WillieO

In my limited experience handbrake cables just dont stretch. The danger is someone adjusts the cable to tighten up thinking it will make the handbrake better. Instead what it does is put tension on the shoes even when it is off. You then cant adjust the shoes properly because they are not backed off properly with the handbrake down. Maybe you need to start by slackening the cable right off. Then adjust the shoes with the star wheel to bring em just into contact with the drums - then yank the handbrake on and off a few times to centre the shoes - then re adjust again till the brakes bind then back the adjuster just off enough. Only then check that there is not too much slack in the cable and do the cable. The cable should equalise itself between both wheels. The shoes on a zed should not be worn unless you do regular handbrake turns. They dont get used as the rear disc pads do the braking when moving. Mine has big mileage and adjusted up fine. I didnt touch the cable. I know nobody likes to think that they didnt do it right but just maybe its the cable tension thats stopping your brake shoes adjusting right. Somtimes you need to look at the opposite logic!

Clutch release bearing or thrust bearing can be noisy for ages and carry on working fine but beware if you begin to feel real roughness coming through the clutch pedal as it could be about to break up and leave you clutchless. Like Paul says you need to drop the box to replace it and if you go that far it makes sense to drop in a new friction plate anyway for all the estra cost it is - you then have a full new clutch. If your clutch is otherwise good it may be that the last time it was replaced they re used the old release bearing.

Cant you verify the sensor by taking it out of the equation and shorting with the 1 megohm resistor or whatever the det healthy resistance is? At least if the boost goes up higher you'll know you have a det problem or a det sensor problem

Shims should be OK unless some were lost or well rusty. You have a pair for each pad including a cut off one. Not sure if replacements are easy to get Look out for stuck or sticking pistons And there are 3 drive belts!

Mine is a little louder than I'd like for long distance motorway cruises but sounds great on a country road at 5000rpm. The noise is definitely related to how far down your foot is! And the child in me cant help but drop the windows and floor it when going through tunnels and underpasses. I had heard that If you do drop the cats then lagging the first 3 feet or so of the exhausts helps dampen some of the noise. At low speed and low revs its a bit V8 ish and burbles. Cant sneak in late to the office as I'm told they can hear it coming from the road end.

Grab a hold of each boost hose at the ends when the engine is well warmed up and twist it a little to see if it moves on the pipe connection. You might find one not totally tight and this can be enough to let go the extra few lbs of boost. Think of that extra oomph you've yet to experience!

Mine is made up of twin straight through at at least 3.5" dia in welded sections because it is too big to bend. At the end are welded on Apexi cans with I think 5" tips. It was exhaust manifold back but way too loud so the cats went back in to make it cat back. Check my ride page

Dont touch the tps to adjust the idle! Mine has a blob of white paint on the TPS screws that shows it has not been touched since new. There is an electronically controlled valve at the back of the plenum rhs called the AAC. This holds the tickover at a preset rpm controlled by the ecu. I had the same high tickover after cleaning the throtle bodies. You need to reset that. You take the connector off it to stop the ecu trying to control it then set the tickover manually first by a screwdriver. Check the manual! It is quite hard to get at with the crewdriver wanting to be where the battery is. So you need a short one! Set tickover to 700rpm for a TT or 650 for a manual NA - 720 Auto NA. Dont tinker with the tps it affects so many other systems - eg auto box change points. Willie

Are you serious? Letting out hot water is asking for trouble. You could get water boiling instantly when you reduce the pressure - you'll then get well steamed! Anyway it is supposed to be hard and holding pressure when hot - if it was soft it would mean a leak somwhere. There shouldnt be any connection with engine revs though. Cant explain that one.

Would normally assume its the same bit as illustrated in sticky above that has all the cracks in it due to the tension arm flexing it! (and a really ropey looking bottom ball joint gaitor).

Sounds like blow-by from toasted piston rings if its fuming out the oil filler hole at hot tickover. A rebuild and re ring should do it but if it has been hard used it may need a rebore with new pistons. If you go to all that work then prolly regrind the crank as well. Might as well get another engine!

