First drive and Zed died... Help!

Hi everyone,

Being new to Zeds, I was really eager to take mine out for a drive after buying it nearly a month and a half ago, and I did on Saturday, when I was taking it to the mechanic for a pink slip and to the RTA for registration.

Anyway, I finally got both, which meant I could finally drive my car legally (woohoo!) but on the drive home, in about 41 degree heat, the car started to give some serious problems.

When I left my house to go to the mechanic, I noticed the car started to run a little hot, and when I reached the mechanic, which is after about 15km of driving, so about 20 minutes, the temp gauge was at "H". Parked at the mech and it started to cool down, but I knew I had filled up the coolant a few weeks ago and not driven it since then. Also, when the car was parked, there was a hissing sound, like steam was coming out from the engine bay, particularly in from one of the hoses at the top right of the engine bay, near the passenger side cowel. Eventually the hissing stopped.

After the inspection, which it passed, I drove it to the RTA for the paperwork. This was about 2km from the mech. No hissing when the car stopped and temp gauge was in between "H" and "C". Made one more stop after the registration, about 1km to get some good coolant to use when I get home if I had to.

On the drive home, the car suddenly started to lose power. Another thing was there was a very loud metallic sound everytime I accelerated. The more I accelerated, the louder the sound, and then I eased off and let the car coast, the sound was gone. The mech said it could be a propeller shaft problem, but I'd look into that later.

So while I was driving, the car lost power and the engine died. The check engine light came on, while the car was still rolling. I put the car in neutral, its an auto, and started the engine again. It was turning over slowly, and eventually the engine fired up. I then came to a set of lights, and when the car stopped, the engine died again, about 20 seconds, after it died the first time. I was freaking out.

Lights turned green, I put my hazards on again, and tried to start it up. Was cranking over very slowly and didn't seem like it was going to start. After about a minute, it did, I put it in drive, and it died again. This this I put in in Neutral, tried to start it again, cranked slowly, almost didn't start, then it did. I revved it up and threw it into drive, I know not the best idea, but it started moving. It made maybe about 20meters, then died completely.

Hazards back on, car in Park, tried to start engine again. Turning over very slowly, but I could hear it wouldn't start. Kept trying, but I knew it was useless. Temp gauge was between "H" and "C" all this time, but I could see some steam on the passenger side of the windscreen, so opened the bonnet and yeah, lots of steam and while smoke from a VERY hot engine.

Called for some help, and Pennyarvs came to the rescue (Thanks again dude), brought some water and we used that, plus the 5L of coolant I got to fill a complete dry radiator. But the coolant stick was saying the coolant was full, but that was not obvious from the bone dry radiator, which drank all 5L of coolant, plus a 1.5L bottle of water.

Tried to start the car again, but the battery died, probably from me trying to start it up for a long time, and with the hazards lights on for a while. Cops came, helped push the car to the side of the highway, and gave me a jump start (not bad blokes), car still wouldn't turn over. Pennyarvs checked the oil level in the car too and that seemed to be fine.

So car still wasn't starting, cops had to go, battery was dead again (couldn't start the car to charge the battery even with jump start, Pennyarvs had to go too, so wasn't for about 2hours in 41 degrees mid day sun in a black car on the highway for a tow truck. Yeah, took them 2 hours, because lots of other cars had broken down due to the heat, even my sister's car died on the motorway at the same time, but her tow truck came in 15minutes...

Tow guy was nice, helped push my car into my garage where it now sits, dead as a doornail and with the driver window still down, unable to get it up because of the dead battery in a car that won't start.


Sorry for the long and dramatic story, just needed to get it off my chest.

So my first question is could all this be because it over heated? I was thinking maybe there was a blockage in the coolant to the radiator, so would a radiator flush help? Blast anything that could be clogging up the flow of coolant? I might have to do an oil change too just to be safe. Worried about the hissing from one of the hoses near the passenger cowel.

Can anyone help me out here? I'm so new to Zeds and this was my first drive, so I have no clue what to do and how to do it.

Any help will be greatly appreciated, as since the Zed is now registered, I just want to drive it. I don't seem to be having any luck with it...

 

you could have cooked it, or could be as simple as a dead battery .. u wont know untill you really get under the hood and find out whats happening

 

Ok, I'd say it's almost definately related to the heat.

