WillieO

You get to know exactly when it will change gear and can be mechanically sensitive anyway. I find manual changing too sluggish. There's always a short time lag before the gears change. Plus the Z uses ignition timing retardation to damp the shock at the change points in light throttle changes

I see in the piccy in Pauls link above that the car also has electronic actuators on the front shocks. Looks like USA cars can have the 2 position shocks all round.

Dumb question maybe. I can see where the air goes in but not where it comes out. ??? Also is there an easy way to clean up the fins. The lower couple of inches of each of mine have the fin edges bashed - probably with small stone impacts over time. Obviously this impedes airflow through and thus charge cooling. If I could get to the back of them easily maybe a water jet from behind would straighten them back out and clean out any crud etc improving airflow. Water from the front would only make them worse. :confused:

Hasnt LRP got the additives to coat the exhaust valves to lubricate and stop them wearing apart from the octane rating? - One of the functions of lead until the arrival of hardened valve seats. I think you just get left with 2 dead cats rather than a de cat - poisoned, expired, deceased etc. Maybe better check with the chemists as the LR stuff might even lead to the honeycomb ceramic structure getting furred up with additive and a zed with two tight pussy's wont breath at all! This could be one time when happiness isnt!

go to links above then z32.org. That includes USA test results for an auto. The only ones I've ever seen so far too.

the new 3.5 doesnt seem to be a revver - redline at 6500 I think. Seems low for such a modern v6

Wouldnt a Consult show up one cylinder being down on the rest or a whole bank? A burnt valve would mean much less rpm drop when that one has its fuel disconnected. Also a compression test would confirm it. It would be zero on one cylinder with a burnt valve. Suppose the obvious like plugs has been checked. A burnt valve burns right out pretty quickly and you would hear it plus the hot gases by-passing the exhaust valve might overheat the cat bringing on that warning light. The misfire would be throughout the rpm not just at idle. If its defo mechanical and one whole bank then it could be the cam belt having slipped a couple of teeth on that side but unlikely. Otherwise I hope its a wiring loom issue or duff ptu - anything rather than head off stuff.

Not quite true Warren. The only thing Rolls Royce aero engines shares with Rolls Royce cars (owned by BMW) is the RR brand logo and the aero company always owned that. Used to work for them and still have my authentic RR keyring! When VW bought Bentley they thought they were buying Rolls Royce cars too but RR aero engines stuffed that deal in BMW's favour because they had the rights to the brand logo and it wasnt ever going on a VW! Plus there's been other collaborations too.

but thinner on some NAs

Sticking pistons. These cars are getting on a bit and UK ones have had salty winters. The pistons rust and sieze. Mine also ruined and warped a set of new Nissan discs in less than 10k due to this. Remember you still have brakes with only 2 or 3 of each front calipers 4 pistons not sticking. Just not very good ones and ones that unevenly heat the discs. my 2 p worth.

Could be loads of things but look for what was disturbed during the clutch change. Maybe the intake boost pipe clips were slackened when they tilted the engine to drop the box and not re tightened. A slack clip or loose connection on just one of the boost pipes could be enough to loose the extra boost pressure when the pressure gets past 7psi. Also are you basing boost level on the stock guage or an aftermarket one. Showing 7-9 on the stock guage could mean safety boost because of some other cause - bad temp sensor connection etc 9.5psi is normal for a stock car. 14psi / 1 bar you had before suggests either modified / boost jets or over reading stock guage

Ray Nothing to do with the handbrake then? That is a separate drum brake?

You will get lots of opinions here. The handbook says the recommended viscosity number for the widest ambient temp range -20C to plus 40C is 10W30, 10W40 or 10W50. I use 0W40 full synthetic last 2 and a half years. I have a high mileage and get a little hydraulic tappet noise when I start it cold. Others here swear by 10W60. I guess the slightly thicker oil to get the 60 rating might have benefits on the track or with a rattly engine. As long as the 10W40 oil you have is a reputable make its OK. My full Nissan service history showed semi synthetic all its life till I got it.

About £1.20 from Nissan?

When I first got mine an aquaintance saw me and said what's this then - mid life crisis? I said nope - its a 300ZX - isnt it gorgious! Havent tried a mid life crisis yet but if its as good as a zed I might have one!

