JeffTT

https://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?168050-Fusebox-corrossion-targa-drains-and-a-broken-neck&highlight=Fuse+box

Evening Gio, there is plenty going on there, and the figures are showing the ecu is trying stabilise things. The injector idle is high, the aav is high, the tps is high and the temp is low. If this is a warmed up engine then you have a faulty thermostat and the engine is running in cold mode, this potentially will cause low boost also. So first you need to address the running temp and confirm the temp when fully warmed up. Get the tps adjusted closue to 0.46v and at that mileage given the low price would replace the spark plugs for nice fresh ones. Jeff

So does that not make the 30 year Z32 build celebration last year ?? Jeff

Ah yes and the exact reason I stopped helping these people with information, journalistic license to edit out what they like even if it unbalances the article, we had numerous approaches in the day from Jap magazines for buying information etc. and write ups but rarely gave us any mention, one I did for Practical Classic many years ago was the only straight one without errors or mis-quotes. Jeff

Not sure why the edit ? mentioning Zcenter in the article was akin to recommending Genghis Khan as the new minister for transport !

Oh dear, this is such a minefield of opinion versus fact, now the variable valve timing system for that era of car and is very well details in the above link is designed when off to give a smooth idle ( which artificially reduces "torque" and increases "torque" back as the revs and engine load rise, basically again in that era of engine design and given the space restrictions the camshafts were relatively high lift for maximum power which is torque and not BHP remember. Also and this is essentially important to understand, not all variable valve systems are equal, do not be mixing up the vg30 variable valve system with Honda`s VVT Variable Valve Timing & Lift Electronic Control, with it`s quintessential engine power curve enhancer, two different concepts that often get mixed up due to generic description by motoring journalists. The trouble with high lift cams is the horrendous idle issue with over lapping valve timing, high vacuum and low air speed through the cylinders, anyone who has been close to a rally car on tick over will of witnesses how it is not unusual to have a 2k rpm or even higher tick over speed as the engine has race high lift cam and cannot run at low speed due to the aforementioned problem, american muscle cars often feature high lift cams and can be heard at tick over by the unstable idle and ignition sound. So what to do ? and back in the late eighties before the common use of variable inlet tracts ( butterfly operated to increase volumatic length) which all but cancel out the need for vvt. The vvt on the vg3.0 is to smooth out what is already there, not to add to it, it is more of a work around than a fix, the fix if you like came later when they were able to use increased processing power of the 16bit ecu to use stabilise the torque curve electronically,the power is not decreased in real life situations just dealt with a more modern approach. Have to say the short version of the article is very well written and nice one to Simon for that, do not agree with all of it but the point about UK cars been scrapped off years back when the prices were low made complete sense and does answer why there are so few original UK cars around.

Do you mean accessory or ignition on, if the later the engine sensors are all powered and with the coil packs will eat power... also interior lights can be hard on the battery especially if it is not 100% charged, even in accessory position many of the modules power up ready for the start, typically maybe 0.5 to 3.0 amps depending is just radio or cd player etc. with the interior lights and modules, with an 80 amp battery at say 75% charge then not as long as you would thing. Most modern cars have a 20 minute cut off for the radio if the engine is not running for just this reason. Jeff

A few things to consider, the steering rack solenoid works on 5 volts, and if you had it energised at motorway speeds it would be so light it would be dangerous. Jeff

Did you do a header trace? At least see where roughly it has come from....that said hoax mails are often bounced around various servers to hide themselves...as you will know.

The rev counter takes its signal from the cas unit which also is the trigger point for the coil packs / spark plugs if the engine is running ok without revs rising and falling then it can only be one of two things, an issue with the signal cable / connector on the back of the cluster or the rev counter itself, check all the connections are firmly plugged in on the back. Jeff

Ha ha that's funny, like telling a Muslim joke......whoops !

Richard I will have to disagree in part with you, the UK cars and import cars both have merits, the UK car is not superior, the import car is not superior. many, many UK cars were produced and I worked on with cloth manual seats and no cruise control ( mainly manuals) the leather series II with heated seats and alcantara trim are truly lush, automatic control on import ( hold and power ) is a feature, along with fold back mirrors the UK zed never got, like wise the UK cars all had manual and diff oil coolers that the import cars did not get ( although never seen a true reason for them) along with electrically adjustable rear dampers, all good standard fittings. The import cars though had front lower spot lights to aid the appalling headlights and front corner indicators, all nice and seemingly "extra" to UK trim, but hey the cars are basically the same, even though it took the insurance companies a long time to accept. Later cars are viewed poor man version in many ways, poor insulation, minus variable valve timing, poor carpets and boost gauge removed from the speedo cluster, however they added other parts like recaro seats, 99 spec bumpers, lights etc. so they now are sought after. Jeff

Not seen too many zeds at £22k recently, that said you are bang on the money how UK spec cars have been lorded over imports despite having less toys on and been more subject to UK winters, what often misses on UK models is there was base options and many came with manual seats as an example, of course all of these are essentially the same car, but and we had many a laugh at this in the day, when UK cars are advertised as having full Nissan service history as if that made it better ? erm no, we actually did work for two Nissan dealers who would send any zeds that came in, we did the work and they passed it off as their own. Jeff

