Scarecrow

That looks spot on, nice work!

Hi Richard, thanks for the advice. My only issue with the control boxes is I had all sorts of problems on my Land Rover as the control box for the kit didn’t always recognise when the alternator was running, despite everything checking out, so eventually I hard-wired to a switched live and used a relay to the lights. That also avoided them coming on when it was on a battery conditioner. I see most of the kits include a controller anyway, so I might as well give it a try! Just need to find a set of lights that will fit and won’t look out of place on a Z now. What did you go for in the end? Thanks, Chris

Hi all, thinking of experimenting with some DRLs, I’m looking for a switched live in the engine bay of my 96 TT. (I know I could use a DRL controller board connected to the battery but I’ve had bad experiences of weird behaviour of these on my daily driver so would prefer a simple switched live supply that’s cut out by a relay when lights are on). There is a 10A fuse for the Shift Lock in the junction box that seems to fit the bill, and as my car is a manual I can’t see that it serves any useful purpose. Wiring diagrams seem to concur, but can anyone out there confirm that I won’t generate any unintended nastiness if I tap into that supply for DRLs? I’d rather avoid having to get through the bulkhead and back to the ignition switch. Thanks in advance!

Lots of posts related to this - I did exactly the same as you when I imported my Zed and hit exactly the same problem. I’m assuming you want to get your Speedo into mph? Choices are: 1) Fit a km/mph converter box behind the cluster; 2) Get a replacement speedo dial and replace the existing dial face; 3) Practice your 16x table and do lots of mental arithmetic; 4) Take a brave pill and take a soldering iron to the cluster/connectors (instructions are on the forum somewhere) Other options may be available, these are just the ones I considered. I went with option 1 for several years, but got fed up with it messing up the weighting on the power steering and HICAS, so I got a replacement dial face (https://lockwoodinternational.co.uk/product/nissan-300zx-mph-dial-part-no-c1528/) which works a treat although it’s pricey for what it is. There is another gotcha too as there is more than one shape to the mounting bracket for the dials depending on the type of cluster you have! Good luck whichever option you choose.

Thanks Jimmer, glad to be able to give something back for all the great help and advice I’ve had from the forum (and from your good self)!

Well the “repair” lasted about a week before I got grinding of broken gears and a stuck actuator again. However after some Anglo Saxon and a bit of a search on eBay I found the mode control motor from a 1999 Nissan Patrol which looked externally identical apart from the electrical connector. (Pic attached) Reasoning that if the geometry between motor and output shaft was the same the gear train probably was I took a punt… … and it worked! The four internal gears are IDENTICAL. So is the motor, which is a good thing as I found my old one would spin much more freely one way than the other so was probably dodgy. The only issue is that there are two sets of contacts on the back of the output gear rather than one, but wire cutters solved that. A bit tricky getting the control arm indexing right, but it’s now in and I have a smooth-running motor and undamaged gears for the first time ever! Thought it was worth mentioning here for all you others with an S4, as Patrol bits are a lot more likely to turn up in a scrapper! I don’t know the Nissan part number but there’s a picture attached and it was advertised as a “Heater actuator 8-C”. Oh and if you are ham-fisted and break one of the gear shafts a small drill bit cut to length happens to fit perfectly. Mentioning for a friend…

I see what you mean, the locating pins are different. Wouldn’t fit without glue and scissors!

OK so I have a Series 1 cluster which I bought years ago thinking I could plug & play to get a boost gauge. I’ve just used that to practice removing needles and dials on the bench and all seems OK. Didn’t fancy my first go being on my working cluster. That S1 cluster has the same 190km/h max speedo dial as mine, but with a cutout for the boost gauge. Do you happen to know whether the dial from the S1 cluster would just slot into the S4? Sounds optimistic I know, given the mountings for the boost gauge dial face are completely different! Presumably it could be glued in even if the locating pins/holes are in the wrong place as long as it’s lined up straight? Photo shows the dial from the disassembled S1 cluster, the S4 is still intact and in the car!

Not sure I could live with that colour scheme if the dials had to stay as-is. I assume all the extra wiring is for km/h to mph conversion or some such? If I were to attempt this, how easily do the needles come off/reattach?

Thanks, that’s reassuring. I didn’t think it looked like anything had broken. That excessive oil residue may be me being a bit over-enthusiastic with the underseal sprayer…

Scrabbling around under the car looking for a dropped washer, I noticed this. Looks like a wire and a tube in a common sleeve, with the tube coming to an abrupt end. Can anyone tell me what this is, and whether it’s meant to be like that? I can’t get to the other end without getting the car up on stands, and that needs to wait for drier weather, assuming we’re getting a summer this year. Thanks

Thanks Lee, don’t think I’ll try stripping it down again to investigate then. Beats me how when they were deleting things left right and centre to save on production costs they found the money to keep tinkering with the cluster wiring!

Morning all, just came across this thread - the attached picture shows the rear of my clocks (the blue one). Looks like it has the tracks for mounting a boost gauge, but there is no external connector attached at top right like there is in phutumsch’s picture. Does this look like a S4 boost gauge would work if I could find one and plumb it in? Thanks

Holy thread resurrection Batman… But the motor is working again. It took me 3 hours on my back in the footwell, a USB endoscope and some moves that would impress a Pilates instructor, but I managed to undo the screws and get the little blighter out from below. Turns out there was one broken tooth on the output gear wheel in the position it goes to for full demist. Probably been broken for years, but what seems to be new is the broken bits had shifted and jammed the gearbox. Cleaned them out, put it back together, more yoga and all is working. Except I haven’t tried full demist and never will! It might go again and if it does, it does, but confirmation the motor can be swapped without removing the dash, should you ever have to. And may the Lord have mercy on your soul if you do, I don’t ever want to contort like that again. Should have followed advice and taken the seat out! Anyone know a good physio…? ?

Job done! After disconnecting the control rod from the motor there was still no life so the gears are either totally jammed or it’s burnt out, so I didn’t bother trying to manoeuvre it out. Just left it disconnected and locked the side link in the demist/footwell position. For reference if you ever have to do the job, all you actually need to remove is the panel under the steering wheel and the two pieces of duct behind it, plus the instrument console glare shield if you want to get to the screw that holds the motor in. By far the hardest part is getting the ducts back into place, but well worth it to have demist back.