Bloody lucky saga

[Spyderco]

Here's a story for reading pleasure. About three weeks I popped the bonnet just to admire the VQ and found these splash marks which resembled mud. So I thought it WAS mud splash up to the entire front of the engine from left to right since it's been raining cats and dogs. So happily closed the bonnet.

And of course I've been driving and playin with the OD and enjoying the exhilirating feel while burning a hole in my pocket.

So last Saturday, decided to just check my AT oil since bloody TC didn't replace them when I specifically told them "Please change all the oils in the vehicle and I really don't mind paying such a premium to you blood-sucking bastards". OK...not the second bit.

So happily trodded off to my mech at Sri Dsara and popped open the bonnet. told him about the mud splash and he was like "Aiyo, look at the battery..it's leaking acid".

WTF!!! I said!!! No bloody way. OK, let's start the engine and voila, water spurting out like mini ejaculation from the top of the radiator coincidentally where the Nissan logo is. So dismantled and sent to radiator guy to replace the top with Jap part and serviced the rad one shot.

Rad top with service - RM255
Time waiting - 3 hours
Get to drive the mech's manual BMW in the meantime - wonderful
Fact that you actually went to check AT oil - priceless (thank god!!)

 

[defcon1]

Really damn lucky.

...bit of advise. Have your mech check if you have any HG leakage. There is actually a kit that tests for dissolved CO in the radiator water.

When you start your engine, and the rad is cold, except for the initial rush of water, no more water should spurt out.

Also monitor your engine temp for a while, and check to see if it is consuming water.

 

[ongteckweng]

that was close....imagine overheating ur engine!!

a33 engines r too bloody expensive...3.0 engine is selling over rm9k!!! while 2.5 its around rm6k!!

well...our engine its strong but need to be very careful with the temp...

 

[Spyderco]

Really damn lucky.

...bit of advise. Have your mech check if you have any HG leakage. There is actually a kit that tests for dissolved CO in the radiator water.

SPYDERCO: Thks defcon. Pardon the ignorance but what is "HG leakage"? Not that auto savvy, I'm afraid.

When you start your engine, and the rad is cold, except for the initial rush of water, no more water should spurt out.

SPYDERCO: None so far. Only spurting is when I go and pee. :embaressed_smile:

Also monitor your engine temp for a while, and check to see if it is consuming water.

SPYDERCO: Temp has always been below mid. So far so good.

 

[Spyderco]

that was close....imagine overheating ur engine!!

a33 engines r too bloody expensive...3.0 engine is selling over rm9k!!! while 2.5 its around rm6k!!

well...our engine its strong but need to be very careful with the temp...

Thks for the reminder Ong. Btw, remember I mentioned a colleague who also has an A33 3L, he just bought a 2001 GTT Skyline. That should be interesting.

 

[ongteckweng]

Thks for the reminder Ong. Btw, remember I mentioned a colleague who also has an A33 3L, he just bought a 2001 GTT Skyline. That should be interesting.

not much fun with GTT...try GTR!

 

[defcon1]

Really damn lucky.

...bit of advise. Have your mech check if you have any HG leakage. There is actually a kit that tests for dissolved CO in the radiator water.

SPYDERCO: Thks defcon. Pardon the ignorance but what is "HG leakage"? Not that auto savvy, I'm afraid.

When you start your engine, and the rad is cold, except for the initial rush of water, no more water should spurt out.

SPYDERCO: None so far. Only spurting is when I go and pee. :embaressed_smile:

Also monitor your engine temp for a while, and check to see if it is consuming water.

SPYDERCO: Temp has always been below mid. So far so good.

Reason I always check for HG (Head Gasket) leakage when I blow a radiator is that one of the signs of HG leakage is blowing your radiator. I's a habit I picked up when I was driving turbocharged cars. Sometimes, the HG develops a small hairline fracture. This is one of the most difficult HG leakages to detect, cos it won't leak much until your engine is good and hot, and is under load. In this situation, a CO test kit is necessary, cos, it will detect even the smallest amount of CO (Carbon Monoxide) in your rad water...something that shouldn't exist in your rad water at all.

Water spurting out of the rad...when starting the engine is a sure sign of a very bad HG leakage. Usually, the water should spill out of the mouth of the rad when starting, but should then settle below the mouth level, usually even lower since some of the water got pushed out of the rad when you started it without the cap on. There should be NO pressure. A blown HG will even push the water hard enough that it fountains up to a foot or two above the rad mouth then settles down, but will continue to spill over as gasses get pushed into the water channels.

If your car temp is ok i.e. in our case, slightly below the half-way mark, and stays that way at all running conditions, then you should be ok.

 

[Spyderco]

Reason I always check for HG (Head Gasket) leakage when I blow a radiator is that one of the signs of HG leakage is blowing your radiator. I's a habit I picked

Righty. Thks for the details. Handy for future reference.