Dicky

Excuse my ignorance, but how many are there in a box, I can count 6 from the picture? cheers Dicky

Cheers lads, soon as the weather improves ill get at it. Thanks for the help, Zman as well. As for plumbing, I see your point, if ever I attempt a plumbing job water gets everywhere, I'm sure it has a vindictive side cos even going to the toilet it finds a way to miss the bowl and pee the wife off.😂

Cheers Ekona, thanks for that. My mind was centred around the servo or master cylinder. I guess the annual bleed job would be the easy option but then again I’d love to experience the feeling of triumph over an annoyance that’s given me grief all these years.👍

My 2004 car has displayed this same problem from new. You apply the brake and there’s a noticeable travel before pedal resistance is felt. If I apply the brake, take my foot off and apply it again I get a good solid pedal feedback. It’s not a big deal although it is annoying. I remember years ago I asked the service manager what it could be and he suggested a servo issue. Years later I had the brake fluid changed by another Nissan dealer who made a real mess of it unable to get a firm pedal. I consulted the forum and got info on the correct bleeding sequence which solved the problem after which I noticed there was no travel whatsoever on the brake pedal. This lasted for quite a long maybe a year but then reverted to pedal travel again. Anyone experienced this and resolved it or can offer possible culprits.

Well I've decided to wait until next year when its a bit warmer to get under and possibly do it myself depending on how bad it is. Companies I found were Thompsons of Morpeth, Darlington Vehicle Welding, Pristine Autos Gateshead, The Garage Bishop Auckland and JR Classics Ltd Doncaster. Haven't narrowed it down yet by visiting them but also would like to speak with someone who has used any of them. Problem is I've head a couple of poor workmanship stories and lets face it once the underseal is on how you going to tell if its a good job? Word of mouth is the best way forward.

Had a similar problem earlier this year.. see my post thankfully your problem seems to be sorted but mine turned out to be just over £3K problem to resolve (Buggar) anyway it was. worth it as I couldn't have bought another car for the price of repairs. It might be of interest..

Cheers Davey_83👍

Thanks young man your a gem! You must have a PhD in 350z motors😂

Anyone know off hand what size bolts are used to fix the brace in place, and for an extra bonus point the bolt size holding the plastic protection covers on? Also when working on the car which type of socket is best, 6point or 12 point, especially for rusted bolts

SOLD

Yep, I’ve got one if your interested. Small scratch on the base at one side and slight sign of use on the top of the knob ( see pics) but stil in good shape. PS: not sure what happened with the pics but couldn’t sort it. Anyway you get the idea.

Many thanks young man for responding, I’ll give them a call. I’ve found one in Morpeth and one in Darlington but the worry is who can you trust to do a good job. When I decide on one I’m going to insist I watch the work being done. Thanks again

These companies are very hard to find up north and finding a decent one even harder! Anyone used a company called Autospray located in Darlington who apparently use a Dinitrol process??

The final chapter. Got the car back from Vic Youngs garage in South Shields who have saved my old car Betsy’s life (I recommend them). She’s sitting in my garage now with blankets and a hot water bottle to recuperate after 4months of waiting hindered by Covid staff shortages, Holidays and sourcing parts. The final bill £3200 which seems fair considering the parts cost circa £1200. Shes had new timing chain and tensioner, water pump, a low milage cylinder head and injectors from ZmanAlex and gaskets etc etc. All this because of a faulty injector on cylinder 4. How on earth can you tell if an injector is functioning 100%? As it happens I had noticed a dirty cylinder 4 spark plug over the last 3 services but couldn’t understand why, even posted the question but no positive solution. All I can recommend after all this aggravation is 1) be weary of dirty plugs when doing your servicing, possibly do a leak down test on the cylinder if your not sure and 2) listen for timing chain slap after a couple of seconds after starting and be sure to change it well before 100K miles especially if you give your car the beans a little to often. .

Just had an advisory on my 2004 car regarding underbody corrosion. Had a bit of a look (as best I could with near side wheels up on the kerb) and it doesn't look to bad but needs some attention. Can anyone recommend a decent underbody rust treatment company anywhere in Tyne & Wear?? Thanks

Still waiting for the finished product. Lost a week due to the service manager going on holiday and gaskets etc not being ordered. The mechanic had a little work to do to tidy and check the replacement cylinder head but I’ve been told this would not incur labour costs. Anyway all the parts came in last week so onward and upward. It’s a bugger though all this hassle and expense over something I could have spotted had I been more aware. Also, as I mentioned earlier, the timing chain had jumped a link because tensioner was at its fullest wear position. I can’t seem to find any Nissan info suggesting how often the timing chains and tensioners should be changed. I’ve heard 100,000 miles mentioned but I thought they lasted the life of the car. Bugger squared!! If I had my time again I would change them at 60 to 70 thousand to be on the safe side especially if the car is driven hard at times. To be continued....

