Hi everyone,
been searching around the forum to help me get my G35 back on the road. I bought with a known blown headgasket which blew out completely a few drives later.
With information around here and some other sources she's running again. I had pulled the engine and stripped it down and repaired it by unconventional methods. There wasn't much to find about people fixing their head gasket problems so I made a thread with progress of the head gasket repair that can be found in my other threads.

-As far as problems go I can hear what sounds like a bad wheel bearing but I also know my tires are pretty bad on the inside, maybe needs an alignment. I have a set of wheels and will know for sure when I get tires and put them on.
-The passenger side window wasn't working which I found to be a damaged gear within the gearbox attached to the motor. I was expecting a dead motor or damaged regulator or maybe even a broken wire so I guess this is unusual....
-Paint grill satin black
-I also have the dead 3rd brake light under the window
-Stereo works sometimes and randomly. I know these stereos tend do die, but anyone have issues where the stereo works on and off?
-A bonnet lug had snapped from the PO, ideas on how to repair? Do they thread out?

As far as plans go, I'll be throwing these wheels on, looking out for some nicely priced suspension to go lower, exhaust work and if the stereo works (or I find a replacement cheap) I'll be adding an amp and sub in the trunk. Otherwise I'll also replace the stereo, might not keep the steering controls as the leather is bad on my wheel and I was thinking of just getting an aftermarket wheel anyway.

Engine ready




Trialing wheels to find idea of tire size


After a wash but before I buffed out the headlights





Other cars of the household (landcruiser is missing)


This is the part that broke within the window motor, tried using two part to fill in the gaps so the plastic gear locks but wasn't strong enough


My previous car

 

-the wheel bearings go bad on these cars frequently. i have had to change 2 already.
- windows motor gear you might just have to buy a new one. or hit up a junk yard to find a replacement
- the third brake light goes bad often also. you can try to re solders the LEDs but its cheap enough to just buy a new one and replace.
- the stereo in these cars are terrible. they fail frequently. just buy a double din and get a new head unit. mine is doing the same thing and i am just waiting till i cant stand it anymore or it fails completely.

otherwise looks like you are on the right track. keep it up.

oh btw i had a 99 c5 corvette black rag top. they are fun rides. i miss mine sometimes.

 

I am yet to see a G or a Z in a junkyard nearby....... now I know the gear is messed up I'll check other nissans anyway as I'm sure I might find one identical.
I guess I'll be looking at finding a DD kit and new stereo.

And yes the C5 is a great drive, so much torque. Any reason why you sold it, was it for the G?

 

I've read that when the 'audio finisher' board in the stereo stops working, the a/c unit starts to act up and you lose control of those buttons too. My a/c buttons work and the a/c works perfectly normal showing temp/fan speed up/down when I press the buttons and it comes hot or cold just as it should. My radio literally came on twice since I've been driving the car and appears normal when it comes on, I can scan different radio stations, adjust volume but can't read the screen. The quality of sound is also bad. Is this definitely the stereo or could it be the stereo panel (lots for sale on ebay)?

 

Picked up a used ebay exhaust with megan racing resonated test pipes
Swapped out my original coolant bleed valve. I guess the heat was too much.......
Will get a pic of the new one fitted.

 

Hmm is that the Godspeed exhaust...?

 

I've no idea what it is but it looks just like the ones I see on ebay.

 

After fitting the engine I had a misfire, I replaced no 1 and 2 coilpacks and the miss went away.
After an hour or so of driving (various drives not in one go) a slight miss developed. After probably a total of 20/25 miles I think there were two misfires - enough that she stalled when I stopped at the lights and felt very week and under powered just trying to accelerate at a normal pace.

I replaced all spark plugs with Bosch Platinum which were shown to fit the engine at Advance. Slight miss after idling a little, definite one cylinder miss a mile down the road which got worse. By the time I got to the parking lot 4/5 miles down the road I stalled out. Started back, sounds like 2/3 cylinders firing erratically and the it died. Wouldn't start back. Put back four good con used NGK-R LRF5A into the rear 4 cylinders and 2 very used of the same in cylinders 1 and 2.

