bluecar March 2021

With my son. Picture by Alvin Miles. Thanks Alvin. 

Its March 2021. Still working on the bluecar. Still tinkering with things.   Got some things coming up with it.  Still sorta prepping it to sell. The sooner I sell it, the sooner I can focus back on Nismo 500, and BB2.  

Nismo 500 has just been siting in the warehouse for more than a year. 

I did an update in February, so here is what has happened since then.   I filled it up with E85.  $2.49 per gallon with Vons discount.  79% ethanol by my ECB-1

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Ryobi 18v grinder taking the head off some allen hardware

More than that.  I replaced the rotor rings on the two piece front rotors. Racing Brakes had some rings in stock, and the car needed them. They had been run hard, and were showing those signs. The old hardware, allens didn't all come off that easy.  So took to the Ryobi 18v grinder to take the heads off. I really like this Ryobi grinder. Works much better than the Craftsman 19.2 that I have used a long time. The Craftsman never seem to last long on a charge, and always seem to stop/ not take much of a load.  At $45 to $70 the Ryobi is great if you have that line of cordless tools. 

Old Brembo hardware. These did not come out without a fight

Torqueing the hardware to 108 in/lbs or 9 ft-lbs

Racing Brakes Brembo/Stoptech replacement rotor ring installation guide

Rotor Ring (355x32) for Stoptech/Brembo BBK Replacement (Brembo P/N: 09.9306.11 &.21)

The Racing Brake 355 x 32 rotors with my aluminum hats weighed in at 18.96 lbs or 19 between friends. 

The Racing Brake locking hardware. They also don't use allen head bolts. So should be easier to remove after a lot of heat cycles. 

Rotor Ring (355x32) for Stoptech/Brembo BBK Replacement (Brembo P/N: 09.9306.11 &.21)

Testing some GMR 04 wheels on the bluecar

Huge caliper clearance with the GMR 04 wheels from VR Wheels

Don't worry with what is going on there. 

Toyo R88R 265-35-18

Interesting how the stackup changes mounted to un mounted. The R888R are 265. The RE71R are 275

R888R 265/35/18 on the left, RE71R 275/35/18 on the right

I removed the GK Tech uppers. I just wasn't that happy with them. The bearings in them aren't durable enough for me. The adjustment of them on car is pretty difficult.  The silver sliders are something I have had for a while. I forget who made them.  I was going to install them, but I think I am going to work on something else suspension wise for the front.  

Nismo upper mounts, and stock upper arm.  The bluecar also has the longer lower control arm from Nismo.  The OEM is 5mm shorter C-C. So this will give you more camber. It also widens the front track a little, something you want to help front grip. 

Put the Auto Select front radiator plate back on the car. I like this one, it covers everything in the front including the headlights. Air through things is important. Very important. 

ARC Grille Mount Oil cooler. In this car I run two oil coolers. It also has one mounted under the car. When I run a GT-R hard, I get the oil hot. 

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OEM Temperature Gauges Lie : Why You Should Always Question Gauge Readings

Two bluecars : Calsonic Livery and #bluecar tv2 R32 GT-R

25 to 40 year old JDM cars that were never designed for the kind of heat we see in the Southwest, I've been looking into some cooling system modifications. No one wants to rent a car and not be able to use the air conditioning. 

This is what I think of, when I look at most gauges. The top tape measure is off 3/16th of an inch

The above picture illustrates why you should always take unknown, uncalibrated, unchecked readings with a grain of salt.  Now this doesn't mean you don't believe everything, but you have to bounce those numbers against something else.  If you use that top tape measure all your measurements, all your cuts are going to be 3/16 of an inch off. Until you check that measurement against another tape measure, your whole life will be 3/16ths off.  So remember this when looking at temperatures, air inlet temps, air/fuel ratio monitors, and boost gauges.  Compression and Leak down testing

Some people live and die by a single point of AFR, boost, or a temperature. So while the reading on your car may be a certain number, someone elses may be off a little. Your car could read high, theirs low.  When I was in the Navy I did Gauge Calibration as part of my collateral duties.  For a gauge, generally speaking you are allowed a range or a percentage of the full scale to be off, and still be a "functional" or a gauge you will not replace. 

