jaymzinsa

Update. There were several suggestions to bleed the cooling system. Finally had some time to devote to the truck. Lifted the nose and ran the truck with the radiator cap open. A few bubbles came out then the truck got hotter after a few min and started spitting out lots of coolant. Turned it off, refilled the spillage, turned it back on, no bubbling then closed the system. Had errands to run so used the truck for 2-3 hrs in the middle of the afternoon in 110 degree temps. The needle never moved from normal temp. Hope that took care of the overheating issue. However, noticed more gear oil splattered around and also noticed a new issue. Saw fumes coming out of the vent behind the rear bumper and noticed a gas smell. What causes that issue?

Checked the fan clutch, its fine. Yeah 3.5VQs are notorious for burning oil as they get over 100-125k miles. I solved that issue with my first build, I swapped out a JDM engine, with 55k on it, for the original that had blown a piston at 200k. Ive put ~35k miles on it since i got it in ‘21 and change the oil every 3k miles. Hadnt thought about the diff breathers. Will look into that.

I considered that as I had that issue recently with my wife's mini cooper, however, we drove for 2.5 hrs straight when I left in the morning, had the AC going the whole time, ran at 3k rpm, and didnt have an issue until we stopped and I left the truck idling. Thats why im at a loss with the overheating issue, doesnt make sense. The gear oil is from the 3rd member. It is a swap from an xtrerra with 4.63 gears, a trusted knowledgable member of the forum repacked the lsd and resealed the diff before i made the swap. The gaskets werent leaking when my mechanic put it in.

Hello all, I posted this in a FB R50 group and hope to get more eyes on here to take a look. I am just gonna copy/paste my FB post. This is a text message I sent to my mechanic about my truck. I put it on here to see if anyone has any thoughts/recommendations as to what might be the problem or better, come up with a solution. It seems to be almost a lost cause; sad situation because I love my beast but if I cant depend on it, I probably have to put it out to pasture. Quick synopsis, i recently completed a second build and swapped to xterra diffs with a lokka, swapped 3rd member with packed lsd, swapped out the tranny, installed a new exedy clutch, and replaced my AC system. Also had the radiator cleaned and flushed. This was to be my first real test of the recent work. The truck has never had an overheating issue before this shake down trip. Was going to go to lake havasu, about 150 miles from scottsdale, and run a bunch of trails along the lake. Had made the trip many times in the past and the truck was awesome on the trails. With the new gears the plan was to run even rougher stuff but that fell through. Please give me any feedback you feel is relevant, I want to save my buddy. Here is a synopsis of what happened. Looks like the text makes the post too long. I will place it in the comments. I took the truck out for a trip to havasu yesterday. We were very lucky to make it back. I’ll give you bullet points. - left early morning, got to the turn off on I-10 without any issues. - stopped to get a drink, left the truck idling as the boys were asleep and didnt want to turn off the ac, (which works great) - got back in the truck and the temp gage is almost at overheat temp. Didnt notice until i started driving. - once i drove for maybe 15-20s the temp immediately dropped down to normal, i literally watched the needle drop to normal temp in 1-2s. Also had a strange smell which I’ll get to later - thought maybe stuck thermostat. - spent the day without any issues although i did not want to take any chances and did not let the truck idle. - left at dark and drove at 70mph 3k rpm ac on without any issues for awhile - after ~1hr i saw the temp needle start to rise. It got to about 3/4 of the way up and i pull over at the next exit. - waited 15-20 min, started the truck, the temp was still at 3/4 and decided to try to get to a station a couple miles up the highway to run some water on the radiator. - as soon as i got over 15-20mph the needle immediately dropped to normal temp. Wish i had thought to take a video. - it stayed at normal temp until the gas station. Checked the coolant reserve and it was fine. Since it was normal temp i decided to see how far we could go. - ran for another 45min without the ac then hit a bad dust storm. Once we slowed down, the temp needle started to go up, at 3/4 temp i pulled over again. - waited out the dust ~15min, started the truck, temp was a little more than halfway. - as soon as we got some speed the needle again dropped to normal temp but the gearshift area and console between the seats was very hot. - hit a huge rain storm and the drop in outside temp kept the truck temp at normal for the next 30min. - hit construction outside phoenix and as we slowed down the needle climbed almost to overheat temp. - i drove on the shoulder, (pissing off the stopped traffic) at 35-40mph and that dropped the temp to almost normal. Again wish i had video to show the temp needle going up and down. - pulled into a station after getting off the highway. - after 15-20 min drove the last 45min home with the needle staying at normal temp. - Was a very nervous trip home but somehow we made it and in the driveway the temp was normal and the hood didnt feel hot. i let the truck idle for 5-10min to see what would happen and it ran as if everything was fine. Turned it off and there wasnt even any coolant bubbling into the overflow reservoir. I have no idea what happened but am ready to get rid of the truck as i feel i cant trust it. I will bring it in at some point to see if you can come up with a diagnosis. Also. At some point on the trip home, the check engine light turned off after on of our stops. Crazy. As for the strong smell from the morning stop. There is gear oil all over the back of the truck. The pics show it even came up around the bumper and sprayed onto the liftback and rear tire mount. Gasket failure? I'll try to post some pics through tapatalk to show the extent to which the gear oil was splattered over the back of the truck. I have no idea how much oil leaked, how much is left, etc. I certainly don't want to ruin the diff or cause future issues if I'm able to salvage the truck. Any help as to the cause and/or solution for either issue is greatly appreciated.

