General Discussions - 300ZX Related

I am using s-unleaded with castrol octane booster which has stopped the detonation. Is this OK to use? I know anything has to be better than detonation but does anyone know of any long term problems that this might cause. Besides the stuff being bloody expensive. Thanks, Andy. PS. thanks to Rowan for all his help.

Evening, With all this talk of removing cats, I was wondering if I would receive any added performance with my normally aspirated Fairlady. It's a K 92 - is that just out of the age bracket for doing it legally? Cheers, John

Just heard from my Nissan dealer, I need a new 'front crank seal', gonna cost me £225 fitted. Ah well every cloud has a silver lining, I've been meaning to get an underdrive pulley for ages. Will the crankk pulley have to be removed to fit the seal, in that caser I suppose my new pulley will be installed for free? Dave

I have just been told that i will need to upgrade my brakes as i am running about 350bhp to Tarrox 6 potts then i will need to change my rimms to 18" to accomodate, is there not a more intermediate upgrade i can go to from standard brakes

Hi, I am considering buying a zx tt at the end of the year when as I have decided to get rid of my company car (ford mundaneo, nuff said ..) I have read that the auto is preferable as they eat manual boxes. Is this true? I would prefer a manual to an auto. Any comments?

Can anybody help me, i am looking at a 300ZX with a series of HKS mods, there are two small boxes in the glove box with various buttons etc can anybody identify what these may be, all the dealer can tell me that it has been modified to aprox 400bhp with s/s exhaust system inductor kit, blow of valves but still running on stnd wheels & brake combo any advise and imput much apreciated. Tim.

Rough acceleration and idling (minor). But cured when ECU is reset. I find that the running of my engine becomes rougher over time but everytime I reset my ECU (disconnect battery) the engine runs so much smoother and revs cleaner especially at higher revs! It then becomes rough again so I reset the ECU and so on .......... The boost remains the same etc. I thought the ECU learns and improves the running of the engine not make it worse. Any knowledge in this area? For those who are having probs or havn't ever done this I suggest you give it go and see if you notice any difference!

Thinking of possibly doing away with my cats. DP Motorsport have quoted me £70+vat each for cutom made testpipes. This also includes 'flanging' my cats so I can swap 'em over at MOT time. Could I also gut the precats and remain legal? (I have a '94 model). On the subject of precats, I remember reading that the Z only has a precat on the left hand side as there is no room for one on the right & that pre 92 models have no precats at all. Is this true, or did I dream it up one night after a *couple* of beers? Dave

Last night, at about 3am, a couple of little b*****ds managed to get under my bonnet (after ruining the door handles on both doors in an unsuccessful attempt to gain entry) and mess with the engine. I am severely pissed!! So, if any of you guys are down the pub and you hear a couple of guys boasting about breaking into a red 300zx, give 'em a kicking from me will ya! Andy (who is rather scared about the potential repair bill) P.S. I passed a red 300zx in Enfield on Satuday. The guy driving waved to me. Don't suppose it was any of you lot??

Can someone help! I've finally got round to replacing the standard head unit in my UK spec (1993) TT. I bought an interface wiring harness to avoid any "cut and shuts" (also means I can put the old unit back in if ever I sell up......... All seemd well when I fired up the new stereo (Sony M700R) until I checked out the (standard, crap, O.E) rear speakers - no sound at all. I ran a separate wire from the the resr output of the head unit to another speaker I had and this worked fine (i.e. nothing wrong with the stereo itself). So I checked the harness and found something a bit wierd........ The "Power Pax" interface harness has a 6 way plug with 4 pins in …

I have an intermittent problem with the right hand sensor here. (its on the water pump in or outlet for those that can't picture it) If i touch or move it (the centre spins inside the mount) then when the engine is running, the electric fan is on constantly, regardless of temperature. (Like now) It stops at some completely random time, a few hours later, or the next day. So, my guess is that this sensor is knackered, no problem, i'll sort that out on Monday. But, is it purely connected to the electric fan, or is it also an ECU input too ? It seems to me that the left hand sensor would be the ECU and gauge sensor, based on the connector type bei…

I drove past North Weald Yesterday and the "Drag Racing Sunday" sign is up outside. There is no date on it but it wasn't there on Wednesday. If anybody is considering going You need to be there at or before 9AM. By 10AM it is fully booked for entries, I found to my disappointment from my last two efforts at going, even though I only live 1.5 Miles away. Anybody going? Let me know. Grant

As some of you may know I am having problems with my newly rebuilt auto tranny and the odd bit of detonation here and there LOL! The car is due to have the tranny rechecked but the company that did it is on a shut down for two weeks. They feel that the ecu could be the problem or one of the sensors that is causing the tranny prob. The TPS has checked out fine and diagnostics has not surfaced with a problem. Basically, I am trying to find someone who has an ECU floating around and A/T MU so I can eleminate them as being the problem. Preferably an ECU that has been chipped to cope with around 13+ PSI and run on 'OUR FUEL'. I may even be able to eleminate the detonation…

