As most of you regulars, you have all seen my posts mainly complaining about my ute. or wanting to know what i can do to improve it. but all improvement ideas go out the drain when something goes wrong.. I have recently just got her back on the road and I was excited when i got in the car. being only 4speed i kept on trying to put her in 3rd. :P

Progess of the incidents.

Bought the car 6months by Friday.

Standard A12 Motor.

Conrod shot the piston out of the side of the block, scaring the #### out of the young lady in her new Holden Astra behind me with a hunk of metal flying at her, and a big puff of smoke. this is was when i was on the highway shooting off to the side. amazingly it turned over with 3 pistons with a lot of crunching and turning.

replaced her with an A15 from a wrecked datto coupe. which had been sitting in a backyard for the last 3years or more.

Thinking i fixed all the oil leaks, guessing the finishing oil leak was coming from the side of the block where i hadn't washed off the excess oil. well it wasnt dripping like crazy as before. coming out of the tappet cover.

20min down the highway it stalled on me, overheated. and i was bone dry of oil i didnt ceized her since my wheels didnt lock up on me but she turned over the next morning but #### flying out of the carby.

Got the mechanics, replaced her with an A15 from a Vannete. now my bottom end bearing is gone, not to long after the 30day wreckers warranty.

and recently replaced the chewed up diff, as thanks to all who helped me out there with my small problem. to those who helped. I had to take that diff out in the end since my tailshaft didnt match up with the shaft of the diff. being 4 diffrent types of diffs to choose from i got the wrong one. but that is all complete and back on the road. no troubles atm.

need a roadworthy since rego due in 5 days and i havent transfered rego since most of the time its been off the road. and i was dumb enough to forget about it.

Tail lights dont work, and the spray for the wipers isn't working..

:D

But after everything I still enjoy driving her as long as nothing happens in the mean time.

I've had the worst luck with the ute. imagin the money i spent on her to get no where. I could have a mean ute by now!

my next project is to save $$$$ and get my CA. :P


Why are Datto's so addictive?

Phil.

So three a-series in a row ran out of oil while you were driving? That's highly unlikely to be a coincidence. Is the same shop changing the oil on all three? Maybe they don't put the filter or plug back on correctly. Start checking your oil level every day man.

Datsuns are so addictive because ... they are simple to work on.

That is a sad story you seem to have had a lot of bad luck,some of which was selve inflicked ! This sort thing happened to a friend of mine, as soon as he got his first datsun a sunny wagon with a A15 a good buy . the window fell out on the second day ! then the stereo crapped it's self. Then a week later he drove to auckland from HB, about three hours drive, once there he brought some mags that did not fit and in the process did'nt tighten the rear wheel up properly !!!! anyway he made it back to napier luckly with the wheel making a noise most of the way ! the wheel then fell off close to his home. so i hope this makes u feel better

perhaps it's not the datto's fault but the owners


Datsuns are so addictive because They are a great Car.

Drive a Datsun, Then decide ...

They're simple to work on and fun to drive!

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and they're cheap to run

The best thing about this story is you were able to fix these things yourself ( which is what make Datto's so addictive ) But I've had mine for about 6 months and the only thing I've done is replace the starter motor and done an oil change ..

This is why I want to keep mine standard ,,because they are almost indestructable..

When they are stock they don't have enough power to hurt themselves -> Indestructable!?!?

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Exactly

But for every hard luck story there is a good one as well. Commiserations to you Phil. I'm sure with a bit of perseverence it will all fall into place for you and you will finally enjoy your ute.

I bought my first ute about 5 years ago, and knew virtually nothing about Datto utes. Full of rust, noises coming out of the gearbox and diff. Just wanted a cheap ute to drive for 18 months until something better came along. Bogged up the rust and did nothing from there. Four years later it finally died. Jeez these things are virtually indestructible!

Well, something better did come along. Another Datto ute. This time with an A15 and a 5 speed. Didn't know I liked these things as much.

yep id agree with all that, so reliable, economocal, fun to drive and easy to work on, parts easy to find and inexpensive. own an old jag or alfa and u dont sleep as well.