Dave Try starting it with the filler cap already off. If it wont start it already points to the PCV or some related fault drawing air (fumes) permanently from the crankcase into the inlet manifold and vacuuming it. I have to admit that I dont understand how PCV's and breather kits affect the turbos. I imagined the suction was either drawing oil into the manifold and then through that cylinder bank of the engine to be burnt rather than past the exhaust side turbine seal on that side. If it starts but you feel a lot of suction when you put your hand over it or alternatively a lot of fumes and crankcase pressure it could point to blown piston rings. Good luck Willie

Would running at tickover with the oil filler cap off not show up a duff pcv? You would feel the suction and by taking the cap off stop the system sucking oil into the turbo if that is what happens

Why bother? Decent oil stays on the main and big end bearings if they are in good condition. There's loads of us got zeds with way over 130000miles and never needed a gadget like this. As for the blurb quote And every time the engine is started, several hundred revolutions of the crankshaft occur before pressurized oil is present to lubricate the bearings. This design flaw results in dry bearing abrasion each and every time the engine is started. unquote That is *****cks! Maybe on a model T Ford A modern engine might take 2 seconds before the oil pressure guage shows pressure or the light goes off and that might equate to 30/40 revolutions of the crankshaft - hardly several hundreds! and the oil is already on its way round the lube galleries as soon as the starter cranks it. Sure the max wear does occur in the first minutes after a cold start and something like this might be a help in increasing engine life but its hardly a necessity. Some of that wear is due to cold oil and cold metal clearances. Sure you might also hear hydraulic tappets rattle for a second or two but that is harmless. Another "design fault" of this gadget is that it holds onto the engine oil pressure at switch off - that would be hot idle oil oil pressure which is usually about 25psi at best. Hardly going to be surging round a dryish engine when the oil is also cold when it is again switched on. If this prelube thing was really a worry to engine designers they would have designed in an electric oil pump for prelubing before start up alternatively letting the starter turn the engine a few revs before ignition on. Sorry to rant just mho. Yet another gadget without a real need for it. I would spend it on good oil and petrol and just enjoy! Suppose it goes faulty and leaks away pressure? "If it aint broke dont fix it!"

Mines exactly the same. How do you fix it?

Also road testing is hardly scientific. It can depend in how brutal / talented the tester is in dropping the clutch at the right time, road surface, temperature, tyres, fuel, whether the test car has been tweaked - easy to do with a turbo car. Skoda gave a discretely 220hp AudiTT chipped car for a road test comparison with 150bhp hot hatches including an Audi and VW Golf all with supposedly the same 150bhp engine - guess who won? The 4.5sec to 60 GTZ beasts are something else and even the 5.9sec to 60 for a stock 90 auto. They even have numbers for tests with intake only and intake and exhaust.

Performance stats http://www.z32.org/html/z32perf.shtml

£60-£70 on petrol

Just the action of un plugging the tps connector and re fitting it again helps clean up the connections. They get oxide on them and a bad connection. If you had the jerking temp guage needle its the same thing but on the connection for the small temp sender. Also take off and re fit the big ecu temp sender. Of course take appropriate care doing this as the wiring and coonnectiors are brittle at the age these cars are at. If my idle rpm is above 1000rpm hot I know that opening the bonnet and giving the wiring at the tps a wiggle always settles the tickover back down to 700 where it was set. Do it with the engine running to locate the problem. Take care! Fingers dropped in the fan will be seriously shortened or your nail biting habit will be permanently cured!

I fitted front fogs on my UK http://rides.300zx.co.uk/rides/135/Copyoffront.jpg They do help in bad weather but not as much as I hoped considering they are another 2 X 55W bulbs

Not only will you need big muscles to work the brakes the steering will be something else as well with no power assistance at low speed. Try turning off the engine while going slowly on a private road to get an idea of the effect! Dont pull the key out to apply the steering lock ffs.

Had something similar in my other car - I found two wheel nuts werent torqued up tight and the wheel was moving slightly against the hub each rpm giving the clicks. Sounds obvious I know but I was sure I'd tightened those wheels properly when they were off recently. Better check it out as even some hot braking on just new wheels can melt the paint on the hub to wheel contact surface as the heat transfers from the hub. Result is paint oozes out and the nuts are no longer holding the wheel tight onto the hub if you see what I mean. Last thing you need on a quick car is a wheel coming off!! also check the correct hub ring is on the wheels so that the wheels are centring properly and not running off centre slightly giving the steering wheel knock.

Hate to be negative John but the other side wont be far behind it. Mine started with goo on one side then within a year goo both sides.

Other poss is HICAS plumbing at the back

UK car has the diff oil cooler. Can be same old problem with rubber hoses going hard. Mine had a leak from the pipework connections up near the cooler. Watch for that as a good 90mph plus run will get the temp up enough to turn on the pump and nearly empty your diff of oil. Always some left though they thought of that and didnt put the pickup pipe too deep in the diff. Mine needed nearly a litre to top it back up. The cooler is on the drivers side of the diff but the pipework runs back and along the rear valence inside before going up to the cooler.