My '86 Nissan Laurel LD28

[kossak]

After sitting for a long time on this forum, I was thinking to show you all my "little" car

Is an 1986 Nissan Laurel C32 with the LD28 engine and the 4N71B transmission. I have the car for 9 months now, I but it because my father used to own an '84 C31 Laurel 10 years ago and I loved that car very very much.

I'm 22 but I love the cars from the '80s and I love my car more that anything else I've ever seen.

I'm the 3rd owner, got it with 220.000 kms, very good for a car of this age.

Here are some pics:

















As you see from the pictures, the car is 99% rust free same for the underneath.


A month ago I had to change both headlights, after I hit a dog
That destroyed my right lamp and the bumper. Because a new lamp is ~ 400$ I had to improvise, same for the bumper and the front grille, which is from my C31 Laurel. Is not the best looking but at least is road legal.

Since I got the car, I had to change the front shock absorbers, I took them from my C31 Laurel and they fitted perfectly (with the springs too).

During the winter, I had a strange sound from the engine, I had a thread about this; the solution was a valve adjusment so is OK now.

Lately I have blue smoke during cold starts especially in the morning, for about 10 seconds and also pretty much black smoke during full acceleration. I'm sure this is an injector issue, when I'll have time I will took out the injection pump from the other car and the injectors too and will make a set of six good ones to replace the faulty one.
Excepting this, the engine works very very good, starts damn easy even in very low temperatures.

Also steering is excelent, no play at all, the brakes are excelent ( I used the best brake pads I could find and it definetely woth it).

The most irritating problem is with the gearbox, for which I don't have a solution yet, just got used to drive it like that, mostly by manualy putting in into 2nd when needed, not to let it jump it out of gear under load.

When I inspected the driveshaft, I noticed that the rubber from the gearbox side of it is in pretty bad state, I think that's why I have a slight vibration in the car when I carry 4 persons. I still don't have a solution for this yet.

About the interior, is in great condition no cracks in the dash and in the carpet as well.

What is frustrating about this car is the unavalaiblily of parts. I think there are no more that 10 cars like mine in the whole country. So the junkyards are pretty useless and the dealer as well ( exagerated prices).

But so far I had no major problems, I hope it will be the same in the future.

Overall, I love the car because is very confortable, old fashioned and because is very easy to drive.

[asavage]

Lately I have blue smoke during cold starts especially in the morning, for about 10 seconds and also pretty much black smoke during full acceleration. I'm sure this is an injector issue, when I'll have time I will took out the injection pump from the other car and the injectors too and will make a set of six good ones to replace the faulty one.

Two thoughts:

If your LD28 is fitted with an EGR system (Exhaust Gas Recirculation), you may have a partially plugged intake manifold. This is very common. It reduces the available air and can cause more black smoke.



My experience is that, while injectors are items that are designed to be serviced/rebuilt and should be expected to wear out, the cause of much of the LD28's black smoke problem -- which is common -- is a worn injection pump.

When I inspected the driveshaft, I noticed that the rubber from the gearbox side of it is in pretty bad state, I think that's why I have a slight vibration in the car when I carry 4 persons. I still don't have a solution for this yet.

If your driveshaft is two-piece (with three u-joints), the forward u-joint is bad. It may not feel bad when operating by hand, but many of us have experienced that low-speed vibration. The driveshafts are not rebuildable by conventional means.

[kossak]

Thanks for the tips Al.

Regarding the smoke issue, here's what I noticed since I have it (for about 2 months):

Once I put "by mistake" the most expensive diesel available at the gas station. I drove with that for 2 days and after that I noticed that I got very little smoke during the morning starts. Also, lately, I've tried different "diesel conditioner" and injector cleaner additives and the black smoke during acceleration somehow got better, that's why I suspect an injector problem.

Also, the rpm is jumping up and down about 200rpm while I have that blue smoke. After it goes back to normal, the smoke goes away too.

Can the pump be worn at this mileage? ~145k miles now....

However, I read the topics about the intake manifold getting dirty and last time when I changed the air filter I took a look into it, but I've only seen small amount of dirt, some kind of oil, it didn't seemed to be major. But probably I'll have to take off the manifold for a good inspection.

[asavage]

Blue smoke + RPM change = lube oil is getting into the combustion chamber. Often via the intake system.

Does your Laurel have EGR?

On the LD28, you cannot see any buildup in the intake from the air filter end. The manifold must either be separated at the plenum seam, or better: taken off the head. There is no buildup near the air intake end.

Yes, the pump can be worn at 145k miles. The automatic timing advancer mechanism is pressure-driven, by the feed pump. The feed pump's performance degrades over time, it does not furnish the correct internal pressure at any given RPM, and the dynamic timing advance is degraded: timing is retarded at speeds above idle. And you can't really compensate it by changing the static timing. The IP must be rebuilt.

I, too, have had my injectors rebuilt, in search of less black smoke. Made no difference on my two rigs. Well, the fuel mileage improved a tiny bit.