I am a skeptic when it comes to most gauges. Four years calibrating them on ships made me skeptical.  That doesn't mean that I don't believe anything they say, just not everything they say. 

Showing 183F coolant temp at the engine outlet. 

The ECUTalk showing coolant temperature that the ECU sees. This is coolant outlet temperature from the engine. 

This time the coolant temperature is 13 degrees F warmer, still sort of ambiguously in the middle of its range. 

I joke around with people that the factory coolant temperature gauge might as well be hooked to a slip and slide, aka it doesn't really tell you much, and to prove that, the above readings are from a car in a 100F day here in SoCal. AC on, and sitting parked, driving on the street. The high temp is after shutting the car off, and then starting it back up. Just showing what some temps can easily get to at the sensor. This is significant, because an air bubble or pocket here, can see "water" temps in the 250F range. There is a point in an ECU, that if the water temp is too hot, it will NOT put fuel in the engine during cranking. Most cars will trail fuel off as temperatures increase. Many ECU's go down to nearly nothing as they max out.  I've seen it on many track cars, and helped many people fix this issue. 

This is before starting the car. Just showing how hot the sensor can be after sitting on a hot day

In the above reading at least the OEM sensor is showing fairly hot in its range. Still not to the "H" mark.  242 F  116 C at the engine.  If you make it to the H mark, you have probably fairly cooked it on the water side. 

Radiator : Nissan Skyline GT-R 2020 Upgrades : Hoses : Fans : Coolant : Anti Freeze : Water Pump

This R32 GT-R is over 25 years old, and has a factory radiator in it. It also has the factory oil/water heat exchanger. Nismo lip on the hood. No Nismo ducts in the bumper. It has an undertray. I added some foam to the top of the radiator to try and keep air from escaping around the top of the radiator and core support. It has the factory radiator shroud. It has the factory fan clutch. The factory air conditioning cooling fan works as designed.   Cruising on the freeway and driving normally in a 100F day, saw outlet temperatures ECU readings of about 201F to 208F.  Closer to the beach, with cooler ambients, I saw temperatures drop down to 192 F.  As the ambient temps increased, the temperatures rose again to the 201F to 208F range.  All this on the factory temperature gauge is more or less ambiguously in the middle.  192F and 208F look to be about the same pointish.

The ambients here in SoCal are probably not going to be enough to really push this system, but I have some things I want to try and change. Some of which are some more ducting/cooling panels. Smaller water pump pulley to overdrive the pump(this car is mostly low speed in hot temps).  Maybe a new radiator. Cooling system flush and coolant replacement. Higher pressure radiator cap. GK tech fan. New fan clutch. 

RB26dett Coolant flow diagram. Notice the inlet and outlet paths

Coolant Capactiy (liters)

	RB20/RB25DE/RB25DET	RB26DETT
Capacity	~9	~9.2

Nissan Skyline Radiator Cooling System Fill and Bleed Procedure

Coolant temperature sensor 2 wire and 1 wire

Two wire coolant temperature sensor for an RB engine. According to NZ EFI, this fits about 50 different Nissans. 

The 2 wire sensor, is the sensor that the ECU uses as an input. It is a very important sensor. It effects startup, and running of the car.  We often see the cooling system not bled right, and an airpocket forms at the sensor. When this happens, the sensor may show 250F-300F. When this happens, the ECU thinks the car is hot, and it may not fire the injectors, based on the tune. So if you have hot start problems, that go away once you crank for a bit, the CTS is a good thing to look at, then the bleeding.  This gets back to having a Consult datascanner, so you can see what the ECU is seeing. Makes troubleshooting much easier. 

OEM two wire aka ECU input  22630-44B20 (fits about 50 different Nissans)

The 1 wire sensor only drives the gauge in the dash.  A cool fact, R32 and R33 are different resistances. You find these things out later, when you start a car up, and have the wrong sensor in. Then about 2 minutes in, the gauge pegs, the car is fairly cool.  NZ EFI says that the R34 is also different, need to look that one up. 

