I'd been after a 300zx TT for a year or so, but only seriously started looking 6 months ago.

 

I've been reading up on the buyers guides and general advice, and looked at a few motors for sale.

 

to cut a long stroy short, I spotted one on Monday and after a quick test drive and look over, I jumped in with both feet and made an offer.

All the common sense and prior advice went out the window ... and low and behold on the way into work this morning it conked out on the motorway.

 

At first it seemed like the accelerator was stuck down ... the turbos seemed to be running by themselves - I had to jab the pedal to get them to drop off.

 

Then with white smoke out the exhaust, the engine started knocking and the power started to go.

 

Power slowly went over a mile till I could only go 50 .... I was so near the junction I tried to make it , but then thought better and pulled over onto the hard shoulder.

 

There was a fair bit oil the road under the engine .. and the engine pan underneath looked coated in it.

 

I got the AA to tow it to work, where its currently sat. Its possible to turn over the engine but it won't fire up, so it didn't sound siezed.

 

Luckily, I have an old reliable Saab to get me around and I hadn't planned on using the Zx for main motor right away.

 

It was a jap import, its had a powerflow exhaust fitted ... and possibly been chipped.

I don't know where to try and get it shipped to one of the Zx specialists linked in the Trader pages or try a local Nissan garage.

 

Any guesses on what it might be ... what it might cost .... and whether its best to get it looked at by Ztech ( 33miles from me .. I'm in Reading )

or to just get a Nissan garage locally to take a look.

 

I planned to get it check out by a speciallist at some point to give it the once over.... but its probably going to kill me with the cost on top gettign it running again.

Hi Mate, sorry to hear about your problems. I dont know the Reading Nissan garage, but bear in mind that only a few Nissan dealers were ever trained on the 300zx (and its more than likely that the mechanics that were trained no longer work there). They spend all day long replacing Windscreen wipers on Nissan Micra's.*

 

If you can get it to Ztech, thats what you should do. Give Ryan @ ztech a ring, he may be able to assist with a Recovery vehicle to get it there.

 

 

* there are some Nissan Dealers in the Country that can be trusted with the 300zx.

If your only 33 miles from Ztech take it there, but bear in mind that he is well booked up so you might be using the Saab for a bit, and prepare for a fairly big bill as that sounds quite bad, personally I couldnt even guess what it could be I am afraid. Sorry to hear your bad news and I hope it doesnt put you off ownership and once its repaired properly it will be a lovely car.

It's stories like this that make me paranoid about getting my zed. :(

 

Unlucky chap.

 

Sounds like headgasket failure to me.

It's stories like this that make me paranoid about getting my zed. :(

 

Unlucky chap.

 

Sounds like headgasket failure to me.

Any car can break down / blow up, bear in mind the type of car you are buying and just enjoy it, if it goes wrong get it repaired, plenty of TLC and you will be happy with the car like so many others on here.

Things like this can be demoralising, but to anyone who hasn't bought yet, the bad stories stand out- there are plenty of people out there who are more than happy with their motors! :D

 

Mark

you might be using the Saab for a bit, and prepare for a fairly big bill as that sounds quite bad.

 

... Luckily I had planned on keeping my Saab anyway.

 

My plan was to buy a Zx with the savings I had, then get it done up to a close to 'like new' as poss over a year or so .... body kit and respray, bits changed and tunned up.

 

My plan was/is to keep the car long term, get it exactly how I want it and try and keep it running...... before the government price and ban decent performance motors off the road.

 

I'm not going to be able to shell out a couple of grand straight out ... so I may have to get it fixed in a month or so.

 

....either way, I WILL have a ZX running and in order with the roof of for next Summer if not this one :cool:

How much did you pay for your ZED?

Glad to hear you are planning on being a long term owner, if the rest of the car is good and the engine needs major work it might be better getting it repaired as then you know the engine is sorted, Ryan will be able to advise you on what should be done. Having spent a small fortune getting my car how I want it I can tell you there is no better feeling than driving along on a summers day with the roof off, all those looks make you feel good. People love the car and women find you irrestistable... :dance: :dance: well they do in my dreams anyway.

How much did you pay for your ZED?

 

 

3,750

well they do in my dreams anyway.

lol :rofl: @ SUFFOLKZX

...I assume you haven't bought it from a garage? If you have then they should take it back and refund you - or you can get them to fix it. Your call. If it's bought from a private individual, it's worth asking for your money back - you never know, they might be decent about it - after all, it sounds like whoever sold it knew there were problems.

 

Good luck

 

Jack

 

...what sort of Saab are you using?