Colin Whats your launch technique? Hold on the brake and dial in enough revs to begin to boost when the light goes on get off the brake or dial in the revs and bang it in D or gently into D and then floor it. I was wondering if the shock affects things. I recall a test with Paddy Hopkirk (Name from the past) who tested an auto box by repeatedly putting it from N to D to N to R back to N back to D at 5000rpm and the box just took it. Then again these were with cars where 130bhp was a lot. My guess would follow Peter's with a broken clutch set

Colin Were you giving it large at the time? Was this hot after a couple of runs or early when it was still quite cool? Peter I remember the vibration with yours, it felt a bit like a slight misfire after 2/3000rpm. Were you also pushing it when it finally went? (Commiserations - just trying to learn how not to do the same with mine)

I noticed more neg camber on my N/s rear than the other one. Checked the adjuster thing and it was well into the negative end. Reajusted it out as far as possible and found the other side was already at max positive on the settings. The rear wheels are still very slightly neg camber but much much better. Then I found that this adjustment puts out the toe-in as well. So re set my toe-in using my home made tracking tool. 2 pieces of wooden beading flat side to flat side held together with elastic bands. Use as a measure of the track. Dont laugh! It works. Measure at the wheel rims back and front until you see the 0-4mm toe in level. I know not dead accurate but it was good enough to spot 8mm toe in. Anyway i wasted a set of tyres in 4k one time with a "professional" who didnt know how to use or calibrate his fancy equipment. So I tend to trust my own old technology now. You are right about the fronts being more problematic tho. My 130k car has original springs and no sign of sag. New shocks all round and top links were 40k ago and one side has signs of going again. No real negative camber problem at the front tho. If springs had sagged then this would defo cause too much neg camber.

when gas goes from liquid form to vapour doesnt it chill something serious just like a refridgerant. Maybe it could have some charge cooling effect better than petrol? Does it get injected somewheres near the fuel injectors or is it dumped in further up the manifold?

Oil leak at the rear? If its not the diff then on UK cars the rear oil cooler pipe connections can leak. Did it on mine and leaked onto the offside exhaust. Imports dont have the rear oil cooler afik Other poss is hicas piping but then it should be reddish in colour! Beware of any brake hydraulics leaking

I put Mintex £35 on my grooved discs 10k later about half worn. No noise not much dust and stop fine. My grooves go the non aggressive way and spiral out backwards. ?

.. and even further north our local chip shop still does deep fried mars bars and snickers bars in batter! talk about haute cuisine! and they also deep fry pizza as well as do the proper kind! best of all we have some spaces between the cars here!

I know this has been done to death but I still dont understand it. An auto transmission is more lossy but if its tested in overdrive locked out it is in 1:1 ratio through the autobox and also has its torque converter clutch locked up so it has no autobox losses as such in that situation. It should therefore have about the same transmission losses as a manual with the difference only being in the differential which is a different ratio in an auto. So what are the normal transmission losses? I thought around 40 - 50bhp? but what do tests say? How accurate are dynos? I heard they were often "adjusted" so as not to hurt the pride of the hot hatch brigade. My mates upgraded STI Scooby showed 300bhp on the engine with 100 lost in the 4wd transmission I guess meaning 200 left at the wheels. So Lack300, if your standard ran 276 at the wheels it suggests at least 320 at the engine which is much more than the stock supposedly 280.

was that a K&N for a TT too?

Stillen in the US markets the euro spec radiator as a 30% more cooling job. If a tuned engine has problems with cooling then thats the first step before using bigger fans. Stuart - the guy with the 240Z had a locked up viscous fan that would consume a lot of hp as it would be driving air all the time. I bet he had no over heating problems though. So no great surprise he gets a big improvment taking it off. I used to do the same in winter with my old 240Z. Could prolly get away with it on the 300 in winter too. I think you can check your leccy fan is operating by pulling out the fan relay. When I got the aircon re charged the guy had it going otherwise I've never yet heard it running. I've also checked the viscous coupling after hot traffic and I've never felt it locked up. So could be broke I suppose or more likely never been hot enough - yet. Only had it 2.5 years