Hello i have a 1997 nissan skyline r33 gtst m spec. i bought this car as an import and when i went to pick it up the car wouldnt start... turns out three ground wires were loose at the front on the engine, preventing the ecu from communicating with the camshaft timing. mechanical tightened them and said he had two reasons for this 1) he said it just shouldnt happen 2) someone screwed with the car while transprot from japan to canada. so it was fixed and has ran perfectly from august until two nights ago in mid december....

i was driving home at night, cruising in 4th gear coming up to a gradual right turn, i downed into 3rd, then 2nd... went throught the corner and exited the corner in 2nd.... i gave the car gas to accelerate up a hill and shirted up into 3rd gear dropping rpm to 2000. as i pushed the gas to accelerate, my car reached 3500rpm and backfired like it was redlining at 7000rpm. i let off the gas dropped the rpm and tried to accelerate in 3rd gear... again i reacted 3500rpm and the car started to backfire again with no power increase beyond 3500rpm like it normally would. i slowed to a stop downshifting in 2nd then 1st...stopped.... i then proceeded to accelerate through 1st gear then 2nd (no problem past 3500rpm), and then onto 3rd gear. when it hit 3500... backfire no power or rpm increase. drove home about 500ft away in 2nd. parked the car and went to bed... woke up next morning to look at the car... wouldnt even start... one of the ground bolts of the front of the engine was loose again. car has operated fine until now experincing no issues of this kind before... pod air filter installed and new down pipe with test kit (catalytic converter replacement with 3inch tube)also installed in octber, if you have any suggestion about this delema please respond! thanks-you for reading!

Hey there. Sorry you haven't gotten an answer yet on this thread. I would suggest popping over to our RB forums and asking this question over there. You might have a better chance at getting some help. We have lots of members that have done work with RB engines here at NICO and I'm sure they'd be glad to help you troubleshoot or point you in the right direction to get your problem fixed.

To me, it sounds like if that bolt was lose again, and it was only doing that from 3rd gear on, it might be that the ECU is in limp mode. Take a look at the ECU to see if it's flashing a code. If so, find out what the code is and go from there.

I'd also suggest possibly checking the threads on that bolt to see if there is any damage, getting some loc-tite (or a new bolt) and tightening that bolt again. Then, disconnect your battery for about 5 to 10 minutes to reset your ECU and see if that takes care of the problem.

I'm no expert on RB engines (even though I own a 33-R), but that's where I would start.