...I assume you haven't bought it from a garage? If you have then they should take it back and refund you - or you can get them to fix it. Your call. If it's bought from a private individual, it's worth asking for your money back - you never know, they might be decent about it - after all, it sounds like whoever sold it knew there were problems.

 

Good luck

 

Jack

 

...what sort of Saab are you using?

 

 

It was a private sale ... if it was a garage, it would have been back on their doorstep ASAP.

The guy I bought it off did make sure he put 'sold as seen' on the receipt .... but I was blinded to everything other than getting my hands on the keys.

 

...... you'd think I'd have learned by now ;)

From the advice given, I'm going to give Ztech a call later on and see if he can find time to look at it ... fingers crossed

 

 

cheers for the advice

 

Mark W ( I'm another one ;) )

Moral of the story, When going to look at a zed, ask on here, someone will be more than willing to go with you and have a look.

Moral of the story, When going to look at a zed, ask on here, someone will be more than willing to go with you and have a look.

 

thats it ... tell me now :smash: :)

 

 

Booked it in with Ztech ... but it will be a month before it gets looked at.

 

could be looking at £5k hehehe , I'm a right muppet me :nana2: .

Hopefully its going to be less than a grand to fix fingers crossed.

No I think the moral of the story is get some more information from the guy and wait until someone posts who knows what they are on about before scaring the guy to death! :rolleyes:

 

"Sounds very expensive but I don't have a clue" is not very encouraging!

 

I can't see it being a head gasket problem (pretty rare on these cars) and could just be a major oil leak (hopefully that hasn't damaged anything).

Did it overheat?

 

Chris.

 

"Sounds very expensive but I don't have a clue" is not very encouraging!

 

 

 

Chris.

Ok, I am an ex mechanic and its hard to say from what you have told us but my initial thoughts are it may be expensive :rolleyes: :rolleyes: should have said that but I was trying to do 10 things at once as usual and didnt think properly, cant have scared you that much tho as you are talking about bodykits now :dance:

cant have scared you that much tho as you are talking about bodykits now :dance:

 

I'm a big kid in the Zx candy store ;)

 

i'm abit sick ... but trying to be pragmatic about it.

I'd planned on spending money on a car .. just not so soon .... and thinking long term about the kits and fittings is helping keep my mind off the current problem ;)

Ahh, the ZX candy store, I suffer from that, let Ryan look at the car before you worry and you own one of the coolest cars on the planet now so everything will be ok.

Plus, if you think along the lines of, Im going to spend my money on getting the engine repaired and upgraded at the sametime, your on to a winner! :D

 

In fact if the engine gets pulled, why not upgrade the turbo's as well? ;)

 

And if you upgrade the turbo's, replace the injectors and intercoolers as well.

 

And if you are having engine work done, it would seem rude not to replace the piston with some forged items... etc, etc... ;) :D

Plus, if you think along the lines of, Im going to spend my money on getting the engine repaired and upgraded at the sametime, your on to a winner! :D

 

In fact if the engine gets pulled, why not upgrade the turbo's as well? ;)

 

And if you upgrade the turbo's, replace the injectors and intercoolers as well.

 

And if you are having engine work done, it would seem rude not to replace the piston with some forged items... etc, etc... ;) :D

 

And while you're at it, get a £15K loan! :rofl:

dagan, the accelerator getting stuck is quite common and have seen it many times it is usually one of the metal breather pipes coming loose out of the rocker cover along side the throttle housing and jamming the linkage, if this has come out completely oil could pump out and the unbalancing of the breather system could well cause the smoke and the low power, the non start could be something small and incidental.

 

I always look at the easy options first, do not get down yet, but do be prepared for a possible anxious few days whilst finding out what has happened.

 

What you need is good advice and someone other than a dealer to look at it as they will just max your grief regardless.

 

Hope it goes well for you mate, check out all options BEFORE committing yourself, it just might ( hope ) not be as bad as it seems .

 

 

Jeff TT

Plus, if you think along the lines of, Im going to spend my money on getting the engine repaired and upgraded at the sametime, your on to a winner! :D

 

In fact if the engine gets pulled, why not upgrade the turbo's as well? ;)

 

And if you upgrade the turbo's, replace the injectors and intercoolers as well.

 

And if you are having engine work done, it would seem rude not to replace the piston with some forged items... etc, etc... ;) :D

 

 

I'm going to keep that in mind for when I get the estimate on the repares and whats needed.

If its going to be £5k I will probably get a quote for 'upgrages' along with it ... but I just can't afford to do everything at once.

A good quality used engine ( yes they do exist ) fitted should cost around £1,650+vat

 

Might be an alternative worth considering.

 

Jeff TT

i thought a decent used engine was alot more than that jeff