The Real Basics –Nissan Skyline GT-R , R32, R33, R34

MotoRex R32, R33, and R34 GT-R

Looking for a specific GT-R Buyer’s Guide?

• R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R Buyer’s Guide
• R33 Nissan Skyline GT-R Buyer’s Guide
• R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R Buyer’s Guide

The R32, R33, and R34 GT-R’s engines, suspension, and drive train are very similar. From 1989-2002 there were upgrades, but they were more evolutionary, than revolutionary. Nothing like say the R31 to R32, or the R34 to the R35.  RB26DETT, Super Hicas, ATTESA. Many parts can be interchanged between the cars easily.  A few can not, so make sure you double check, before you get that exhaust cam for an R34, to find it won’t work on your R32/R33 engine. Many other parts of the cars interchange with other Nissans. From suspension arms, to brake parts.

Car	R32 GT-R (early)	R33 GT-R (normal)	R34 GT-R (normal)	R35 GT-R (early)
Length	4545 mm (178.9 in)	4675 mm (184.1 in)	4600 mm (181.1 in)	4650 mm (183.1 in)
Width	1755 mm (69.1 in)	1780 mm (70.1 in)	1785 mm (70.3)	1900 mm (74.9 in)
Height	1340 mm (52.8 in)	1360 mm (53.5 in)	1360 mm (53.5 in)	1370 mm (54 in)
Weight	1480 kg (3265 lbs)	1530 kg (3373 lbs)	1540 kg (3395 lbs)	1737 kg (3829 lbs)
Wheelbase	2615 mm (103 in)	2720 mm (107.1 in)	2665 mm(104.9 in)	2780 mm (109.4 in)
Front track	1480 mm (58.3 in)	1480 mm (58.3 in)	1480 mm (58.3 in)	1590 mm (62.9 in)
Rear track	1480 mm (58.3 in)	1480 mm (58.3 in)	1490 mm (58.7 in)	1600 mm (63 in)

2 door R32 GTS-t, and 4 door R32 GTS-t

Non GT-R Skylines. There are two doors, to four doors. Automatic, manual, rear wheel drive, and all wheel drive. A little bit of information here. 

• Index
• RB26DETT Myths and Truths   
• Advanced Notes
• importavehicle.com
• Maintenance Requirements for RB26DETT/R32 
• R32 GT-R Service Manual in English 
• Setting Ignition Timing
• Super Hicas 
• ATTESA 
• Air Conditioning 
• Non GT-R Skylines 
• California
• Toprank Importers
• Toprank Global

Calsonic Blue or BT2 R32 GT-R. Over 25 years old, legally imported to the USA by importavehicle.com

1) Service Manual in English – The full service manual for the R32 GT-R in English. At least glance through this document to get familiar with some of the systems. People can’t help you, if you can’t help yourself. R33 engine manual, and R34 service manual supplement are available.

R32 and R33 paper service manuals and wiring diagrams. You don’t need hard copies, but they are nice. These are also in Japanese

From the service manual. How to run self diagnosis on the air conditioning controller.

1a)You need a piece of software and a cable to read the factory ECU.  With a Nissan Consult style cable and software you can read codes and engine parameters. Pre 1996 cars don’t have OBD II, so your OBD II reader, bluetooth dongle won’t work.  Nissan Datascan is the one we use most often. There is also ConZult, and others. 

Nissan Datascan for early Nissan ECU monitoring

If you have a stock ECU, then I really like the ECUtalk as a nice tool to be able to quickly look at many engine parameters.  They are $320-$335 AUD. Along with monitoring, they can adjust timing and fuel if you want to be able to troubleshoot, do some very basic global type tuning. 

2) Oil for Nissan Skyline GT-R

• Recommended: 7.5W-30 (Japan R32), 10W-30 (R34), 10W-30 synthetic for street cars, 10W-60 for performance driving. Oil Change/Filter change.
• Capacity: 4.5 liters (stock). Filling to the dipstick bump is generally acceptable.
• Brands: Pennzoil, Redline, Royal Purple, and Liqui Moly are popular choices.
• Resources: Check out “Bob is the Oil guy” for in-depth oil discussions.
• RB26 Oil Leaks: Where does the RB26dett leak from?

