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Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



Larrymer posted:

Before since you can lay it down flat and have a better shot of it going in straight. It's just easier and won't hurt anything either way, so personal preference really. Also I'm not sure of the design but make sure not to press it in too far (just look at the current one's depth).

Official Nissan shop manual says 4mm. The existing one was about 3mm, so I'll aim for at least 3 and ideally 4.

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slidebite
Nov 6, 2005

Good egg
:colbert:

It doesn't matter. With everything out you have plenty of room. A proper sized socket and a few gentle taps with a hammer it'll slide right in. If you wait until later, just don't forget about it.

Slavvy
Dec 11, 2012

slidebite posted:

It doesn't matter. With everything out you have plenty of room. A proper sized socket and a few gentle taps with a hammer it'll slide right in. If you wait until later, just don't forget about it.

Or do, and post pictures.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



I can't loving... god drat it.

When we bought the replacement transmission, we didn't look inside the bell housing very closely, and apparently hidden behind the throwout arm was:



A little bearing popped up to say hello!

I contacted the guy we bought it from. He's going to look at what he has on-hand in the morning, worst case he'll pull one from a wreck he's got. I'm pissed at myself for not looking more closely when we got it, it's just time lost.

slidebite
Nov 6, 2005

Good egg
:colbert:

Well that sucks.

autism ZX spectrum
Feb 8, 2007

by Lowtax
Fun Shoe
dangit

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



It's a bump in the road but at least the guy is doing the right thing about it, so I'm not as bothered.

He may only have 4-speed transmissions sitting around the shop, if that's the case I'll probably tell him I want to wait until he can pull the 5spd from the parts car.

clam ache
Sep 6, 2009

Pham Nuwen posted:

It's a bump in the road but at least the guy is doing the right thing about it, so I'm not as bothered.

He may only have 4-speed transmissions sitting around the shop, if that's the case I'll probably tell him I want to wait until he can pull the 5spd from the parts car.

Maybe if you offer to help pull it he would be more willing. I have a few Saturday only customers at my shop that "help" me with there car for a discount. And it's nice to see there willing to help to get what they need done.

Darchangel
Feb 12, 2009

Tell him about the blower!


Pham Nuwen posted:

I can't loving... god drat it.

When we bought the replacement transmission, we didn't look inside the bell housing very closely, and apparently hidden behind the throwout arm was:



A little bearing popped up to say hello!

I contacted the guy we bought it from. He's going to look at what he has on-hand in the morning, worst case he'll pull one from a wreck he's got. I'm pissed at myself for not looking more closely when we got it, it's just time lost.

Can you just swap the front cover from the one that came out of the car, or is the bearing trashed, too?

edit: on a slightly related note, I've been driving an FC RX-7 for years with a whining countershaft bearing, which is what that should be. You can see it by removing a similar cover, but no way to actually pull it without disassembling the transmission.

Darchangel fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Feb 21, 2017

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



Darchangel posted:

Can you just swap the front cover from the one that came out of the car, or is the bearing trashed, too?

edit: on a slightly related note, I've been driving an FC RX-7 for years with a whining countershaft bearing, which is what that should be. You can see it by removing a similar cover, but no way to actually pull it without disassembling the transmission.

Well, we tried disassembling the transmission with exactly this in mind, but we couldn't get that cover off and we couldn't get the rear housing off either. We're wondering if someone rebuilt this transmission and sealed it up with some sort of heavy-duty gasket sealant stuff, because we did a shitload of prying at both pieces.

Even if I could get that cover off, I'd definitely want to open the entire transmission and figure out where the missing balls in that countershaft bearing went. It's not a difficult bearing to replace, my main concern is what happened to cause that catastrophic bearing failure.

Darchangel
Feb 12, 2009

Tell him about the blower!


Pham Nuwen posted:

Well, we tried disassembling the transmission with exactly this in mind, but we couldn't get that cover off and we couldn't get the rear housing off either. We're wondering if someone rebuilt this transmission and sealed it up with some sort of heavy-duty gasket sealant stuff, because we did a shitload of prying at both pieces.

Even if I could get that cover off, I'd definitely want to open the entire transmission and figure out where the missing balls in that countershaft bearing went. It's not a difficult bearing to replace, my main concern is what happened to cause that catastrophic bearing failure.

Yah, that's probably a good idea. I imagine the ball coming out was what caused the case to lose a chunk, and probably where the ball went. Tough to say if you can't get it apart.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



The guy who sold me the transmission finally had time to pull a replacement out of one of his parts cars and I'll pick it up on Sunday, along with a replacement for that driveshaft nut I had to cut off. If this thing doesn't work... well, it loving better work.

