I read somewhere yesterday on the forums that the 300zx is seen as an overheating lemon. As someone still looking into buying one in the near future. Im just curious as to the best/cheapest ways to avoid problems in a new zed? I know things like upgraded cooling with better radiator and things like that.. So can anyone help me out with any easy / good mods to stop the engine dying or overheating and keeping the car running well?
yep, look after it. the reason our cars overheat is not only because the engines crowded, but because people dont look after their cooling systems. they think they can drive around forever and not have to worry about it. any, and i repeat, ANY, sports car that has a cooling system that doesnt get looked after will overheat, from skylines to ferraris, not just the 300zx. its amazing when you think about when people expect a 20 year old cooling system in a 300zx to be fine, and when it fails, due to wear and tear (hoses etc) they come out pissed off and start saying the 300zx is a crap overheating bom..... the 300zx gets it bad rep from idiots who dont know how to look after a sports car yep, make sure you do a plenum pull, check the radiator for leaks (even get it flushed and refilled) and check all water hoses for breaks etc also make sure your rad fan is in good order, ie: no cracks etc good luck mate
It may be 'seen' as a lemon by most skyline/supra owners etc but if you get one that hasn't been thrashed and you do regular maintenance they are very reliable. You have to understand that they're relatively expensive cars to maintain, they where top level sports cars when released, they may have depreciated but parts the definitely haven't.
any veh that is not maintained is a lemon. logical really.... make sure your cooling system is up to scratch. get a full engine flush, rod the radiator and put some nice fresh coolant in. make sure there is no coolant leaks throughout the system. stock rad is fine, ive had stock rad since ive owned this car and driven in the hottest days summer brings. no problems at all. if your cooling system is up to scratch then it should be fine.
ANY car "type" can have a lemon in its midst A car type is never a lemon, only an example of that type can be either good or bad, and this is 100% down to whether it has been looked after in its past My car has a stock TT Rad, which has a huge MOFO intercooler in front of it and a POD My car has NEVER overheated I regualrly check both oil and coolent levels. Best mod imho... afternarket Temp Guage What IS true of the Zed is the stock temp gauge is shit. It has 3 modes COLD NORMAL FUKED Cold is needle at the bottom Normal is needle half way fuked is when the needle jumps from half way to the top with no time for you to react. My stock gauge will read "normal" while my aftermarket gauge will give a true reading. I think its around 60deg or something on the AM guage when the stock one goes to "nomal" And my AM guagecan go as high as 95deg (after heat soak on engine off for 10 mins) and the stock guage will still not budge off "normal" This MAY be where the car gets its bad rep. The stock gauge truley does NOT tell you what you need to know. This can cause some noobs to assume all is well with thier cooling system until its too late. First Mod, After Market Temp Guage From there, check levels regularly (as you should with any car... we all get laps but friggin do it. Takes 5 mins) Then at the FIRST sign of trouble fix stuff On my 180sx I was regualrly having to top up coolent 2 years of ownership. Ended up being a warped head but the "leak" never surfaced as it was so slow the coolent was just evaporating off the block and hence never forming a "puddle". Until i ran at the drags and that crack opened up nicley haha My point there? A car can SEEM to be running fine. You will only know something is wrong by regualrly checking levels and maintaining the car. LASTLY: Be aware though. Due to the tight engine bay, the Zed IS a pig to work on. And I think this is why there ARE poorly maintained Zeds out there. For many people its just "too hard" or "too expensive" to do general fixing So when buying, the key really is to take your time and wait for a damn good one. Take someone what REALLY knows what they are looking at (pleanty of threads on this), and take your sweet time, keeping in mind that paying more now, WILL save you heaps in the coming years.
To make a broad general statement like that is wrong, but I can see where something like that stemmed from. Sometimes people BUY lemons, i.e a neglected shit box ready to fall apart. But to say all 300zx's are lemons is wholely inaccurate.
Thanks for all the replies. But im just curious as to some ofthe terms. like 'rod the radiator'? whats that mean andhow is it done? This also brings me to a problem i have with my bluebird at the moment. I was gonna raise it in another thread but ill see what i can get from here. Basically. The engine overheated (will i stopped it before too much damage but it got hotter than normal) a couple weeks back. I havent driven it except on short periods where my other car has been off the road. The stats on the overheat are as follows. Goes warm after running fine for a while. Fans originally didnt turn on but when it happened again the fans where on at the last point i stopped b4 it overheated. It bounced from 80%? to normal (50%) and back up and down about 3 times in 15 kms. It has had a new Thermostat installed 4 weeks ago. sat off the road for 9 monthsstraight (maybe ablocked radiator?) and its done150,000km (time for a new water pump anyways) So yeah. I wanna lhave a look around and a poke and see if i can pin point the issue. So what things can i look for or test for in my garage to find the problem? What methods etc should i use to find the problem? I know the problem is in the cooling system and i havent lost any fluid so it shouldnt be any hoses... Any ideas? (P.s. sorry about the long description)
Not mine... When it gets too hot it gradualy rises from the normal position. It doesn't jump at all. '90 model NA J-Spec. It doesn't move from normal until it is very high 90's, but as far as I'm concerned that is still normal.
Hmm, I thought we all had the same type stock temp guage, where it doesn't budge from 'normal' position until 102 degrees.
Make it hot... It's true. That's why we all own one... We all drive around with buckets of water and have to pull over every few hundred metres to pour the water on the engine in order to help prevent the overheating issue. It's no picnic, but it's just one of those things we must do to enjoy ownership of the car. But please don't let it deter you, they really are good fun loving overheaters... There is a myth that someone actually drove 1 full kilometre without pouring the bucket of water and the car was still running...I still don't believe it though and would never try it on my own... Cheers Rob
My car is 18 years old, 21psi, has good coolant and stock cooling gear.It never moves past 86c in the hottest days in peak traffic....sure, under bonnet temps are high but the coolant temps are fine. ....track work is a different matter...every car needs care given to cooling then. Those who scream "lemon" have usually just had there nose bloodied buy an old, beautifully engineered z32.
Bugger My Lemming keeps running year in year out ,Plenum bypass hoses replaced never washed more than once a year coz NSW roads make it dusty for easter cruise down there. LOL.:zlove:
Lol Haha i'll make sure i keep a full bucket in the car for when i buy one So yeah what can i do to check that the radiator in my other car isnt blocked? i wanna try n check it from home but i dunno what/if anything i can do. Or how can i check the water pump?
Kind of hard things to check. Water pump will kill a bearing/start to leak/snap impeller or shaft when it is gone. That's why you just replace it regardless at the 100K service. As for the rad the tanks have to be removed to really have a good look, not really a job for home.
Yeah thats what i thought. But hoped wouldnt be the case. Looks like my hard earned Timing Chain moolah will go on finding the overheating problem I need a zed.So atleast i can enjoy driving between repairs
This thread title.. makesme feel like im gonna get a bad name in the forumby sounding like i think a zed is aPoS (whichis far from the truth) hahaha:zlove:
Nah you've just been initiated into the world of the zed, few get that privilege, most are damned to eternal skyline damnation
This is where your 'radiator professional' dismantles the radiator (removes top or side tanks depending on the 300zx model) and probes the vertical or horizontal tubes to clear them of any build-up. Often a dip-clean (radiator immersed in cleaning fluid) is included. Cooling fins are cleared and the radiator core and tanks repainted. Radiator reassembled and coolant flow almost as good as new. Natrad franchises often have a good reputation, or go with your mechanics recommendation. Common practice to replace the water pump on the 300 at the 100Kkm service. I should imagine a similar figure applies to the Bluebird.