Engine Lubrication and Cooling Fluid Capacities for  Nissan Skyline

Engine Oil Capacity (quarts)

Item	RB20E/RB25DE	RB25DET	RB26DETT
H Level	4.2	4.3	4.8
L Level	3.2	3.5	3.7
Oil and Filter Change	~ 4.4	~4.8	~4.9

Coolant Capactiy (liters)

	RB20/RB25DE/RB25DET	RB26DETT
Capacity	~9	~9.2

Engine Oil Pressure(kg/cm2, psi)

RPM	Idling	2000	6000
RB20E	~1.0, 14	~3.8,54	~4.8,68
RB25DE	~1.0, 14	~3.3,47	~5.3,75
RB25DET	~1.0, 14	~3.5,50	~5.6,85
RB26DETT	~1.5, 21	~3.0,43	~4.6,65

MotoRex R34 GT-R.in Bayside Blue

3) Oil Filter for RB26dett 

 

K&N HP2008 oil filter. 1 inch nut on the end, and provision for safety wire

(Discontinued, Replaced by the HP-1002)

4) Fuel – 91 AKI(RON+MON/2) in California. Higher some places . You don’t want to run anything less than the highest octane pump gas available. Japanese 100 octane, is not 100 AKI. Its about 95 AKI.  

E85 has become popular the last few years for turbo cars.  here are some issues in not having E85 in a flex fuel format, where you can run a tank of E10 (aka pump gas) through it every now and then. E85 is also not always E85 but can range from about E70 to E90. So far, E85 has been great. Cheap, works well, and we really didn’t change much to support it.  In 2023, if you have access to it, highly recommend E85. You do need to make changes to support E85 (ECU, Injectors, Flex fuel sensor), but its a great fuel that is cheap, and will do exactly what you want it to do in a fun car. Keep the tank full, and buy good E85. 

What kind of gas should I put in my Nissan Skyline? 

Filling up the #bluecar with E85.

R33 GT-R with stock airbox, and air inlet.

5) Air filter – If you are using the stock air box you can put a K& N part # 33-2031-2 OEM –16546 –V0100 , Fram CA4309. Fits R32,R33 ,R34. Part of making power is Air in /Air out. I like using the stock air box. Most aftermarket filters manage to suck in a bit of hot air. Plus if you have to deal with the police in certain states, its better to look stock, than look modified.
 

  Intakes without airboxes testing. 

6) Spark plugs – PFR6A-11 are the stock Nissan Skyline GTR plug made by NGK. PFR7A-11 are one heat range cooler, also from NGK.  You may want to tighten the plug gap up if you are going to up the boost. Stock gaps on these plugs are 1.1mm (0.43 inch) which is pretty wide for a spark plug.

NGK Racing Dual fine wire spark plug

NGK Iridium’s work well(BCPR7EIX).  With the NGK’s we haven’t had a problem. 

Check out this great video on diagnosing misfires. The issues with having the coils in the valley of the head, and covered, is they cook. I personally think that about 40% of peoples issues with misfires, are the coil harness cooking in the valley. 20% is probably spark leaking from the boot. 10% the plug. 10% the coil. 20% the ignitor, ecu, or CAS. It takes about 5000 less volts to arc a iridium plug vs a copper plug. So generally an iridium plug will help your ignition system last longer, fire easier.

G5237 fuel filter that fits on all Nissan Skyline GT-R

    
7) Fuel filter – Same as a 1996 Infiniti J30 and other Nissans. Its a good idea to change it when you get the car. Its almost the same as a 300ZX filter, but the outlet has a 90 degree bend on the actual filter. G5237 1/4″ ID , 5/16″ OD inlet and outlet. Nissan Part Numbers 16400-72L00, 16400-72L05, 16400-72L15

8) Transmission fluid – Don’t try and fill it through the gear shifter for a Skyline GT-R.  Get a good GL4 75-90. (We love Redline Shockproof Heavy in a hard run car).  The R34 GT-R uses specific fluid Nissan part KLD40-00004  or  08885-01306 from Toyota, or we have used Redline High Temp ATF, and Royal Purple ATF.

