My Z32 is currently being fettled by my 'Z experienced mechanic' a former owner of these cars. My Zed has been laid-up since 2010 - only done approx 60k miles.

 

He has Mot'd the car - and fitted a new injector ( see my other thread). When I suggested a cambelt change he said no need as it has a non-interference engine.

 

After some googling etc I feel uneasy at this suggestion.

 

Comments please!

Surprised at your mechanic...........everyone will say get one fitted 100%.

You are right to feel uneasy, the engine is an interference type.

 

At a minimum change the cambelt.

It is an interference engine! If you have an auto you can get lucky as it disengages before damage can be done.

 

That's a poor reason not to do it anyway.

 

Get it done! :)

 

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Andrew beat me to it!

Yes it is an interference engine. I.e. if it breaks your engine is kaput (valves and pistons will destroy each other).

 

I wouldn't feel confident asking him to do my cambelt to be honest!

Do tell us who this 'z experienced mechanic is' please, dying to know who would suggest such a thing! :lol:

Do tell us who this 'z experienced mechanic is' please, dying to know who would suggest such a thing! :lol:

Haha yes please!

I can think of 3 up within an hour from you who used to use this forum regularly........would it be one of those!? :lol:

I can think of 3 up within an hour from you who used to use this forum regularly........would it be one of those!? :lol:

Can I be one of those please :pinch:

Mine is an auto- he is based in an 'M' postcode.

Mine is an auto- he is based in an 'M' postcode.

 

Irrespective, it's still an interference engine. It's more 'luck of the draw' with autos. M postcode....Manchester. I don't know anyone up there.

Given the 100% agreement of the members, can anyone recommend a mechanic in the Bolton area ( within 20 miles?) to do the job & what is it likely to cost- including water pump & ancillaries?

 

Many thanks!

My car had a belt done at about 40'000 miles in about 2011 before my ownership, earlier this year at 80'000 miles I did the full belt service and found the belt to be fine, but the idle pulleys were rough and noisey. Get it done.

 

Also, my waterpump failed at about 60'000 miles. Get it all sorted out, it will be an unhappy car sitting for that long. :clover:

Just to add my thoughts, and echo the get it done theme from others, the engine is indeed one that will be damaged if the timing between the valves and the piston is incorrect. The belts however are massively strong and have seen some horrendous examples during my workshop days having completed maybe 1500 belts on zeds, many on this forum in fact and some more than once.

 

However that said, it may be to many surprise that a clean snapped belt will doubtful damage anything and the reason, the cams are quite high lift and as such exert an enormous amount of pressure on the cam lobs, and anyone who has had a belt off will agree, touch the unbelted cam pulley one or two degrees left or right and the thing will spin around like an F1 car doing donuts ! Anyhow, this is instant and a broken belt will result in all four cams instantly rotating to the all closed position and clear of the pistons, I know this from customers experience. You can image the glee I used to see as zeds were sent to me with broken belts having been told by recovery agents the engine is toast, 3 hours later new belt etc. and running like a dream. Of course as said before this is not a reason to not do it, interesting we found both auto and manual seem to be blessed with the same safety feature. One customer comes to mind in a manual zed and when his belt snapped at around 80mph in the fast lane of the M1, and basically a new belt etc. and it was running again with no problems.

 

So we have dealt with a snapped belt there, but, and there is always a but eh? a slipped belt that does not come off or snap can cause untold damage as it continues to turn the cams and mashes the valves into the pistons, this is the danger of not changing the belt, not from snapping but from skipping, usually as a result of a bad tensioner or pulley.

 

As far as pricing, a little out of date but here is an idea>> £280 + pump + pulleys

 

http://www.zedworld.co.uk/wizzf.html

 

 

Jeff

Edited November 6, 20178 yr by JeffTT

Oh just in case anyone may not know me ( newbies)and is wondering about my cambelt experience on zeds, every single one I changed was documented and photographed, many zeds change hands now with those same photos going with the car.

 

Over the years I amassed hundreds and hundreds and hung them around the workshop as sort of my scalps !! ( lol !) over the successive years having tot ups to how many we had, eventually cable tieing them in bunches of 10`s and having little guessing games here, remember when I passed the magic 1000 mark and surprised the owner when he came to collect his car as I did it for no charge !!

 

Anyhow, fill you boots with some pictures>>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited November 6, 20178 yr by JeffTT

The Garage that myself and Coopd use for our MOT's near oldham can do this for you. He did mine when i first got the car. Trentmill Garage in Shaw

You're winning Jeff... but I'm catching you up :lol:

It was a proud moment in my spannering career... or rather, a few hours later when it started was :biggrin:

These were like "Ksssshk!" and the new ones were like "whsss" haha, it ran like a sewing machine afterwards.

You're winning Jeff... but I'm catching you up :lol

 

Yes getting there, just 1,499 to go....lol

 

Jeff

Any idea of cost?- been quoted £415 & vat inc water pump by Treadmill garage Oldham.

Any idea of cost?- been quoted £415 & vat inc water pump by Treadmill garage Oldham.

 

Sounds reasonable, but may be more once they get in there, pulleys , adjuster, ancillary belts etc.

 

As a guide the last Zedworld prices here>

 

Basic Cambelt change to include Genuine Nissan cambelt, themostat, inlet hoses ( 2x ) antifreeze and ConZult set up £285

 

Water pump £90

 

Pulleys £60 x 3

 

Tensioner recon £50

 

Ancillary belts £15 x 3

 

 

So could be more like a tad over £600 if you need it all, be worth asking how they are going to set it up later, ignition timing etc, are they familiar with setting up the throttle balance, tps, air leak checks, tick over set up, all should be done when the timing belt is changed to make the best from the work been done.

 

Trouble is, changing the cambelt is really the easy part, setting the engine up after is more involved and requires some level of experience with the 300zx, still find it incredible how many zeds would come into the workshop badly set up but running, after sometimes just a ConZult session the owner would be amazed by the difference.

 

 

Hope that helps

 

Jeff

Hi Jeff

 

Have tried to contact Zedworld but numbers unobtainable- does anyone have up to date details?

Hi Jeff

 

Have tried to contact Zedworld but numbers unobtainable- does anyone have up to date details?

 

Ah guess you not using the Portugal dialing code!!

 

Sorry buddy, retired to sunny shores 3 years ago.

 

Jeff

Jimmer at Powerzed's your best man now. :thumbup1:

Jimmer at Powerzed's your best man now. :thumbup1:

 

Second this!!!:thumbup:

Thanks for info but I'm in Bolton so ideally looking for a more local specialist>

Thanks for info but I'm in Bolton so ideally looking for a more local specialist>

There aren't any Take a nice drive down to Bristol and you won't regret it

 

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