Nissan Urvan

Adjusting and Repositioning Passenger Seatbelt Latches

January 1, 2023 by Roland Munyard Leave a Comment

I intend to maintain, repair or create something every day for the year of 2023. Earlier this morning I checked my oil and water, and noticed that the seat belt latches get in the way for opening and closeing the engine cover, so I loosedn the bolt and adjusted the latches so the engine cover no longer scrapes past the latches when I inspect the engine.

Passenger Seatbelt Latches

I also tested the plastic Toyota dipstick in the Nissan which makes it easier to see the oil level, it worked well so now I need to find a plastic dispstick.

Carburetor Clean Up

September 29, 2022 by Roland Munyard Leave a Comment

My engine starts very easily and runs very smoothly and has plenty of power! So what’s the problem?

The problem it that after it starts and after I rev or drive it for a short time the idle speed goes up and runs way too fast, probably about 2000 RPM.

I went to a car show in my town a while ago and asked a chap there who had an older car where I could find a good engine tuner, someone to work on my carb, he referred me to Russel in Caloundra, so I went to see him but he refused to work on my 40 year old car because it was not old enough, and because he was busy, and he like working on the older classic cars.

He was friendly and we chatted for a while and I described my problem with the high idle. Russell suggested the flap was sticking open and that I might try a bit of INOX Lanoline Oil to loosen it up.

I pressed him for more information and I asked if he used some “Special Engine Sauce” to clean out his Carburettors, he showed and he showed me a can of ThreeBond Engine Cleaner and warned me that although it loosens and cleans, it leaves behind a residue which will harden if left, so I will need to flush flush all the residue away before it hardens again.

I washed out the Carb with the “Special Sauce” and then liberally washed the inside of the carb with petrol and a paint brush and now it is sparkling clean inside. Prior to cleaning my carb was black inside and now it is silver !

I did server things, with the engine idle I sprayed the inside of the carb, and then let it sit for a while with engine off, and then I washed if for with petrol and a paint brush Then I sprayed it with the engine running to get deeper in the carb and washed it out with petrol and a paintbrush. till all the bit I could see were sparkly clean.

This has fixed the high idle speed, I suspect it was a sticky flap, and my guess it that it was probably the second flap which gets stuck open when the van runs fast and uses more power.

The engine idles so smooth and so slowly now that the oil pressure light comes on, so I just need to set the idle a little higher. If I just tap the accelerator very lightly the pressure light goes off immediately

I was wondering if any knows of a book, document or PDF explaining how a carburettor works, and how to properly tune a carburettor?

The Nissan E23 Z20 Engine is very similar to the Datsun 720 Engine Datsun 720 (Episode 6) – Carb Rebuild

Nissan Urvan E23 Journal

September 22, 2022 by Roland Munyard Leave a Comment

Nissan Urvan E23 Journal

A friend is scrapping an old E23 and here is a list of bits I’d like to check out. I don’t really need any of these bits but hey who knows, one never knows.

Mirror
Clock
Sun Visors.
Steering Key and Lock
Floor Mat
Climb In Handle

VSR – The Voltage Sensitive Relay – for second battery
Regulator
Relays
Battery Cables
Fusible Links

Alternator
Starter Motor

Floor Mat
Door Liners

Starter Motor Recondition

September 4, 2022 by Roland Munyard Leave a Comment

I called a good friend of mine, Dennis, the chap who very kindly removed the rust and spayed my van, to find out what I may have possibly damaged when I charged my battery while it was connected to the van.

He said he had 30 minutes he could spar, and drove down to look at the issue. Tracing a wire from the battery to the solenoid lead he was able to tell that the battery received about 11.x volts when I turned the key, it was a tricky operation, because the starter motor is in a challenging location to work on.

The following day (Saturday) was wet and cold and I was reluctant to work under the van, so I was held off for a sunny warm day, but as it happened my good friend Mark called in late Saturday afternoon, he was bored and dropped in to see me.

I had asked if I could borrow his fibre optic scope to follow some cables which run in between from the battery and alternator, The alternator electrics run through the gap between the engine and the inlet manifold, which seems to me to be an odd place to place them.

When I explained the issue I was having with my electrics and he began to diagnose the problem I described. Mark did a great job identifying the issue.

We traced a lot of the leads and eventually we got down to the fact that it was an issue with the starter motor, he called for some spanners and we began to unbolt the starter motor.

Very soon we had it undone, it was a very tight fit, and I because I was under the van, I took careful to observe how it came out.

After a few checks it’s clearly not working correctly, although we did get the solenoid to tigger once or twice but, neither it nor the motor works properly.

It looks in good condition and may only need a good clean up because it’s covered in oil, but now that it’s out I may as well get it properly serviced.

Faulty Starter / Possibly because of Rear Main Seal Leak

Reconditioned Starter

Reconditioned with new brushes and a paint job by Scott Mountain at Mountain Auto Electrical

Fuel Pump on the Nissan Urvan E23

August 17, 2022 by Roland Munyard Leave a Comment

I ran into a snag with the Fuel Pump on the Nissan Urvan E23, it started leaking, and I’ve been able to smell fuel for a few weeks now, but it was not until the engine started to run badly that I stopped and had a thorough search for the problem. I guess being stuck on the side of the road gives you time to check things out.

So now I know what the problem is but after a search around the internet it appears that fuel pumps are not easily repaired because its difficult to find the right rebuild kit, mainly because it is difficult to identify a pump without any markings,

It would seem that most people simple put in a new after market rebuild kit, for example Darren from Classic Carbs suggests:

The aftermarket pump is FPM-050. Sparesbox have them at $208. My kits are around $105 if we can identify it. – https://classiccarbs.com.au

This is the Carb here, and you can see the little hole which is leaking fuel.

Fuel Leak on E23 Fuel Pump

Top View of E23 Fuel Pump

Fuel Pump Top View.JPG

I am going to keep looking for a Diaphragm Kit, and I’ll keep you posted about how things go, but I found these posts very helpful.

https://classiccarbs.com.au
https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/50679-rebuilding-the-nikki-fuel-pump/

Alternator and Regulator Challenges

July 24, 2022 by Roland Munyard Leave a Comment

I quite enjoy my van, however I have not really had an opportunity to take it on the open road, for a couple of reasons.

Firstly it’s winter, and camping and touring during winter is not as much fun as Spring Summer and Autumn

Secondly my van battery won’t hold a charge, which has left me stranded a couple to time, now,

I suspect it may be a simple earth leakage, which if it is, is easily fixed, however it would also be it’s a very new fault since it has previously held charge for a very long periods of time while it was in the car port waiting for roadworthy and for the few patches of rust to be removed.

Alternator after market for 1983 Nissan Urvan E23

Photo shows the alternator released from the engine but with the wires connected so that I can correctly refit them after it has been serviced.

Original Regulator for Nissan Urvan E23 IMG 4625

Wiring Display

Original Regulator for Nissan Urvan E23

Side View of Regulator

I have taken the alternator and regulator to Scott Mountain for servicing,

Hopefully Scott will get it to produce the full 14.x volts required to keep the battery fit and healthy.

Nissan Urvan E23 Paint Job (Cream Dream)

July 1, 2022 by Roland Munyard Leave a Comment

The Cream Dream after a respray

Dennis from church had a look a my van and agreed to take out the rust, I have to drive here up to Peachester where he has a large shed where he fixes large tourist buses and other things.

Nissan Urvan E23 Paint Job