JeffTT

Assuming you have checked and defo do not have any boost leaks then you could have the common issue with the recirc valves leaking, this will not show on a conventional boost leak test as the air pressure stays within the system but just short cuts the front and back of the turbo, the fact you have tried it with the actuator lines disconnected does tend to confirm this, check out the link below should explain it a little more. http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=127063&highlight=recirc Jeff TT

Yes if I dumped the 150psi in our compressor receiver into the intake in one go I think I would cetainly have a boost leak then :rofl: Jeff TT

Air leaks are part and parcel of 300zx ownership and ensuring all is ok is can be tricky, even with the right equipment. The zed in the photo had several issues leading to real bad running both at tickover and on the road, the owner lives in Norway and had little choice but to pack it into a container and send it to us. After all the other issues where dealt with, the final air leak that is shown in the following photo`s was loosing a surprising amount of boost given the pipe size. The small pipe which is part of the boost solenoid assembly is not an uncommon one to come adrift but what a difference it made, boost leak checks in my opinion should be part of your normal servicing routine, beg, make or buy a boost tester flange and get a small compressor you will be surprised on even zeds which appear to be running ok can have leaks. Jeff TT

Ok it is a bit confusing but I think your reading it that as code test 3 and code test 8 are different to the others which is tps and fluid temp sensor. Tps will effect the change shift pattern and the temp sensor can prevent changing up to overdrive as it thinks the gearbox fluid is cold, you may be lucky and its all external sensor faults. Check the tps connector where it connects to the main loom, some times it can break at that point. Jeff TT

Fancy a quicker reacting accelerator pedal... yes ? easy to modify the angle return spring assembly to give you this, check out the pictures below. Photo A Shows the pedal assembly at rest Photo 1 Shows the pedal edge on, you can see the gap between the pedal top and the operating arm. Photo 2 Shows the pedal gap now closed This gap is set by the a small spring assembly behind the pedal itself, assumedly this was Nissan's way of keeping the pedal angle set through it travel as you press it down, however it really does not seem to be that effective but what it does do is give a dead feel at the top of the movement, this can be more or less noticeable with different shoe's / trainers / shoe size but with auto boxes especially it can seem like the box is unresponsive in certain situations when actually its the pedal which is unresponsive. So the gap needs eliminating by clamping the pedal assembly to remove the excess movement, finding a way to do this is dependant upon what you prefer the top of the pedal angled back or the bottom of the pedal angled up either way this can be done by fixing a small piece of packing between the pedal and operating arm. Remember this will not increase power what its does it take the flex out of the accelerator movement, which in turn can give a more responsive feel not just at initial pull away but when cruising on a light throttle and then speeding up. We have found this as we drive so many different zeds and started to realise on some zeds the pedal spring has become stiff and so the pedal feels better and so took a closer look at it to find out why. Warning frequent working in the pedal area of a zed can lead to neck ache :D ..... I know! Jeff TT

Perhaps the heat shields were not refitted when the clutch was changed? Jeff TT

Dave, take it easy matey I am sure it is NOT a head gasket problem, the white smoke you mention is more likely condensation from the exhaust. Given the very wet weather we have had and short journeys the zed exhaust layout lends itself to this very issue. Under most cases on the zed the head gasket only fails as a direct result of a major overheat and warped heads so unless you have done this its very unlikely even given ou slight water loss. If it worring you we can test it for you FOC with a sniffer and pressure tester, also can performa a leak down test etc if you want, sure it will be ok though will be able to find the water leak for you too. Jeff TT

Hi Allan, The gearbox has its own ecu and could possibly have a problem with that or the connector to it, agree its is odd how the same symptoms are showing on two different boxes, the tps would not cause this fault however, the autobox does have a fail safe where it can select 3rd gear to get you home as such when a fault occurs Check the connector under the bonnet on the drivers side close to the headlight this are the interface between box and ecu. Try an autobox diagnostic see if an codes are stored, follow the link below how to do this. http://www.zedworld.co.uk/wizzj.html#auto_box If you want can send you a spare ecu for the box to try, post back any codes etc. Cheers Jeff

