nelsonbd

Harve, Considering you live in bletchley and i live newton longville about 1mile from the out skirts of bletchley - how come we have never bumped into each other ??? Barry

Hi, I am in Milton Keynes. Though i am no ZX expert by any means, though i do enjoy winding my way around round-a-bouts :) Though i have only seen 1 zed in MK since i got mine and it did not belong to anyone on here... Anyway cracking place to live! If you need advice on areas to live, just shout! I have moved around a few times in MK... Barry

Sat in my car to drive home tonite and there is a half a foot crack in windscreen - Bollox! If i claim on my insurance (£50 excess, no claims will not be effected!) does the insurance go up much next year?? I am already paying £900 on my jap import and dont want to see it go any higher.. Autoglass quoted me £430 for a new windscreen!!! havent phoned anyone else yet. What shall i do? Anyone else have experince on what happens to your insurance premium - is it worth it? Does anyone have a spare windscreen for a jap NA? Thank Barry

Just checking my oil level today on may Jap NA. The dipstick seems to say ok but when i took off the oil reservoir cap - there is no oil visible. Should i be able to see oil looking down the hole like when you look down the radiator cap and see coolant?? The car is on a slight slope - but nothing big, back end of the car is at the lower end of the slope. Its a pain in the ass having your driveway on a slope :) Thanks Barry.

Thanks anyway, I will try the garage I bought it from as they specialise in imports - trouble is getting it seen to when i am work all week. If the connection was not so hard to get to and i could do it daylight - then i would have a go soldering it. Its a bugger i cant drive it to a garage :( Anyway see what i can get done at the garage.. Barry

Milton Keynes!

Certainly does test the car out! Though most of it is dual carriage way, which is good - you dont get stuck behind slow moving vehicles much. Though doesnt explain why i currently have 3 loose/off harness leads... The roads are in pretty good condition. Whats the chances of getting 3 coming off in one go??? Barry

Hi, Tried to start the 300 this morning but failed (deep dread started..) Anyway got home tonight and had a look at the car, found 2 harness conectors half off and one connector completely off on the drivers side of then engine block (about half way down) - dont know what it does, anyway as you expect after finding each problem and jumping back in the car - I expected it to start :( but NO! I saw the check engine light was on the dash, and when i switched the ignition on a could hear an electrical humming. Eventually found a broken wire in a harness connector - in the most inaccessible place possible - right in the middle of the engine block near the window (getting to it requires quite a balancing act leaning across the engine). Unfortuantely i dont know where there are any pics of the engine to highlight it. It is such a fiddle to get to, i have tried to prepare the wire for soldering but I have only barely got enough for a solder job, though getting the soldering iron will be a juggling act (i am not the best solderer). Am i best getting an auto electrician in or best talking to the garage i got it from (and trying to get them to sort it). Do you reckon someone will manage it or will they have to dismantle a load of the engine to do the job properly? If anyone has some pics of the engine at the centre back, i could show you what i mean.. Thanks Barry

Hi, After about 4+ months of ownership, i have finally spotted another Z, silver with large Spoiler in safeways carpark in Milton Keynes (sunday afternoon)! Dont suppose it is anyone on here.... I suppose i should be happy that they are not very common in MK, though i am a bit surprised to took this long to spot another one - specailly as i am looking out for them now :D Barry

Hi, I am in the same position, with a jap spec and 1 key. So last weekend i went to the local locksmith ship and got another cut for £5. Only trouble is that it opens the car fine but the cat1 cobra alarm system does not deactivate on the central locking (is this normal?). So even though i can get in the car, if i loose the alarm fob/key - i will still be shafted because i cant turn the alarm off. Though i do have what looks like an imobiliser key (i have know idea where i can insert it Anyone else know the likely place the special key should go - and would it deactivate the alarm too?? Thanks Barry

Hi, Try http://www.ebuyer.co.uk very much like Dabs - but usually slightly cheaper. Have used them at work and they have been a good reliable company. Barry

Hi, As said above wav files are a raw lossless format, you use this if you want top quality. You can make them smaller by converting them to MP3 - but that is a lossy format (some of the sound info is lost) it will go down from 32MB to about 3MB. It all depends what you want to do with them - if its just general listening/storing them on your hard disk, then use the MP3 format, if you are into sound editing etc then use the WAV format. Barry

I dont have a problem and i am nearly 6ft4 :) Sounds like the struct/brace things (good terminology here) have gone. I have never had it come/fall down. I can always remember the first time i tried to lift the boot lid - oh my god it was heavy - i was quite amazed. Then you look at the shear size of it and it makes sense - alot of glass. I dont want to be sexist but i would have thought the female sex (and weaker males :) ) might struggle a bit lifting the boot?? Or has mine switched for lead performance mod? :p Barry

