Well, the car has done it again ... Was in London yesterday and 3 minutes into my journey back home (B'ham)when the engine overheated. I already suspected something was wrong because the hesitation I normally experience on pickup from stationary was extreme (i.e., when moving foot from brake to gas the rpms dropped to the point of stalling prior to catching). Anyway, called Polesworth Garage to see what they think (I just spent £700 replacing my waterpump and timingbelt with them last weekend ...) They reckon it could be a headgasket, timing or electrical problem. Not feeling much better at this point ... Called the AA who sent over a very knowledgable guy who performed a gasket sniffer test (clear) and a pressure test on the cooling system (also clear). His take on the events was that it could be a faulty thermostat (was replaced last weekend together with the H2O pump) or a faulty fan switch. Still doesn't explain the extreme hesitation though. In any case, called a local garage to bring over a flatbed to take it from London to Polesworth only to be quoted the ghastly sum of £400! Decided to "limp" back to Brum. You don't know how embarrassing it is to go up the entire length of the M40, a bit of M42 and a couple of junctions of the M6 at a steady 60mph (thank God for cruise control). At least the cops couldn't do me for speeding (alternatively they could get me for not going fast enough ...) All the way home the temp stayed normal (about halfway up the temp gauge) and nothing else was abnormal. This morning, when taking it over to Polesworth, everything was absolutely fine ... no hesitation, overheating or anything else ... I drove hard (upto 90mph), slow, like your gran, all of it ... and nothing happened. I am absolutely dumbfounded at the moment. Left it at Polesworth to have it checked over - wonder what they find - and don't want it back until they fix it.

So, I'm a very sad, and surprised Z-less sod at the moment. Their courtesy cars (Micra's) just don't do it for me - LOL.

 

JeffTT - if you're reading this notice, was that you I saw coming up the Aston Express Way this morning at around 9 o'clock? I think I recognized your plates from your previous posts. I was in my g-friends Mazda taking her to work so you wouldn't have noticed me.

 

JeffTT & Matty - not sure now if I'll be at Polesworth tomorrow as per our prior arrangements. I will hopefully find out from them how long the repairs are going to take and will post another notice in this thread this afternoon or evening - so check tonight.

 

If anyone can shed any light on the afore mentioned problems then I would much appreciate hearing from you.

 

Later!

 

Danny

Air lock in the cooling system ?????

Danny,

 

Sorry to hear about your ongoing problem mate! Know how you feel, are Polesworth a Nelson Mandela? If so, be careful mate, don't hang off their every suggestion!

 

Andy has mentioned air-lock, you said that the car was overheating??? Someone recently had a similar problem and was told head gaskett by a Nelson, was also told that it would be cheaper to fit a new engine(yeah right! Sorry, may have already mentioned this to you...arse memory, can't be bothered to trawl back posts!) anyway, he took the car up to see Johnny da man. They took the car over to Hiteq in Wigan and it turned out to be a dodgey rad. cap!!! Which I may point out, they let him have for nothing!

 

Just a thought, I do cringe when people say that their car has been left in the hands of Nissan Dealer! You just know that overdraft, credit card, life savings is going to get spanked big time!

 

Let us know how you're getting on!

 

Hope you do get it sorted, cheaply rather than paying the final bill using Securicor!

 

 

Tim

:-(

 

Danny,

 

Listen to Timmy's advice! As you say it's already there been given the once over I would seriously recommend getting a second opinion from Johnny the man, What he doesn't know it's worth knowing

 

(waits for the fiver)

 

Hope you get it sorted Cheaper than a cheap thing (well that's enough about me)

 

 

Matty.

Just a thought, check your temp sensor for corrosion, for the hesitation, could be a sticky thermostat for the overheating. The fan is viscous - not fully electrical, that just helps out so I doubt its that. Have you checked coolant level? and - a leak at the rad cap?

Hiya all!

 

Thanks for the replies guys - I will have a second opinion if Polesworth comes up with something exorbitant. This may be a silly question, but being new I don't know/understand all the lingo used here, who is "Johnny da man"? I've asked the garage to go over all the sensors, contacts, etc so if it is the temp sensor then they should find that. Other than that, the coolant level was perfect, rad cap fine and the thermostat is brand new but could I suppose be faulty. We'll see what they come up with this afternoon. I'm praying I don't need to ring up Securicor ...

Thanks,

 

Danny

Actually, I suspect that Securicor would be better at fixing it than many Nissan dealers.

 

Johnny is GrassHopper Motorsport, contact details over to the left here.

 

The reason I mention air lock was that all the water pump and so on had been fiddled with recently.

 

Also, due to the heat generated under the bonnet sensor connections can become erratic, to say the least. If you're lucky they pack up altogether, then it's easier to fault find.

