thedon

Cheers for these, very useful A couple of questions if I may: 1. When you say crank the fuel pump after removing the fuse, do you mean the throttle pedal (with the ignition on or off?) 2. When you say "RTV cure for 40mins on the cover gasket and the engine L bits" - does 'cover gasket' mean the speak plug grommets? And what are engine L bits (i.e. where else did you put RTV sealant?)

Fingers crossed for you mate. I'm going to do mine next weekend, all being well. Any particular tips or things to avoid (especially re the gasket)?

Thanks for this. Hopefully I won't need it but nice to know it's there (although the one in the video looks plastic to me, so I don't think we've got an inferior tool)

Well done - brave man I'm debating whether to do mine myself (I'm far from an expert spanner-wrangler) or pay a mechanic friend to do it. Would love to see the photos when you get round to posting them up

Another thumbs up for Adrian. Pointed me at the rocker cover grommet repair solution when I posted looking for help with oil in a spark plug well. The kit turned up today only a couple of days after purchase, and it looks top quality. Not dared fit it yet, but it's all there. Great comms from Adrian, and a free key ring to boot

PS. I have a spare (used) coil pack if you'd like me to pop one in the post.

Re the oil in your spark plug wells, check out this recent thread. I've just found the same thing in cyl 6 and having done some reading it's a common problem with DE engines. I've decided to go for the grommet repair kit from Adrian at Torqen rather than a more expensive cam cover - £139 will repair up to all 6 spark plug chamber grommets. Good luck, Howard

Brilliant - thanks for the replies, much appreciated. Octet, that certainly looks interesting. I have an offer of a used cam cover so I'm torn between a known good but used, versus potentially a longer-term fix. Food for thought... Cheers, Howard

Looking for some advice please.. Just changed all spark plugs, coil packs and cleaned the throttle body in an attempt to cure a stutter on initial throttle. The spark plug chamber of cylinder 6 was oily - I noticed it on the socket before the old plug came out, and the screw of the plug itself was oily. I dithered for 5 mins while I debated whether to fit the new plug, which I did, so almost certainly some oil dripped into the cylinder. When I started the engine there was lots of white smoke which lessened after a few seconds but there was still white smoke for a further 10 seconds of idle running before I switched the engine off. I found this archived thread about it likely being the cam cover gasket so I have a few questions in my mind... Does it being the cam cover gasket match the symptoms (oily chamber and smoke)? Would some throttle body cleaner cause/contribute to white smoke? Do I need a new cam cover or just the gasket? Is it OK to drive in the meantime? Many thanks, Howard

My guess is the Y pipe too - mine was rusty and holed and I heard a strange whooshing noise at speed from what sounded like the bottom of the driver's door. Since replacing the Y pipe I've not heard it again.

Many thanks for the speedy replies . It's a DE engine (2004) and no OBD2 faults are coming up (not since the lambda sensors were changed). I've just seen another thread someone advising to note the coil pack numbers when changing spark plugs - are coil packs not interchangeable? I swapped one on cyl3 a few months back but no mention of it being for a specific cylinder - could that be it? Grundy225 - good shout, but the exhaust is OK, the Y pipe was full of rust but I replaced it a few weeks ago.