Anyone done this? Did you use a fuel additive and was it any good or did you take them out and clean them manually. Is there a procedure available anywhere ?

The continuing story ..... Well I visited the garage to see how Betsie my sick 350 was doing and nearly fell over when I saw her in the corner of the garage, all forlorn and abused with the front of the car removed, wire looms all over the place disconnected plugs and sockets and air con radiators tied up out of the way etc etc. To be fair they did explain they wouldn’t normally do this but due to the age of the car and the potential for seized connections and rusted bolts it was the safest option to leave as much connected as possible and tie it out the way, fair enough I thought! The cause of the misfire appears to be down to a burnt out inlet valve on cylinder 4. The edge of the valve had burnt away as had the valve seat. The garage recons this was down to a faulty injector causing a build up of carbon on the valve and seat preventing it from dissipating heat efficiently. Apparently the timing chain had also jumped a link but fortunately hadn’t caused further damage. For those like me who didn’t know, and because inspecting the timing chains etc is a major job, apparently you can hear the timing chains “slapping”when the engine is first started up (which disappears after a short while) indicating the chains and tensioner need attention (DON’T IGNOR THIS) As it happens I had posted a forum question earlier last month asking why cylinder 4 spark plug always looked slightly burnt and sooty when doing the annual service, now I know and here again (DON’T IGNOR THIS). Due to the cost to repair, lack of good engineering companies in the area, plus the additional cost of spares made a replacement low milage engine look the best bet. Unfortunately Zmanalex was out of stock and because I wouldn’t trust anyone else to buy from and because the bottom of the engine looked pristine, I finally decided to buy a low milage cylinder head and injector from Alex and take the hit of any additional expense. Alex is a deep well of knowledge and so helpful when your in the depths of despair (a canny lad in Geordie) So now I’m waiting for my parts to arrive and hoping that the mechanic building the engine back up again can remember where the multitude of the bits and pieces all go back.

Apparently the exhaust valve is the culprit here. Garage carried out a leak down test and found air was pouring out the exhaust pipe. Cylinder head coming off on Monday but up to now it’s costing circa £3k 😭 Anyway I’ll post exactly what’s been done for future reference

Well poor old Betsey is seriously ill just now. The garage rang to say one of the cylinders is low on compression and the cause could be one of several things, valves, injector or a piston leak problem. Just waiting for repair estimates now but the service manager did say it will be costly. Think I’ll remind him I’m just a poor old pensioner with a bad back and a sore leg....it’s worked before😂

just out of interest, if you pull off the long nose part of the coil pack to reveal the long spring assembly inside, there’s a 20mm ish long item which looks like a fuse inserted in series with the spring. Anyone know what that is and it’s function in life?? Might cut one open to see what else I’d involved insde.

Hi Olly, I tried your suggestion but it seemed the engine note changed on all of them so I was unable to confidently say which one was duff. I then pull out each coil pack in turn, leaving its plug connected pushed a spare plug into the coil pack, grounded the plug body and turned the car over. Would you believe all 6 produced a spark???. I then bought and fitted a full set of Platinum NGK spark plugs, boxed it all up again and BUGGAR it’s still missing. Now thinking it may be an injector fault or something more obscure plus I’ve ran out of enthusiasm so it’s off to the garage on Mon where their diagnostic computer will hopefully highlight the fault. It may cost a few quid but I’ll get that back by getting the wife a paper round for a month or two 😂😂😂 Thanks again for your input though.

Thanks Olly, to be able to get to the coil pack plugs and stand half a chance of removing/replacing them on 2,4&6 I had to remove the air intake pipework (maintaining the maf) the other side was better but not much. Then trying to listen to the engine note when it’s running lumpy and hunting all the time was bordering on impossible. I was going to order a full set from Alex as it happens but he was out of stock. Rang Euro car parts and they have a decent make for £30+vat so may follow your lead.

Thanks Kieran👍

Thanks Olly, it’s been a bit of a sod trying to listen to engine note when it’s running lumpy and hunting all the time. I was going to order a full set from Alex but he was out of stock. I’ve just rang Euroncar parts and ordered a full set of none budget packs for £30 ea + Vat. Hears hoping👍 Thanks again