SandW

Hey cyber fans of the 300ZX! Just selected and bought my first ZX yesterday. Attached is a pic. Not the best or cleanest shot but you got the idea. Besides not being the fondest of black, and feeling a bit like the Knightrider (I plan on painting blue soon), I've got a couple of questions. I've searched the forums and must not be hitting the right combo of search terms or something. It's got to be in here already but I simply can't find the answers?!? I live in the Chicago area if anyone is around here and/or know any good contacts.

Can't get the picture to load---I really do hate computer technology--it really screwed up cars and everything else!!!

My questions go from safety issues to cosmetic flaws--thanks in advance!

1. I drove about 6 ZXs and 5 350Zs before buying. This car rides like a mix between the 350 and one of my old Corvettes. It's the first car I've ever driven with custom rims (17") and low profile tires. The first issue is it seems very unstable and has a hard ride. When I hit bumps or whatnot, it feels like it's trying to skip or jump all over the road. If I didn't have a hand on the wheel, it could be bad in tight traffic. Is this the wheels, suspension, or what causing this? If I have it checked out, what should I be expecting the news be? Oh, I think it needs an alignment and balance for sure--it drifts and bumps down the smooth highway.

2. The rear view mirror is limp and jiggles all around while driving. There is a hole on the back that is empty and has no screw of anykind in there. I'm about to the point where I want to put glue on the thing and forget about it, but fear that's just too stupid to do.... , even for me.

3. My check engine light is on. Previous owner says it's due to the engine change. How can I read it and then reset it to see if it reappears?

4. I have a missing gas cap cover and hatchback cargo cover. Even if I can find a gas cap cover, does it just screw on and are they universal from 90 thru 96? There are two holes on the left of the cap but I don't recall from others I drove how they go on.

5. My hood does not look bent but it does not close flush on the drivers side front area (over the headlight), see the pic you can just make it out. Has anyone experienced this and/or know how to troubleshoot why? I've looked at it forever from several angles and can't see any warp or bend in it. It sticks up about 1/2 to 3/4 an inch but closes and opens fine. Furthermore it doesn't look out of line anywhere else.

6. My A/C doesn't work. The engine bay is so cramped I can't tell if the compressor is there or not---I was told it was but didn't id it myself. If I take it to an import shop, is there anything special labor-wise they must do to check, service, and replace components? I imagine, if it's like my Honda, it'll be at least $800 for a compressor/clutch and probably cost me $1300 before it's all said and done. Owner said it just needs recharging, but you know how that goes...

7. My center front console has a cigerette lighter and ashtray that had a broken flip-up cover. I took the broken cover off and removed the ashtray (see pic, if I figure out how to attach multiples). Are these the same in all years and models? I don't remember. I'm looking for a replacement if anyone has one or knows a good source. I don't imagine junkyards have too many ZXs and the ones there are probably skeletons by day 5 or arrival if I'm guessing right.

8. I plan on painting it blue very soon. I thought the Daytona Blue shade that is on the 350Zs would be awesome. I can't find one 300ZX in that shade anywhere on the web--do you know of one? I'd consider another shade, but I definitely want it a bright metallic blue, and not dark like Le Mans (or those almost purple shades). I'd like to see what it will look like before forking out $2K so if you have ideas, links or whatever please holler at me. Also, think I should hold off until after winter? My garage is not heated. By the time it's finished it'll be frigid here in Chicago, and I don't want to hamper the full drying process. Should I wait until Spring or will it matter on these cars? Corvettes were very process touchy--that's why I ask.

9. Lastly, the cargo cover, where can I find one of these reasonably priced that should fit my year/model (if there's such a thing for these imports I've shunned for so long)?

THANKS!
CA

Z Car Barbie

Congrats on your Z32, Sand! Whew, that's some post you made. I'm going to break it down and be brief because I'm pushed for time right now.

1. Jumpin All Over The Road - Has the suspension been modified? It doesn't sound like a HICAS problem, from what you've described. You might need new struts, in addition to the alignment and balancing.