[kossak]

Yes, I have an EGR on the car. I mean that rubber pipe going from the valve cover to the intake manifold. But I have no EGR valve. I don't even have it on my C31 Laurel (same LD28, 1984). Maybe it wasn't installed in Europe? I don't know....
But I noticed lately that the valve cover end of the pipe is pretty oily, I have no idea why.


However, I will take off the intake manifold for cleaning. I think I should buy new gaskets in this case...
Also, I think is time for fuel filters change ( I have 2 fuel filters, the previous owner did this) since I've never changed them before ( I put 9k miles on the car since I have it)

BR,
Florin

[asavage]

If you don't have an EGR system, you don't need to check the intake for plugging.

(click on any image for larger)



The oil trap is the leaky one. In the background of this pic:

[plenzen]

Car looks to be in really good condition, and appears to have been well looked after.
Nice pics as well.
But
I have to ask
What is that guy doing to the other guy in the background of your first Picture

[kossak]

well ) Now that you asked, I just noticed the 2 guys...

Maybe they were fighting to decide which one will have the opportunity to wash my car

Yeah, I was surprised too be the way the paint looks on the car. Is the original one.
The previous owner had the car since 1994, a 56 years old man. But he said that the car was never garaged!

But I'm very sad because I already had 3 incidents with 2 car: once a stupid neighbor of mine was coming out from the parking park in reverse and he hit me with the trailer coupling in the back door ( you can see that in the picture) and after that I hit a deer and a dog . That's why I had to change the headlamps and the bumper...

[kossak]

Hi,

A little update:

I had a little leak at the rubber line going from the transmission to the radiator (passenger side). The clamp was gone so I put a new one.

I've checked again the fluid level in the gearbox, it was was low ( probably because of the leak). Added 1/2 quart of oil ( not sure if is enough though, I couldn't get an accurate reading after that and I have no idea what's the quantity difference between low and high) and I can feel the difference. More downshifts, a bit smother gear changes, and the flare between 2nd and 3rd got better, but still problems with 3rd to 2nd downshift.

Plans:

To find the wrong injector
To replace the power steering pump tensioner (is whistling)


Strange thing: I found it pretty hard to get new tires....it seems that 195/70R14 is not very common here.

Regards,
Florin

[asavage]

To replace the power steering pump tensioner (is whistling)

See this thread for tips & pictures and part Nos. to replace just the bearing in the idler, not the whole idler assy.

[kossak]

Al,

Thank you very much for the tip. Now that I know the industry number for the bearing, it will be an easy and cheap fix.

Actually I was thinking to take the idler pulley from my other LD engine, but is better to put in a new bearing. BTW, I didn't knew that the bearing can be replaced.

Best regards,
Florin

[kossak]

Hi,

I'm preparing to do a little maintenance, a full oil&filter change on the car.
But there is one thing I don't know: the amount of coolant I need. I want to change it because I don't when it was changed the last time and is pretty dirty. I don't know if the amount is the same as for the Maxima, but I presume that is pretty close to that.

About my previous issue about the idler pulley: I've changed the bearing but the whistling is still there, now I'm thinking that it may come from the power steering pump or maybe from the alternator...I need to check it carefully because it's only noticeable after the engine is warm...

I also want the change the rear brake shoes, I have no idea if they have been ever changed but when breaking with some extra weight in the car, it feels like I only have brakes in the front...

Thanks,
Florin

[kossak]

I have some issues lately with the car.
I was away for 2 weeks and when I came back the car won't start: no crank just a click.
So I checked all the connections, from the battery and from the starter. Still nothing.
when I turn the key, there is a click coming from the injection pump.
Once, when I moved the lever from park to neutral, I heart a small clanking noise, after that the car started normally.
First I thought that it could be the starter with problems, but since the clicking is coming from the IP, I think that it can be something else.
I'm thinking that maybe is the neutral safety switch or maybe the ignition switch. But when I turn the key, the lights on the dash on coming on and off as it should.
This clicking issue happens randomly: sometimes when the turn the key, it has a very little lag before it starts cranking ( less than a second).

Do you have any ideas?

[Carimbo]

The click from the IP might be the fuel cutoff solenoid; it opens when energized to allow fuel flow when starting/running, it closes when de-energized to stop the engine. Otherwise, how would you stop the diesel engine?

You could do some more basic troubleshooting. Check for those items with a higher probabililty for failure first.

Since you stated the car started normally after moving the gear selector, we can presume the battery cables/connections are OK.

The large wire bundle that runs forward from the passenger side firewall along the RH frame rail in the engine compartment is susceptible to corrosion, especially where it passes under the fuel filter. One of the wires that fails here is the wire that runs from the ignition switch to the starter solenoid's activator solenoid, which is located in the solenoid bank under the windshield washer reservoir.

See this post for more info:

http://nissandiesel.dyndns.org/viewtopic.php?p=825#825

[kassim503]

The symptoms really sound like a failing neutral safety switch, try jumping the connections on the switch before attempting to replace it, the lag could be a little arcing across the switch until it contacts a good part