Scarecrow

Hi Jay and welcome to the club! Really nice looking car I always liked the gunmetal grey. I'm near Gloucester too and somebody told me they'd seen a grey car round here a couple of weeks back so I guess it must have been you. If you spot a black one that'll be me so give us a flash! Cheers, Chris

Just posted a query and noticed I'd gone back to "Registered User". Tenner on the way via PayPal now!

My Zed arrived off the boat from Japan with a mysterious black box in the drivers footwell. Turns out it's a turbo timer, which is something I'll never use as I always idle for a minute or two before turning off and there's no way I'd leave the car unattended with the engine on. I got a Thatcham immobiliser fitted on import so I don't even know if it can work as the fuel pump should be cut out when that engages. Is there an easy way to remove the thing? I haven't investigated all the wiring behind it so I have no idea what it connects to. Thanks

Thanks Jeff. I had an infestation of the bonnet cricket when I bought the car. Took me about a month to track that down but it's now history! This one is definitely the suspension, you can bounce that corner and make it happen. I've tried silicone lubricant spray on the joints but to no avail, I just thought it was worth posting in case somebody had discovered a miracle cure!

My Zed came with slightly lowered suspension, which gives it nice stance and seems very well sorted even on British B roads. Only problem is every so often it decides to squeak from the offside front corner. Does it mostly when conditions are humid (i.e. All this summer!) and the squeak is there over every bump. Slightly ruins the effect of driving a lowered black Zed when it sounds like a Model T Ford is coming down the road! I've had it looked over by no less than Jimmer from Powerzed who says the suspension I have, while good quality, is bushless - and sometimes they just squeak. His only suggestion is to go back to stock suspension to cure the noise. Given that Jimmer knows pretty well all there is to know about Zeds I suspect he's right here, but I thought I'd just ask if anybody out there has had similar issues and found a solution? Otherwise I'll just keep the radio turned up...

"Low rent"? I like to think of it as an exclusive (if slightly dysfunctional) club... ;) Thanks for the link, will definitely be bookmarking that one for future reference!

I assume it is, providing you have a suitable donor to get the plugs from and the wiring colours for both types (I don't know if they changed the colours for Series 4, I wouldn't put it past them! ). Interested to hear if anybody out there has tried this route

Here's to another year of happy Zedding!

Just spotted pulling out of the car park by Gloucester ATS. Stopped in the Land Rover to say Hi but it drove off as I parked up! Nice looking G plate import with a big wing.

Finally had time to get under the bonnet this morning. Although everything looked OK when I removed the negative terminal the battery post and inside of the terminal were corroded and showed signs of there being movement/vibration. I cleaned it all up and now she starts on the button! Can't believe it was just that, the white smoke was really scary! I've ordered a replacement battery clamp and meantime made up a temporary one from some spare steel and threaded rods. Should have got round to that months ago. Thanks for all the good advice and useful links. Now I have a happy couple of hours working out how to reprogram the stereo, which lost all its settings!;)

Thanks guys

I know it's not going to be expensive but I couldn't find a new one anywhere online, and when I got a used one off eBay it turned out not to fit! It was for a skinny battery. I guess I could have gone to a Nissan dealer but I'm kind of allergic to taking my Zed anywhere near them! Thanks for the link red wine!

Been trying to get hold of an OEM one since I got the car but never found one yet. If its the cause of this problem I'll at least make up something temporary. Didn't know about the MOT regs on this though. Apparently neither did whoever tested it when it was imported! :)

Loose connection sounds plausible. My battery clamp is missing so the battery can shift about a small amount. Guess that could work it loose. Out all day tomorrow but I'll check that first thing Saturday. Hope it's right, I like a cheap fix! ;)