The hissing sound sounds like steam escaping through hoses. Due to overheating it. Now you need to check your coolant. Check for level (it's probably lost a lot.), colour (look for oilyness), and if possible top it up and start it to see if any air is pumping through. Next, you need to do an oil change to see if any water has got in the oil.

As everyone will say, you shouldn't have driven it after the gauge was above normal operating temp but what's done is done.

If you do this you should be able to identify if your head gasket has gone. If all is as it should be then you can go from there.

Good luck! Hopefully its just something small, but it's not sounding too good at the moment.

NB: Probably saw about 20 cars on the side of the freeway yesterday. A good reminder to keep your cooling systems up to standard in this extreme climate.

 

Sorry to say it but it sounds cooked to me,
That story is very familiar to me as thats what happened to my old hyundai when it finally died, I was out driving it sudenly died on me, I manged to restart it a few times but kept dying and then refused to start, then I finaly checked the temp guage and it was on H, basically it was too hot to start. I managed to start it again in a few hours and limp it for a few ks, the plastic radiator in this thing had a giant split and drained the coolant, so it didn't last long before heating up again. Had to tow it home. Sold it to the wreckers as it ran like absoulte shit after that.
Not what you wanted to hear I'm sure.

 

chances are you have cooked it if you ran the radiator dry.

don't tell me this was one of those $5,000 zeds getting around? for this to happen on your first drive, regardless of weather there is big issues in the cooling system.

good luck and i hope you have some spare cash

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the information already. Yeah I have a feeling its bad, very bad.

Quite sad now, don't know what else to say or do, but thanks.

Looks like quite possibly no more Zed for me...

 

That "metallic sound" when accelerating when it was hot was likely to be detonation if it sounded like marbles in a tin.

You might have gotten away with it if you didn't warp the heads or spun a bearing, so do what the others have suggested, check the coolant and oil, do a pressure test of the coolant system and sus out any leaks, and search the forum for temp issues, a lot of fan clutches are starting to go now, and if you heard hissing there is definately a leak.

I also think that when your temp guage came back to the middle, it was because it was reading air, no coolant, unless you topped it up at the mechanics, but it doesn't sound like it.

 

Thanks for the glimmer of hope.

No, I didn't top it up at the mech.

I'll see what can be done, and I'll check out the forum stuff, but I do believe I killed my Zed

Thanks

 

The engine is fried, it will not start because there is almost no compression left. Bin it and get another engine. Yours will need a full rebuild including new pistons and cylinder heads. Cheaper to buy an import engine.

 

First up, Turbo or non turbo?

The hissing sound is definitely a busted hose. There are several little hoses between the engine and firewall hidden away underneath the plenum and various items.

A lot of the common ones i have experienced are the little hoses that connect to the tube work under the plenum that connect directly into the in/out rear steel pipes, near where the EGR is.

Your best bet is to do a plenum pull and bypass all the little hoses and replace all the other main ones too. Also renew all fuel lines while you're at it.

There are also on the Turbo models the hose the call the "bastard hose." Its in a shit of a spot to get to and always gets over looked when inspected. Could be that one thats gone pop. But that all depends on what model you have.

As for the slow cranking well that could be a few things. Cooked engine, flat battery or with so much heat in the bay, it could have effected the batteries life span. Essentially cooking it too.

Charge the battery, throw some more coolant in and see what happens. Try and find the busted hose so you know where to attack. If it doesnt want to crank, thats not good. If it cranks and cranks but no puff. Try replacing your PTU, as these fail all the time if you have a series 1 unit. The extra engine bay heat wouldnt have helped it either.

If over and above that there is no go. You'll have to let us know. Its hard diagnosing accurately over the interwebs.

For reference, can you tell us some more about the vehicle?

Cheers and GL.

EDIT, im behind the 8 ball a bit with my post, so do all above as mentioned.

 

Your first BIG mistake was to assume that the Coolant dipstick was an indication of how much coolant was in the cooling system.
IT DOES NOT! It is to indicate the level of coolant in the overflow tank. BIG DIFFERENCE.
Your second mistake was to take relatively little notice of the steam hissing from a hose, THAT INDICATES AN OVERHEATED/EMPTY COOLING SYSTEM.
Your third mistake was to continue to try and drive the car in this condition.
Hope the outcome is not horrendous, but I think you will find otherwise. First course of action is to do a compression test on all cylinders, and then proceed from there.

Good Luck mate,

Lloyd

 

Sure, thanks.

Its a NA 1989 Jap spec, done 168,000km auto.

