EuroDat

I had my Zed in for its two yearly inspection last November and rhe garage called me at 09:15 that it was ready to pick up. Ten minutes later he called again, I had to wait two hours because he had a spot inspection and they wanted to check my car. It passed no problems. He charges €39 for an inspection. Chas

Hi Chris, Your story is unfortunatly not uncommon. These transmissions are getting old and its getting harder to find one that still runs good. You will probably find most of the tolerances are approching maximum which makes thing worse. Still usable but not perfect. I have up re-used the nuts in the past as well. If you know someone with a lathe, you can turn 0.75mm off (360degrees/ one full turn is 1.5mm) That will allow the bad (used) section to turn about 180degrees and give you a new sections to lock the nut. They can sound klunky when they are not loaded and the bell housing is not fitted. Once the bell housing is fitted and filled with oil that klunking sound your hearing will stop. Goodluck. Hope you get a better result than I did. Chas

I tried to order from blacldragon, but they use UPS. I thought he was joking when he quoted $160 to ship a brake master cylinder. Rockauto dit it for $42 using USPS. I have to be careful ordering from Rockauto because they sometimes send from several warehouses and that send the shipping costs up a lot. I pay import duties here via the shipping company. Never the seller. Chas

When your ready, I would be interested in a set. Trying to decide on JDM or euro style. Chas

Mmm, what is the correct answer.... Some will no doubt say replace it. I would use it. You don't have that much choice because the cluster shaft for the 71B is NLA or you are very lucky finding one. Gears should also be replaced in sets especially if they are worn which means $$$$$. I can't see any pitting or other damage in the photo. It looks fresh, not very old, like something struck it or fell on it and chipped the tooth or the bearing puller chipped a piece of. It can happen very easily and you wouldn't even notice it. You would have a lot more problems if that piece came between the other gears. That would almost certain destroy the transmission. Tip: Pay good attention to how the front gear is mounted on the cluster shaft. It can be reversed and will mate up fine with the input shaft gear, but it can make a whining noise because the gears are not mated. Something strange about the p/n for the main shaft nut. I gave that number to someone in this forum (can't remember who) and he ordered it, but they gave him a right hand thread nut. I asked my Nissan dealer and he checked it again. In his system its a left hand thread. I didn't know the made them with right hand threads for the main shaft. Chas

Yea, I thought it might of been the lens I made by copying an old one that was shorter, but the other spare original is also the same length and that one came from a completly different vehicle. This longer one fits the LEDs I have and looks great. There might be other types available, but all I could find where all 39mm. Chas

Oh if anyone is interested in one, let me know. I can send them with LED and gasket. $20+postage Chas

I ordered a replacement 9 SMD LED (BA9S) for my engine bay light thinking it would give more light than the bulb Im using now. Only problem is the LED won't fit under the standard lens. Its too short. To get it to fit I made a 10mm longer lens out of two other ones I made and from that I made a mold for a new longer lens. Now the LED fits and the end result looks like the original all be it a little longer. Its a lot brighter than my old bulb and uses a lot less current. Im happy. Chas

I spent the last two evenings under the car changing the rubbers insulators. They are all replaced except the curved one behind the engine for the two brake and cluth line. I tried to make the mold from the original, but it looked worse than the original so I need to made a dummy later this week. PITA to do now the suspension, diff and transmission are in the car. Dipping them in a contain of soapy water first made it a lot easy to position them. Here are some photo's of the last sets I fitted. Hope to have the set complete and able to reproduce next week for people interested. PS: Bob. I would love a new set of replacement lines. Just getting them fitted and still reasonably straight is what s holding me back. Its on the "to do list" or wish list might be a better name for it.... Chas

Datsun started using the engine mount stopper from Aug 73 to limit engine excessive movement. I would use the insulator setfrom the F54 if its in good condition or at least use the stopper from the F54. I dont know when they started using a fan shroud on the radiator, but without the stopper, the fan could hit the shroud it hard/rough driving conditions. Chas

Chris, Here is a list of small parts I ordered for my FS5W71B transmission. They are all Nissan onderdelen with exception of the reverse checking assembly. It was NLA, but they gave me the size (ID22 x 2.5mm) so I could order it somewhere else. Just make sure the material is NBR. All the parts (with exception of Reverse checking assembly) cost €60. Half that was the speedo pinion, so without the pinion they will cost around $45. Those prices are from May 2011, but Nissan Parts Zone is close to those prices. Part Detail If you need anything else, let me now. I still have all the receipts (in Dutch) and old parts. Chas

Chris Your problem is probably a little different to mine. Mine has a whine noise which is typical of worn bearings. Thats why I posted a photo with the dull surface area on the shaft sleeve. If you have to start replacing that stuff, it gets too expensive and IMO better to buy a new 71C for around $1700 and do the 71C swap. I have all the part numbers for the o-rings, lip seals, nuts and oil gutter if you need them. They are all available through Nissan and dont cost much. From memory about $40 for all the loose parts including the shifter bushing kit. Goodluck with the rebuild. Chas

Here are some photo's of the spare set I have for my 71C out of a 300ZX.