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Oil Cooler : Nissan Skyline GT-R 2018 Upgrades

R34 GT-R, C-West bumper, ARC oil cooler

Its a good idea if you are going to go on a track, or do any high speed driving with the car to put an external oil cooler on the car. On a track, it only takes a few laps in cool outside temps to get the oil temps above the 110C range. As important as the cooler itself, is the ducting to and through the cooler core.

We bolded and underlined that last line, because it is very important. If you look at any modern car, or look at any kind of race car, ducting in and out of the core of a cooler is managed. Air is lazy. It takes the path of least resistance. Since you bought the cooler, you want the air packed at the front of it to pass though the core, not pass around it. By adding proper ducting, the air will pass though the core, raising efficiency tremendously.

More oil cooler information. 

We had this question recently, what is out there as a kit for a BNR32 Nissan Skyline GT-R.  So lets see.  With an oil cooler you want the largest lines possible. You want the least amount of 90 degree fittings possible.  Steel braided lines, and a remote oil filter mounts are big pluses.  If you don't want to make up your own kit, here are a few off the shelf that you can buy

HKS Type S Oil cooler kit for Nissan Skyline GT-R (mount your oil cooler with the fittings up)

HKS Type S Oil Cooler Kit

• 15 row cooler
• Thermostat
• Mounting location: Left inner fender
• -12 AN fittings and Lines
• Air guides(important to improve cooler efficiency. 
• Cost - Around $1100

Greddy 13 row oil cooler kit

Greddy 13 row oil cooler kit (Fender)

• 13 Row NS1310G
• Thermostat Type: In center block
• -10AN fittings and lines
• Mounting location: Core: Left inner fender
• Fender protector and bumper modification needed
• Cost - About $1200

13 row is not a huge oil cooler, but the biggest offered by Greddy. This kit has the remote mount, and mounting for the oil cooler itself. 

Greddy 10 row oil cooler kit-radiator

Greddy 10 row oil cooler kit (Radiator)

• 10 Rows NS1010G
• Thermostat Type: In center block
• Mounting location: In front of radiator
• Cost - About $750

Greddy 10 row cooler kit - fender

Greddy 10 row oil cooler kit (Radiator)

• 10 Rows NS1010G
• Thermostat Type: In center block
• Mounting location: Left fender
• Fender protector and bumper modification needed
• Cost - About $750

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Other Options: 

1) Make your own oil cooler kit.  You need a core, fittings, and a filter adaptor. It is not a difficult thing, but once you piece one together, you realize how expensive it can be.  Don't buy a shitty core. Buy a Setrab oil cooler core.  Use -12 AN fittings and line. Use the least number of 90 degree fittings possible. Try and duct air through the core, that is in and out.

2) Used oil coolers.  Buying a used oil cooler, is kind of like buying used underwear.  Some people are into that, but you want to make sure you clean them really well before you use them.  An ultrasonic cleaning, of the oil cooler, not the underwear, is in order.  A perfect example of a unique setup is the ARC below.

ARC Oil cooler kit

ARC Oil Cooler

• No longer available new
• Mounts behind grill
• Advantage it is in a safe position, and gets lots of cool air
• Disadvantage it heats the air going to condenser, and the radiator
• Mad JDM points
• Cost - About $2000

NISMO oil cooler condensor mount

NISMO AC Condenser Oil Cooler

• No longer available new
• The AC condenser gets smaller, and the cooler is part of the assembly
• Advantage it is in a safe position and gets lots of cool air
• Disadvantage, your AC might not work as well
• Cost - Good luck finding one. But in the Japanese auctions around $1500

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RB26 - Nissan Skyline GT-R Oil Leaks

The hot side of an RB26

The RB26 is not the most simple engine on earth. There are lots of places for an oil leak. Here are a few of the most common engine oil leaks.  Although along with engine oil you can have front diff leak, power steering, transmission, transfercase, ATTESA system, and rear end leaks.

K&N HP 2008 Oil Filter for RB26

Oil Filter

The first easy one.  When you change the oil on an RB26, oil will often leak and pool on the top of the front diff.  Do your best to clean it off, otherwise you might be hunting something that isn't there, when you see a little puddle under your car.

