Anders UK

I have also heard great reviews fron SE's fast road upgrade and its probably the way to go. Caution with auto box oil changes though, particularly on aged boxes. The auto on my Z failed VERY soon after an oil change and I have heard of many similar stories. The chances are that you still have 10+ year old oil in your box. Unless it has been changed religously every 2 years (max) then you may find that a fresh change will be too much for for box (too slippy) and may cause the "gear bands/clutches" to slip prematurely. I was subsequently advised to retain the existing old oil and just hang on so to speak but it was too late by then! Just my 2 cents

Front nose? Do you mean the panel that sits between the head lights? I have a genuine Nissan one for sale with badge, almost new and painted in white. Let me know if your interested. Andy

I have had the same before where it would be especially bad when cold and generally played up - all the signs of a knackered tranny. Gears were not crunching, just very stiff. Redline MT90 fully synthetic gearbox oil resolved the problem for me. It was like night and day difference. MR2's especially are well know for this problem and most UK and US owners swear by Redline Gearbox oil. This is a cheaper alternative to another expensive rebuild. Don't right off the box just yet. As a precaution, do make sure your clutch isn't dragging. Andy

Roy, They are easy to remove. Just unplug the connector, undo the screws and it slides off. 0.59 - 4.03 V shouldn't make that much difference really but do make sure the voltage increases smoothly with an increase of throttle. I have an almost new TPS if you want to try it. I replaced it on the last service before breaking the car. £25 posted. Let me know, Andy

Roy, Its very easy to check. Turn the ignition on but don't start the engine. Firmly gound the ground pin of the multimeter (wedge between some metal on the engine bay to maintain a permanent ground). The TPS has to be connected to do the check so there is no need to disconnect it. Locate where the wiring enters the TPS - you may need to pull the protective cover back to reveal the pins on the plastic connector (where the wires enter the connector). Stick the possitive end of the multimeter in the top pin of the connector. It should read 0.4 - 0.45 volts at idle. Pull the throttle cable back and continue to check the voltage. It should continue to increase to 4.0 volts (or there abouts) at WOT. You may have to be fairly firm when sticking the possitive end of the multimeter into the pin in order to get a read. If the idle reading is out then adjust the TPS to correctly read 0.4 - 0.45 at idle. If the upper reading (WOT) is badly out then you need to replace the TPS. If the voltage doesn't raise smoothly when you increase the throttle, you need to replace the TPS. Good luck, Andy

Its the thought of them scraping along the tarmac that puts me off.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1876259965

There you go Chris!!! Wild Turkey is selling his TT manual for £1500 because it has a shagged engine and he's fed up with it. Buy that car - do the conversion and then sell the remaining parts. If you work it right you could have a manual conversion for free!

I forgot to mention that was over 500hp at the wheels for the MR2. Like Topless said "Given that you alter all of the other parameters correctly, injectors, fueling, ecu etc". I agree that you can't just bolt on bigger turbos, a couple of boost jets and a Happer Shopper ecu and hope to get away with it. What was interesting was that about 8/10 of the people I have seen on forums who did upgrade the stock internals (particularly forged pistons) did so beacuse A. Its a statement! "Its cool" or B. Other people are doing it. 2/10 really knew their stuff and stated that they wanted extra protection from detonation incase the "tuning fails" plus they were aiming for silly hp anyway. Nissan built the Z engine to handle a lot more power but under tuned it because of power and emission regulations. They over did the brakes though LOL.

Ohhh, If you can actually feel the slipping of a gear then its bad. I would not even consider using a second hand unit if you are pushing 400hp. On a stock Z - maybe? You need to rebuild and UPGRADE if you want reliability with a Z auto box with that power. I would speak to AndyZ about locating a crash damaged donor car (manual) to do a conversion. I believe SE have done a number of these conversions. You might want to speak to them about prices. A decent auto box rebuild and upgrade with new TC etc will cost a good £1500 for a proper upgrade job. Andy

Yup, Dropping off the missus! Where were you mate?

I disagree with 17psi. If the fueling and charge cooling etc are all up to the job then I reckon the stock engine will easily handle 500bhp which is like 20+ odd PSI on bigger turbos!....... but there is one point and this is where people usually foul up - THE TUNING HAS TO BE PERFECT. Poor tuning, poor fuel, crappy plugs, misfires, lean conditions, detonation etc kill engines, not the power. Increased power just adds to the risk and degree of damage. I have read up a great deal on forged pistons blah blah blah. The general consensus is that people don't upgrade to forged pistons to "handle the power". They are installed to help prevent or limit the damage as a result of poor tuning, detonation etc. There is an MR2 (2 ltr turbo) in the states that ran over 500bhp on stock internals without a problem - the tuning was sweet. Sure you will get some premature wear with increased power but there has to be a compromise somewhere. Andy

"Any help or suggestions?" Lend it to another forum member for a week!

Rob, I had the same problem. There is a three solenoid pack including line pressure, shift 1 and 2. Its the LP solenoid sticking that causes all the problems. Cost about £110 for the solenoid pack. Personally I would replace all the solenoids including OD, Lockup etc. I may still have some so give me a call. They can be replaced by taking of the "belly pan" of the gearbox but the oil needs to be drained first. No need to drop the whole tranny. Any reputable auto specialist should be able to do it in less than 3 hours. Good luck, Andy

Rob, You have email. Give me a call on 07973 720987 because I may be able to help. Andy

I thought my F355 replica was good until I saw this. It doesn't get much better! http://www.procom.co.nz/f40/

Jes has got a pair of HKS jobbies at a bargain price. Check out the for sale and wanted section.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1874582531 Oops! Try this.

http://www.firebox.com/index.html?dir=firebox&action=product&pid=415 Try this

Honest Santa, I have been really good this year.... Group buy??? http://www.firebox.com/index.htmldir=firebox&action=product&pid=415

Glenn, Thats out of spec. The additional height on the rear tyres is probably throwing too much weight on the front tyres. The rear tyres are larger so the profile should be "smaller". Should be more like 265/35/18 and 235/40/18 or 265/40/18 and 235/45/18. I believe the correct rolling radius is somewhere between the two. I can tell you one thing, a comprehensive wheel alignment (optiline) goes a long way on a car like a Z. Worth every penny if you find a reputable place IMO. Get the toe-in, caster and camber checked! Also check the obvious like shagged tie rods etc. Good luck, Andy

When the engine blows up!

Thanks Jezz, That software worked a treat. It found 147 components - bloody felt like I was being watched!!! One of the components was the cause of the particular pop-up problem I was experiencing - now solved. Cheers, Andy

Chaps and Chapetts, Some how I've managed to allow some cretin to change the properties on my IE. EVERY time I am unable to locate a valid URL a load of popups appear, where before I would just get a default "can't find the requested URL" page. Does anyone know how to remove it? I'm about to put a hammer to my PC! Cheers, Andy

They are just for crankcase ventilation hense (PCV - Positive crankcase ventilation). They are spring operated - there is a valve either side of the plenum near the back. The springs do degrade over time. If the springs are shagged, the valves open with the movement of the car so...the symtoms are hesitations and idle problems (near stalling), ESPECIALLY when breaking to a standstill. Hope that helps, Andy