I found the info I used to order the synchro's for my tranny. Synchros 1st - 4th are all the same. P/N: 32604-P0100 €26.85ea The 5th has a smaller ring. P/N: 32604-E9801. I ordered that part number, but Nissan delivered 32604-36N21 €25.95ea. It was the same, just a number change. I don't think that p/n your quoting is for the 5th gear synchro ring. Maybe Im wrong? All the 1 - 4 synchros in the F4W71B, FS5W71B and FS5W71C are the same and all still available through nissan. Somewhere in the 5 speed models they change from the fibre ring to the brass. The fibre ring is NLA. The later 71B and the light versie of the 71C also use the same brass synchro rings. Im not certain about the interchangability of the later version 71C. Its the one used in the 240SX with the synchro on reverse gear, wider 20mm gears and thicker main shaft, but thats not the case here. Your using a close ratio out of the 280ZX or the in-between version?

You could PM grannyknot. He is rebuilging one now. He might still have a servicable ring? Ill check if I can find one from my 71B, but its 3 years ago when I rebuild it. Can't remember if I kept them. I will check and get back to you. Chas

Chris, That kit is for the 71C transmission. It is the same except for the front bearing on the cluster gears. Its larger than the one in the 71B. They don't make the 71B kit anymore or so I was told by drivetrain when I called them about it. I ended up getting them locally. The needel bearings wear available at my local Nissan, but he had to search for some. The bottom row (ball bearings) are the difference in the kits. The neddle roller bearing is for input and main shaft. It also fits the reverse gear, but it doesn't suffer as much and probablt won't need replacing. The needle roller bearing is what make it hard to get the noise down to "as new" levels. If they are worn, so is the surface in the gears and then its just too expansive to fix. Chas

Hi Chris, I went through a similar situation with my close ratio 71B. All gears were noisy, except 4th. I changed the bearings and some needle bearings. It did reduce the noise, but its still there and that is with using a quality Red-Line tranny oil. A note about oil. Make sure its suitable for brass synchro rings (without sulphur). Red-line make two varieties of transmission oil in different grades. The GL-5 with sulphur and the MT85 and MT90 for older transmissions with brass synchros. My problem is in the gears and the bearing surface in the gears, see first photo red circle. The dull area on the bearing surface for fifth. It might of had the wrong oil or too little in the past. I found some photo's of the bearings and a photo of all the seals. The seals are still available through Nissan. Chas

Made the ëxtended"lens today and tried it on the inspection light. Fits good with the 9 SMD LED lamp. Its a lot brighter than my old bulb which wouldnt be hard at 4watt. I made some photo's of the two with a lable in the background to show effect, but its hard to see the real difference.

Steve, I made a mould for a longer lens and it now fits. Its 10mm longer than the original and the 9 LED fits with the same tolerances around the end, compared to the original 8watt. I make some extra's if anyone is interested. Postage is the killer at around $20, but I can send it with a 9 LED bulb and gasket. The grey long lens in the photo's is the dummy to make the mould. The lens will have a clear milky tint. Have to experiment with the colour die. Chas

I have been using grease for 30 years to remove the spigot bearing. You might need to "reload" the cavity with grease, but it works and no special equipment required. Just something that fits in the bearing, grease and a hammer. If the rod or bolt head is to loose you can tape it with some kind of pvc tape. I use a 3/8" socket extension and tape on the racket end until it fits snuggly. The bearing is also reusable afterwards, if that required. A puller what work fine and wouldn't be as messy, but I don't have one that fitted. A friend used the tap method and found it work good too. There is more ways to skin a cat and this is a good example. Just googled "remove spigot bearing" and found this thread. Pilot bearing removal. Chas

Hey Bart, Thats good news. I was wondering if you woulg ever get the thing. Hope its an improvement on what your now using after all that hassle getting it. Chas

If it was replaced in 2000 its getting to the point where EPDM can deteriorate. Often called the "rate of degragation" in the rubber industry. It will then release small amounts of carbon black and other components and that is what your seeing in the fluid. EPDM can be sulphur cured or peroxide cured. Peroxide is the better longer lasting method and the compound can stand more heat. The better brands use peroxide, but its more expensive. You pay for what you get, so they say. Look for signs of wear on the cups and thats you cause. Chas

A spark plug shouldn't be leaking like that past the threads. Have you done a compression test? You could also try a leak down test. Its easy to do yourself if you have a compressor and a fitting for the spark plug hole. I made a fitting for my engine by punching the guts out of a used spark plug and screwing a hose quick connect fitting into the back of the spark plug body. To do the test: Rotate the engine to TDC on that cylinder, put the car in 4th or 5th with handbrake on. Use the compressor to pressurize the cylinder and check (listen) for leaks at the filler cap, exhaust pipe and inlet manifold. Check a good cylinder first to have a reference what it should sound like, you will hear some leakage, but thats normal. That could help you find something. Chas

I have seen that set-up used before as well. The ZX FPR has 1 inlet and 1 outlet and works well at the end of a single rail system. I was thinking of going this route as well by making one out of 3/4" and TIG welding the tie-ins for the injectors. Polished or water blasted it would look nice, simple and clean up that side of the engine. It on my "to do list". So many thing, so little time;) Chas

Hi Chris, A little secret. All DOT3, 4 and 5 brake fluid is synthetic. Its just a sales pitch. As a general rule, DOT 4 has a higher boiling point at 230degC (new state without water absorbtion) vs DOT 3 which boils at 200degC. Brake fluid is hydroscopic and that reduces the boiling point a lot. It can reduce DOT 3 down to 130degC if it absorbs enough water. They are glycol based and can not be mixed with DOT 5 which is silicone. EDPM is the correct rubber to use with DOT 3 & 4. If the rubber is new and breaking down already. I would suspect the material used or the metal line was not clean. Are you sure all the rubber parts are EPDM? I flushed my brakes and clutch in November before the roadworthy inspection and it was still clear after two years service.