Hey there all. Have been lurking for a few months reading the forum posts that I can trying to absorb all the information I can about the z32. I've recently inherited a 1989 TT AT 2 seater and wanting to keep it on the road as long as possible. But having not come from a mechanical background it's all quite daunting. It has 63k on the Odo and I've just had its 120k Complete Timing belt service done. I had also invested in the Conzult software and the USB connection to gather as much information as I can about the condition of it. It all seems to be running pretty healthy and no errors being reported but I'd like to get it running as good as it can be and future protect it. With that in mind, are there any common issues that have been noticed for these first batches of Z32s. The engine code has it being produced in July 1989 which looks like the first batch for the JDMs The whole thing is as OEM as it comes, having been owned previously by 2 lady owners who kept it garaged then my old man who also kept it garaged. So I'm pretty confident there aren’t any mods that I'm not aware of and the engine hasn’t taken any sort of a beating. Probably my only concerns with it so far are the below The brake doesn't have much travel and really needs me to push on it to get it to brake fast. I'm waiting on a brake master cylinder brace to arrive in NZ, but is there anything else I should consider? The fluid levels are all good and I guess replacing the brake fluid will be coming up at some point The TPS closed is 0.46 and hard idle is fine, but WOT at the pedal is only 3.86v when it looks like it should be closer to 5v. Is this something I should be concerned about or missing out on some performance when planting it? I did some additional checking in the and found the tps reporting the below voltages when pushing the throttle from the engine bay The only other thing on my radar is that the AT transmission seems to be a bit laggy. I'd like to quicken things up a bit in that department with some harder shifts and generally improve the resilience of the transmission. Is there anything recommended in this department, Ie shift kits? At this point in time I'm not really interested in doing a manual conversion so would like to keep the AT trans around as long as possible and have it performing better. As I'm wanting to learn as much as I can and get hands on with this, are there any essential tools I should put on my shopping list to help in the maintenance of the z? Any insight would be much appreciated. Cheers!
From my understanding if the car is a Standard twin turbo or a 2 seater. It is a grey import. Unless you have paperwork showing Km traveled from new, you can't really trust the reading of it as Swapping out the whole cluster or the odometer section is easy. For a TT not to be abused at some point over the last 35yrs is a very rare thing. ------- If you feel you're having issues with your gearbox, get it serviced. Likewise also with your brakes. Have the system flushed, check the condition of the brake pads, rotors, age of tires.
If the car hasn't been driven for years, then its possible the calipers are siezed. The pistons become stuck and won't move giving the feel of a hard brake pedal. The fix, is to remove the calipers, push out the pistions, clean them, reassemble with rubber grease, fill system with new brake fluid and bleed. Likewise for the trans. Dump the fluid, remove the pan and fit a new filter. Refit pan and fill with new fluid.
Thanks for the replies. I don't think there are any issues with the gearbox - Was just wondering if there were any recommended preventative things I could do and to make it shift a bit better. Yeah I'm pretty sure the KMs are genuine. The car came with the original Owners manual, Japan WOF(Shaken) checks every 2 years for the 20 years it was in Japan which includes each ODO reading, a map of service stations in Japan all kept together in a leather binder with a big Z embossed on it. It also had the Sales agreement of the first NZ owner from 2010, who was 60 years old at time of purchase. For some reason I thought there were 2 female owners but turned out it was only her. She then sold it to my dad in 2014 and now it's passed onto me. So at least after it was landed I think it's been looked after. I mean it still has fully working OEM Cassette deck and CD player! The tweed interior, parcel tray, seats(Drivers side right bolster tweed is a bit worn), all of its pretty immaculate. Has OEM exhaust etc etc. Old man had probably driven it most weekends but in any case I'll take that advice about the pistons. Likewise the trans stuff. Got the Service manual for it so should be able to bumble through it. Cheers
First, congratulations on wanting to take on the ownership of your late father's Z32, a lot of people wouldn't do the same and just sell it off cheap. These can be very rewarding and enjoyable cars to own when maintained correctly. I'll try to address your concerns below. 1. Diffrerent TPS readings - The throttle bodies are balanced with a spring on each side so if you press on one you won't get consistent readings. The best way to test is by moving the centre throttle cable to WOT to confirm TPS voltage. 2. Hard brakes - Sounds like your brake booster may have failed if you really have to stamp down on the pedal hard. Autos had softer boosters and should be quite easy to brake. See if you can hear an air leak in the engine bay with the pedal depressed. Siezed brake caliper pistons may also be a possibility as someone else suggested. You can test for this by braking from 60 or so kmh with your hands off the steerinf wheel. If the car darts around or pulls hard to one side you likely have a siezed piston in one or more calipers and need a rebuild kit. 3. Laggy auto trans - Need a bit more info with this one. Being a JDM import you will have the power and hold switch. With the switch in power mode it should shift above 6000rpm in each gear. If it is laggy from takeoff this could indicate a torque converter fault. Laggy shifts could be a valve body issue. The RE4R03A in the TT is a strog transmission with lots of aftermarket support and used in a number of different Nissan and Isuzu vehicles and worst case scenario most auto trans shops should be able to put a rebuild kit through it
Hey Ryzan, thanks for taking the time to reply. Yeah I know the old man would like me to keep this going so I'm committed to learning as much as I can to maintain it as well as possible, while still enjoying it at the same time as it's definitely a fun car to drive. But yeah in reply to your replies below 1) The centre throttle cable is reading 3.86v along with the left cable and also at the pedal, while the right is reading 4.5v. As far as I understand from reading, the dual throttle bodies may be at WOT but because the TPS is presenting a lower voltage to the ECU, this may impact fuel injection and timing. From what Ive read TPS as reported to the ECU should be nearer to 5v 2) Yeah might need me to do some work and learning on this over winter. Couldn't pick up on any vacuum leak to the brake booster so will check it all over in winter 3) This might just be me not having driven an auto trans older than a few years old and feels different in an older car. Will monitor and see it it changes over the next couple of yrs
I don't understand what you mean by the centre, left and right throttle cable - The only one to test from is the accelerator pedal cable.
May I suggest, if it aint broke don't fix it. Leave it. If it's only done such little kms it's basically like new. People who try to tweak these end up messing them, IMO. If I were you, I would keep an eye out for any water leaks due to perhaps aging water hoses and do the servicing and enjoy it. As for the AUTO, from factory the shifts are rubbery, they tried to simulate seamless changes, much like a CVT. If you want crisp, instant changes, a valve body mod is the way to go. Do a service on the Auto every 50,000kms and while there, talk to the shop about doing a valve body mod to allow for crisp shifts. Getting a shop to change the oil/do a service, every 50k should be around $250 - 300 and well worth it. It's what I have done to mine and the shifts are instant, bang, bang, bang in gears, just like those driving around the Golfs like lunatics, LOL.
