New World Datsuns...

This is my work truck, I have done a lot to it over the years, it has a truck 5 speed, power steering, front disc brakes(hardbody, dual piston), and a dually axle in the rear(437s).
The engine is an LZ23 with a W53 head with 280Z valves, and it is port matched to the dual SU intake manifold, it has Nissan manufactured SUs(round top) that I personally bought from Nissan in 1995ish.







The engine compartment.

If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask, as I don't want to type it all in here at once.
For the last couple weeks I have been losing water, but I could not see where it was coming from, today I decided to find out, it was coming out the little breather hole on the bottom side of the water pump shaft, I guess the bearing seal was tired, so I went and bought a water pump and installed it.





It's made in Japan.

It'll work but it may be rebuilt? Or re manufactured. Wouldn't surprise me if the Chinese cast "made in japan" on it too. The good ones have smooth cast impellers but they aren't cheap.

Yea I seen/understand that this looks like the cheap version, we talked about it at the parts store, he mentioned when I went back that I could order a beck/arney water pump with the cast impellers, but it was already on the engine, so I told him no for now.
I will watch it for a while, I did warm it up, and nothing looked unusual with the temp, if it starts to worry me I will order one with the cast impellers, I just started to worry that all the water would bail while I was driving down the road, I had to add half a gallon every morning, the bearing seal went bad.

BTW, I don't run a pressure radiator cap, I just have a reservoir, so no pressure builds up in my system, I don't recall why it is this way, it just has always been this way(15+ years).

I changed out the dually axle Saturday, and put my rebuilt one back in, after all that work, it still clangs, so I am thinking it might have been the driveline this time, I got under the truck yesterday and checked it, seemed to be fine, but most the time one cannot tell unless the driveline is removed.
I still am going to remove the rear inspection cover on the dually axle to check the spider gear shaft condition, if I am lucky, it will be un-damaged.

Now I need to find out what this clang is before it breaks.

One thing I seem to have an issue with on these dually rearends is that the passenger rear side brake cylinder seems to have to be bled every other day, it always has air in it, it was doing the same thing on the other axle, seems weird that both axles do the same thing, any ideas?

Wow really? That's odd man. I have no idea why it would need bled every other day, that is weird tho. and probably very annoying.

izzo wrote:Wow really? That's odd man. I have no idea why it would need bled every other day, that is weird tho. and probably very annoying.

Yes it is, have to pump the brakes, very annoying, maybe adjusting the brake shoes will help.
I can understand having to pump the brakes if the shoes are out of adjustment, as the springs pull the shoes back till they settle, but the air baffles me, and both have been doing it, but it took a couple months on the other axle, but this one is fresh, maybe I didn't get all the air out when I bled them Saturday.

Wayno I couldn't imagine you overlooking something like this but is there a single or double line from the m/c to the back? Maybe air getting in around a distribution block or something like that. Going just to that one side. I have never been under a 521, just thought I'd throw it out there.

Taterhead wrote:Wayno I couldn't imagine you overlooking something like this but is there a single or double line from the m/c to the back? Maybe air getting in around a distribution block or something like that. Going just to that one side. I have never been under a 521, just thought I'd throw it out there.

This particular truck still has the stock 521 master brake cylinder, so it is just one line feeding into the block, I just cannot imagine that air could get in, but never leak out.
I am thinking that this could be residual air left over from trying to bleed the rear brakes, both the rear bleeder valves were hard to loosen/turn, and when I did get them open, the fluid did not come out fast, it came out slow.
It is very hard to get air bubbles out of the system when the brake fluid dribbles out of the bleeder, I have re-bled the rears a couple times now, and have gotten a little less air every time so far.
Another thing to keep in mind is that I myself bleed the brakes, I never have any help, I have a stick just the right length that I pump the brake pedal with and then the last pump I prop it against the seat front, then I open the bleeders, so it only just releases the pressure, when two people bleed the brakes, one pumps them up and holds pressure, when the bleeder is opened the pedal goes to the floor and a lot of fluid squirts out, when using a stick, it doesn't have that rush of fluid come out.
I will keep bleeding them till I get no more air, or I figure out what the issue is.

So is it possible then for air to be pulled back in the bleeder valve when the stick falls in the floor from the pressure being released on the pedal? When someone is helping you the pressure stays on the pedal until you close the bleeder valve but if the stick falls before you get the valve tightened it's possible right? Just a shot in the dark

Taterhead wrote:So is it possible then for air to be pulled back in the bleeder valve when the stick falls in the floor from the pressure being released on the pedal? When someone is helping you the pressure stays on the pedal until you close the bleeder valve but if the stick falls before you get the valve tightened it's possible right? Just a shot in the dark

The stick never falls, the spring on the pedal keeps it in place, just the pressure in the line is released, it has always worked for me, it may take a little longer though.
I don't ask the neighbors for help, I have a lot of Datsuns around here, and I don't want to bother them with Datsun stuff, but if they need any help, like stuff they don't understand how to do, I help and they don't complain about me and my stuff, I have one neighbor that basically knows how many I have, and he kinda talks about it out load, but he would never turn me in.

tell him to keep is loud mouth shut. or someone in the hood will shut it for him kidding!

izzo wrote:tell him to keep is loud mouth shut. or someone in the hood will shut it for him kidding!

