Z1, Fuel injector cleaner, 120k maint., Borla, and more if anyone is up to the task..

[SaucyTabasco]

Hello, I am a newbie!

No, but seriously, I stumbled on this forum and decided after reading through most of the stickies there are some intelligent and knowledgeable resources here. Kudos to you bodhisattva's who have taken the time to help others, as there are so many people who need to know but so few that do! Anyhow, I have a few ?'s for anyone who feels like answering. I know they are going to jump around a lot and are really in no particular order, but just some things that have been on my mind recently.

First of all, I have a 1990 N/A 300zx w/ 104,000 miles, everything stock except a K&N cone.

A few months ago, I l was teaching a friend to drive stick at night in the middle of a parking lot. To make a long story short, he got it up to 40mph or so and drove us straight over the top of an 8-inch curb in the middle of the parking lot. Well, we won't say it felt good...it felt REALLY bad. Fortunately (and suprisingly) my front tires didn't pop, and after going to have my alignment checked it was alright. However, since then if I park my car, pull the steering wheel all the way to one side and drive at idle speed the left tire/wheel makes an odd thump/bounce movement that shakes the whole car...it feels like driving on a flat tire. A 'loppy' feeling if you will, as if the tire is folding underneath itself after each rotation. Pressure in tires is fine. Cant see any visible warping of the wheel. I don't know what it could be...structural integrity of the tire belts? Something in the steering suspension? (not alignment). BTW, it has a slight pull to the left. Gonna get new tires anyways, just hoping that is the problem...if not, I have no idea.

On this same incident, the undercarriage appears to be OK aside from the plastic undershroud paneling under the engine bay (which has gone to hell). I am assuming this is worth replacing? Anything in that lower vicinity I should be wary of having damage going over such a large curb? As stated, its been months since the event and nothing has failed to date. I would assume that car manufacturers at least TRY to make a cars organs off the ground enough that the body and wheels take the blow first?

Secondly, this has happened since I bought the car at 86,000 miles. After shifting, especially when the car is still cold, after releasing the clutch the clutch/transmission makes a buzzing/whirring/winding sound as it decelerates. This happens especially during the 2000-3000 rpm range, and only lasts for a moment. The noise is especially prevailent when downshifting, but sometimes I can duplicate the noise also by putting the car in nuetral and bringing the rpms to 2000-3000 rpms. The sound makes a noise almost as if a fan blade was hitting against a casing of some sort, but it is definately not any fan I know of, and im almost 100% it has something to do with the clutch/transmission because the noise intensity and speed directly correlates to the the intensity/speed of rpms and roar of the engine. Throwout bearing maybe? (Note: clutch was replaced by previous owner at 70,000 miles, so its only got 30K or so on it). If it is that, should I go ahead and replace the whole clutch anyways? Anything else for a car of my age that might need replacing while they have that stuff out? Any worthwhile N/A upgrades in this vicinity?

Third, yes I know its' early, but even though the timing belt only has 40,000 miles on it, it has been 8 years since it was last replaced, and not to mention that the water pump was not done at that time. So I will be going down that road within the next 3,000 and need some advice. Basically, I have found 2 reputable places in which to buy a timing kit, both which have similar components: Courtesy Nissan, and Z1 motorsports.

Z1 60K package: $475.00 (or $750 with labor...I live close)
http://www.z1motorsports.com/product...oducts_id=1680

Courtesy 60K package: 382.46
http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchan...de=Z32-TBKITA3

The only main difference I could find between the two was that Z1 has a

"Crankshaft timing sprocket"
http://www.z1motorsports.com/imagema...600&page=popup

and Courtesy has a

"Crankshaft Sprocket Plate"
http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchan...Category_Code=

...which neither company included both in their package. Anything I should be wary of here? Is either part more important for replacement than the other in this procedure? Am I just reading too far into this?

No but seriously, timing is such a big deal, and quite an expensive thing for someone like me -I want it done right the first time to avoid a second. To make matters worse, Courtesy has a 120k kit as well, which costs $499.99 (which is over $150 more than their 60K kit) but only has an "Idler Pulley and Stud" and a "Secondary Idler Pulley and Stud" in addition to their 60K kit!

