I have only had my Zed for 5 days. She is a 1991 TT import with 133000KM on the clock.

I was planning a 250 mile trip today, so I changed the oil and oil filter yesterday.

I used a Halfords filter and used 3 1/2 litres of mobile 1 15-50w oil. The oil was reading full and I took her for a drive last night and everything was fine.

I checked the oil level again this morning, and the oil was JUST tipping the end of the dipstick. I checked under the car and there was no oil on the floor????

I added the remaining 1/2 litre of oil and checked the level again, which now read full???

There did seem to be an unusal amount of smoke from the exhaust whilst ideling, but after a quick spin around the block, this had completely disappeared and everything seemed fine. However, I did notice a gurgling noise from the drivers side of the engine bay (whilst ideling), which my wife tells me she heard yesterday when we were draining the oil (with engine off).

After about 25 mins driving I noticed a waring light on the lower right side of the display (under the speedo). It only flickered on for a second and I didn't have time to see what it was.

About 30 seconds later (and at 60 MPH) the engine cut out completely, the steering siezed and I skidded off the road.

I checked the engine and found that there was quite a bit of steam coming from the little nozzle underneath the radiator cap. (I take it this in NOT supposed to have a hose attatched??)

The car has been started since, to drive onto the tow truck, but it is very clunky and awkward.

The Zed has been taken to Nissan now and is awaiting diagnosis. Do you guys have any idea of what this could be and what sort of direction I should be steering them in?

Does anyone know which light it might have been?

Also, it might be relevant that the engine temperature was freading normal throughout all of the above.

ny help or ideas are gratefully recieved, as i said, I only bought her on Thursday and so I don't have ANY knowledge of common failings etc as of yet.

Thanks in advance

Ian

the temp guages on these cars are crap and by the time they show you its overheating its too late

 

there should be a hose from the top of the rad (just under the rad cap like you said) to the overflow bottle which sits behind the passenger side intercooler (long white neck and yellow filler cap behind pass headlight). if yours is missing then your rad has been dumping water and its been unable to suck it back in from the overflow bottle so lots of air in the system. :(

 

when was the last time you checked the water level?

I only got the car on Thursday and I didn't know where the reservoir was so I haven't checked it at all yet!!!

I have just had a look at the gallery on smithys place (lots of engine pics) my car DEFINATELY doesnt have the hose connected to the radiator overflow bit. It looks like it has been missing for a while too, as there was an orange stain down where the water had been running out. Do you think that would have caused what happeded and if so, what damage is it likely to have caused???

If the engine ran out of water and you have "overcooked" it then that is not good, the bottom end may have gone bu the fact that it still starts is hopeful. All the best.

I have just had a look at the gallery on smithys place (lots of engine pics) my car DEFINATELY doesnt have the hose connected to the radiator overflow bit. It looks like it has been missing for a while too, as there was an orange stain down where the water had been running out. Do you think that would have caused what happeded and if so, what damage is it likely to have caused???

i have no idea what happens when an engine overheats so cannot say that has definately happened but your water will be very very low if you've been driving it since you bought it. i have a koyo rad fitted and it still dumps about 2-300 ml of water into my home made overflow bottle (but thts another story lol) every time i drive it

Sorry to hear about your troubles Flairman - especially since you only just bought the car. Not a nice way to start off a "new car relationship".

 

Oil: You put the wrong oil filter on the car ... if you compare the standard Nissan filter and the Halfords filter you'll see that the latter is far smaller in size and therefore not up to the job. Whilst your car is at Nissan get them to put on a propper oil filter. (By the way - a lot of parts listed in Halfords books as being for our 300's (ie Z32) are incorrect).

 

When doing an oil change you need to make sure you also put oil in the filter before putting it onto the car. If you don't, the dipstick will say the oil level is fine but after you run the car it will go down as the filter fills up with oil. You've already found this out ... 4 Litres should be ok though. Don't over fill it because it may cause the dipstick to shoot out and spill oil all over the engine.