The Skyline GT-R transmission must be filled from the side, not the gear shifter

 

FS5R30A Nissan Skyline GT-R transmission and transfercase

9) Front Differential – GL5 85-90

 

10) Rear Differential – LSD GL5 80-90

 

11) Transfer Case – Nissan Automatic Fluid Type D

12) ATTESA System – Nissan Automatic Fluid Type D
13) Fluid Fill Levels for R32/R33 Nissan Skyline GT-R

Engine Oil – 7.5 – 30 (10-30 for a street car, 15-50 on a track car) or a 10-60 is great all around.  – 4.5 liters
Oil Filter – OEM 15208-60U00 , WIX 51361 ,OEM(R34, smaller filter) 15208-9E000
Cooling System – Green.  Approximately 9 liters. Gycol or Water?  Depends where you live.
Front Differential (F160) – GL5 85-90 1 liter – (1 quart)
Transmission fluid – Don’t try and fill it though the gear shifter. Though the gear shifter is the transfer case .  GL4 75-90  4.1 liters (4.3 quarts)
Transfer Case – Nissan Automatic Fluid Type D 1.8 liters (1.9 quarts)
Rear Differential(R200) – LSD GL5 80-90 1.5 liter(1.5 quarts)

Fluid recommendations for R34, same as R32, or R33. Engine Oil and differential fluid viscosity is based on ambient temperatures.

14)  Fuel injectors – cleaning fuel injectors and results.  These cars are old. It is generally unknown the last time the injectors were changed, or cleaned. We will assume never.  If the car has sort of a popping sound from the exhaust at idle, or a slight roughness, it might be the time to clean your injectors.  You can see that with cleaning, the above tested fuel injectors can safely supply from 316 hp to 411 hp of fuel, vs 249 hp to 324 hp prior to cleaning. If you let fuel injectors sit for too long, they can lock up, so we do recommend hitting them with 12 volts prior to installation. Or if you install them, and have a hard misfire, check each injector that it isn’t stuck.

What needs to be upgraded , when ?

And to show you can’t trust anything on the internet here is an identifier from NISMO.

Fuel injectors – 444cc at 42 psi in 1989, or 1990, or 1991. It’s not 1989 anymore. Lets just say that each cc of injector – on a 6 cylinder car is good for 1 hp… So with the stock injectors we can make 444 hp at the motor…. its just an approximation , but its pretty close. The stock injectors are “yellow” tops. They are also low impedance(2 ohm), so there is a resistor pack located on the right side of the engine compartment. 

In the chart above you can see at 2.55 kg/cm2 (36 psi) of fuel pressure the injector flows about 440 cc. At 3.05 kg/cm2 (43 psi) of fuel pressure it flows about 485 cc.  At 3.55 kg/cm2(50 psi) it flows 525 cc.  Don’t get too crazy with the fuel pressure. Your fuel pump relief valve might end the fun soon. More fuel system upgrade information here.

Stock R32 fuel pump rests in a small sump. Nismo pump top. Stock below.

  
Fuel Pump – 195 L/hr . If its 25 years old, it might be a good idea to change it Nismo replacement is 276 l/hr . Apex’i Replacement is 276 l/hr. A great page on fuel pumps is the Stealth 316 page. Very detailed. Fuel pump control module. The FPCM is a complex way the OEM setup makes a ground to run the fuel pump slower at low demand. More information about the fuel pump control module.  Radium has a ton of cool fuel pump, surge tank, and fuel system solutions for Skyline GT-R.  Real Street Performance tested 22 different pumps, with the results here. 

  
Turbos – Twins. Not sequential. Not staged. Twins. Above about 1.1 bar the stock ceramic exhaust wheels have a tendency to break the exhaust wheel off. People have gone low 12’s, high 11’s on the stock ceramic turbos, but not for long. Luckily the NISMO R32’s came stock with all metal turbos.

RB26DETT turbos. Stock R32, R33, R34 GT-R. R33 N1, R34 N1, Nismo

 

Records for stock turbos. Stock peak boost R32 Skyline GT-R is about 0.8 , R33 0.9, R34 1.0. Need to go to a full metal turbo. HKS GT series are good turbos. We have also run Apex’i AX series turbos. The 2530’s or 2860-5’s are the way to go with the small GT series for about 450-500 whp on pump gas on a 2.6 liter engine in a bolt on configuration.