Anders.. I saw your post on tt.net about Mines chips. This is a good warning for all with Japanese imports. Japanese aftermarket chips are (usually) designed to run on 100+ octane as this is what you can get at the pumps in Japanland (daaayum!) Some good examples are: Mines Veilside Central Brain When run on NZ or UK spec 96 octane these chips can detonate big time. A number of engines have had holes blown in pistons here or burnt ringlands from majar detonation from these nasty chips. We had a customer with a car in a couple of weeks back complaining of detonation after he tried winding up the boost - the original tuner told him that it was o…

hello how are you? well im in rome now with a bit of a problem i burned a aprk plug and have had a nightmare getting new ones, which ones do i need? i think i damaged a piston im going for a compression test tomorrow. the car has started to smoke white blue. so i am worried,, anyway we wnet to the nurburgring in germany and i must say it has been the highlight of my life going around there it is so scary, the first feqw times as the porshes come past you like you are looking for reverse i was airborn twise on my first lap and got sidways about 6 times lol i never wanted to go again, but then i slowed down and really enjoyed myself, i was overtaken by a bee…

Okay, i guess the 10th is all sorted out now, with Silverstone TRAX 2000, although we may not get any track time..... but hey, 0-60 competition anyone ? hehehe But, what about the 9th. Is anyone still interested in karting at Streatham 8pm to 10pm on the saturday night ? I have got a reprieve until friday to book...

Hi all, I'm hoping to buy myself a 300 soon, this month hopefully, and stumbled across 300zx.co.uk just a couple of weeks ago. It's great to find some dedicated UK owners, especially after spending previous weeks looking through the other, very US-specific, Z32 forums =) Anyway, I still have a few basic uncertainties I'd like to clear up before settling on a car, therefore I'm hoping I can draw on the collected experience of you fine bunch here! Okay, the questions: 1. UK spec or Japanese spec? A dealer I spoke to recently favoured Jap., as their underbodies haven't had to withstand salty UK roads, but I see from other threads that they come with vario…

Sorry to keep boring you all with this again. I have just driven my friends 300 again (which I still want to buy but still worried about problems) and it seems not liking anything above 4500-4800 rpm, just doesn't seem to have ANY top end at all. Also it was very hesitant from cold ( I didn't drive it hard for about 20 mins of steady driving), started off fine and with a little more pedal it just seemed to die off all of a sudden. I am still very confused but appreciate all of your wisdom. Please explain in non tech language what a MAS is. Also would a dodgy 02 sensor possibly contribute towards this power drain and hesitancy, if so How much are they and from…

How much did it cost you? Andy

Hey all, Quick Q, Was sitting in the Z last night, Sobbing heavily at still not having fixed her after 6 months now. Well i was tinkering with a few things and noticed when you switch the ignition to Accesory mode(the last setting before ignition) , the boost guage needle reads abot 2psi, which is the same as the absolute peak boost im gettin at the momment :o(( I was just wondering what the normal reading for this is. Probably a calibration error in the boost guage somewhere, however it seems a little strange, probably just coincidence i guess. Cheers Z ya Nico91TT

When I got my Zed 2 years ago you would rarely see one. Just recently though I've seen hundreds of them! Most Jap imports (Square rear number plates are a dead giveaway!) The japs must have few left in the domestic market. I wonder what the official figures are for these cars now? Must more than were ever officially imported now even after 10 years of smash ups. (Mostly by Steve E!!!) ;-) Simon

Finally getting the Speed sensor replaced on Saturday, I've got used to no power steering so lots of oversteer to come. Q Where abouts on the gearbox is the sensor? Can it be accessed from the underneath of the car? Can the job be done while you wait? The bloke at the garage does not know where it is but seems to think its a while you wait job. How long am I gonna wait? Advice appreciated. Simon 90 300ZXtt Jap import Auto

Following my previous run in with a solid object I've now joined Jez, Dave, Rowan and Jools with Race Logic Traction Control. Purely from a safety point of view this has to be awarded 10/10 and then when you consider tyre wear I might get more than 4000miles out of my rear Pirelli's. I've yet to see a bad word said about it!! Steve

This goes 4 U 2 Steve... Really dumb - BUT - when I upgraded my brakes (AP 6Pots & Discs) I didnt stop to think how the hell I was gonna squeeze them behind that pathetic little pram wheel of a spare - that is until today! So... the Z had a nice little trip home from work on the back of a flat bed today! CHRIST! /\/\ark

I'm thinking of replacing my OEM air filter with those cotton gauze types eg K&N./Green? etc. Is this a good idea ? Do any of you who've done this get better performance / mpg ? Is it easy to install ? Any advice appreciated. Thanks William Flint (Auto 300ZX-TT-Jap spec-1992)