The tales of a cursed Piazza...

General Bellett, Gemini 75-98, Piazza 81-93, Bellel, Florian, 117 Coupe, Minx, Aska technical discussion.
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GeminiCoupe
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The tales of a cursed Piazza...

Post by GeminiCoupe »

By now some of you might have gathered/might know that ive bought a Gemini for daily duties and ill be offloading the Piazza once finished. HOWEVER, the prick of the thing is being just that [a prick] and im having extreem dramas with it.

First things first, dash lights - no speedo, no water temp/voltage, no fuel. The only things lighting up are the CHARGE light [mind you the alternator was fine before it came out of the red car AND is wired up?] and the CHECK ENGINE light [wtf?]. I figure the water temp aint working coz the sensor isnt connected - what colour wire is it and is it the sensor thats sticking out of the lower half of the inlet manifold?

Next thing, the bastard refuses to idle. I dont think its due to the ign timing being not right, moreso the vac lines that arent connected. Alex gave me a diagram for it but im still struggling to read it. Is there anything in the workshop manual?

Im also getting big black smelly balls of smoke when it backfires on on-off-on throttle apps. Ign timing?

Clutch doesnt grab/cant engage a gear despite again being ok when i took it out of the red car. Clutch has been bled, still same shit. Would a lack of enough gearbox oil cause this?

That said, it sounds ok when you rev it, just wont idle. I could sell it like this but then its bound to get stripped, im trying to save it. Someone help.

Nick-
project - 76 Gemini Coupe G200z EFI Turbo
daily - 02 S15 Nissan 200SX GTspecS Turbo
wet-weather fun toy - TX 75 Gemini Sedan G200z
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Post by wedgenut »

Too much to eat all at once but first reaction is that the black balls you have...of smoke that is.. are related to the not idling. Methinks you have mucho fuel and not mucho air. Get the vac hoses sorted to eliminate the problem. If you really want I can take some close up pictures of where they go on my car which may be easier to interpret than the diagrams, don't get too fixated on it though, if you have three hoses all going into the plenum in the same place it doesn't really matter which order as they are all sharing the same suck. It is more to do with where they go from there.

Watch out for the big fat hose running up underneath the fannymold. It runs from where you can't reach to where you can't see and is a fucker of a thing if it is cracked, which they do when they get all hard and are a bitch to replace. It would give you some of the symptoms you are describing if it isn't on or is leaking. Easy diagnosis is to stick a vacuum gauge on the plenum and see what reading you get. If vac is low at steady throttle position then something is leaking and that one is a prime suspect.

I'm not risking a dollar on it though but knock it out of the equation by checking it. You need to take all advice with a pinch of salt though, even mine, we all have or favourite thiongs we have experienced and you could end up chasing your tail. Change only one thing at a time and re test before doing the next thing.
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Post by GeminiCoupe »

Pics would be great wedgy :bom: Hopefully can get the p.o.s working properly. I figure the rough running is down to that or the ign timing. What i cant figure out is the clutch. Any ideas?
project - 76 Gemini Coupe G200z EFI Turbo
daily - 02 S15 Nissan 200SX GTspecS Turbo
wet-weather fun toy - TX 75 Gemini Sedan G200z
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Post by wedgenut »

I'll try and get some pics tonight, re the clutch. If it was okay before in another car it should be okay now so logic needed. You say it doesn't grab. I am assuming the pedal feels okay and that the clutch fork is moving when you depress the pedal so the hydraulics are okay. It follows then that you can actually engage a gear and the only problem is that when you let your foot off you have no drive.
1. The master or slave cylinders pistons are sticking and not letting the fork come back, or
2. the fork is coming back but no drive due to lack of free play, adjust pedal stroke. or
3. the clutch plate is sticking on the spline and the pressure plate can't shove it back, unlikely. or
4. The bloody disc is on the spline backwards, if that was the case you would not have been able to fit up the presure plate I suspect.

My pick is lack of free play or sticky pistons.