Missing ceramic exhaust wheel

Oil pump – Early R32 has a narrow oil pump drive. Late R32/R33/R34 has a wider drive. There are several factors that contribute to oil pump failure, some are the drive, cavitation at the inlet side of the pump, and pump alignment.  Some more information on oiling and oil pumps for the RB26.  Spline Drive upgrade for the RB26dett.

Tomei Oil pump : The best wet sump RB26 oil pump

Clutch – The early Nissan Skyline GT-R’s  clutches are push style actuation. The late 93 R32 up clutches are pull.  Push or pull refers to the action to release the clutch.  A push clutch, does just that, pushes on the disk cover or diaphragm, to release pressure on the disks, so the center is disengaged from the engine. A pull clutch pulls on the diaphragm to release pressure on the disks.

Push style, or early R32 GT-R clutch.

Pull style, or late NISMO clutch for an R34 GT-R.

 

MAF – The stock RB26 65mm MAF(Mass Air Flow) sensors are good for about 400 wheel horsepower. Above then they run out of range and max out their voltage.  A popular replacement(in 2000) is the Nissan 300ZX meters. A 300ZX uses one MAF – we double up for the GT-R.They are physically larger. More recently the R35 blade style MAF have become popular.  If the car seems to have a 2500 rpm limiter, its often the MAF having an issue. The solder connections from the connector to the board crack, and cause intermittent issues. 

With most stand alone engine management, most cars go to a MAP(Manifold absolute pressure) sensor. The thing about MAP based tuning is that the density of air is dependent on temperature and pressure. Some ECU’s swap over to MAP based load, but with the ITB’s, it can be a difficult thing to tune for part throttle. TPS + MAP Tuning | Turbocharging with ITBs – Alpha N  MAF troubleshooting and repair.  OEM part number 22680-05U00

Strengths of Mass Air Flow

• Extremely accurate fueling and spark delivery across a diverse range of engine conditions (at least while in steady-states): the holy grail for engine management. A properly set-up MAF system can adapt to changes in weather and altitude with ease.
• Minor changes to engine equipment (i.e. headers, minor camshaft changes, intakes that do not significantly alter the placement of the MAF) do not require recalibration of the ECM.

Weaknesses of Mass Air Flow It is no secret that the majority of OEMs today are implementing MAF systems as the primary control strategy. There is a good reason for this, namely that engines can be controlled much more precisely (with the goal of meeting stricter and stricter emissions standards) with a MAF system than any other type of control strategy. Source- Moates

OEM twin MAF with HKS foam filters

Large Sebrab oil cooler being fitted to an R32

Oil Cooler – The stock cars run an oil/water heat exchanger. Its a good idea if you are going to go on a track, or do any high speed driving with the car to put an external oil cooler on the car. On a track, it only takes a few laps in cool outside temps to get the oil temps above the 110C range. As important as the cooler itself, is the ducting to and though the cooler core.

ARC grille oil cooler on the bluecar

ARC oil cooler on a Super Taikyu R34 GT-R

Airflow is important. Air has to be able to pass through a core. So pay as much attention to the exhaust side as intake

Exhaust side cam cover removed. Do this if removing turbos in car. Thank me later.

Camshafts – Stock the RB26DETT camshafts are 240/236 duration 8.58/8.28 mm of lift. If your aftermarket camshaft has more than 9.1 mm of lift, the head needs clearance around the lifter bucket due to the height of the camshaft lobe. Small cams will generally see at least 20 whp, and will generally also pickup response. Stock base circle is 32 mm. Many of the higher lift aftermarket camshafts have 30mm base circles. That means you have to make up that extra 2mm of difference in the shim height. 

This is a factory 296 x 32 mm cross drilled R32 GT-R brake rotor.