2. Rear View Mirror - You might want to visit a local junkyard, eBay or check our Marketplace for the parts you need, or another stock mirror.

3. Check Engine Light - Here's how to check the ECU codes: http://www.ttzd.com/tech/diagnostictech.html

Note: Your 96 model uses different trouble codes than the earlier Z32's. You can find the codes for your model here: http://z32.poctum.com/

4. Gas Cap Cover & Hatchback Cargo Cover - See # 2 above.

5. Hood Closure - Can't see without the pic., but it sounds like the hood might be misaligned or the latch might need to be adjusted.

6. A/C Doesn't Work - Does it work at all, or just blows out hot air?

7. Center Console Console - See # 2 above.

8. Paint - Attached below is a Daytona Blue Z32

wreckedj30

Ok the road roughness, is prob. the low profile tire, or misalginment, or blown shocks/struts, maybe a combination. The hood is just misaligned from when they swapped engines, just loosen up the bolts and move it were you want, or when you get her painted tell the painter to align all panels. Its not hard. A/c, ask these smart Zers if a j30 a/c will fit a 300zx. If so i'll take mine out and will be very happy with a little gas money.

b300z

and youre still planning on selling this for a profit later?????????

1. check your tension rods. bigger wheels will make the ride harder due to less sidewall

5. could have been caused by the Z being jacked up on the radiator support. mine was a little off, so i dremeled the mounting holes for the hood latch and moved it down a bit. didnt fix it completely tho

6. same as what z car babie said. a new compresser will cost appx 600

8. here are a few examples of other blues





for all parts youre looking for, go to 3zc.com or twinturbo.net and look thru their classifieds for people parting out their Zs

nismo619

word of warning. ! all z32's had very week to shitty brakieing upgrade early so that way u have peace of mind.. im not telling u from my experance but from professionals at www.300zx.com z1motor sports and from personal experance personally i went with upgraded steel braded brake lines and " brembo " drill sloted rotors and metal master " AXXIS " brake pads

ZLover4Life

Since when do 96 NA 2+2s have HICAS? Aside from the fact that he doesn't have that system, HICAS has never, in all my experience, done anything like that. I've only seen 1 HICAS system fail in all my years of Z32 ownership and community participation.

It's not the struts either. It's a combination of low profile tires and tension rods. Get solid tension rods and some beefier tires and it'll probably go away.

The check engine light cannot be caused by a different engine; in fact, that's one of the most rediculous things I've heard in a while. Pull the codes in the fashion previously mentioned.

As for the rear view mirror, are you referring to the side view mirrors (outside the car) or the rear view mirror (inside the car)? If it's the side view mirrors, which commonly get loose, tighten the three screws on the bottom (you'll need a ratchet with a 1/4" socket and a phillips drill bit to get the inner two). If the screws are missing, take one out and go get a replacement from Home Depot.

Your hood might not sit flush with the headlight on account of a broken headlight bracket, in addition to other things mentioned. Without pictures, we can't tell you much about that.

Don't automatically suspect your AC compressor is the culprit of not having AC. In fact, I'd be willing to bet your compressor is fine. What I suspect happened is that when they put in the new engine, they removed the AC compressor, reinstalled it, and simply didn't recharge it. That, or it has a leak... which can be fixed with a $0.60 o-ring and some work (AC compressor isn't hard to reach from the underside of the car).

The cargo cover is expensive...

There's nothing wrong with black. In fact, I personally don't like blue sports cars at all.


Since you're in Chicagoland, go to Ultimate Z... they'll tell you exactly what's wrong with the car, rather than you describing issues over the internet and us diagnosing without ever experiencing the problem. They also carry the cargo cover, so you can buy it from them.