There is only one other thing I can think of and that is if the thrust bearing carrier has slipped out of the fork retainers it will be jammed between the fork and the pressure plate taking out your free travel.
Unusual but can happen, especially if the fork pivot spring is sloppy or broken.
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Post by wedgenut »

Difficult thing to take clear pics of so hope it helps

Image


Image


Image
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Chris
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Post by Chris »

how much do you want for her as is?
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2009 | 1986 White Piazza 2.2L, Man, STi Turbo (SOLD)
2006 | 1986 Black Piazza Turbo Manual (SOLD)
2005 | 1986 White Piazza Turbo Auto (Pain in the ass)
2004 | 1986 White Piazza Manual Stock
2004 | 1986 Red Piazza Manual TO3, Haltech
2001 | 1986 Silver Piazza Manual Turbo
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GeminiCoupe
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Post by GeminiCoupe »

Thanks for that Alex, hopefully its enough to sort it out. if i still have loose ends i might try post some pics up of what i have lieing around. Im betting clutch problems are due to:

2. the fork is coming back but no drive due to lack of free play, adjust pedal stroke. or

How do i do that? Remember, i changed the pedal box over as it was a complete conversion. I can feel the clutch wanting to grab [its always been low to the floor] but its too low to engage properly as it trys to drive the car forward when your trying to select a gear [its pushing against the syncro]


Chris, prob more then your willing to pay :finga:

Seriously though, ive pumped alot of money into this car or cars [remember most of the running gear is from the red car. Im putting it in the trader soon for 2500 with spares [thats LSD diff, bilstein rear shocks, spare digi dash, switch pods, replacement door and quarter panel, import front bar etc] or 2k without spares.

Nick-
project - 76 Gemini Coupe G200z EFI Turbo
daily - 02 S15 Nissan 200SX GTspecS Turbo
wet-weather fun toy - TX 75 Gemini Sedan G200z
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Post by piazza-crx »

good luck with the sale. I had mine up for sale for 4 months. ended up selling it for 1400 with spares... :(
If Gemini's were ever meant to go fast, they would have come out of the factory with 4zc1t engines!!

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Post by wedgenut »

Ah! misunderstod what you were saying, I got the impression you were getting no drive when in fact you have too much free play and it isn't releasing. ie not enough stroke on the clutch rod. That souinds like it needs bleeding or again the master cylinder piston isn't returning. The clutch should start to feel firm about 10 - 15 cm after you start depressing the pedal. If it doesn't you need to start eliminating what could be causing it.
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Post by GeminiCoupe »

You got stitched brother, bob sold an engine/ecu/wiring loom for that much a few weeks ago. It should sell for that much in the trading post, most forum goers are dreamers wanting something for nothing.
project - 76 Gemini Coupe G200z EFI Turbo
daily - 02 S15 Nissan 200SX GTspecS Turbo
wet-weather fun toy - TX 75 Gemini Sedan G200z
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Post by Bugle »

Except noone uses the trading post anymore since Tel$tra bought it and fucked it up..

Wedgy is that round gold coloured thing in the photos with a single vac line the MAP sensor for the factory analog dash boost/vac gauge? Mine has a switch valve thingo there instead I assume to light up the lil turbo diagram on the dash if it overboosts.
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Post by wedgenut »

farked if i know, I make it a policy to put things back where they came from and i honestly don't know what half of the things these hoses go to actually do. I will have a bit of a poke and think
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Post by Bugle »

hehe that's an easy one to figure out just pull the line off it and if the gauge reads atmospheric that'd be what it is.

Also yours doesn't have cruise control or road speed variable windscreen wiper? The cruise actuator and wiper computer sit in that area.. Jap spec sux dunno what i'd do without my road speed wipers :rolf:
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Post by wedgenut »

I'm bloody glad I don't have those things. The last thing I want on my electronic nightmares are even more friggin gadgets, anyway, it doesn't rain here and it is so bloody hilly that the cruise control computer would burn out trying to cope with all the elevation changes. I use the old fashioned method of my foot to maintain road speed...and it works without computers, wires, solenoids or switches LOL.
Did they fit cruise control to manual box cars or is yours a slush box
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Post by Bugle »

Yeah they put it on manual and auto. Only ever used it on the freeway when there was no traffic which isn't very often. It's not very smooth sometimes it waits til it's about 5km/h under the set speed then floors it instant full boost and by the time it backs off you're going 5km/h over..
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