N12 Turbo Forums

Reswob wrote:Could do. I thought that ethanol can wear out your engine though. At the moment, the petrol I'm using has a percentage of ethanol.

Urban myth.
L8r
E

The issue with ethanol is that many fuel systems contain rubber elements that haven't been specced with ethanol in mind; the rubber is gradually broken down by the ethanol, as I understand it.

It may be feasible to replace all such bits with silicone rubber, but there's prolly a bunch of crap like o-rings and whatever else in addition to hoses, so I'm not sure...

It'd be easier to do a carby car than an EFI one though, since the fuel system's simpler.

Its more an issue with old EFI cars with already age damaged fuel lines and particularly with E85.
At 10% ethanol, E10 usually not an issue.

Youll hear crap about it eating up your aluminium carb parts et-al but thats only an issue with METHanol (Methyl Alcohol aka: Wood Alcohol) Its an entirely different animal.

You hear all the usual horror stories but you never hear the ENTIRE story which led to the horror!

L8r
E

I don't know the details of the ethanol issue. If they are still selling it, I suppose it must be alright....or you'd hope so. I'll throw caution to the wind and just deal with the consequences as/if they come.

I'm starting to wonder if the crash has knocked my front wheels slightly out of alignment. Things seem slightly skew-whiff...or it could be my confidence in driving getting a dent.

And I still haven't gotten my car keys out of that oily pit.....I don't think the landlords want me to go near that area. Plumer still can't find a replacement water pump, I guess. Grrrr...

It doesn't take a hell of a lot to lose your alignment... if it's not too bad and your tyres are coming up for replacement, you could put off getting it fixed until you get a set of fresh tyres, and you might get an alignment for free.

I've had such a time of it in the past couple of days. I've been taking my Red Queen out more often and we had a bit of a tiff.

I drove out to the Royal National Park with a friend and it was late at night when we got around to heading back. It was pouring down with rain and the road was windy. I had the wipers on fast, the heaters on with the demisters front and back working away and the high beams on. Suddenly the headlights became dim and the wipers became lethargic. "Shit, it's the battery or the alternator!" I exclaimed. I turned off the heaters and took it off high beam, then slowed the wipers. I tried to push forwards to civilisation but the lights got so dim I was nearly driving in the dark. All the lines on the road took on an eerie blue cast. I lost speed and power. The engine banged three times and we died around a bend. I went over and braced my arse against that of my car to fend off oncoming traffic with a torch. The battery was totally drained, so I had no hazard lights. I was soaked to the bone and getting cold. We were about 50 km from Sydney.

Why?? Why??!! My Red Queen! What have I done wrong? Why don't you love me anymore? Was it something I said? I've always done the best I could for you.

I managed to flag down a couple of cars, one of which the blokes had some jumper leads. We jump started the car but the instant we disconnect the leads, she died. "That's strange." He said. Wandering around we found a sweet spot where we got a bar of mobile reception to call NRMA. The lady on the other end wouldn't look on google maps and insisted on looking through the street directory. I was probably off the edge of the Sydney directory so it took her forever to locate us!

Having that sorted, we tried to zap the car back to life and it remained running when the leads were disconnected. The guy told us to chuck a "U" turn and head ten minutes down the road where there was a train station and we might get some assistance there. So I went to turn the car around and she died when I was broadside in the middle of the road. There were only two of us and all we could do was push her down the slope into the bush but its nose was still hanging on the road. So there I was again planting my arse on the bonnet placing myself between my car and vehicles roaring around the bend.

The next guy that came past was a security guard that thought I spun out. He discovered that someone had taken the towing cable out of his car for some bizarre reason. Then a Suzuki Baleno came around the bend carrying a pack of teenagers, so finally we were able to push my car off the road.

I then decided to cook some rice on my metho stove and eat it with canned mackeral. Just when I was settling down to eat, the NRMA bloke found us. He charged the battery and told us the alternator had packed in. This time we were able to get the car started and drive home but he warned us not to turn the ignition off before we got home. Surprisingly we made it.[/i]

I have a Iranian friend called Ali that has an Iranian mechanic friend by the name of Ali. This evening he came down to look at the car. My little red monster started easily. The battery and the alternator worked fine. Everything worked.

Datsun reliability was making a mockery of me!!!

However the battery was completely dry, so we had to top it up with water. I had never been taught to check the battery. Damn!

So he's going to check the brushes in the alternator. Apparently the timing chain is making a lot of noise and should be replaced. I have a broken rubber boot on the front left tire. Also, he told me that the clutch is not slipping. The problem is that the throttle cable is broken. He has been looking for a new cable for months and it seems impossible to find.

I don't know why, but he seems to find my car quite amusing. He laughed when I told him there were turbo versions. He thought it was quite ridiculous that anyone would put a turbo get-up in a car like mine. He laughed because they were called N12s for some reason. It seems that he has never seen an N12 Pulsar in his entire life and he never knew that people in Sydney still drove cars that were so old.

Whoa, you've had quite a bit of drama there! Definitely sucks to be stranded on the road like that.

I think you may need a new battery, because the cells usually get fried up when they are empty or almost empty of fluid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive ... luid_level

Ummmm, you might advise you "mechanic" of mediterranean extraction gently that your engine does NOT have a timing chain.......... It has a timing BELT and it would be a lot of imagination to confuse timing chain rattle with something in this car!!!!!!!!!!!

Secondly, all he has to do it take the throttle cable off, pop down to a cable supplier and simply make up a new inner wire for it. Should take around 15 minutes......... and be a fraction of the cost of a replacement cable.
If you still lived in Hobart, id gladly pop around remove and make a new cable for you as i carry all that stuff ready to go.
But..... a thousand miles is a long way.....................

Cheers
Evan

Ah ok, thanks Evan. I'll tell him about that. The cable seems to be completely broken, so will I need just an inner cable?

Yeah, I was thinking that I'd be better off getting a new battery. The truth is that I have no idea how old that battery is. It might have been sitting in the car for ten years for all I know.

you can also make them yourself... motorcylce parts shops will have the cable and end that are held in place with a little bit of solder, very easy to do and cheap.

C