I do have a series 1 PTU, haven't done a plenum pull.

I will try the coolant and oil change and charge the battery sometime. Just quite disheartened now, but thanks.

If its dead, then its dead, and I guess I was just never meant to have a Zed...

 

Thanks. I have little hope right now that the car is ok. I think I screwed up royally.

My mistake, my loss. Thanks for the advice.

I'll check back on here later sometime to see what advice and comments have been left, but I'll disappear for now... getting a little too depressed.

Thanks again friends. Peace

 

Cool, thanks for the info. Expect that speedo to be incorrect, for shits and giggles, add 100,000km to it, than were in the ball park of true km's.

Series 1 ptu, they tend to give you ignition problems. So something to one day upgrade if indeed the engine isnt cooked.

Good plan, look at the fluids and replace as needed. Than as mentioned. Get a compression test done. Report back to us the cylinder results.

Also i wouldnt be too disheartened. Shit happens, and unfortunately being new to the z world, you got the ass end of the deal with being a newbie.

If the NA is cooked, dont stress, they're dime a dozen and are cheap. Eg, i bought one from the forum for $500. Albeit i did all the work myself, with also replacing all parts possible to prevent another early death. I got out of it cheap. Less than 1K, thats also with new nissan parts.

That had me back on the road and with a very strong engine. The new owner of that Z had himself a good deal when he bought it from me.

Just keep at it and let us know whats happening.

 

Come on man, don't get upset now we all make mistake, my wive don't event know car need water, and last 2year ago i had same problem with my pajero (just want to look cool so i change all the hose with the blue silicon but what i don't know is the blue silicon i have is for air only not for water it was big mistake, the collen was every where but that my mistake but you know all we learn some thing) anyway, check all the thing what the forum people said

 

Is 2747 your postcode? I'm almost due for some zed assist, no promises, but be able to pretty quickly tell you how fkd you are.

Although I lost my compression tester when I moved house...

 

She is dead mate

unfortunately sometimes we learn the hard way. And everyone stuffs up once in a while. But when that gauge heads north it's time to shut it down and check it out. Fluids are the blood of any car and without them, just like us they die

Zeds have a bad name for overheating but if maintained are as good as any cooling system. Me and about 5 other zedders have drag raced all day in 41 degree heat with absolutely zero issues. Good luck fixing it and then hopefully sometime soon enjoying driving it. Just remember when she is telling you something, be it gauges or noises it's time to stop. YOU'RE HURTING HER

 

Don't get yourself down too much mate these things happen.You have to understand these cars aren't heat friendly therefore you have to be vigilante with general maintenance 'eg checking coolant/oil etc etc'.
Firstly don't take offence at this,but if your car was making all these weird & wonderfull noises when you arrived at your mechanic why didn't get him to check it out then & there? Anyway if your Temp gauge was at 'H' it's highly likely it's over heated & you've cooked your motor, I hope for your sake this isn't the case, if it hasn't you're very lucky. The hissing sound you have referred to can be a number of hoses as already mentioned by other members & if you can't physically see any leak it is possibly the hoses that's under the Plenum. Check with the person you bought the car off to see if he did a Plenum pull & bypassed these hoses it might save you from taking Plenum off only to find it's already been done. .Check 'Tech Search' Plenum for more info. Hope it's not too bad.

Cheers
Grahame

 

Chin up mate.
Ever heard the term S#!t happens ?
We have all been there done that, some even bought the T shirt
Stand up, dust yourself off, say F*^k IT, and get back in the game.
There is always a way around these problems.
Take heart from the "Two idiots" threads. These guys have had a few problems thrown at them and they still keep battling on. Be like them. Don't let it beat ya !

As everyone has said, learn from this, and thing will get smoother.

Two bits of advice:
1. NRMA road side assist - If your young they have plans for 18-20 year olds to help in these situations. Go the deluxe premium option because if you break down 100klm+ away from home, then accomodation or hire car to get home works. Its cheap insurance. Even if your just around the corner with a flat battery.
2. ALWAYS check fluid levels before starting any car. New or old. Something may have gone wrong on the last trip and this can be picked up before starting the car.

If you are near sydney then I'm sure there are some guys there that can come around to lend a hand. before you know it you'll be back on the road.

 

Hey Andy, lemme know when you're gonna pay him a visit. I can probably meet up as well and do the compression test together. I got zedboy's kit. Just gonna ask permission from him first...