What do you guys look for when checking out a junkyard transmission? I'm thinking go through each gear, spin the input and see if the output shaft turns. Anything else?

slidebite
Nov 6, 2005

Good egg
:colbert:

You're a little limited. The problem with something that isn't in a running car or if you can't disassemble it; you're only going to feel something by hand/hear something if it's really hosed. If it's drained of oil, run your finger around the drain hole and look for any chunks of alarming size. If it isn't drained, even better and do it yourself and look for debris.

But other than that, yeah, spin it best you can and look for anything obvious. Maybe bring your shifter with you if it no longer has one to help you go through the gears. Hopefully that guy isn't going to give you a bum transmission after what he put you through.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



Speaking of fluids, what should I put in the transmission? I'm always a bit wary of fluid recommendations in 35 year old maintenance manuals because poo poo's changed since the 80s... same way I didn't hunt down straight 30W for my Studebaker.

slidebite
Nov 6, 2005

Good egg
:colbert:

Plain 80w90 would be fine.

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

Try to find GL-4 fluid if possible. I know at least on 90s Nissans, the synchros really don't like GL-5.

I mean.. I've put "GL-4/GL-5 compatible!!1!" fluid in a Nissan before and it worked fine, but that was a beater. The reading I've done in the past (and the quick google I just did) suggests the GL-4/GL-5 combo rated fluids are fairly safe for Nissan gearboxes.

IIRC Coastal branded gearbox oil is pretty safe, so long as it mentions GL-4 on the bottle (even if it mentions GL-5 too). I know Pep Boys carries it, I think AutoZone does too.

Something relatively close to 80w90 will work. I think I was running 75w85 in my Altima.

e: I seem to remember GM Synchromesh compatible fluids being basically a lighter weight GL-4. Pennzoil makes a version that's pretty cheap and usually on the shelf at parts stores. Found several threads saying people are running it in 2xxZ cars with no issue.

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 09:06 on Mar 19, 2017

slidebite
Nov 6, 2005

Good egg
:colbert:

Yes, GL4 which should be the easiest to find either way. No name Walmart oil should be GL4 rated.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



Thanks, guys.

Tony quidprano
Jan 19, 2014



Has anybody ever tested out the GL-5 eats old synchros thing? You read about it all the time on car specific forums and it's always seemed more likely that the cause of synchro failure has been having the thing rammed into 1st and 2nd it's whole life without a fluid change. It's easy enough to use GL-4 stuff for peace of mind but I'd be curious if there was any hard data on it.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



Transmission acquired. I've removed the majority of the oil and gunk from the outside; most of the gear oil poured itself out into the bed of my truck, but at least it looked very clear and good. In 30 minutes or so, I'm heading to O'Reillys for a rear seal, 2L of GL-4 for the tranmission and 1.3L of GL-5 for the diff.

I also got replacements for the driveshaft nut I had to cut off.

As far as I can tell, I now have everything I need to get the car moving again.

slidebite
Nov 6, 2005

Good egg
:colbert:

1500quidporsche posted:

Has anybody ever tested out the GL-5 eats old synchros thing? You read about it all the time on car specific forums and it's always seemed more likely that the cause of synchro failure has been having the thing rammed into 1st and 2nd it's whole life without a fluid change. It's easy enough to use GL-4 stuff for peace of mind but I'd be curious if there was any hard data on it.

I'm pretty skeptical tbh.

Pham Nuwen posted:

Transmission acquired. I've removed the majority of the oil and gunk from the outside; most of the gear oil poured itself out into the bed of my truck, but at least it looked very clear and good. In 30 minutes or so, I'm heading to O'Reillys for a rear seal, 2L of GL-4 for the tranmission and 1.3L of GL-5 for the diff.

I also got replacements for the driveshaft nut I had to cut off.

As far as I can tell, I now have everything I need to get the car moving again.

Good luck man:cool:

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



slidebite posted:

I'm pretty skeptical tbh.


Good luck man:cool:

I decided to use GL-4 in the transmission to be safe but couldn't find it at O'Reillys, Pep Boys, or Autozone, and the NAPA had already closed. NAPA does apparently have a gallon jug of GL-4 in stock so I'll try to stop by in the morning.

slidebite
Nov 6, 2005

Good egg
:colbert:

Assuming you are going to fill it after it's installed (it'll puke out the output shaft if you don't plug it) pick up a suction gun if you don't already have one. It will make the process of filling it much, MUCH simpler.

whyfeel
May 20, 2004
I run Redline MT90 in my 280zx transmission. It has good shifter feel.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



Good news! Transmission is installed. It was enough of a PITA to get lined up and pushed on that we didn't get any further.

