of work with tuning Honda's and building very specific engines. Might be worth a shout. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 compression test first find out if it is the engine. it might just be the oil you're using, some oils are more watery than others and also burn off more. castrol magnatec is a prime example of this kind of oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posidrive Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 Anyone ever heard of a company called Engine Solutions Limited in Colchester? Comapany with a similar name in Yorkshire has been investigated by watch dog, but these guys specifically state that they are not contected to the rogues in any way. Perhaps a replacement Zed is the way to go but I have become rather fond of my Zed (silly I know) and don't want to be in the same place 2-3 years down the line again as the miles rack up (I do 18k or so a year) so a properly reconditioned engine has some appeal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planetsurfer2 Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 Your better off getting an engine rebuild by Abbey, Horsham developments or any of the other traders on here. Give "Uncle Tony" at Abbey a phone to discuss it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 compression test first find out if it is the engine. it might just be the oil you're using, some oils are more watery than others and also burn off more. castrol magnatec is a prime example of this kind of oil. +1 An engine can use oil in 2 ways really. Either the piston rings are worn, so oil seeps through and is burnt that way. Or, the valve seals get worn and oil seeps through those. Sometimes if cars are left standing for months and months and hardly used then the valve seals can dry out. Likewise, heavily abused engines can cause them to wear. I had a similar problem on one of my motorbikes and luckily it was just the valve seals, so I only had to get the head off and have them swapped. A compression test can shed some light on it, but the main killer with anything like this will be the labour costs involved in having someone strip half the engine down if its either of the above 2 problems. Head problems would be cheaper than bottom end problems. But as someone else said, its sometimes cheaper to just get a whole new engine. Id certainly look at the "time to sell the car" solution, but then again you take the risk that the car you are buying may also have problems...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren-B Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 Rebuild it, forge it, boost it Simples Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ricky Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 You need a leak-down test, a compression test will only give an indication, of just that compression, it will not differentiate between losses from ring/bore seal and valves. What oil are you currently using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posidrive Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 What oil are you currently using? The oil pressure seemd to have dropped a bit recently so the mechanic used Fuchs Titan Pro R Oil 15w-50 Ester Synthetic. This raised the pressure a bit for about a week but now I'm back down to 20 psi at idle, 50 psi at 2000 rpm and 75 psi at 3000 rpm when fully warm. It never goes above 90 psi even when cold starting. I've had to top up about a litre over the past 3000 miles BTW, it only ever smokes (white) at startup. None at all when warm. But definitely more white smoke that there used to be. My other concern is that she appears to have no real guts when accelerating. I suspect that the clutch is nearing the end if it life but if the clutch slipping was the cause of the lack of acceleration I'm pretty sure that my nose would let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 rule of thumb is white smoke usually means water blue smoke usually means oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyBoy Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 Your oil pressures are still within limits you realise? in fact they're higher than mine, but then mine's full of 5W30, so you'd expect a lower pressure with a lighter oil. Could the lack of smoke when warm be to do with the cats hiding it when they're up to temp? Whatever it is i hope you find a solution. DB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posidrive Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 Your oil pressures are still within limits you realise? in fact they're higher than mine, but then mine's full of 5W30, so you'd expect a lower pressure with a lighter oil. Could the lack of smoke when warm be to do with the cats hiding it when they're up to temp? Whatever it is i hope you find a solution. DB I had realised that they are within the Nissan limits but those are for the less viscous oil. my concern is caused by (a) the oil consumption rate that up to about 10k miles ago was essentially zero ( oil pressure is consistently about 10 psi lower than it used to be, it never used to go below 30 psia © sluggish acceleration in which I had trouble pulling away from a Golf TDi that was trying to hitch a ride this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob22 Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 I had realised that they are within the Nissan limits but those are for the less viscous oil. my concern is caused by (a) the oil consumption rate that up to about 10k miles ago was essentially zero ( oil pressure is consistently about 10 psi lower than it used to be, it never used to go below 30 psia © sluggish acceleration in which I had trouble pulling away from a Golf TDi that was trying to hitch a ride this morning. Get her checked out properly mate, otherwise your second guessing yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ricky Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 Using 15W50 in theory you should be seeing slightly higher oil pressure, however as said there will be a slight difference with different makes of oils. You should also consider that the sensor and/or the gauger is not reading that accurately, i know for a fact that sensors can degrade as the work on resistance, i have seen it happen on other cars, i always fit a decent aftermarket gauger/sensor and never completely rely on factory. White smoke is indeed water vapor, and cats will hide minor oil burning when hot, like i said get yourself to a garage that can conduct a leak-down test properly, that will give you a much better idea of just how efficiently the engine is performing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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