Brakes -Stock R32 brakes are an upgrade for 300ZX’s.Stock Vspec R32 brakes are Brembos. Stock R33 /R34 are Brembos. For most people these are adequate . Brake pads are up to whatever is the latest and greatest. Generally speaking if they work really well, they throw a lot of dust, and squeal like a stuck pig at low speeds. Brakes on 1990 Nissan Skyline GT-R NISMO #500.

What Breaks ?

Clutch– Lots of power and AWD . The fuse in the driveline is the clutch. You have a lot of possibilities here. My favorite “normal” clutch is the Nismo twin plate clutch – along with a Nismo Slave Cylinder(even though it is not recommended to use with a twin plate). The twin plate clutch will work until around 600 hp at the wheels. It has a very nice feel , plus its a sprung hub , for that extra give in the driveline. We have used HKS/Tilton twin and triple plate clutches. They are non -sprung hub. The HKS/Tilton twins are fairly difficult to drive. Or as Sport Compact Car called one “the clutch from hell”. The triple could not be recommended for a street car. It was extremely difficult to drive on the street. Carbon clutches are great but very expensive. The Tilton true carbon/carbon clutch costs around $7000.

Pull style/ late R32/R33/R34 clutch. This is a Nismo

Tilton carbon/carbon triple plate clutch. These clutches are all push style

Late R32 bellhousing. This has bosses for push and pull clutch. It is currently a push clutch, or early.

Transmission – In R32 ,R33 making over 500hp to the wheels , 3rd gear has had some issues while drag racing. The synchros are also not all that durable. The internals of the R32,R33 are similar to the 300ZX twin turbo, the mainshaft, and input being different.

Redline Shockproof Heavy Gear Oil. We used it in our 10.7 drag car with a stock transmission and it seems to really help with transmission durability. Some people say it hurts the brass in the trans, even Redline does not recommend it for a synchro box, but honestly if it is already making noises, or you are making a ton of power, it is your 100% best bet. Armchair mechanics, just repeat bad information over and over, without any real experience. 20 years of experience with these gearboxes now. If I actually thought it would do any harm, I would not tell you to use it. 

Internal parts of a Nissan Skyline GT-R FS5R30A Transmission.

The Getrag(V160) in an R34 requires its own special oil. The oil is available from Nissan part KLD40-00004  or Toyota dealerships and its $40 a liter. The Getrag does not like Shockproof Heavy, so don’t use it in it. We ran Redline High Temp ATF in the R34 GT-R Racecar transmission with success.  

OS Giken transmission internal upgrades for the R32-R33 seem to be good up to 700 hp. Speedtek and PPG have upgrades that fit in the stock gearboxes. If you want to go fast straight, there are some guys building a strong Nissan automatic box. Otherwise the New Zealanders, and Australians are going deep into the 7’s on Powerglides, and 6’s on the Turbo 400. The Turbo 400 is a 3 speed transmission, also a GM trans, that is a favorite of drag racers. 

Sequentials are fun. Holinger was the original, followed by OS Giken OS88, PPG, Samonas, and more.  They run in the 20k range, and are race car parts that need to be on a real service schedule. They are not OEM put it in run till the car is dead parts. 

Early and late R32/R33 transmissions broken 3rd gear

 

Turbos – The stock R32,R33 ,R34 turbos have ceramic exhaust wheels . Detonation has caused more than one of these to break off , thereby causing a normally aspirated GT-R. Don’t detonate on the stock turbos. In Japan they say the limit is 1.1 bar.You can run more, just be prepared to change the turbos. Popular upgrades are going to a single turbo manifold. Our problem with singles are, the old manifolds, and turbochargers that are not divided exhaust inlet are a big less responsive than a proper twin turbo setup. Then the tubular style exhaust manifolds can crack, the flanges can warp. In 17 years, never had a OEM cast manifold crack or warp. In the same time, had a dozen different single manifolds crack, and warp.

The wheel on the left is metal, the one on the right is ceramic. Yes, we have broken both

Oil pump– Early R32’s have an oil pump drive that is about half the width of the late R32/R33/R34 crankshaft. That combined with an 8000 rpm factory redline leads to the occasional mis shift over rev and the oil pump gears break.