Thanks John for your input and your clear and technical explaination, as I said earlier threads like this are so good for getting everyone talking about zeds! Jeff TT

Correct. Jeff TT

Hi Danny, Oh, my slight mistake, the mapping I thought you spoke of was to burn onto an eprom and then insert into a normal ecu did not realise you meant a stand alone. However most of which I said stands, onto the RR print out, the boost drop off and the fact it feels better on the road than the roller results is interesting, also I noted that on the print out the in gear test is shown as 3rd, as far as I was aware you need to select 4th in a manual to acheive a 1to1 ratio for calculating transmission losses etc, if this is the case the read outs are unfortunately flawed and will be misleading you. Kirbz I take your point on high spec builds been under developed in the ecu department however even with stand alone you can only add a map sensor and remove the afm and map from there albeit very acurately and the results will give good strong rolling road figures but what Danny is looking for is the best road performance with consistant performance that his budget can run to. Ok Danny, back to the drop off in boost, before you buy or pay for any other tuning you need to get the whole installation and set up checked out as I am leaning towards some issues that require sorting first. On a final note welll done Danny and others on giving this thread attention and interesting input. :D Jeff TT

Hi there and welcome to the club, rear seat belts are easy to convert as the UK spec zed had 3 point seat belts fitted as standard, good news for you is we have them in stock and we are close to you in Tamworth, check us out in the trader section (Zedworld ) Get subscribed and get extra benefit of the club. Jeff TT

Ok here we are, by splitting the spec you have in to two groups its easier to see what can be done with ecu mapping. Passive parts that enhance performance but the ecu has no interaction with. Active parts that enhance performance and one that have a some degree of interaction with the ecu Passive parts Garrett GT2871RS roller bearing Dual cyclone Turbos HKS Irridium S40i plugs Power Enterprize induction Active parts Nismo 555 injectors Nismo Thermostat Greedy porfec eo1 boost controller So in reality despite your build spec been real nice and extensive the degree that is directly interactive with the ecu mapping is much smaller than might be thought, of course what we are talking about here is no way shape or form an in depth assessment of what can be achieved but an idea of how to assess what you want on the road. I have a few concerns on the dyno read out too which could raise some doubt on the accuracy of the figures, if you have any more info would be helpful and as I asked before auto or manual. Cheers Jeff

Danny just a quicky is your zed auto or manual? Jeff TT

Been so close to home it may be better to tow it as recovery is going to be expensive as its after hours (£80 ish) or as Tango said get another battery but be aware if the fan belts is snapped then the water pump has no drive so be careful I would tow it, get a mate with a rope. Good luck Jeff TT

