Jack

my waterpump went - bearing seal failure. Started leaking coolant - you could see the pool on the plastic tray that protects the bottom of the engine. It leaked for months then went bigtime. When it was running it didn't leak, but when it cooled down then it leaked. So check before you start off in a morning, puddle on the plastic tray, and it could be the pump. good luck Jack

...isn't there evidence that blocked or partially blocked PCV? valves blows oil out of the main seal? Could this be the reason / cure route? good luck Jack

Colin - these guys are right. If the battery is on it's way out, the starter will refuse to engage, it tries then jumps out quickly. Normally you would think it would over time just turn the engine more slowly, but it dosen't. If you are lucky you get a couple of examples where it tries to not engage, but eventually does (after a lit of clicking) and fires the engine. Then after a couple of these, it stops engaging all together - just clicks. Don't do as I did - strip down the starter motor and clean everything up (thinking it was jamming) - just go for a replacement battery... good luck Jack

Stuart ...I do about 18k miles a year in it (it's NA) - and regularly get 32+ mpg on a run (A12 and M25). Plugs are Iridiums - changed them from Platinum tipped - can't say they are any better or worse. Oil (fully synthetic) about twice a year (no turbos remember). ...I'll try the 0 to 60 and see what it can do. many thanks Jack

I've run my na for over 3 years - first owner outside of Japan - and it's never been in a garage. So, it's never been tuned whilst in my ownership. So the question is, how do I know it's running at peak performance? It goes ok, returns good mpg figures - or not if you drive it hard, just passed the emissions test of the MOT with flying colours (thanks Lymon), and I change the filters annually, oil twice a year, plugs twice since I've owned it and that's about it. What do I have to do to make sure that it's performing as it should - without taking it to one of our friendly specialists... ...any thoughts would be appreciated. cheerz Jack

Lymon ...many thanks for the info re running rich - I did as you recommended and the MOT went perfect. HC recorded 297, CO 1.77, CO2 13.8, o2 0.03 and 0.94 on the lambda. Both banks of cylinders recorded very similar readings. As mentioned earlier, that's without the AIVs. ...thanks again. cheerz Jack

Lymon ...that's great info - I'll do all of those things. many thanks for your help. Jack

Vijay ...thanks for the info, but that's not it. If you remove all of the aiv equipment (which I have) you finish up blocking off the pipe mentioned. And I've tried the emmissions test with it blocked and with it open. Open it gives a different reading on one side, not much, but enough for the tester to comment that each bank of cylinders read different. Mine still passes the test, with it open or with it blocked - they just say it runs rich. So the question is, how do I get it leaner... Again, any ideas would be appreciated. many thnaks Jack

...third MOT coming up on Saturday and in subsequent MOT's they've always told me it's running rich - and take it to a Nissan dealer and get it sorted. They always give me a new MOT, so I've never bothered taking it to Nissan (don't like the idea of spending money). It regularly returns in excess of 30mpg (its an NA) so it can't be all that rich. Anyway, is there a simple method of reducing the fuel in the mix? Or should I just take out the air filters (ie increase the air) for the duration of the test - would that do it? ...and before I had the 2nd test I removed all of the AIV (never to be replaced) stuff and it still gave the same readings. Ideas would be appreciated. many thanks Jack

if it's anything like removing the rad when changing the timing belt, it's all straight forward. Mines an na auto with an oil cooler in the rad so you have to disconnect the feed pipes to the oil cooler and block these with suitable dia bolts to stop the loss of trany fluid. Apart from that it's dead easy. I live in a hard water area so used a 50 50 mix of de-ionised water and the best antifreeze I could find when re-filling the system - flushed out the crap first - the wasn't any.... good luck Jack

...unless you spend a lot on a Supra you can't take the roof off. You can on a Z. Buy the na if you want 30mpg, 220+ bhp, one of the best looking cars on the road, and 14 stone lighter than a TT (still heavy though). And then take the roof off. If you analyse it, what car can you get that has a hard roof that can be removed (ie not a rag top), has 200+ bhp, looks fab, jap reliability, great dynamics, almost 4 seats and has a hatchback. ...it can't be beaten. As for hp gain on a na, remove cats £150, some say replace the underdrive pulley and that's it. ...as you will have gathered I own a na, have done for almost 4 years noe, do about 15 to 18k miles a year in it and it's great. good luck Jack

John ...my 1990 jap Na auto has a drain plug. Are you sure your's hasn't? good luck Jack

...first place to check is the tension of your belts - ac and alternator etc. if not tight enough these will squeel untill all's warmed up. good luck Jack

Rich ...are your air filters clogged. If they are, they contribute to the poor fuel consumption. On new imports they are often solid. good luck Jack