The N1 oil pump is really not an upgrade for most. We had a lot of N1 oil pump failures. These pumps were direct from Nissan, not knock off’s as some have speculated.  Cavitation at the inlet side of the pump, align honing the block and not making sure the pump is square on the end of the crank. and just a poor design contribute to failures.

Many aftermarket companies make upgraded pumps. The motor has to come out, they cost $1000 and up. Crank collars, spline drives, external wet pumps, and dry sumps are all popular oil pumps in 2025. 

Wide RB26 oil pump drive

 

#6 cylinder – #6 cylinder is the lean cylinder. Every motor has a lean cylinder. Its also at the back of the engine, last to get coolant flow. The stock intake collector(not really a manifold as its on the front side of the throttle bodies) design forces air to stack up at #6. The Nismo inlet plenum was designed to balance flow though the motor. This is not really a basic, rather something just good to know. Just know that if you ever run the car lean, you will probably hurt #6 first. Also if you are checking compression or leak down, try out #6 first. The Nismo collector actually made some more power. About 10 kw(13 hp) increase up top, on a 565 kw(757 hp) engine.  Motive Video below

Nismo plenum, stock airbox , 600+whp

Vacuum/Boost Diagram for the RB26dett

RB26 vacuum boost diagram corrected in 2019

 
 

Axles, driveshaft, propshaft, half shafts, Constant velocity(CV) shafts

Torn right outer boot, R32 GT-R.

Axles, driveshaft, propshaft, half shafts, Constant velocity(CV) shafts often all refer to the same parts, but different regions of the world use different terms. To me, we call the shaft that extends from the front or rear differential to each wheel an axle. On the front because you not only have up and down, in and out, but back and forth movement, they have a tendency to wear overtime and split. Once the boot splits, the grease is tossed out, and you will eventually get metal on metal operation and failure.

Part numbers and cross compatibility

Nissan Skyline GT-R Differential : Front, Rear, and Middle


Axle removal for a Nissan Skyline GT-R. http://www.gtrusablog.com/2013/03/cleaning-and-axeling-in-long-beach.html

All the octane choices, including diesel.  Did you know there is a diesel version of the RB? The RD28.

Why you shouldn’t use a Japanese market tuned ECU

Japanese market premium fuel is rated at 100 octane(RON) .They use a different method of determining octane in Japan. Here in the US -Southern California our premium fuel is 91 octane (RON+MON/2) or AKI . Of course you can buy 104 unleaded from VP. You can also buy 100 octane unleaded out of the pump at some 76 stations. But for all practical purposes 91 octane is as high as you will get here in Southern California. Some places in the US you can get up to 94 out of the pump at “normal” gas stations. If you don’t run enough octane for the tune on the ECU, you will often get knock, or detonation. This detonation kills engines, and breaks turbochargers.  

What fuel should I put in my Nissan Skyline? 

Air Conditioning

Brand new R32 GT-R R12 A/C compressor

Some of us are old, and like our air conditioning.  Others live in an area with lots of heat and humidity. 25+ year old air conditioning systems normally use R12, which is the same as unicorn blood, in ease to obtain in North America. A/C systems are fairly complex, as they have a lot of parts. They are mechanical, electronic, and they have gases under high pressure. They really aren’t for the novice to automotive repair. Generally we would recommend taking the car to an A/C repair shop to discharge, or recharge the system. While the Nissan Skyline may never have been sold in the US, the parts of the system are very similar to other models sold in the US. More information on the 

#bluecar

• Index– please start here to help find something
• R32 GT-R Buyers Guide – Are you looking to buy an R32? Check here.
• Advanced Notes – after you are finished with the basics, check out some of the advanced notes. 
• Suspension and Alignment Settings – R32,R33,R34.
• Nissan Skyline GT-R Transmissions and Upgrades
• Is it legal to drive a RHD car in the USA?
• Nissan Skylines in the USA for sale at importavehicle.com
• Does Your HICAS Light Turn On After Five Minutes of Driving?
• R33 GT-R Buyers Guide
• R34 GT-R Buyers Guide
• How can I finance or make payments on a JDM car?
• How do I build a 500 hp Nissan Skyline?

R32 GT-R imported by importavehicle at Laguna Seca.

Legal JDM vehicles to the USA. Toprank Importers.