Can arrange recovery for you if it helps. Jeff TT

Hi Danny, I do not know the company you have mentioned but could I ask you in all seriousness what you are trying to achieve and what your expectations are of a live mapping session as you mention? Reason I ask is I deal with the same questions every week and have had some very odd answers and some technically correct but inappropriate answers too. On the whole and not just on zeds it seems to me that there are lots of high end tuning companies are very precise at giving imprecise information about their product and services such that it becomes very ambiguous, this does not detract from their service or product just makes it more difficult for the average Joe to know what's what! Of course your engine tune at the moment and what you have planned is an important factor in deciding on a ready made eprom ("chip") replacement or one done with extra information via live data. However I really do think that you or anyone else should not discount a ready made one as not "good enough" as in the real world there is only so much that can be improved upon especially on a mildly tune one. I have all checked all of the mappings of: Eight bit Central 20 Veilside Blitz JWT (Genuine ) Superchips E-bay ones Many others cannot remember names of. All of the above are very, very, very similar and with the exception of the Veilside all are ok with UK fuel, little or no other mods and run 1 bar (14.5) psi easy and give good real work results John Dixon ( all variants ) Despite been mapped with some addition live data the changes are minimal and seem very similar to JWT ones. ( no offence John) 16 bit Central Racing ( Central 20 sister co.) Run in a late 98/99 zed at 1 bar the results were almost identical to running a series one ecu with a cloned JWT chip ?? Having dealt with many zeds running mediocre or badly sometimes the engine set up has more direct effect than the chip does, in fact a badly set up engine will often run less well with a custom chip if issue exist when tuning and are not dealt with as the whole set up is compromised. The key is ensuring the level of tune BEFORE any mapping or chip swapping is done is absolutely spot on because if they are not addressed then the results will be disappointing, detailed knowledge of the z32 engine and its characteristics and its nuances will more likely be better addressed by a zed specialist. So in my opinion unless you have some very special requirements then maybe live data inputs would have some bearing but real world driving is full of compromises and this cannot be changed. If you do not mind Danny I would love your input and thoughts on this because I have dealt with some very large rolling road proven zeds this year done by other establishments of which two had 480bhp +. BUT and this is my whole point on the road they...well hate to say it were sh?te but unfortunately they were. Loads of lag, lethargic and not quite lumpy just not smooooth how a zed should be, maybe raw is a better description. Anyhow all of these live data cars had issues that had not been resolved so after this was done they ran much better however I was still not convinced and we reverted much of the kit on these cars to standard and used pre-mapped chips. The results on each one was remarkable, much quicker response quicker 0 to 60 mph etc. etc. and smooooth how a zed should be. Now, no doubt at all in my mind that these cars will now show a lower BHP figure on a rolling road but hey the real road is where its is important eh. Ok Danny over to you :D Jeff TT

Here we are: Jeff TT

Hi Phill, this is a very common occurance and we see it all of the time and as you mentioned is caused by trolley jacks incorrectly placed. When the sill section pushes up as it is not designed to take the weight of the car at that point the front wing pops out. Good news it is relatively easy to repair / correct, simple put by undoing the wing at the bottom ( 2 x 10mm bolts ) the sill can then be straightened and then the wing will fit back and once again be level with the door. If it is bugging you feel free to call me and will get it on the ramp and sort it for you FOC. Cheers Jeff

Brake pipes are always an issue at MOT time but its good to be sure they are ok in-between MOT's also, a sudden loss of brake fluid and very poor foot pedal on this zed was quickly traced to a very corroded rear pipe that had just let go. Interestingly it and the other pipes seem to have corroded much worse where the fixing clips are, for some odd reason the normal pipe anti corrosion coating is not applied at these points, so for that reason alone this particular points need inspection more frequently. As it happens the rest of the pipes also need changing to put this right, a fair bit of wedge when its not expected, oh well to joys of zeds eh ? Jeff TT

Big Paul good luck with your zed project but take care and check out the link below:x: http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=121677 Jeff TT

Yes if you power the solenoids you will get full standard boost, as far as det protection with the standard set up if the det sensor detects a problem it kills the power to the solenoids to reduce boost. With a boost controller most people disconnect the solenoids anyway so this facility is lost. However the ecu will still retard the ignition if det occurs so a degree of engine protection still exists. Jeff TT

If the plugs have been cut off and cannot be located just apply an ignition controlled power supply to the boost solenoids and all will be restored, note though there will be no det control. Jeff TT

Classic problem with the fuse box, the one located in the drivers footwell. There is a series of relays on the back of the fuse box and these can fail and so can the connecting bars within the fusebox itself when the igition key is moved to position 1 and 2 different parts of the fuse box become live or not in your case. The easiest fix is to change the fuse box completely, oddly this does seem to effect UK spec zeds more frequently than Jap spec one. Jeff TT

Mmm...yep, weird that I could not find the missing parts, must of made one hell of noise when it let go. Jeff TT