Hi, From my very limited knowledge, the overdrive enables the gear spliting - to effectively give the car more gears and is better for general driving/motorway driving. From what i have heard there is small performance difference for standing starts etc (having overdrive off) then as you hit higher speeds its best to change the over drive back on to get the benifit of the higer gearing. I have a jap import, so i use the "power" button (red lines the car in each gear) sometimes for over taking but i can never be bothered to switch the overdrive off - will have to try it sometime but then i find the 300ZX goes fast enough for me in overdrive :) Any i never use "hold" mode either -waiting for some snow to try that one... Barry

Well finally got it start after a few small problems with the jump leads not long enough etc... Anyway went out with the "excuse" of just just need to drive the car to charge it up... :) It started when i got back so we will see in the morning, then i can play with the cd changer later :D Hope it doesnt drain the battery again - at least i know whats happening & how to fix it! Thanks for all the help Barry

BSKA (British shotokan Karate association?), is that a big association? Who is your chief instructor? Have you a club affiliated up in MK? or were you coming up for special training courses with a particluar instructor? I am being pursuaded to open up my own club at the mo, maybe if i ever have time :) Barry

Managed to find a set of jump leads and will pick them up as soon as my partner gets back. If it is a knackered battery, can someone reccomend a decent replacement - one i can get my hands on quickly! Thanks Barry

I have got time to reply because all me mates must be on the internet and i get through on the phone!!! Err, I do Shotokan Karate with the CFTS association and i have been doing it for 9-10 years i think... I am in the middle of preparing for my 2nd Dan Black Belt... How about you? Cheers for the info, just hope i can get hold of a set of jump leads now (that will teach me to not replace my old set and assuming the only problem now is a flat battery -- not to fiddle with my car :) though it would be nice to listen to my cd's!) Barry

i havent checked that yet, as the battery was fine, though i suppose it could have been drained with crap going on! Only trouble now is my jump leads are broken and i dont have a battery re-charger time to phone me mates on the scrounge... If i do get a set of jump leads what is the procedure for conection order etc as i know it varies per car Thanks Barry

I am active even if my ZX isnt at the mo :) I am an IT Manager and a keen Karateka - so it seems i have something in common with Paul C!! Also amazing the number of people in computer related jobs who have a ZX :D Must be something in the genes? Barry

I just completely disconnected & removed the cd changer, checked for loose connections on the wiring harness in engine bay. Still nothing, the dashboard lights come on but very dim and engine wont turn. Have had a solinoid/relay type werring noise once to the right of the dashboard/engine area when trying to start first time after reconnecting the battery. The alarm/door locking system is working again :) one small victory! even when arming the alarm the indicators blink but very dimly... It will start to get dark soon so wont be able to do much more - but to be honest i dont know what to check anymore without help, which will mean i am buggered tommorrow for work :( Barry

when you say disconnect everything - i assume you mean on the cd changer? All the connectors were previously connected, i was losing the right speaker when listening to cd's, so i wobbled the wires on the 2 connectors i now have disconnected (looking for breaks/bad soldering etc) - one minute everthing is ok with my partner listening in the car for loss of sound, next minute the cd head is playing up - i try disconnecting the 2 cables (speakers and cd head control i would assume), try turning the ignition off and back on again - DEAD. so in summary the 2 connectors i was playing with are disconnected...

have been doing some more investigation: the dash lights are coming on but very faintly - still the engine will not turn over.. Does this mean some sort of power drain - if so would this have any thing to do with cd changer - i have disconneted 2 of the 4 wires out of the cd changer (where i was fiddling with the connectors), 1 ribbon cable is really hard to disconnect so it is still connected, the other looks like the power cable - wired directly into the cd changer - what fuse would knock out the cd changer??? The interior lights look a bit faint too, i have disconnected the battery (will do for 30 mins) to see if that manages to reset any problems...

I was messing around with connectors on my cd system because it has not been working properly when i suddenly find my car is DEAD! Its not the battery, the interior lights come on and the alarm system is working. When i put the key in the ignition and turn, no dashboard lights come on and the car wont start - no turning of the engine can be heard. Though the arial motor can be heard when i switch the ignition on the first turn... Its a jap auto and i cant shift the auto lever at all... The doors will not lock via my remote/alarm fob - which is not good on a sunday afternoon :( Though the alarm/immobiliser is working! I had a quick look at some of the relevent fuses, they seem ok but i am not sure which i should be really checking. Also had a quick look at the large plastic boxes in the fuse box but i dont know how to check if any thing has blown on them as they totaly incased in plastic... I need the car for work tommorrow, so any help is desperatley appriciated!! As you can tell i am not a car export so keep it simple thanks!! Thanks Barry

I would like to do the same, so I would be interested to know the cost and how it looked when done! My stock allows have too much brake dust embeded in them and a couple of scuffs :( I dont know whether to risk alloy cleaner/acid on them or not... There is company that advertises in the locak Milton Keynes paper, that does just alloy repairs but i have no idea if they are any good. Will have to go over and see them when i have some cash... ;) Barry