(heres a link to the 120k)
http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchan...ode=Z32-120KT5

Z1 doesn't offer this, nor did they even reccommend anything past their basic 60K maint. package after inquiry. Is the 120k kit bogus? Arrg!

On the timing belt note, is it worthwhile for an N/A to bother upgrading the UR crank pulley? Pro's/Con's?

It sucks not knowing enough about cars...

Anyhow, thank you to whoever has taken the time to read through all this, and even more to anyone who answers any of this stuff. I just have a few more:

Fuel Injector Cleaner: Good or Bad? I've read reports (e.g. consumerguide) which say not to use the stuff because it can corrode your fuel injectors or something, and I've read in other places something about "Pintled" and "Pintle-less" designs having something to do w/ the problem. Apparently only certain years are affected, anyone know if 1990 was one of them? Was wanting to throw some techron in there...

Any recommendations on exhaust? I was looking at Borla in particular, I have heard they make top notch stuff...I'm not doing this for HP, as I know just about any mendrel bent system is gonna give about the same power as the nest, but I'm looking for a smooth low sound that is aggressive, yet 'responsible' if you will and not obnoxious...and it needs to look near stock, so those big-ass ugly cans are definately out of the question. I don't want anything ricey, so HKS and whatnot are out. Anyone have personal experience with Borla, LaBree, B&B and any of the 'upper' companies?

And last, but not least, I live in Chattanooga, so as mentioned before, Z1 is about the closest Z-specialty shop in my area, so its not much more than 2.5 hrs away or so. Anyonw here have any personal experiences with them? Good/bad? Trustworthy, etc? Or should I stick with ordering parts from a different company online and letting a local garage/dealership work on my Z? I am not made of money by any means, I am a college student, but quality has its' price, and I want the best for my Z, but I need to be reasonable as well.

Thanks again to anyone who bothered with this thread!!!!

Glad to be here, the rest of em shouldn't be so long

Any other suggestions pertaining to anything are welcome also!

[Broke_as_****]

Originally Posted by SaucyTabasco

I stumbled on this forum and decided after reading through most of the stickies there are some intelligent and knowledgeable resources here.

And who would those be? Only people around here are drunks, retards and assholes, usually a combination thereof. Especially that cockbite called Broke. I just fuckin hate that son of bitch.

*My friend done fucked up*

Could very well be a damaged tire, especially given that you found no other damage. If you can bare it until you replace the tires then I would just ride it out and see if it stops.

On this same incident, the undercarriage appears to be OK aside from the plastic undershroud paneling under the engine bay (which has gone to hell). I am assuming this is worth replacing? Anything in that lower vicinity I should be wary of having damage going over such a large curb? As stated, its been months since the event and nothing has failed to date. I would assume that car manufacturers at least TRY to make a cars organs off the ground enough that the body and wheels take the blow first?

You stated that the suspension wasn't damaged, so I'd look for dents on the oil pan, any contact marks on the steering rack, cracks or damage to the transmission housing and otherwise just do a thorough front to back check underneath to see if there is any place where contact was made. In particular the oil pan, the pick up is only about a 1/4" from the bottom of the pan, so even a small dent could cut off the oil supply quickly.

The engine cover...to my knowledge it's not a critical piece. It helps keep road spray off your belts and some report lower under hood temps with it in place (the idea being that it's forced to push air past the turbos) but I haven't had mine on for the last 13,000 miles and have no ill effects to report.

Secondly, this has happened since I bought the car at 86,000 miles. After shifting, especially when the car is still cold, after releasing the clutch the clutch/transmission makes a buzzing/whirring/winding sound as it decelerates. This happens especially during the 2000-3000 rpm range, and only lasts for a moment. The noise is especially prevailent when downshifting, but sometimes I can duplicate the noise also by putting the car in nuetral and bringing the rpms to 2000-3000 rpms. The sound makes a noise almost as if a fan blade was hitting against a casing of some sort, but it is definately not any fan I know of, and im almost 100% it has something to do with the clutch/transmission because the noise intensity and speed directly correlates to the the intensity/speed of rpms and roar of the engine. Throwout bearing maybe? (Note: clutch was replaced by previous owner at 70,000 miles, so its only got 30K or so on it).

