bluefrog

Wow... just have to say a big thanks all, so much info and suggestions! This forum is already proving very helpful. So... safe to say new rubber on the rears would be a wise move to start with... Still a few things that could be causing the juddering, but I know front disks and pads are not to blame. The garage did check all four disks and only found a warp on one of the fronts, so I think it's unlikely the rear brakes are causing it. As davey_83 pointed out a buckled wheel would cause juddering/vibration all the time, not just under braking so unlikely to be the cause. I've just jacked up the front again to do an oil change and there is some vert/top-bottom play in NSF wheel, which suggests worn/damaged bearing or suspension bushes? Worn bearing causing ABS to kick in kinda makes sense, might try removing the ABS fuse to see if it still judders... Thanks again for all the advice Ben

Hey all, just bought my first zed. overall pretty happy with it, but discovered a few issues... As in post title, I found the car suffers from quite bad 'juddering' when braking, more noticeable at higher speeds. I guessed it was a warped front disk, had the car checked by a mechanic who did discover NSF disk was slightly warped, so 2 new disks & fresh pads fitted. I Thought this was problem solved but it's still juddering! Perhaps not as severe/frequent as before, but it's still there... last time I took front wheels off I did notice a slight buckle on NSF alloy, so the next task is to get this off & take it for a full check. If it's still juddering after that I'm guessing it will be hub/suspension joints at fault?? Other issue as in post title is I can hardly get the bloody car up my drive! It is ridiculously steep and i know it's a heavy car, but the car has falken tyres all round and all that torque! Rears are getting a bit low but a good few mm above wear indicators yet... even when I turn traction control off the tyres spin like crazy and I barely make it up. I know this is just going to wear what's left of the rears down very fast, but don't want to leave the car down on the public road overnight... My last car, a honda s2000 with Toyo Proxes T1R's all round crawled up nicely without a hint of tyre slip!! Guess all I can do is put fresh rubber on the rears and see how it does... Anyway, any advice would be great Cheers Ben - slightly frustrated new Z owner...

Sold 30 minutes ago... doh!

Thank you all for your very helpful advice on this... I was in the Coventry area looking at another car, so contacted the seller and went round for a butchers. In general the car didn't look too bad, save for a weird 'smooth' dent on rear n/s (?) Seemed to drive ok, although the clutch felt a bit weird to me, not too heavy but there was a strange vibration going through my foot! Haven't driven that many so not sure if this is something to worry about or not. Wheels in need of a refurb, one of the fronts had a slight dent in the rim... The seller explained he'd had some worrying enquiries from people on ebay, so was intending to either replace the cats & re-advertise, or change the description to 'spares or repairs'. I think it's provisionally sold now anyway... But! I've just spotted this (hope the link works): http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201506094178063/usedcars Was for sale on auto trader a few weeks ago, looked suspiciously cheap :-\ It disappeared for a while & now back up for sale... Not sure what the story is there, but I thought it might be worth a look at least. Apparently comes with FSH, some Nissan. I assumed it was a repossession but apparently they took it in part exchange. Here I go again

Yeah... I'm going off the whole idea tbh. I think there's a more serious problem and he just wants rid of it Bradders, cheers for the links, are they from a facebook owners group?

Ere you go... http://r.ebay.com/AnTdyd

Ok... after a PM from Mitz, a message from the seller and an MOT history check, I've learned a bit more about the car... Apparently they did an emissions check at Cougar and it failed At the last 2 MOT tests it also failed on emissions and needed some fettling (?) to pass, which suggests the solution may not be as simple as remapping the ecu for the different cats... Mitz said he recommended the seller get hold of a pair of second hand OEM cats if possible, fit them, run the emissions test again and see if this cures the EML too. This is the only way to know if the cats are at fault or there's a more serious problem with the engine... Starting to realise why this car is going cheap, still worth a look tho I reckon! B

Because it could be a very cheap fix This^^ But like san marino says, the rest of the car's gotta be straight too! I'm busy tomorrow but hopefully will be able to go for a butchers early next week... if it's still for sale that is It seems a few on here had the same EML after fitting high flow cats, so chances are this is the cause. Cheers folks!

Many thanks GMballistic and San marino blue! all very helpful info I've just sent Mitz a PM, hopefully he can shed some light on the matter... This forum is proving very helpful already!

Yeah, that's what I would have done... He says he had the problem diagnosed at the Cougar store in Leicester (350Z specialists apparently) and they quoted him £650 for two new cats (inc. labour) which sounds a bit high to me!

Hi all I'm in the market for my first Z and have been trawling through auto-trader, pistonheads and ebay as you do, in search of something not too expensive but decent... Just found a 2003 silver UK model on ebay, done 86k, looks in fairly good condition for age. Mods include Induction kit, Milltek exhaust and Berks HFC's. However... engine light is on owner had it diagnosed with fault codes of P1146 P1166 P1147 P1167. Apparently these are related to the O2 sensors, and he's been told the HFC's need replacing to rectify this. Does this make sense? Have the cats deteriorated? I assumed the Berk's high flow units are good quality and pretty long lasting... If this is all that's wrong then I guess the car's worth a punt as it's priced quite low. Opinions welcome! Cheers Ben, Lancashire