Started, idled good, waiting to exit parking lot and a mis develops, under slight heavy load I can feel the struggle. Felt like it was going to stall in Drive at the lights so I put in Neutral (never did stall though) and got home still misfireing, unplugged front coil on right bank and that was enough to stall the engine. Also, on this trip back home the VDC and slip lights were permanently on but they were off all the time before this. Any ideas??

 

Now last week Friday I heard a bunch of clattering and then stalled.
The idle was already weak from a misfire (which I could only recognise at idle) and when this knocking came it wouldn't maintain idle. I figured it was a spun/damaged bearing.
Dropped the sump to find some bits of metal, largest being around 15mm (3/4") long.

The oil was in very bad condition, I think I left it too long after all the engine work.
Weirdly there was this other clatter/tap/knocking sound before all this. Ever since I put then engine back in, if I let off the throttle a bit, not completely at around 3500+rpm I would hear the rattle. For example, if I accelerate from 1st to 2nd to 3rd and then let off at 4000rpm. The auto box would hold 3rd gear for a second or so, while I still have part throttle and so the rpm will be pretty much constant. During this time of constant rpm there was a chatter/clatter/tapping. That goes on for a few tenths of a second until I either let off the throttle, give it more throttle or the box changes up a gear.

I only found one other guy, with a 350z, on another forum thread which I just can't find now. But basically he said when he accelerates, if he 'floats' the rpm (so a little load/constant part throttle) he would get a rattling coming from the engine. But never when under heavy load or decelerating.

Anyway, the main issues is the knocking. I figure it's a con rod bearing because of the sound and the materials found in the sump. I'm sure it is bearing material and the only bearings are crank and con rod. I will be pulling the engine and then removing rod bearings to see the condition. Hopefully the top end didn't suffer as bad with the bad oil.

 

I've got the same rattle, almost sounds like a clacking, right? and only when you stop accelerating, goes away when you're in gear? I think it's something belt driven, may get under the hood this weekend if the weather permits

 

Yeah, it's like a clattering/tapping. Like the top end is running dry of oil. But only for that short period of time. At first I only heard the sound for a millisecond and thought it was the 'woosh' of air being sucked in the intake as the throttle plate closes. But after more experimenting it sounds like a terrible clacking noise for as long as those rpm are maintained. It goes when I stop accelerating or if I step on it more, but constant rpm and you get the clattering.

Try driving at say somewhere between 20-40 and manual shift into maybe 1st or 2nd (depending on speed) to bring the engine rpm to 3500-4000. When I did that I heard the clattering for as long as I kept constant part throttle.

The one thread I found with that guys 350z said it turned out to be bad con rod bearings. So be careful with your engine. While you're checking things, maybe change the oil and see if the sound is any different.

 

alright. I'm due for an oil change so I'll see how that goes.. Although mine only makes the clacking sounds as I the rpm's go down, and it goes away once the car is completely warmed up..

 

OP did you ever figure out what was making the clacking noise?

 

I still am not sure what was making the noise. However, I spun a con rod bearing so I'll be changing out all 6 and the 4 mains as well. All the other 5 were worn evenly - 1 spun.

I haven't removed the mains yet but will change them out anyway as I'm sure they're worn the same as the con rod bearings, maybe a little less.

Once the engine is back together (in a week or two) and I'm back on the road I will test and see if the clacking noise is still there when I float the throttle. If it is gone (which I am thinking it will be, then it was the slack in the bearings/bad oil. If the sound is still around then I'll have to explore further. Also, my timing is slightly advanced so not sure if it could be some pinging but I'm not really sure what that sounds like. If the noise is still there, unchanged, after you changed the oil out. Could you try and record the sound and I can let you know if it sounded the same.

 

Well I was going to say that I figured mine out, I don't know what was up with the oil but an oil/filter change and the sound is gone