The throwout bearing would be the likely suspect, especially if you can get the noise to go away or at least change by putting the clutch in or out while staying at the same rpm. If you can get the car on jack stands and have a buddy listen under the car with it neutral, try to replicate the sound. If it's coming from the front of the transmission then you've pretty much isolated it to the throwout bearing.

If it is that, should I go ahead and replace the whole clutch anyways? Anything else for a car of my age that might need replacing while they have that stuff out? Any worthwhile N/A upgrades in this vicinity?

For a barely modded NA with only 30k on the clutch I'd say it's fine unless there are indicators otherwise (like it's slow to engage or slips at all). If you're going into to replace the throwout bearing it would probably be wise to replace the rear main seal if it was not done at 70k with the clutch, if it was then replace only if it's obviously damaged. A light weight flywheel is a great upgrade for engine response, it's not going to make any more power but it does make it easier to down shift once you get a feel for it.

Third, yes I know its' early, but even though the timing belt only has 40,000 miles on it, it has been 8 years since it was last replaced, and not to mention that the water pump was not done at that time. So I will be going down that road within the next 3,000 and need some advice. Basically, I have found 2 reputable places in which to buy a timing kit, both which have similar components: Courtesy Nissan, and Z1 motorsports.

Z1 60K package: $475.00 (or $750 with labor...I live close)

Courtesy 60K package: 382.46
http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchan...de=Z32-TBKITA3

The only main difference I could find between the two was that Z1 has a

"Crankshaft timing sprocket"

and Courtesy has a

"Crankshaft Sprocket Plate"

...which neither company included both in their package. Anything I should be wary of here? Is either part more important for replacement than the other in this procedure? Am I just reading too far into this?

First, I'm going to direct you to what is probably the best website you'll ever want to see when ordering parts for your Z. www.conceptzperformance.com The guy who runs it, Coz, redefines customer service, just an out-fuckin-standing place.

Anyway, neither the sprocket nor plate is exactly critical. They are replaced because they get corroded and difficult to remove. Unless yours are rusted I wouldn't bother with it. The plate is cheap and comes with the kit so no reason to toss it out.

The Concept Z and Courtesy kit appear to be identical with the Coz kit just a bit cheaper.

My advice is to get the Concept Z performance 60k kit with the two idler pulleys and studs thrown in but that's me and I'm cautious when it comes to maintenance. Unless of course you're going to get it installed by Z1, then their kit should do just fine with the added expense of the sprocket. Like I said, I'm in favor of learning to do it yourself.

As a funny side note, it appears that Z1 has copied Coz's image and photoshopped in the sprocket. Not a great photoshop job at that.

No but seriously, timing is such a big deal, and quite an expensive thing for someone like me -I want it done right the first time to avoid a second. To make matters worse, Courtesy has a 120k kit as well, which costs $499.99 (which is over $150 more than their 60K kit) but only has an "Idler Pulley and Stud" and a "Secondary Idler Pulley and Stud" in addition to their 60K kit!

Note that the two pulleys list for $70 each and the studs a couple bucks each I think. So $150 increase is just what it costs to add those two parts. And those idlers do go bad after a while, they're just a simple sealed bearing. I replaced mine because I'm like that. The only real way to tell if they should be replaced is if you had it all apart and could spin the idler to listen for any noise from the bearings.

On the timing belt note, is it worthwhile for an N/A to bother upgrading the UR crank pulley? Pro's/Con's?

It's not going to add a lot of power (10hp on the optimistic side) but if you want to mod and are going to be doing a 60k anyway then now is the time to do it. If you have the money go for it, if it would put you on Top Ramen for a few months then it's not anything your to cry about. Some have noted a decent increase in throttle response with an underdrive pulley.

It sucks not knowing enough about cars...

No one starts off knowing anything, it's all OJT.