 

Radiator: Yes, you need a hose from just under the rad cap to the expansion tank - as Yaseen explained. You also need to make sure that there is at least 600ml of coolant in the expansion tank.

 

Not sure what the "gurgling" noise could be but there are two possibilities:

(1) There is insufficient coolant/water in the radiator and therefore you can hear the air rushing through the pipes going to the heater matrix. My car does that sometimes and it is a good indication I need to perform a water top-up

(2) There is water in the AIV's - although these are located on the passenger side of the car behind the back of the front wheelarch cover. Easily fixed by drilling small holes in the bottom of the pipes

 

Cutting out: Again, several possibilities:

(1) Overheating - when the car overheats it alters the timing and the car will appear very rough and lumpy. You should also notice a fair bit of detonation happening in the car (sounds like marbles in a cookie jar). As was stated before, serious overheating may cause the bottom end to fail and also cause headgasket problems. Both would be costly repairs.

(2) PTU - Power Transistor Unit - this is the equivalent of a distributor in other cars and sends signals to the six sparkplugs to "fire" in sequence. These are known to fail due to excessive heat and manifest in intermittent cut-outs. If this is proven to be at fault then you're best bet is to buy a Series 2 PTU from Courtesy Nissan in the USA. I can help with that if need be.

 

And finally, although you did the right thing by taking the car to a garage I would strongly suggest you don't leave it with a Nissan main dealer. You'll have to sell a kidney to afford their bills and their limited knowledge of these cars will likely result in a half fixed car. Take your car to one of the ZX specialists. Do a search for ZedWorld, ZTech, Zen Garage, etc on this forum and I'm sure you'll find one fairly local to you (I must admit that I don't know where Darlington is - but then again I am a foreigner ... ;)) These specialists will be able to sort the car's problems out and not over charge you.

 

Lastly, get the cambelts and ancillary belts changed as soon as possible. This should be done at 60k and 120k miles but as there is usually little or no maintenance history with these cars it really pays to get this done asap. It will avoid potential major engine damage if it all goes wrong.

 

Right, quite a lot to take in and think about but I hope the above will go some way towards helping you sort your car's problem.

 

Good luck!

 

Dan

Sorry to hear about your troubles Flairman - especially since you only just bought the car. Not a nice way to start off a "new car relationship".

 

Oil: You put the wrong oil filter on the car ... if you compare the standard Nissan filter and the Halfords filter you'll see that the latter is far smaller in size and therefore not up to the job. Whilst your car is at Nissan get them to put on a propper oil filter. (By the way - a lot of parts listed in Halfords books as being for our 300's (ie Z32) are incorrect).

 

When doing an oil change you need to make sure you also put oil in the filter before putting it onto the car. If you don't, the dipstick will say the oil level is fine but after you run the car it will go down as the filter fills up with oil. You've already found this out ... 4 Litres should be ok though. Don't over fill it because it may cause the dipstick to shoot out and spill oil all over the engine.

 

Radiator: Yes, you need a hose from just under the rad cap to the expansion tank - as Yaseen explained. You also need to make sure that there is at least 600ml of coolant in the expansion tank.

 

Not sure what the "gurgling" noise could be but there are two possibilities:

(1) There is insufficient coolant/water in the radiator and therefore you can hear the air rushing through the pipes going to the heater matrix. My car does that sometimes and it is a good indication I need to perform a water top-up

(2) There is water in the AIV's - although these are located on the passenger side of the car behind the back of the front wheelarch cover. Easily fixed by drilling small holes in the bottom of the pipes

 

Cutting out: Again, several possibilities:

(1) Overheating - when the car overheats it alters the timing and the car will appear very rough and lumpy. You should also notice a fair bit of detonation happening in the car (sounds like marbles in a cookie jar). As was stated before, serious overheating may cause the bottom end to fail and also cause headgasket problems. Both would be costly repairs.