...do the rear gearbox mount first as it's most likly the culprit - and it's cheaper... About £55 for the gearbox mount and £150 for the centre bearing. Gearbox mount replacement is a couple of spanners, centre bearing is a couple of spammers and a puller - and remove the exhaust system cat back. good luck. Jack

...why are you not asking about brake shoes - surely it's these that are worn? ...only a suggestion. good luck Jack

..you run this risk where ever you buy the car from. True it's easier if the dealer is in your location, but often the dealers know very little about 300zx's so you might as well sort out the problems yourself - find your own specialist. Dealers exist to make money and cars are sold because there's invariably there's something wrong with them (you are lucky if you can find one for fase because the owner has got fed-up with it). So when you buy a car you should try as hard as possible to reduce the dealers price, and what you save, be prepared to spend that (and a little more) putting the car right. If you do not know a lot about these crs get an owner to check the car you want to buy, get a list of what's wrong with the car, and use this to negotiate the sale price. When it's yours, you sort the problems - at least you have the knowledge they've been done right, as opposed to botched by the dealer. I did all of these things and three years later I'm still driving a great car that's proved to be very relable - although it's a nornally aspirated version. ...oh - and pay as much as you can, don't buy cheap. good luck Jack

...from an American set of specifications the NA is 222hp, TT 300 both at 6400 rpm, Torque is 198 ft lb at 4800 for the NA and 283 ft lb at 3600 for the TT. Can't find 0 to 60 times on the info, but think it's 7.2 for the auto NA and 6.7 for the equivalent TT. Also think that the NA is about 12 stone lighter, but I stand to be corrected... ...so don't quote me on any of these, they are described as spec taken from the original 300zx brochure. good luck Jack

John ..you have replaced the rear gearbox mount havn't you? It's the favourite culprit re prop shaft vibration, and easy and cheapish to do. good luck Jack

...it'll most certainly be the auto box rear mount. About £50 from Mike Feeney 01277 374201. Replace this first - take you about half an hour. I replaced the centre bearing first - expensive to buy - about £140, with no positive effect. But once the rear gearbox mount was changed then all was smooth... It's easy to do, 12 and 14 mm ring spanners and a trolly jack to hold up the gearbox whils you remove the mount. good luck Jack

...was the badger dead or alive when you ran over it? The thing that might need plugging in could be part of the control mechanism for the air intake valves (or whatever they are called) under each front wheel arch. Live dangerously and plug it in. good luck Jack ...I ran over a pigeon last week - I think it was already dead when I hit it. It finished up inside the front scoop. How did you manage to get over the badger?

Rob ...used to get this on braking systems with floating calipers but the ZX hasn't got floating calipers. So, in order. I'd check that your pads are a tightish fit into the calipers - could it be that you've got the wrong pads in there? I'd check that the calipers are bolted to the hub assembly tightly. I'd remove both calipers and disks, clean up where the disks mate with the hubs, clean up and re-set the pistons within the calipers. Try the left hand disk on the right hand side and vice-versa. After that I'd move on to putting poly bushes in both tie rods, and replace the sway bar D bushes at the same time. And there my knowledge stops. Hope it helps. good luck Jack

after fitting the 2nd tie rod poly bush and sway bar bush (did other side previous evening) the brake judder has 95% gone, so while out testing the car, 91na, and offering a new Z4 a run , I inadvertantly came across a pigeon sat in the road. Too late to take avoiding etc, I looked in the rear view mirror to see that the Z4 had declined my offer, and although there were feathers, the was no pigeon. When I got home, I opened the bonnet to find the engine covered in feathers, removed the front panel, but no bird. Going further down it transpired the bird had gone through (bent back) the stainless mesh I've fitted to the lower air dam and was resting (in peace) inside the car. ...to conclude, I'd recommend the poly bushes and I'd look at your sway bar bushes too - my drivers side was really shot. And thanks to Mike at MJP for supplying the bushes - I've got the rear of the car to do next week... cheerz - and appologies to the pigeon - it was getting dark... Jack

John ...I've had bad brake judder - replace all the brake seals - still juddering - turned out to be a deteriorating tie rod bush. After a long run you could see the silicone weeping although the bush looked ok. Last night I replaced it with a poly bush (2nd side tonight) and the judder has gone - well almost, I think the remaining Nissan 'good' tie rod bush is causing what remaining 'feel' there is on braking. Can't you simply tighten up the steering rack? good luck Jack

I had a go in the Hartge Mini Cooper s (165 to 210bhp conversion) recently and I seem to recall it had 6 pot calipers up front, and 4 at the back. The supercharger made an interesting noise...