1541 Burgundy Parkway
Streamwood, IL. 60107
www.UltimateZ.com

b300z

stock brakes will be fine for your application. if you do change pads while you own the Z, we would reccomend upgrading them to Axxis or Hawks, but its not neccessary

ditto(minus the at all)



forgot to add that

snwbrderphat540

WOW....Zlover said EVERYTHING i would have...minus the tension rod thingy i didnt know that...i was gonna say ultimate z as well dont just go to soem import mechanic....and to add to the hood thing. broken headlight mabye...or the bump stop is to high on that side. its a rubber stopper in the corner of the core suport, twist it with your hand down some....not to much otherwise you will develop a squeek...besides that Zlover hit everything in my head....EVERYTHING......creepy. lol. oh and the mirror i didnt even have a suggestion for that...but yeah the rough ride is cuase its a z32 low to the ground, most likely upgraded struts, and the low pro tires. if you have 17"s stick with low pro tires...just dont get ultra low pro or anything like that.

snwbrderphat540

oh yeah....and dont repaint the car....black is an amazing color..night rider was a camero...and if you repaint it your always gonna have paint seams, pop the hoood and theres a different color....doorjambs....everything...its sloppy and can peel much easier a bit down the road...just take car of the ctock paint and it will last for so long and look beautiful. but really, dont paint it.

SandW

That blue looks deluxe. I like black, but it's too common in my opinion, besides when it's too polar. When clean, very clean, when dirty, ultimate dirty.

I'll visit a junk yard for the other parts. If my compressor, I found one online with 90-day warranty for like $365 (new) from a couple of national parts dealers. Not sure if clutch is with that or not but the clutches usually don't go bad as often as the compressors from what I've experienced. Sounds like an ok deal I guess???

thanks for all the feedback. I need to study up how to compress pics and get them on the forum. I have no clue how to. Anyone know of free photo software that will take tifs and gifs and change into JPG and allow cropping, shrinking, and whatnot?

thanks!

SandW

One other thing, I searched and looked all over the web and couldn't find such a simple answer to the oil capacity of a stock 96 3.0 liter engine--what is it? A dealer told me 4.5 qts with the filter, but sometimes the dealer service reps are clueless and act like they know it all.

What is the capacity with filter? thanks, Chris

wreckedj30

A this car is an n/a, right. i have a perfect compressor, from my j30. it has the vg30de, so its the same. You want i'll sell for a bill. Plus shipping.

SandW

It is a N/A. I'll check the compressor today to see if it's even running or has a belt. If not belt I'll somewhat assume it broke off due to seizing up.

How much you want for it? I imagine shipping might be about $15 from UPS or DHL ground.

SandW

Ultimate Z told me 4.5 qts also so I guess the local dealer is good for something, however they said they couldn't align with the 17" wheels. ???

wreckedj30

Say a hundred. I kinda need an upgraded fuel rail. What do you think, just pm me back.

Z Car Barbie

Oh, then someone must have added "Purchased for a 1996 300ZX N/A" on the front cover of this Nissan 300ZX Service Manual, which contains an entire section on HICAS. I take it that this FSM was intended for both NA and TT models, huh?

Sand, what was the reason that Ultimate Z gave for not being able to do the alignment? BTW, here's an article that you might be interested in reading.

Oh, something else that I just thought of ... about the hood. More than likely, your hood is misaligned or the latch needs adjusting, but first check your hood bumpers to see if one is broken or missing. They're are only about $5/ea. at Victoria British. My hood sat lopsided due to a missing bumper.

ZLover4Life

Ultimate Z has NTB do their alignments (they don't have an alignment machine) and NTB doesn't have the equipment necessary to align with 17" wheels or larger. No big deal though, just find a place that can align with larger wheels (most dealerships can, for reference).

And yes, the FSM is for both NA and TT models.

Oil capacity is as follows (and was discussed last month, so learn to search please):

'90
NA: 4 3/8 w/ filter 3 7/8 w/o filter
TT: 4 5/8 w/ filter 4 1/4 w/o filter

'91-'96 NA and TT
3 5/8 w/ filter 3 1/8 w/o filter

http://www.ttzd.com/tech/oilchangetech.html

There were no engine changes to accommodate such capacity changes; it is believed it was Nissans response to people complaining of high oil pressure or potentially blowing out a seal when it was overfilled. In reality, don't count how much oil you add, just add oil until it's within the acceptable range of your dipstick. It'll be somewhere between 3 5/8 and 4 5/8 (the extra quart of oil only changes the overall oil level about 1/4 of an inch).