Oil pools on the front differential. 

Oil change and filter

Oil Filter -

• OEM 15208-60U00  
• OEM R32  AY100-NS007 
• K & N HP-2008 
• MOBIL M1-208 
• WIX 51361 
• OEM(R34, smaller filter) 15208-9E000

Half Moon.  These get crispy, its a good idea to replace them. 11051-58S00

Rotted half moon from Sean Kirby - the other Sean. We are the Seans. 

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Rare NISMO OptionR32 GT-R Parts : AC Condenser - Oil Cooler Combo

Is this cooler 1/2 to 3/4 as good as a normal  A/C condenser? The nice part about it, is that its well protected. However your A/C may not be as cold as you like. Compromises. Versus not having A/C, we will try this out and see how it goes.   The oil cooler is a bit weird with two 90 degree fittings on it. Cooler looks like it is a Setrab core, around a 925.   This part is going into NISMO #500.  It was cleaned up and painted with a light coat of radiator black.

Since an RB26 puts a ton of heat into the oil, this is a great way to try and keep a pretty mild GT-R's oil temps under control.  More information about oil cooling for a Nissan Skyline GT-R. 

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Nissan Skyline GT-R Oil Coolers and Oil Cooling

We have written quite a lot about oiling for an RB26, but realized we really haven't discussed oil coolers.

ARC Oil cooler. This is one of my favorites. 

On a stock RB26 there is an oil/water heat exchanger on the right side of the engine. The oil filter attaches to part of the asembly.  If you have an R32 with Hicas, you know how fun it is to get to the oil filter.

RB factory oil cooler. Coolant lines are green. 

Its a good idea if you are going to go on a track, or do any high speed driving with the car to put an external oil cooler on the car. On a track, it only takes a few laps in cool outside temps to get the oil temps above the 110C range. As important as the cooler itself, is the ducting to and though the cooler core.

We bolded and underlined that last line, because it is very important. If you look at any modern car, or look at any kind of race car, ducting in and out of the core of a cooler is managed. Air is lazy. It takes the path of least resistance. Since you bought the cooler, you want the air packed at the front of it to pass though the core, not pass around it. By adding proper ducting, the air will pass though the core, raising efficiency tremendously.

R34 N1 with C-West bumper, ARC oil cooler

Buy USA Legal R32 Skylines at Importavehicle.com!
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This picture shows an example of air that is able to flow though a core. In the front, and vented out the back side

RB26DETT bottom end

On an RB26DETT, you have a lot of factors that contribute to oil temperature. It is honestly near an oil cooled engine. The higher you rev it, the more temperature you add. At a point you can't cool the oil enough, and it breaks down. When it breaks down enough, you kill an engine.  An RB26 has a long crankshaft with 7 main bearings. Each bearing is adding lots of heat at high rpm.

RB oil squirters

Then you have oil squirters, which in the case of OEM pistons (or some of the special aftermarket pistons), have oil cooling channels in them.  Each squirter sprays at the underside of the crown of the piston, helping to cool combustion temperatures.

There are advantages to this, but most aftermarket pistons don't use this technology. Some guys with big power engines, also eliminate the squirters. They aerate the oil a bit. This is also why the RB has a tendency to move a bit of oil though the PCV system. Oil is all whipped up in the bottom end between the crank, pistons, rods, and squirters.

The next big factor to add heat to the oil are the turbos. Each gets hot. Each adds oil temperature to the mix.

Exhaust cam cover off

Then we have two long camshafts in the head. Both also adding some heat to the mix.   So if you have been following along, you see the need for an oil cooler. The factory setup works, but by cooling the oil you are also heating up the water. At a point you overrun that system. Over the years we have tried add on water coolers, aftermarket oil/water heat exchangers, and air/oil coolers.  We favor the air/oil coolers.





We have eliminated the factory oil/water cooler on one car we had. Cruising at highway speeds, the oil temperatures got a lot hotter than we like. For this reason, we recommend at least a small air/oil cooler if you eliminate the factory setup.

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