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Martriden

Nubira II from Budapest (English)

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Wow, nice! Never have seen one with it. 

Anyway, glad that you also keep your Nubira in good shape. 

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Wow, it looks cool. I imagine in the city traffic or on the highway the gauge is rarely green 🙂 Also, nice engine sound. 

 

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Little update:

After replacing the timing kit the friction sound went away, so the engine sounds OK now. AC compressor was done over, new AC evaporator was installed, so it blows ice cold now. Although it cost about 500 Euro, so it was a little knife in the heart. 

Only problem now is after the replacement of the heater core (dashboard completely out), there is some squeaking noise. It's like the front of the dashboard sliding against the windshield or firewall. I found online that dry ptfe spray could work. 

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Hello there and welcome among us ! As it was already said, what have you managed to achieve with this car is amazing. It is remarkable to see people willing to spend time & money in order to keep these cars in good working condition.

Just a quick question: why did you change the AC evaporator ? I have never heard about issues with this component. Compressors are a known issue though. I'm planning to change mine next month. Still trying to find a pipe. 

In the end, keep up the good work & keep us updated !

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20 hours ago, Horica00 said:

Hello there and welcome among us ! As it was already said, what have you managed to achieve with this car is amazing. It is remarkable to see people willing to spend time & money in order to keep these cars in good working condition.

Just a quick question: why did you change the AC evaporator ? I have never heard about issues with this component. Compressors are a known issue though. I'm planning to change mine next month. Still trying to find a pipe. 

In the end, keep up the good work & keep us updated !

Sorry, not the evaporator, the condenser. The AC specialist said that the AC condenser leaked a bit as well. 

Thanks for the words, and yeah, I really enjoy this car. It's not like I'm blindly against modernization, I just cant find a newer car that I like... They're not really for me. 

You also have a really nice car. I always liked Cielos (Nexia in hungary). And they might be harder to keep in good condition as they are older. 

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Yesterday I washed and cleaned both my cars. As mentioned in my first post, I also have a small city car, quite nice shape for being 30 years old. 

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It is original, it's based on the second generation of Suzuki Alto, a typical reliable Japanese car with carburator and mechanical ignition system, although it was manufactured in India. It only had rust problems, but it was taken care of. Unlike the Nubira's engine, its engine has not yet been taken apart. It has a 800 ccm powerhouse with immense 41 horsepowers 😁

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Since the car only weighs around 620 kg, it's quite throttle responsive. Very lovable and vivid little "asphalt pimple" - as we call little cars in hungary. Never has broken down, and always starts. And what's funny is, it is easier to find any kind of parts for this car than for the Nubira, as this is still a people's car in India with little upgrades. Why change on what is working, right? 😏

Now to be fair, some cons: compared to todays SUVs, you wouldn't stand a chance in this car in a collosion. Thin chassis and other than seat belts, it has no safety features whatsoever. It's hard to find a good mechanic for it. Some mechanics don't even want to hear about it (yet it was a popular alternative to Russian and East German cars in its day), they make more money on fixing younger cars, and the younger generation of mechanics don't really care about carburators and mechanical ignition, as they are outdated. 

Still not gonna sell it.

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And now for the Nubira. AC and heat now both work. When I start it without pumping the gas, it starts very cumbersome. Like the engine barely runs, like it was only running on 2 cylinders, then after 2 seconds, it wakes fully wakes up. It always has been like this, so right now I'm not really doing anything about it. If I start it with 1-2 pumps of gas, it starts instantly, but of course revs high of like 3 seconds, which I assume is not good for the engine. Anyway here are some pictures.

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Here in the background an Audi A3 is being professionally repaired. By refilling the coolant system with tap water. 🤪

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I begin to discover some minor rust spots, but nothing major (hopefully it stays that way), so I need to schedule some rust repairs in the summer. Will make pictures of those, and maybe make a video about the poor starts to show some bad sides. 

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Did you check the spark plugs, spark plug leads and ignition coil?

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13 hours ago, pompiliu92 said:

Did you check the spark plugs, spark plug leads and ignition coil?

Spark plugs are replaced periodically, even sooner than they should be. Spark plug wire set was replaced when I bought it. Since then I drove 28 000 km, nearly 30k, so those might need replacing. I have no idea about the coils, those have not been changed under my ownership, so maybe those need to be replaced too. Thanks for the tips!

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Replaced yes. But he mentioned "check"... the leads can be new but faulty, rezistance is too hight (over 5-6kohms). Plugs could have the wrong gap or no spark.

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I think if the plugs would be faulty, then it didn't do this only for 3 seconds after the start. Also if I pump the gas twice right before starting, then it doesn't do it at all, just starts fine, so how would this be connected to ignition?

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From my perspective, this seems to be related to injection system. Possibly it has something to do with the injectors themselves, the fuel pump or the fuel pressure regulator. I would start by testing the fuel pressure. When you put the key into the Contact ON position, without starting, can you hear the fuel pump working ? If so, this means you have (some) pressure loss within the system. You can test this by connecting a pressure gauge instead of the regulator and see if the value falls into normal values. 

Also, a computer diagnosis may help. Check the injectors, injections times, this may reveal the problem. 

Good luck !

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Hi Salex! Thanks for your reply too. The injectors were renovated 3 years ago, which means replacing O rings, microfilters and a UV cleaning. 