And you didn't listen to me dude... don't replace your compressor until you KNOW your compressor is bad (or non-existant). You'll be pissed that you spent hundreds of dollars to replace it when you might've just been able to spend $120 recharging it (Ultimate Z does AC work too, just FYI).

b300z

no cred for me 2 posts ahead?


and another warning before buying an a/c compressor. the 96s have a different one from the 90-94s. i forget what is different right now, but i have one of each out in the garage. so get it checked out at a shop before you buy one anywhere

wreckedj30

You serious i just pulled mine for nothing.jk. Here's the pics. So whats different. Well if it's not the right one it's going through a window. My j30 is a 94'.

b300z

sorry theyre kinda dark. but the one on the right is the 95+
and the pipe is bent, its not supposed to be like that

wreckedj30

Damn so the difference is the in/out locations. The 90-94 looks a little bigger also. Well might as well start the mods with the a/c. You think he can engineer it, are the belt areas at the same postion, same measurements. Etc? It looks like they'll interchange, the bolt up pts. are in the same position as well as the belt. It would be easy the change those up. What do you think?

snwbrderphat540

sorry B. i had typed my post and then when i entered it yours had just shown up....and you didnt cover everything in my head like zlover, it was wierd, i think he is in my brain....ok not really he is way smarter and had that post up way before i got to it...but yeah check the bump stops like i said and zcarbarbie repeated in an attempt to steal my additio to your porbs....monster... lol

SandW

If any of you have parts that I need (A/C still being determined) let me know.

I'll either get this stuff from you guys or the local shop, would rather you benefit than they and not waste my time searching also.

I checked the A/C compressor. There is a belt that turns on it. When I turn the A/C on and off from the inside however, the clutch doesn't grab and start spinning, or does not appear to anyway. Not sure if that means the clutch is bad, or other? It doesn't make any noises and I can tell somewhat that a load is placed on the engine but I'm not sure why because as I said the compressor clutch doesn't seem to engage. Can you look at yours and make sure it doesn't have an internal spin or something? I've never seen one like that but possible I guess. Every other compressor I've noted when the clutch engages the whole thing spins and you can obviously tell.

Attached is a pic or two of the hood. maybe not...

I looked at the hood again today, it seems to be perfectly on their, and nothing is pushing it up from beneath the hood, such as the rubber stopper. In fact it's not touching either the rubber stop. In fact, there's about a 1/4" space all the way across the front of the hood where it doesn't mate-up to the rubber seal. I looked at the adjustement/attachment plates and it doesn't seem to be misplaced. You know how you can tell from the previous setting from seeing old dust lines--no marks like that. Maybe it is slightly bent on that side and I just can't tell?

Actually, email me if you want to help with the hood and I'll reply with about 6 or 7 200KB pics. I don't have the time to fumble with the picture additions now---I tried and will figure it out later. Not a web-head as you can tell. ;-)

wreckedj30

a/c clutch, never heard of one of those. The a/c should spin at all times, at least all a/c's i've had did. Maybe your idler isn't adjusted correctly. Man that sucks the a/c's aren't the same, if you need a compressor and don't mind a little modification, hit me back, cause they fit, just different jocations on the in/out tubes.

SandW

The A/C clutch is the little do-hicky that sits at the end close to the belt pulley. When the A/C switch is turned on in the cab, a big magnet is actuated in the clutch and causes the compressor to start turning-out coolent flow. That is how even though the pulley turns all the time, the A/C is not actually "on" unless the switch is on which powers the clutch magnet. The magnet may be on the compressor side, but either way a magnet mends the compressor to the pulley when the switch is turned on. At least this is the way it was explained to me years ago.