Question: there are two holes on the engine that butt up against the transmission but are not threaded and do not correspond to any holes on the transmission. We don't remember there being anything attached there, and we're not sure how you'd attach anything there anyway, but can anyone confirm that? Highlighted in the picture below



We also found two mystery bolts that we can't remember... We've got the four longer bolts that hold the transmission to the engine, and the two that hold the thin plate between engine & flywheel to the transmission, but we can't figure out what these two do. They look to be about the same diameter / threading as the bolts that hold the transmission on.

We've also lost 2 out of 3 of the nuts that hold the exhaust to the manifold, but whatever we can just hit up Fastenal for those. :v:

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



Pham Nuwen posted:

We also found two mystery bolts that we can't remember... We've got the four longer bolts that hold the transmission to the engine, and the two that hold the thin plate between engine & flywheel to the transmission, but we can't figure out what these two do. They look to be about the same diameter / threading as the bolts that hold the transmission on.

I googled "280zx transmission bolts" and came across this image:



The four long ones are the ones that go from the transmission to the engine (labeled 'A' in the diagram) and the two short ones are 'B' in the diagram, but the middle-length bolts look like the ones I have and I can't figure out what they're for.

Slavvy
Dec 11, 2012

To me those holes look like they're for a brace that goes from the bell housing to the block, but that would require the trans to have some corresponding holes. Did you check the old trans to see if it also didn't have any holes?

whyfeel
May 20, 2004
Ya I never used those braces, took them off and never had a problem. Are your two mystery bolts for the starter?

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



whyfeel posted:

Ya I never used those braces, took them off and never had a problem. Are your two mystery bolts for the starter?

Nope, the starter bolts are with the starter.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



A Z-car forum has informed me the bracket is for a brace few people use. I'm just gonna go for it, because as far as I can tell I've got the whole drive line supported and held together pretty well.

Last night I finished tightening the tranny bolts and installed the driveshaft, hooked up the speedo cable & the neutral switch, and installed the shifter. All that's left is exhaust and some heat shields/braces.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



The car is reassembled and off the stands, but it won't start. I wonder if the fuel at the injectors gummed them up over the last 9 months of sitting... We have spark, and there's fuel reaching the rail, but when I pulled a plug and cranked it I didn't get any gas spray out the hole.

Hopefully since there's a fuel return line, fresh gas is now at the injectors and might clean them a bit? I put in a fresh gallon of gas, there was about a gallon or two in the tank from before plus the stabilizer I added before parking. Is it possible to clean the injectors without pulling them?

slidebite
Nov 6, 2005

Good egg
:colbert:

How do you know adequate fuel is at the rails? Make sure you didn't accidentally disconnect something. Put a pressure guage on it and make sure your filter isn't plugged. You had it running before right? I can't see anything getting plugged up since then and even if it did the chances all of them did is not high. I bet it's something basic.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



slidebite posted:

How do you know adequate fuel is at the rails? Make sure you didn't accidentally disconnect something. Put a pressure guage on it and make sure your filter isn't plugged. You had it running before right? I can't see anything getting plugged up since then and even if it did the chances all of them did is not high. I bet it's something basic.

We disconnected the input right before the rail, stuck it in a jug, and turned on the key. Gas pumped pretty quick, but we didn't check the pressure.

Tony quidprano
Jan 19, 2014



You've got the licensed version of L Jetronic right? I'd rule out electrical gremlins before chasing issues with the fuel itself. try pulling the rail and absolutely confirming the injectors ain't spraying anything at all. I'd also check the injector seals/o-rings too since they tend to be weakpoints for these systems.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



After trying to start the car a few times over the last couple days, it just now started and ran, although not on all 6 cylinders. Last night it seemed to run for about 1 second but then wouldn't do any more. I guess I'll see what it does in a few more hours.

autism ZX spectrum
Feb 8, 2007

by Lowtax
Fun Shoe
Is it at all possible it's ignition timing related?

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



Breakfast Feud posted:

Is it at all possible it's ignition timing related?

I'll check when my wife gets home (need someone to crank while I shine the light)

Edit: but I doubt it, it was running pretty well before I parked it to pull the tranny and I haven't messed with the distributor or anything.

slidebite
Nov 6, 2005

Good egg
:colbert:

Sounds like fuel to me. Check fuel pressure and make sure none of your relays are loose. Also all electrical connections on the harness are tight.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



It now seems to be running normally.

I'll try driving tomorrow.

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sharkytm
Oct 9, 2003

Ba

By

Sharkytm doot doo do doot do doo


Fallen Rib
Sounds like injector or fuel pressure issues to me, I'd still check the rail pressure.

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