Went to start the Zed today and she turned over very slowly, then died. Tried again and this time there was no turnover, but a whiff of white smoke from under the bonnet directly above the battery! I opened the bonnet and looked for anything awry - no smouldering wires, no funny smell, nothing. Back in the car the clock had reset so obviously voltage had dropped way down. Next try I just heard the starter solenoid click. Though I'd try one more time. This time turned over, small whiff of smoke and she started. I shut down and dug out the voltmeter - solid 12V at the terminals, still no visible problems. Watching carefully started again. This time perfectly normal, no smoke, nice start and 13.5V when running. By now I'm late for work so I put her to bed and took the Landie instead. Going to investigate at the weekend but I'd welcome any thoughts. Internal short in the battery? Earthing in the starter circuit? Either way how could it cure itself? Forgive my ignorance but is the starter motor on the same side as the smoke came from? Thanks for any help!

Went through all the regulations when I got my Zed and they are indeed a PITA. There is another solution, though - get a rear bumper from a UK car and fit that. Built in fogs and it looks so much better with the UK style number plate. I got the bumper for £25 from a breakers. Mind you I paid a lot more to get it re-sprayed ...

Trust me once I get the damn thing off plastic caps are going back on! The metal caps are what were on the car when I bought it, I had no idea the stems were metal too until now. I've found some possible replacements for the stems on eBay, nothing specifying size so I assume one size fits all?

Exactly right, the last thing I want to do is damage the stem since it's currently a good seal! I did them all up hand tight after checking pressure some time ago but this one has frozen on. I'm going to try heating it with some hot water to see if the cap will expand and loosen... ... hot water doesn't work :(

Trying to check tyre pressures and one of the valves won't come off. They have metal caps on and one of them seems to have jammed onto the stem. When I get a socket on it (they are 10mm Hex caps) the whole stem, which is also metal, rotates. I've tried grabbing it with some needle-nose pliers but it still turns. I took the car to Prodrive who recommended I get a replacement stem, in case the existing one is found to be damaged when they remove the tyre. Looking online there are about a thousand different kinds. Does anybody know what sort I need, or are all the makes essentially the same? The wheels are marked "Versus" and I've attached a couple of pics. Thanks!

As Groover says your car needs to be a Series 1 or 2. If it's a Series 4 or later (1996 onwards I think) UK clocks won't fit. No idea about Series 3 but somebody on here will!

I was insured with them for a couple of years. I got a good premium at first, then the renewal was about 30% higher. I shopped around for quotes and got them to bring theirs down each time. Then this year they said they wanted proof of my quote, either by me giving them my password for the comparison site I used (like I'm going to give out my password to a total stranger...) or by me sending them screenshots of every page of the quote form! At that point I told them not to bother and changed insurer to Admiral. I've no idea whether Adrian Flux are good or bad at settling claims, but they don't seem to have grasped the concept of a competitive renewal premium. I'm now on a normal policy with Admiral, with mods declared. I've also had a classic policy on a Zed before, problem with that is you instantly lose any ability to transfer NCB to a standard policy.

Unbelievable! I'd just noticed my front tyres are wearing on the inside edge so I wanted to know the camber settings (I have adjustable upper arms), and straight away somebody posts the complete list. Are you guys psychic or what?! :)

Do you have auto or manual aircon controls? On the manual ones the contacts on the back of the fan speed slider can get dirty and cause exactly this problem. Drove me mental for weeks trying to work out where it was coming from, then it was a really easy fix!

Mystery solved. Turns out not to be oil after all. There was a split in the gaiter, between the corrugations, and the fairer appears to be filled with very thin grease. The big puddle was basically the entire contents dumping in one go! Posted in case anybody else finds the same thing, to save hunting for a non-existent oil leak, and thanks to Jimmer at Powerzed for sorting it out so quickly.

Ok this is weird. I've been underneath now and everything else looks dry as a bone. The only place with any oil on is the gaiter! I did drive home with no aircon and drove like a granny just in case of problems. Maybe it only manifests when I give it some stick or the aircon is on? I've wiped off all the oil now so I'll check the garage floor tomorrow morning to see if there's any more. What sits above that gaiter that could leak?