Looking for a bit of advice please ... When I prod the throttle there's a very slight stutter in the uptake of the revs. I can also feel a slight misfire at idle when my hand's resting on the gear knob - nothing apparent from the rev counter or the sounds of the engine. There's a very fine vibration through the steering wheel - it feels almost like a fizzing. I'm guessing spark plugs or coil packs.. does that sound plausible? The rear lambda sensors were changed last week and they came out very sooty - not sure if that could be related? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Just a quick note for the knowledge bank because I couldn't easily find this detail when I needed to replace my O2 sensors (aka Heated O2 Sensor, HO2S, Lambda sensor)... I got an engine warning light with these fault codes: P1146 - HO2S 2 bank 1 - minimum voltage P1166 - HO2S 2 bank 2 - minimum voltage P1147 - HO2S 2 bank 1 - maximum voltage P1167 - HO2S 2 bank 2 - maximum voltage The second sensors (HO2S 2) are rearward of the cats. Bank 1 is on the driver's side ('right'), bank 2 passenger side ('left'). http://nissanhelp.com/diy/z/projects/images/2005-2010-O2-sensor-location-nissan-z-01.jpg Replacement parts are NTK part no. OZA554-N10 (bank 2, green plug) and OZA554-N9 (bank 1, blue plug). They are not interchangeable. Denso also available (part nos. 234-4302 left, 234-4312 right). Best price I found for the NTKs was from Opie Oils - £165 delivered with 10% club discount.

Could be worse - I had a wide cut in an Avon ZZ3 rear recently, and they don't make them anymore, so it had to be a pair of ZZ5s.

Second gear was a bit notchy from cold but a tube of Molysip has sorted it, even in winter. Another thumbs up for Ewen at Clarks Motorsport.

My 2004 DE likes the oil to be half way up the dipstick. If I fill it all the way up it very quickly (within a day or two) loses oil to the midpoint and then it doesn't go further down for weeks or months (I check weekly). Are you seeing a loss of oil from the top mark to the midpoint, which you immediately replace and lose again, which you replace etc. etc.? I don't know why mine does this or whether it's normal for DEs (doesn't sound like it from the above) but maybe each engine is different

eBay offered this one whenI looked at the original link - higher mileage but a lot cheaper. I can't couch for it but thought you may be interested if a black GT4 interests you. Good luck with the search (especially if you're travelling all the way from Ipswich?)

Mine has around 25 litres remaining and 60 miles+ when I get the --------. As above, I count the miles since the last top-up. Can be entertaining when I don't brim it and have to guess how much is in there plus the amount I've just added. I'm not as brave as brillomaster because I reckon on 360 miles per tank.. only run dry once and luckily that was on my drive at home (which slopes backward).

I bought a 2004 UK GT with 106k miles 18 months ago for £5700. Nothing major's gone wrong but it's a 11 year old car: lots of little things have needed doing so be prepared for the same. Electric window motor (£185 new), boot release motor (£40 from a scrapyard), boot gas struts (£65 new), exhaust Y-pipe (£330 new), coil pack (£25 used), fluids and filters (£150ish), O2 sensors about to go (£130ish each new) ...you get the idea. All doable at home bar the exhaust - lots of great guides on here Don't let me put you off though - I'm still very happy with my Z, it's just the cost of ownership. (I know I haven't answered your question about import vs UK spec - just making you aware of the add-ons whichever way you go)

Hi - is it still possible to get just a Y-section? 350Z 2004. if that makes a difference. Cheers, Howard

I've recently noticed a loud blowing and it was the top (i.e. invisible from under the car) of the Y where the twin pipes from the cats join. Welded it up and back to normal. A new Y pipe is around £250 (Cobra at least).

This is like a group therapy; "My name's Howard and I look out of the curtains at my car before I go to bed" I even angle my approach across the car park at work so that I approach from the front quarter position - the best view in my opinion; the front stance and down the flanks. I draw the line at deliberately angling the wheels when I park (it's just a bonus when it happens). The only other car in the car park that comes close is an Aston Vantage V8 (very close ).

Engine covers fitted obscuring some components in the engine bay I always get this advisory. I think it's backside covering... the tester isn't obliged (or maybe even permitted) to remove covers, so if you subsequently have an accident due to something that was under a cover and that he didn't see, that is his get out of jail card.

I think they put you pretty borderline on the emissions test but if you warm them up thoroughly before the test you should be OK. Just

I traced my rattle (more of a rasp actually) to the inner perforated liner in one of the the tail pipes on the exhaust. I needed someone to rev the engine to hear it though - it didn't vibrate at idle.