Never been on a continuous hard 10k trip but i have driven my 2” lifted pathy almost daily for the last 4-5 yrs with lots of offroad miles mixed in. I installed high articulating cvs specifically designed for lifted vehicles when i initially rebuilt it. I have manual hubs which i run in 4x2 when not in the dirt. Those cvs are from trakmotive at rockauto. 30-35k miles later I havent had any problems with this set up and have run the truck pretty hard when offroad. Hope this helps.

Question, does a sfd affect alignment and everyday drivability?

Hey guys, my throw out bearing is whining away so time to replace my clutch. First questions, should I replace with OEM parts or upgrade to a beefier aftermarket kit? If an aftermarket should I go with a stage 1 or 2 clutch? We don't do hardcore crawling but do get into some fairly difficult terrain and have 31 in R/T tires. Next, I think the synchros in the tranny are going out as I'm getting some grinding goin 3rd to 4th so since its coming off anyway, I'm trying to decide between a rebuild (if the hardware is even available), a refurbished tran, or just getting a used one. On that vein, does anyone know if there are any other transmissions I could swap it out with (frontier, xterra, 300z/350z)? Perhaps a 6 speed or should I not even consider that. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Yeah, we've talked about that swap, the Lokka, and I'd love to beef up the lsd as well, but as with the snorkel, gotta accrue some points with The Boss.

Thanks. And I'll keep the snorkel in mind but The Boss might say otherwise.

My latest additions, coastal offroad kits. Any suggestions on what to go with the air intake? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My latest additions, coastal offroad kits. Any suggestions on what to go with the air intake? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

$1200? Ouch. Gotta be cheaper shipping options. Is it feasible for someone in the US to buy them and ship them to you through USPS or other service?

Your spring options are kinda limited for the r50. The landrover springs only fit the back. Old man emu OME, doninson, ironman 4x4, all have sets that will lift you about 1.5in. 4x4parts (AC) has a set that will give you 2in. A lot of us run AC in front and the LR defender springs in back. I added OME struts to that combo as they are longer than stock and prevent topping out the strut on the trail. I have the longest LR spring in the back (forgot the part #), it gave me a slight rake but should even out when i add a swingout gate to my bumper, plus i like the extra departure angle it gives me. Hope that helps. Have fun with the build. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Finally finished the first half of my Coastal Offroad bumper. Now need to build the swingout tire carrier and jerry can holder.

Thanks, I've been very happy with the truck. Still have a bit of a to do list; finish the rear bumper, front lokka, beefed up lsd, start welding the front bumper... Sorry to hear your VQ might go. I honestly couldn't tell you first hand how the swap went as I have a trusted mechanic and had his shop do all the heavy lifting but he did say there were a few things that needed to be slightly modified to have it fit correctly. It apparently had some components that weren't on the original engine, however, he said it wasn't a huge issue and got it done in just a couple days. Not sure what vehicle the "new" engine came from, but it was a much newer year model with only 55K on it and runs great. I got in there with him on some of the suspension work and that wasn't too bad either. Removing the tranny for the new clutch was a major pain in the ass, that thing is huge and heavy.