He's always saying I should buy a Dodge diesel, and sell the rest of this crap(in fun), every time I open the hood, he's there asking whats broken now, I just look at him and his modern chevy truck and make sheep sounds, not sure if he just ignores me, or if he even gets it yet, he's the type that flashes a flashlight on my windows at night, trying to make me think the cops are outside.
He's a good guy, about 6 or 7 years ago he was going to rebuild a condemned bridge over a creek on private property, a propane truck had went over it the day before, well he drove an electric forklift over it on the good side like the propane truck did the day before, and it collapsed on him, he ended up in the creek with the forklift on top of him, it crushed his pelvis, it took about 3 years before he was able to walk around semi normally, and he was in a wheelchair for at least a year, when he could he would weld on the side, making picket fences, stairs and railing, awning frames, anything that needed welding, when I wasn't working(winter), I would shuttle him around to his jobs(he had no drivers licence), and help him install stuff, and if he didn't need me, I would just take a walk and explore/see what there was to see, this is why he would never do anything to hurt me, as I helped him make a living, I even helped build the elevator that got him in and out of his house when he was in the wheelchair.
BTW, when that forklift was in the creek on top of him, no one knew it for a while, the worst part of that was that the batteries were shocking him over and over because the key was on, and he could not reach the key to turn it off, I think he was under that thing for a long time, because they had to bring in a big crane to lift it off of him.

wayno wrote:

izzo wrote:tell him to keep is loud mouth shut. or someone in the hood will shut it for him kidding!

He's always saying I should buy a Dodge diesel, and sell the rest of this crap(in fun), every time I open the hood, he's there asking whats broken now, I just look at him and his modern chevy truck and make sheep sounds, not sure if he just ignores me, or if he even gets it yet, he's the type that flashes a flashlight on my windows at night, trying to make me think the cops are outside.
He's a good guy, about 6 or 7 years ago he was going to rebuild a condemned bridge over a creek on private property, a propane truck had went over it the day before, well he drove an electric forklift over it on the good side like the propane truck did the day before, and it collapsed on him, he ended up in the creek with the forklift on top of him, it crushed his pelvis, it took about 3 years before he was able to walk around semi normally, and he was in a wheelchair for at least a year, when he could he would weld on the side, making picket fences, stairs and railing, awning frames, anything that needed welding, when I wasn't working(winter), I would shuttle him around to his jobs(he had no drivers licence), and help him install stuff, and if he didn't need me, I would just take a walk and explore/see what there was to see, this is why he would never do anything to hurt me, as I helped him make a living, I even helped build the elevator that got him in and out of his house when he was in the wheelchair.
BTW, when that forklift was in the creek on top of him, no one knew it for a while, the worst part of that was that the batteries were shocking him over and over because the key was on, and he could not reach the key to turn it off, I think he was under that thing for a long time, because they had to bring in a big crane to lift it off of him.

I forgot to mention, my 521 kingcab has a lot of his welding in it, and he is the one that extended the 521 work truck frame for me, that was one of the first things he did when he was able to get outside by himself, he just left the wheel chair outside, and he would walk out to it slowly, then wheel his way over to my garage and weld a little while till he was tired, then go back home and rest, he is a great welder, you guys have seen the loads of wood I have put on that truck, my welding would have never held back then.

I must have selected quote instead of edit.

That's cool man. My neighbor is weird as shit. He never says much, to anyone. Kind of a loner. but when I'm out wrenching and he gets home he will come over and ask what I have going on, kind of smile and walk inside. He digs it, just not very social.