I can hear the fuel pump working, but it's not too loud, so I thought it was natural. Next time I'll ask the mechanic to check the fuel pressure. It might have to do with the car rarely jerking while accelerating (more often if accelerating from low rpm, but maybe that's normal?)

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Hard to tell without some numbers, so I would not speculate. Reading the fuel injection pressure may be of great help. I forgot to mention the fuel pump filter, the one situated inside the fuel tank. But, if this is the problem, I would expect to have abnormal behavior at high revs, namely a severe lack of power. I am afraid we are facing cumulative symptoms which must be eliminated one by one. 

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Not sure if the videos will work, but here is the start after 1 week of resting

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Seems like it has to be downloaded. Didn't know how to embed videos here under 10 Mbs. 

This is the start after 2 days

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Good day everyone!

Been a month since I posted here. On most Nubiras  (or maybe any car above 20 years) the rear bumper reinforcement is rotted away, like it was on mine. I couldn't find a new one. Luckily I found a used one that only had surface rust, but was mainly intact. I had that part sintered, so it's basically like new, and will last long. Above is the previous one, below is the "new used" one sintered.

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Mircea told me to upload videos to youtube, and then link them here, so they're easier to watch. 

Here is the muffler sound. Just showing, because I don't know how much puffing is normal. As far as  I understand it could be an exhaust leak, but also misfiring.

Currently I'm on the hunt on completely perfect interior plastic covers (B pillar lower covers, C pillar covers, some inner rocker panel cover, center armrest), because there are some deep scratches on mine. And as stated before, like many of you, I keep spending money on my cars, even if they work fine, so the culprit I'm finding now are inner plastic covers... 

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Regarding starting issue, I don't know if on 1.6 engine the fuel pump is "primed" for 3 seconds on ignition, but on 2 liter engines i know for sure that is not, therefore on starting is relying on the pressure left in the system and the pump ability to make pressure quick as engine cranks. If that pressure is gone or fuel pump is tired, it starts as described.

Loosing pressure from the system could be by faulty fuel pressure regulator as @Salex is saying or most likely from the non return valve builtin the fuel pump itself. 

Make a pressure test as salex is also saying and if the pressure is at it should (around 2-3 bars) leave it like this, the fuel pump is expensive and i don't think is worth to replace it just for the faulty non-return valve. @mirceajo knows the system better than me so he may give you some advise.

BTW, check my post from here (use google translate) this happened to me also:

 

Edited by Dj_Dark
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13 hours ago, Dj_Dark said:

Regarding starting issue, I don't know if on 1.6 engine the fuel pump is "primed" for 3 seconds on ignition, but on 2 liter engines i know for sure that is not, therefore on starting is relying on the pressure left in the system and the pump ability to make pressure quick as engine cranks. If that pressure is gone or fuel pump is tired, it starts as described.

Loosing pressure from the system could be by faulty fuel pressure regulator as @Salex is saying or most likely from the non return valve builtin the fuel pump itself. 

Make a pressure test as salex is also saying and if the pressure is at it should (around 2-3 bars) leave it like this, the fuel pump is expensive and i don't think is worth to replace it just for the faulty non-return valve. @mirceajo knows the system better than me so he may give you some advise.

BTW, check my post from here (use google translate) this happened to me also:

 

The fuel pump on the 1.6 engine does prime when you turn the ignition on. I can hear it buzzing for a few seconds on mine.

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Thank you for your tips, I will definately ask my mechanic to do a fuel pressure test, as I sadly don't have the tools and space for it. Also going to ask him to measure on the ignition coils to see if they are fine. Engine-wise it performs well right now, not long ago we reached 280 000 km on the odometer. 

I managed to gather the inner plastic covers to replace the deeply scratched old ones. These weren't perfect either, but I removed the light scrathes with a heat gun. 

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Other than the ones on the picture, I also replaced the left B pillar cover. I'm not having enough courage to replace the C pillar cover because I'm not sure how to get the belt out through the pillar. The interior is mostly scratch-free now. 

What is the fuel consumption of yours by the way? I talked to the guy I got some of the plastic covers and the said his doesn't go above 8 litre per 100 km. Mine does not go under it 😄
Mostly mine does between 8,5 - 9,5 litres per 100 km. Is that a lot? It does around 9,5 litre if I go with 140-150 km/h on the highway with the AC on. 

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For manual transmission I would consider your consumption a little higher than normal. But nothing to be scared of at this moment. Driving style and/or conditions, clutch condition ... Also, I don't like how your exhaust sounds ... This may directly affect the consumption if the oxygen sensor is fouled by a hole in the exhaust or improper connector.

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I think the short gearbox from nubira is causing the high consumption if you usually drive over 100km/h.

I have the same on my e36 (100km/h at 3000 rpm) and consumption is between 9 and 10 l/100km if i go 120km/h and above.

I also had the f16 CR (short one, same as nubira) on espero and i had the same consumption as the bmw (between 9 and 10 liters/100 km), with the longer one that i have right now i have around 8/100 km almost 2 liters difference on a 2 liter engine .

Keep it under 100km/h and it will be ok or replace the gearbox with the longer one from cielo/espero/leganza 🙂 .

Edited by Dj_Dark
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You can use higher octane fuel. It helps with fuel consumption and also the car will feel more responsive.

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I only use high octane fuel since the low rated fuel became mixed with 10% ethanol. I'm not sure if this engine tolerates E10 gas. 

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