Same problems as mine last year. One day overheats then not for a week. Everything replaced...Still did it.The garage could find nothing wrong every time they had it.The sniffer test is crap.My engine finally blew and when the lump was removed they found a hairline crack in the head gasket which caused the overheating...New engine was required.....

JeffTT & Matty:

 

Car needs to stay over the weekend. They decided that the hessitation is due to a restriction in the fuel supply somehow and lines will be replaced. Apparently a labour intensive job.

Therefor I will not be at Polesworth tomorrow at 11 a.m. Sorry - lets stay in touch to decide on an alternate date/time. Hopefully the car will be back home on Mon/Tues.

Sorry guys - better luck next time

Danny mate what a bummer, nothing worse than seeing your hard earn cash going into a dealers pocket.Polesworth garage are ok as far as I know, but as others have said be careful.Personally I think that the complexity of the zed leaves many dealers bewildered and they start guessing at the owners expense.If you want I and prob Matty will have a look,I have had two babes and there maybe something obvious that`s been missed let me know.

 

Oh by the way YES!!! it was me on the Aston Express way at 9:00 am was going to Mapalins in Erdington (your bit of Brum) to collect some bitz. Jeff TT

 

 

Dan,

 

My advice(for what it's worth! Take it or leave it...obviously it's you choice mate) is take the car to a) Johnny B) SE-Nissan and after that...Darren is your only hope!

 

Look, this is what I have experienced....

 

Local Nelson Mandela(Abergele)

 

"mate, you need a new wiring loom!"

 

Me: "will this fix the car then?"

 

Them: "Can't guarantee that!"

 

Me: "Hmmmm, OK thanks, see ya!"

 

Scenario deux...

 

Middlehurst

 

Them: "Yeah, your car is much better now!"

 

Me: "Ex-static(joke spelling) OK!"

 

Result...no different and wallet takes a KO!

 

Arriva Nissan: "Tim, think you should come over straight away!"

 

Me: "Why?"

 

Them: "Coz your engine is knacked!"

 

Me: "What exactly?" as I was driving up the M1 at the time on my way home...so didn't really want to detour to Peterborough!

 

Them: "Piston slap, valves aren't seating properly etc. blah de blah"

 

Me: "OK, I'll be over on Monday!" suffered all weekend!

 

Got there, they outlined the fact that I had a few choices...new engine at cost about £4500(cheers, don't do me to many favours!) or rebuild at cost of £3500 or whatever! Or imported at cost of about £3000.

 

Anyway, took the car to Pete at SE, turns out that the engine had been rebuilt recently! WTF! So, SE now have my car, and I'm confident that she'll come out shining, ported and polished heads, metal head gasketts etc. But the moral of this story is this...what Arriva showed me was arse! What Pete showed me was the truth!

 

Some are biased but you know when you are being fobbed off and when someone is being genuine! Which is why I took the calculated decision to have my car transported down to SE with it's engine in bits etc.

 

I have proof that they are good at what they do, all be it a bit sluggish.

 

So, don't believe whatever they tell you at Nelson, take a few days to think and decide exactly what you wanna do! At the end of the day it's your hard earned green matey!

 

 

Tim

;-)

 

 

WANKERED!

 

Had a word with the guys at Polesworth earlier this afternoon. Aparently they are still stripping the engine to located the exact source of the fuel leak - they say it is somewhere near on the drivers side near the top of the engine bay. That "should" take care of the hessitation. The other problem could be due to a completely knackered radiator. They have flushed it twice now and still get a brown slush! Options: replace with new radiator (ca. £200) or refurbish (ca. £130). I'm not one to have refurbished parts so I'll prob. go for the replacement. Other than that they don't seem to know what could be the problem. Car will be in until Weds. at least - very sad 'coz I'm driving their Micra courtesy car ...

Anyway - keep you posted. Thanks for pointing me in the direction of SE and Johnny - will take that under advicement if things go horribly wrong at Polesworth.

 

Jeff - Maplins in Erd. - very close to where I live ... Hopefully we can reschedule for the near future!

 

Cheers!

 

Danny

Overheating - have you replaced the thermostat??? Please tell me they replaced it when doing the timing belt. Also, check for a dodgy radiator cap. They can cause all kinds of probs

 

It was a dodgy thermostat that caused the overheating on my Z.

 

Andy

Morning all,

 

Got a call from Polesworth this morning and it seems that the culprit was the radiator. According to the mechanic it was about as murky in there as the North Sea. Going to have it rebuilt and should be back in by Weds pm/Thurs am. Yes, they did replace the thermostat as well as the radiator cap when the car was last in. I just hope and pray that this solves the overheating problem - taking the car on a small roadtrip back home (Holland) next week. The fuel leak has also been located and the hoses ordered. Looks like I'll need Securicor to give me a ride when I go to pay for it all ... Will keep you informed of the progress.

 

Cheers!

 

Danny

 

PS - what was Nissan thinking when building the Micra (Polesworth courtesy car of choice ...)