What a nightmare today turned into, I don't normally work on Fridays, but I golfed yesterday, so I worked today, on the way to the job my work truck started missing at 50/60mph, if I let off, it would smooth out again when I gave it the gas, well after I finished the job, I mentioned that I was hoping to make it to the auto parts store to get a new filter, as that was what it was acting like, it seemed to be starving for fuel, and if I let up on the pedal, it would catch up, so I barely made it to the auto parts place, was on the side of the road a couple times waiting for the bowls to fill up at an idle, mind you I am 30 plus miles from home at the moment, so I bought a couple filters, installed a new one, the old one had been there for over 15 years , anyway I started it up and it seemed fine, so I left the place heading for home and it started again, so it was not a filter, I would only get a half mile before having to stop because I could not even keep it moving in second, I could barely keep it idling, well it finally died, so just to check, I pulled the fuel line off the front carb, it was dry, so I tuned it over and just a few drops came out, so I pulled the valve cover, and I used a screwdriver to pump the fuel pump, I got fuel coming out the front carb hose, so I connected the hose back up and pumped the fuel pump arm for a while, put the valve cover back on, re-connected everything, started it up and maybe made it a half mile before it started missing again, so I repeated everything I did before, started it up, and made it a little less distance everytime, it was all flat land till I was within 4 or 5 miles of home, I had this one long uphill grade that I had to get up, well I didn't make it, and all the pumping of that fuel pump arm did no good anymore, so I removed the tops of the fuel bowls and filled them up, then put the tops back on, got in the truck, and the freaking thing would not start, so here I am, half way up this hill with my trailer and truck, when the starter would work properly, it would not start, I called my buddy that has a tow truck, but he did not answer, so I tried starting it again and it did start, but the damned hood was up, so it died again, I refilled the bowls again, dropped the hood this time, and it would not start again, I gave up, looked around, no cars coming, so I coasted backwards and was able to turn the truck in such a way that I was able to get the trailer going out into the road instead of the curb, the front of the truck went up onto the curb and came back down luckily without stopping and being stuck, and then it jackknifed, but i was far enough away from the curb to get it rolling and back up onto the curb I went, and it kept rolling, around I went and somehow I had got it rolling down hill without getting stuck on a curb, the traffic going down hill got the green light before I was able to get on my side of the road, but with some ugly gestures the cars let me in coasting down hill till I got to the bottom and made a right turn and came to a stop, I am still in the freaking road mind you, and while coasting down the road I tried starting it under compression, it did not start, so I looked into the engine compartment again, decided that maybe the bowl tops needed more than one screw holding them on, put another screw in each of them and the freaking thing started, I cut off a guy just to get into a parking lot and was successful, it was in the lot in a parking space, I got out, locked it up, and walked the 4 or 5 miles home, got a fuel pump off a L16, got an electric fuel pump, got on my bike and road back to my truck, the freaking L16 fuel pump would not go on, so I connected the electric fuel pump up and got the thing started, it seemed alright, so off towards home I went, I got just to the top of that hill this time before it died again, but the electric fuel pump was pumping away, so after the signal changed, I started it and made it maybe a mile before it died again, I got off the road, let it catch up, and then started it again, made it to the next signal, it idled there catching up, then I might have made it a 100 yards before it was not going any farther, but I was in the safeway parking lot this time, it caught up and I was moving again, basically I made it within 15 yards of my parking spot, and no matter how hard I tried, it would not move it any farther, I went into the house, opened the garage, grabbed the air hose, removed the line from the filter, and started pumping air into the tank, something was restricting the fuel from getting to the carbs, when I let off the air, fuel started coming back out at me, so I ran over and released the cap and a bunch of air came out, I finally got that other fuel pump on after drilled the holes bigger, connected everything back up, and I started it, it ran, but wasn't running correctly, so I drove it around the block a few times, it would start missing at about 4000rpms, but kept running, so I pushed it higher and higher, in the end, it seemed to quit missing, but did not feel the same as before, I gave up for tonight, will look at it tomorrow, oil is covering the whole engine, as I kept taking off the valve cover to pump that fuel arm, over and over I did this, oil freaking everywhere, but I did get it home, well within 15 yards anyway.
Seems like if the fuel pump had just quit working, it would have not come to this, the engine doesn't feel the same now, and I am wondering if running it lean like that could have damaged it, the engine temp did not get any higher than normal, and did I mention, there is oil everywhere.

Sure hope you didnt damage anything wayno.
sorry to hear about the ordeal with the truck(on your supposed to be day off)

I just could hardly believe that the electric fuel pump could not get enough gas out of the tank to go 40mph, that is why I stuck an airhose on the end of it and blew air backwards into the tank, maybe something got stuck on the end of the pickup tube, the fuel I am getting seems to be free of rust, so I am at a loss, why couldn't the electric fuel pump supply enough fuel to get me home normally?
Bad gas?

What's really aggravating is that damned starter, it runs but doesn't engage the flywheel, I must have hit that starter 50 plus times, and it would run but not engage, but the time it would engage, the signal light would be red again.

sounds like a plugged pick up.

I feel the pain wayno,

It took me 5 hours to drive that 30 miles home, and I actually did not make it home with the truck, I had to walk home and get parts, that would be about the 3rd time ever that I was not able to coax my datsun home.
I thought filling the bowls would get me at least a mile, but that didn't work out, it's always worked in the back yard when I have wanted to test an engine, fill the bowl, and it will idle for about 5 minutes.