andyb

this is a tough one to describe ! Have Tein coilovers and front strut brace. little too hard and low for my 30 somthing rear but it came like that and whilst fun on a little squirt up the A roads its a nightmare on anything but smooth tarmac. Has when cold always had a little 'grating' sound undr bonnet when going over bumps but has now got really bad and sounds like a bunch of metal trays being slung about in a bag! Nothing visible and can only hear it when driving so cant work it out! my strut brace shows signs of bonnet under mat rubbing but seems too grating for this and also seems strut brace or gaskets are fooked which makes me think its the strut brace rubbing on the struts???? Anyone had this or similar? Will be at zedworld sunday, snow permitting! perhaps a little christmas quiz and prize for the one who works it out!!!!!

I paid 2k for mine with front bumper, rear bumper, tailgate skin fitted and sides smoothed out. It was a nightmare! Went back 3 times - the first time they only painted and fitted the bumpers and tailgate skin and tried to charge me 2k!! They hacked out the exchasut ports on the rear bumper and did not bumper to tidy it up and there is slight reaction on the paint on the tailgate skin. Targas and windscreen pilars were left out altogether! My advice would be take it to a custom place and not just a normal shop that really just fit and paint panels and be absolutley clear about what you want! In hindsight i should have told them exactly what i wanted in writing rather than rely on a phone call. Still not turned out too bad- they did do good job on smoothing the sides...

I'm curious to know how these kits affect the ABS set up?

cheers all, finally got around to subscribing and thought i better get a bit more involved. Got rid of the 350Z so can send a bit more time and hopefull money on the 300 and get some other bits done. Always Loved the lines of the 300 and wanted to keep it close to standard but just kind of update it a bit. Sadly body shop was a bit of dire experience, rather than replace the exhasut rubbers to lift the tail pipes up slightly, they hacked and i mean hacked the bottom out of the bumper without even smoothing or finishing it off! Tailgate skin filler has a slight raction on it that needs sorting too, yet they made an awesone job of smoothing the sides and rest of the paintwork. I can sympathise with a few of the stories on here about poor work- really can sour your enjoyment of things. It went back and forth to the shop 3 times in 8 months and in the end i just threw the toys out and took it back home not quite as i wanted.

Cyrus, not really a bodykit, the front bumper is the 99spec, the rear has tailgate skin and rear bumper is the zenon, all from Z-centre. I just got the bodyshop to smooth out the sides.

http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz215/andyb3n/IMG_1101.jpg http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz215/andyb3n/IMG_1102.jpg http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz215/andyb3n/IMG_1092.jpg

£20 sent by bank transfer ref Andyb

Jeff, new ECU arrived and plugged in, I now have a happy Z again! Quite a lively little unit the new one! Thanks for your prompt help.

Now this is odd! The eprom chip says Mitsubishi on it!!! not sure how i missed that at the weekend:wack: and then looks as though someone has written Z32 Auto on it in pen! Had a look underneath this time and the solder underneath the chip also appears to have broken down on a number of connections. This leads me to the conclusion that the car has been chipped while it was in Japan as I bought the car as a fresh import 6 years ago. I always thought it seemed a bit more lively than standard ( had UK manual years ago and it's also pokier than the 350Z I just got rid of!) seems to answer the question. Also leads me to conlude Jeff is again correcto ! :bow: Jeff can I take you up on the offer of me sending you the ECU to plug into your emulator? Can get it sent special delivery tomorow. Hopefully we can get this sorted in time for me to come and eat your Pork Cobs!:rolleyes:

Thanks Tudor...will take a look at it and see what I can see!

Stick me down for a spot! about time i got my butt along to something like this.... Pork rolls always a deal clincher!

I have to admit that the way it's behaved does make me think its a dodgy connection somwhere. Seemed all fine then as car had a bit of jolt it went wrong again and after a bit of amateur fiddling it was ok again. Still ran better after temp sensor changed so that clearly needed doing. Just need to check connections again when I have time. Where's the eprom?

Right, all seemed well, then hit a bit of bump and engine check light and light and fan came on again!!!! Turned car off and on again and still on, tapped ECU in desperation and light went off and fan stopped, drove car back home and all is fine- still better since temp sensor changed. ECU code still shows code 55 - no errors. Perhaps an intermittent ECU fault ??? cant see any loose connections. Anything else i should check ?

Thanks Jeff...kind of! started up this morning without fan on or engine check light but idle was lumpy and not normal at all. Decided to take ECU out and checked it, no visible circuit damage at all. reconnected it and ran diagnostic and got 55 ( no errors) however still idled badly. Turned off and on again and fan kicked in again :-( So decided to replace temp sensor and connector and this looks like its done the Job as Idle back to nice and smooth and driving fine again if not better than before. Just about to clear up and go for a decent run as its dry and sunny. Fingers crossed!

new temp sensor and connector arrived. I assume this is a simple unscrew the old, install the new, splice new connector on and plug in?! oh and keep fingers crossed and pray to the Zed gods this is the answer :-)

Have done an ECU check this morning and get code 13 - coolant temp sensor circuit. Guess this ties in with the intermittent kicking in of the fan. The conneshould ctor looks worse for wear and corroded so that appears the obvious thing but i check anything else before i get a new temp sensor and conector? Cant get a reading off the left o2 sensor either. Time for some TLC I think.

Thanks Jeff. I will run another ECU check. Last time it was all clear even though check light and fan came on.

I have an intermitent issue where the electric fan kicks in and i get check engine light. Car then runs badly. Fanalo come son just with ignition on an and not with engine running. I have taken off temp sensor and cleaned it up and car runs ok but problem does return eventually. Have used a connector cleaner this morning and it doesn't come onon ignition. To check it i disconnected temp sensor and put ignition on and the fan doesn't kick in.... so now i have no idea what's going on ! Any idea ?

I'm lucky enough to have both and they are two very different beasts not least that they are a decade of design apart. As much as i think the 350Z is a great car - the brembo brakes and handling are brilliant - it's always felt underpowered and just lacking a little something. The 300 just feels punchier when the turbos kick in but hell the standard brakes are woefull in compariosn to the Brembos on the 350 - next mod for me is brake upgrade. The crunch is biting and i may have to get rid of one...it will be the 350 that goes first and i think that sums it up!

Thanks guys, all seems ok now. Temp sensor was a little dirty so cleaned it up- connector is a little broken so may have worked itself a bit loose. Ran diagnostic again and all ok other than left o2 sensor doesnt flash under test so assume it's running lean that side.

got it. code 55- no errors. Check engine light now gone, fan stopped. off to test it. most odd.

Thank you! followed this but no flashing led. It just stays permanently on ?

Well it had to happen sometime ! 5 years of trouble free running my second Z and the engine check light finally came on when i started her up. Fan kicked in straight away as well ???? I cant find the thread that shows me how to run a diagnostic check for fault codes. Can someone help please?

Just swiched my insurance to these guys and saved a fortune! Someone else on here mentioned them - thank you whoever it was. I had been with Houghtons on a second car policy for last 5 years with limited to 5k mileage per annum and they wanted nearly £600 ! I only pay £460 full comp for my 350Z! - I was resigned to taking the the thing off the road this year but as soon as the sun came out I thought again and did a search on here for insurance..... one phone call to Lynbrook and and £259 ! No prizes for what i'm up to this evening! Lynbrook Insurance Specialist Risk (Lynbrook), Library House, New Road, Brentwood, Essex, CM14 4GD. Telephone: 0845 130 4662