(2) PTU - Power Transistor Unit - this is the equivalent of a distributor in other cars and sends signals to the six sparkplugs to "fire" in sequence. These are known to fail due to excessive heat and manifest in intermittent cut-outs. If this is proven to be at fault then you're best bet is to buy a Series 2 PTU from Courtesy Nissan in the USA. I can help with that if need be.

 

And finally, although you did the right thing by taking the car to a garage I would strongly suggest you don't leave it with a Nissan main dealer. You'll have to sell a kidney to afford their bills and their limited knowledge of these cars will likely result in a half fixed car. Take your car to one of the ZX specialists. Do a search for ZedWorld, ZTech, Zen Garage, etc on this forum and I'm sure you'll find one fairly local to you (I must admit that I don't know where Darlington is - but then again I am a foreigner ... ;)) These specialists will be able to sort the car's problems out and not over charge you.

 

Lastly, get the cambelts and ancillary belts changed as soon as possible. This should be done at 60k and 120k miles but as there is usually little or no maintenance history with these cars it really pays to get this done asap. It will avoid potential major engine damage if it all goes wrong.

 

Right, quite a lot to take in and think about but I hope the above will go some way towards helping you sort your car's problem.

 

Good luck!

 

Dan

 

:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

 

Thanks so much for your help, you've obviously done your homework! Great to know I wasted £35 on oil and filter, thank you Halfords :xxx:

 

I'm hoping that it is just overheating due to the radiator running low, and that it hasn't done too much damage.

 

Darlington is near Newcastle and I don't know of any specialists around here. I wouldn't have gone to Nissan through choice, but under the circumstances, I couldn't think of anywhere else to take her.

 

I'll get them to do the oil filter as well, hopefully the won't have to drain the full lot.

 

I'll let you know how things go, hopefully she should be back in running order by the weekend.

Fingers crossed

You might be lucky and it's just overheated but if it's got so hot it cut out then it could have damaged something.

Get the pipe replaced (couple of quid) and fill the system and hope it runs OK.

The PTU could have got hot and caused it to cut out (common failure point anyway)

 

Nissan dealers don't have a clue as it's years since they worked on these cars and will rip you off beyond belief.

If they tell you there's something major wrong then go to one of the specialists in the traders section here - you'll save a fortune.

 

The gurgling noise you heard might be the AIV system in the wings that's full of water - common problem after years of condensation but doesn't do any harm.

Do a search on here for gurgling AIV's and you will find how to drain them or remove them if you fit a de-cat exhaust.

Think I said the same as Danny!

Took me ages to write it as I was on the phone LOL

:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

 

Thanks so much for your help, you've obviously done your homework! Great to know I wasted £35 on oil and filter, thank you Halfords :xxx:

 

I'm hoping that it is just overheating due to the radiator running low, and that it hasn't done too much damage.

 

Darlington is near Newcastle and I don't know of any specialists around here. I wouldn't have gone to Nissan through choice, but under the circumstances, I couldn't think of anywhere else to take her.

 

I'll get them to do the oil filter as well, hopefully the won't have to drain the full lot.

 

I'll let you know how things go, hopefully she should be back in running order by the weekend.

Fingers crossed

 

 

I am only 15 miles away if you want me to give it a once over, if you continue to have problems then give the Richmond Motor Company a call as they have a couple of mechanics in there that know their way around the 300zx

I am only 15 miles away if you want me to give it a once over, if you continue to have problems then give the Richmond Motor Company a call as they have a couple of mechanics in there that know their way around the 300zx

 

DEFINATELY interested in taking you up on the offer mate! Can you PM me with your phone number?????

Nissan didn't bother to get back to me with ANY sort of opinion, so I am probably going to pull her out of there first thing in the morning. I will keep everyone updated as soon as anything changes.

gutted for you mate...

 

deffo take mac1 up on his offer mate, he knows his stuff (knows crap about bikes though lol)

 

i truly hope you are ok though

 

if worse comes to it, i have many spare bits i can help you with