Hi to everyone and very pleased to be a part of this community.

 

Just bought my first 300ZX on Monday (29/06/09), although I have to say that I have been in love with the car since it was launched in 1990 and I was doing my GCSEs!

 

Anyway, finally my heart ruled my head and I got myself an imported 1993 non-turbo manual, in pearlescent white.

 

What I now need is expert guidance from yourselves!

 

As for initial impressions/views:

 

- car still looks stunning, even after nearly 20 years. Everyone in the office is very envious and imagines that it must be soooooooo expensive.

- interior is equally modern and still beautiful.

- on the road however, I have to say that I am very disappointed and this must be due to the example I have as I am sure when new or well maintained, it's a delight. This is where I need your help.

 

Engine : idles smoothly and is quiet. However, when revved, becomes somewhat rough and noisy.

When on the road, is noisy, inconsistent and rough up to 3000 revs and then a surge of smooth power comes in between 4000-6000 revs.

I also have a Mercedes E280 Auto with 165,000miles on the clock, and I have to say that though no sports car, it is much faster than this Z and also handles better!!!

Gearbox : Stiff and clunky. Again, probably only this specific example.

Nissans are famous for great gearboxes, and I have driven a R34 Skyline which had a very sweet gearbox.

 

Ride & Handling : Wallows along, which suggests the shock-absorbers need replacing.

 

You may by now wonder why I bought it?

 

Positives:

- Immaculate body. Even better after I washed and waxed it. Will post some pics later.

- Clean interior for the age.

- Engine idles nicely.

- Targa roof, that looks great and does not leak.

- Non-turbo. Scare stories regarding leaking and expensive turbos deterred me from the turbo version.

 

Basically, the things that cannot be replaced easily (body and interior) are sound.

 

Question is:

 

- Any comments on the above?

- Any suggestions on how to tackle these issues?

- Where is the best place to get a Z evaluated and serviced?

- Where is the best place to buy things like oil filters, fuel filters, spark plugs, shock absorbers etc?

- How many MPG can I expect on the motorway? My E280 does 15 in town but 30 on the motorway, so am used to dreadful MPG.

- Where can I get instructions on how to use the fan/air-con controls on the instrument pod?

- Does this car have cruise control?

 

All help and advice greatly appreciated.

 

Regards,

 

Pervez.

The springs are brken apparantly. Well spotted!

 

Mind you, looks better as a result.

Hi guys,

 

Would welcome your knowledge and advice again as I've had the car for 2 weeks now and done some more testing/assessment. I'm loathed to just part with hundreds of pounds (unbudgeted) without having confidence that it will actually make a change.

 

For those kind enough to recall, I have an issue where by my Zed seems to have low power to 3500 revs and then wakes up with a fury.

It is also seems to have flat spots in this range, is not smooth and to be honest seems to struggle and vibrate.

 

Although the visit to Ztech a week ago improved things somewhat, we parted on the note that in their opinion, the timing belt was a couple of teeth out and this was the cause. Re-doing this would solve my issues.

 

Having reflected on this for a week, I'm still to be convinced that firstly this is actually the case (not saying I don't believe ztech but find it hard to believe that the person who had it changed did not notice the change immediately and therefore get it sorted) and secondly that it is the cause of all ills.

 

Anyway, another week of driving and the following experiences:

 

- Though better than 2 weeks ago, car is still not smooth or powerful to 3500 revs and seems to have flat spots. It also vibrates on speeds of 30/40/50 mph.

The steering wheel also vibrates (which I assumed could be as simple as wheels needing balancing).

- Once past 3500 revs, a huge surge of power comes in and the engine is happy to rev past 5000 revs although I am backing off at this value as I don't want to wreck the engine (yet!).

- Motorway driving has revealed that at a steady 70 mph (!!!), the car is very smooth. Rock solid, no vibrations, very responsive and ready to surge ahead.

As for the steering wheel, the lack of any vibration suggests that the wheels must be balanced otherwise surely the steering would vibrate (Am I correct?).

 

Any comments welcome, because as I said, I don't want to spend any money blindly until and unless I have confidence that the problem is understood.

Low speed vibration that is felt through the seat is generally the center prop bearing.

This is the common cause. Another possible cause, though less likely is a worn gearbox mount. Would bet on the prop bearing - check this first.

 

The steering wheel vibration - could be warped discs - common as Zeds eat discs!

And the other common cause is the front tension rod bushes. If it wobbles hard under braking then the discs I think are the likely problem.

 

FYI, I had both your problems when I first got my car. Low speed vibration thru butt - was my prop bearing - changed it problem solved. Steering wheel wobble, most noticable during braking - was my discs - quick easy change, problem solved.

I can't help with your running problem, not experienced enough.

Did the garage strobe the timing to see if it it was out? If the cam to crank timing was out this would mean the cas would have to be way off centre to get the base reading of 15 degrees.However if one of the cams was out excluding the n/s camshaft which the cas runs off then then strobing wouldnt prove this.But id expect some other issues if this was the case.Poor idle for a start and starting issues.

They also recommended that I get the car chipped as it has a performance 'Amexxi' exhaust and the car needs to be matched to the exhaust.

 

This may well be the cause of the low power at low revs.

Its probably way too big for an NA.

Strobing - yes they did and stated it was slightly out. Don't have any more detail.

 

Prop bearing - what does this mean in £? Could be likely.

 

Steering vibration - fine under breaking. Also had them checked and they are OK.

Bushes could be a cause. Would these not cause vibration at high speed?

I've never heard of low power mode on an NA.

I'm not saying there isn't such a thing, just that I've never heard of it.

 

On a TT, yes if Det is picked up by then sensor then the ECU goes into Saftey mode cutting the boost down to 7psi.

 

My initial thought of the 3000rpm theory was either AFM or Coil packs. But then if you are saying once you get to 5k it's fine, that pretty much rules both of those out.

 

When you ay they plugged a computer into it, was it a datascan or conzult and did they check the O2 sensors ?.

 

Is there any difference in performance between when the car is hot / cold ?

 

Vibration through the steering wheel is not going to be prop related unless the whole car is vibrating. No vibration on the brake pedal when braking would usually mean that the wheels need balancing. Wheel balancing is a tricky on as it's fine until a certain range of MPH then vibrates but then as you go past this MPH range it's smnooth again. If that's your symptoms, then get all of your whels balanced to make sure you rules the cheapest options out first.

 

If you are looking for garage recomendations and are not 100% hapy with Ztech, then I would also reccommend Zworld. Jeff's knowledge on 300zx's is vast and he's probably seen pretty much all possibly problems with the car at one point of another.

 

It's up in Birmingham, but in my opinion you know that if you take it there, you will get it back working as it should.