Fuel Injector Cleaner: Good or Bad? I've read reports (e.g. consumerguide) which say not to use the stuff because it can corrode your fuel injectors or something, and I've read in other places something about "Pintled" and "Pintle-less" designs having something to do w/ the problem. Apparently only certain years are affected, anyone know if 1990 was one of them? Was wanting to throw some techron in there...

I've never used it but my 615CC Nismos are just about new.

Anyway, pintle and pintle-less refer to the design of the spray nozzle as seen here:



The early style Z32 injectors (90-94) are of the design shown as "555cc/min Type 1 Z32 90-94" and had the longer tip and the newer style (95-96) had the shorter tips on the right. The older style has been known to fail due to ethanol mixed gas that has come onto the market in the past few years.

Search TT.net for suggestions on brands of injector cleaner.

Any recommendations on exhaust? I was looking at Borla in particular, I have heard they make top notch stuff...I'm not doing this for HP, as I know just about any mendrel bent system is gonna give about the same power as the nest, but I'm looking for a smooth low sound that is aggressive, yet 'responsible' if you will and not obnoxious...and it needs to look near stock, so those big-ass ugly cans are definately out of the question. I don't want anything ricey, so HKS and whatnot are out. Anyone have personal experience with Borla, LaBree, B&B and any of the 'upper' companies?

I have the Borla cat-back and I love it. Nice deep rumble in the low rpm and low to mid throttle and just an all out roar deep into the boost and in the upper rpms. But really any one of the three you listed will give you that so a choice made on style, cost and availability (I think there was a Borla cat-back in the tt.net classifieds for $400, might still be listed) is going to produce a happy ending.

And last, but not least, I live in Chattanooga, so as mentioned before, Z1 is about the closest Z-specialty shop in my area, so its not much more than 2.5 hrs away or so. Anyonw here have any personal experiences with them? Good/bad? Trustworthy, etc? Or should I stick with ordering parts from a different company online and letting a local garage/dealership work on my Z? I am not made of money by any means, I am a college student, but quality has its' price, and I want the best for my Z, but I need to be reasonable as well.

I'm a tireless proponent of doing your own work but I also realize that sometimes that's just not in the cards due to time, space or other constraints. I'd get a factory service manual (basic requirement for ownership of any car) and take a look at the sections dealing with this maintenance. Then get on twinturbo.net (by far the greatest Z32 resource to ever exist) and check out the 60k FAQ. If it's something you are comfortable doing then I'd say go for it. Z1 doesn't have a stellar reputation on tt.net but they have been much better lately and most of the complaints were regarding online purchasing and shipment. I've never heard anyone fault them for work they did on a car. The latest group buy with over a 100 simultaneous orders for intercoolers seems to have gone off without a hitch.

http://www.ttzd.com/tech/60ktech.html

Glad to be here, the rest of em shouldn't be so long

Long is relative. I think the tuning FAQ is forty something pages.

Any other suggestions pertaining to anything are welcome also!

Learn to work on your Z.

Spend a lot of time on Twinturbo.net

Take the Tops off when ever you can.

[SaucyTabasco]

And there you have it folks, once again some of the most valuable resources is right here in front of you!

Thank you man, I appreciate your help, and that's an understatement. It is nice to have people like you out there who are not only thorough but also understanding in your education towards others. A real blessing to have someone like you around to keep the rest of us from blowing ourselves up!

In all seriousness, I read everything you put down, and am going to get on ebay right now and buy a service manual for my Z, look it over and read on TT.net and see if I am up to doing such a ...daunting task if you will! Your advice won't have gone to waste, I promise.

Thanks again ****!

[DeleriousZ]

woah now cowboy... no need to buy the fsm if you can find it online...

http://www.phatg20.net/modules.php?n...ownload&cid=67

[SaucyTabasco]

That's much nicer PDF than the online one - THANKS!!!!

[Yaggus]

Originally Posted by Broke_as_****

And who would those be? Only people around here are drunks, retards and assholes, usually a combination thereof. Especially that cockbite called Broke. I just fuckin hate that son of bitch.

Took the words right out of my mouth there...