Well the good news is by looking around the various trade sellers have stopped trying to sell 30 year old zeds for £20k in a bid to create a fake price structure ! Many of these cars have been previously mentioned here as they tumbled to £15k, £10k and then disappeared, no doubt selling for a more reasonable price. So now there is many really good sub £8k zeds around and some less than perfect sub £4k zeds around, of course there are some exceptional cars owned by members here which I doubt will ever be sold and they would command very exclusive pricing. So that leaved the current price range on E-bay, Piston Heads and Auto trader and range from £4k to £8k Inspection, mileage, condition and paper work is the key, oh and inspection cannot be emphasised enough, buying from Japan has the advantage of not been subject to UK winters and salt, but and has been witnessed here more than once, there are still some less than perfect zeds sold through auction houses with dubious condition reports. Personally, I think when buying a 30 year old car, finding one you can put your hands on really is a better choice. Jeff Fair difference in quality between these two..as reflected in the price £7,495 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-300-ZX-Twin-Turbo-Very-Low-Miles/254026881454?_trkparms=aid%3D888007%26algo%3DDISC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D55677%26meid%3Da610c89c47cd4e158628e7526d2f27bc%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D303042666209%26itm%3D254026881454&_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982 £3,800 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-300ZX-Auto-Twin-Turbo-UK-Spec-Fully-Restored-and-MOTd/303042666209?hash=item468ec01ee1:g:pBsAAOSwzFhcPkoz:rk:2:pf:0

Actually, yes your right!

The year was 1999, and a new concept Z is revealed, with plenty of the then popular ( and now ) retro features that somehow got switched out 5 years later in the 350z, got to say I quite like the concept car, less in your face and more cool than an early 350z, interestingly the apparent 2004 350z paint codes are clearly older than you would think. http://testdrivejunkie.com/1999-nissan-z-concept-car/ Jeff

Defo a job for another day.. Jeff

100% agree with most of what your saying there, have bought and sold repaired cars, and all too often insurance companies are way too quick to write vehicles off. That said, not only the trade but many ( not in the know ) retail buyer`s will shy away from repaired cars and it has to be reflect in the resale value, as the years roll on the repair status is not so important as proven use after the event will reaffirm the cars mechanically. Jeff

The car was sold in 2017 from a garage that sold many accident damaged or very iffy motors by auction ( e-bay usually ) with no reserve , they are located adjacent to a Coparts salvage yard and when advertised they mentioned the cat C status as they we compelled to of course. Over the years I have owned and sold many accident damaged cars and can be a good way to get a high end car that has had a great repair job done for a big percentage off. Cat D is around 25% off the price bit cat C is maybe as much as 50% of the price, trouble is the 300zx does not have a book price anymore. Jeff

You all realise this is a shown on the write off registered as a previous cat c car ? which even if the damage was not horrendous it still seriously effects the resale value. Jeff

Do you have a zx project car yet? Jeff

Well that is an odd one for an automatic zed given how long legged it is as standard, are you sure your gearbox is achieving torque lock-up ? reason I mention that is I found on average ( wheel size dependant ) that in top gear 3+overdrive + torque lock-up ( feels like 5 changes ) 1k rpm equates to 29/30 mph, manuals on the other hand are a fair chunk lower around the 25mph for 1krpm ( 5th gear) and the trend for fitting non turbo diffs to manual tt`s to increase acceleration drops that to around 21 mph for 1k rpm way too noisy and unsettled for a long motorway drive in what should be a GT car, I get you looking for the opposite though. So to answer your question, yes there will be consequences, the torque curve of the engine and the auto-box have been pre-programmed, there is a degree of live data but no torque vectoring on a 30 year old car I am afraid, so you could potentially end up with a pretty lifeless car in top gear on the motorway which could leave the box unsettled, fitting larger wheels may be a compromise. If your unhappy with how it feels, I would first find a long strech of road, and pull away with a fully warmed up car and drive up to at least 60mph and count the perceivable changes in the transmission, you should feel five, if any less you have your answer. Jeff

Oh dear, this does not bode well for you been able to use the ConZult and understand it if you get it working.....:whistling:

The 300zx manual gearbox is very strong in in normal service and when serviced correctly and should pose no really problem coping with power increases, the weakness however is the drivers, badly executed gear changes when on the power will snick the synchromesh on third and forth gear, and by far the worse is lack of oil changes / service, both auto and manual boxes have service intervals and the moment any upgrades are done that is even more important to address at lower mileage, amazingly the gearbox is often forgotten about, till there is a problem of course Trouble is the boxes are in the main 30 year old clunkers and don`t expect to get the best of a box that has not been well used or maintained, of course there are exception out there but don`t expect to find them available very easily as they are like to be installed in the high price range cars that have been looked after. They are difficult to source repair / rebuild parts for and as far as I know they are still available brand new in the states so, that would be a nice way to do it. The only gearbox I know that has a ready made bell adapter available is the Nissan ( sorry ) Renault 350z 6 speed box and that is as good as a chocolate fire guard after 30k miles anyhow, and that I have witness first hand with at least 50% of our 350z owners we had. Jeff