WillieO

dead right. good HICAS is bril. worn suspension and then HICAS gets the blame. They never thought it a bad idea even on the latest Skylines. As for big BHP unsettling it well the stock bushes will all compress and allow major toe in with 550bhp plus starts anyway so taking off the HICAS is not going to help much there. You'd have to rebush with nylon or solid buses and then the car might be fast and hold the power but sh1t to drive with all the whine and road noise coming in. All depends what you are after, a racer or a road car. Electronic rear suspension - dont you mean the last of electrically operated HICAS versions (only late model imports) using leccy solenoid acuators rather than the previous hydraulic one that most of our cars have? The electrically adjustable rear shocks on UK cars are 2 stage and have an electrical actuator on the top of the shock that switches it between hard and harder. US cars have these on all four corners with a switch inside. UK diagnostic is to get the handbrake light on and the rears harden. The wiring diagram shows the rear active shocker connections via the HICAS controller but nobody to my knowledged has explained how this actively works on the UK version. Various theories say the rear goes hard when on foot to the floor or above certain speeds etc. The HICAS programming is also apparently different being a so called high speed version rather than the one for the limited speeds of Japan. No doubt someone can explain the true differences.

Yes there is a mechanical linkage connected to the shifter - think it runs along the rhs of the box. Like Rory says, and there are electrical switches too. There are a couple or 3 of multi pin umbilical wiring connectors. I think 2 connect down by the HICAS solenoid hydraulic valve and another on the bulkhead offside area.

The engine should only rev if the aircon is on auto and it brings in the compressor. Leave it on econ and there should be no change in revs anyway. The heater should still try to achieve whatever temp you are set to. Have you had a feel at the heater hoses where they go into the bulkhead to see if they are hot otherwise it could be an airlock or blockage in the matrix.

I guess the fact that the NA engine cant suck enough air to even use twin filters is by the by here.

Loads of other issues can be working here - roundabout greasy from salt on the road or diesel spill - incorrect rear toe in or wear in HICAS arms - heavy right foot on a turbo rwd car!

Get the UK rears with the actuators and wire them up for normal and hard - no doubt you can also get the USA spec fronts with the normal hard actuators as well. Then at the flick of a switch you get hard or soft all round!

use a 0-40 synthetic in winter at least not thick stuff that takes longer to fill the hydraulic tappets after she's been standing a while and use the car more - they all do this

Wasnt there some piccys of similar shape arms all bent to bu99ery from a site down under? they were maybe pretty anodised colours instead of all shiny but certainly that shape

There are the arms which also have the inner ball joint parts in the rack and then there are the outer bushes that press into the hub carrier parts. Find out which ones are worn.

3gbrakes are good for discs - Brembo castings used http://www.3gbrakes.co.uk/main.htm

I use 265/35 18s as well. Met you at the Stirling meet. Mine are quite new but they never last that long on a zed - what do u want for them? can pm me

....and when the centre bearing is responsible for vibrations generally 40 - 60 ish and especially when cold it isnt actually the bearing itself thats stuffed. It is the the rubber bellows that supports and centres it. After 10+ years it is harder than a witches t1t and usually has perished and cracked up leaving the bearing sagged on the bottom of the mount transmitting vibes thru the body. A new bearing costs £135-£150 and it usually needs about 3 hours labour to change it. Exhausts to drop and the centre of the prop to be split requiring an impact wrench on the big nut. I bodged mine up for a while before doing it right by jacking up the centre of the prop and temporarily packing the centre bearing with rubber strip about 1/4 in thick tucked into the bellow part on the underneath side. It works loose after a few months but otherwise works

Also check the connector on the wiring - I had a lazy NS one that suddenly worked fine when the connector was cleaned up. The blade contacs were slack and with green oxide in them - NS on top of the rear of the plenum

Thats what it is. The lock up of the torque converter makes it feel like another gearchange. So around 2700rpm 80mph. When my last auto box was on the way out the lock up stopped engaging about a month before it totally expired. You can get it to engage at just over 40mph hot sometimes with a very light throttle

Euro models were rated for doing 155 near continuous on the autobahn whereas Japan home market models were limited to 112mph so were never expected to need that much cooling. Euro water rad also has much more cooling in it. Same reason the Euro / UK ones have a diff oil cooler on as well.

if it aint broke dont fix it

Cant u claim on your home insurance? storm damage

dont the UK ones all get the big Brembos as stock and isnt the main part of the extras pack the Rays lightweight forged alloys? I'm sure the 350z site can tell u. Think the orange leather is another £350 on top

mines done almost 140k miles and oil and fuel pumps appear original so that means pretty reliable imho. Oil pressure guage senders are crap and misread within 2 years however.

Drop in replacement on mine 3+ years ago for £80 outside my office and still going strong. R416 or 426 something that sounds like that but defo not the 134a stuff in current cars. The zed system runs at really high pressure and the new stuff isnt right for it without serious mods as it needs even higher pressures. The drop in works fine as mine has proved so far and no seals changed no receiver drier changed etc.

Mike is right - you cant get the engine hot enough with idling - the fan is too good. You'd have to fill it right up with water take it a good run at 70 ish or up a good hill to load it up, park up switch off and wait. The heat soak will bring a pressure rise and a few minutes after switch off the tiny crack in the hose will open up and dump some water on the hot turbo or exhaust then you get steam. Ive got exactly the same leak and I am leaving it till it gets a little warmer before I fix it. and keeping a close eye on the water - it hardly loses any and only gets steam rarely. After you switch off squeeze the top hose - it should begin to harden (sounds iffy this:)) as the pressure rises - if it doesnt rise then the leak is too big and leaking all the time not just under high pressure.

mines gets Castrol RS0-40 - I vote thin stuff - 4 years now and its never run so quiet. even on start up the clatter it used to do after no use for a week or so has gone. There are lots of opions on oil and some want the thick stuff at 60 but unless you are permanently on the track with a 500bhp+ motor I think its wrong to go that thick.

hydraulic tappets tapping - lack of use - use decent 40 grade synthetic and use the car more and it'll disappear as the gunge is washed out of the sticky one.

tt needs about the whole 4litres

gearbox mount also sags with age and can leave the prop running at a less than perfect angle. I'd also get the flange bolts on the prop all checked in case any are loose. Otherwise you might have a UJ failing