SteveW

Mine has been adjusted by myself, its also been adjusted by Nissan and at the end of the day its still a @*!# handbrake.

I'm a pretty strong lad and on steep hills it takes a proper hard tug to get it to stop the car.

Whilst the car is excellent the handbrake is shite whether its adjusted or not - thats my opinion anyway.

I seem to recall way to adjust it is to:

Jack up all the back end with the wheels off the floor

1) take rear wheels off and release handbrake

2) remove rubber plugs in rear brake disks, 1 per disk

3) rotate hole which had the rubber plug in to 12 o'clock(cog is at 12 o'clock position) IIRC )if not its at 6 o'clcok)

4) roate cog with a flat baded screwdriver one click at a time until the wheels start to lock up (I think on the drivers side you rotate the top of the cog towards the passenger side and on the passenger side the bottom of the cog to the drivers side, if after 10 clicks of the cog the wheels are still free to rotate try the other way 20 clicks)

5) when cogs have been rotated to point where wheels lock up rotate cogs 5-7 clicks in other direction, ensure wheels are free to rotate and don't rub.

6) Get in car and pull up handbrake counting clicks, you wanna aim for 6 - 7. If less clicks loosen the nut on the handbrake with the extended 10mm socket if more than tighten it abit.

7) release handbrake and repeat until you have 6-7 clicks.

8) release handbrake jump out of car and check wheels are free to rotate

9) reapply handbrake, check wheels are locked.

10)put wheels back on

11)bish bash bosh brew time

6)

Prettt sure the zed has a towing capacity of zero and it states in the manual towing should not be done in a zed.

Probably be ok for a MTB rack but I wouldn't tow anything!!!

Good choice of tyres. I put 4 on my zed 2 weeks ago, replacing re040's on back and Autogrip F109 on rear(came with the car when I bought it) Best £400 I've spent in a long time, great grip wet or dry, car is so sure footed now. Dunno about the longevity of the tyre tho, last tyres I had this grippy were Toyo T1Rs on my Fiesta ST, was down to 4mm (fronts) in 3000 miles.

Enjoy.

P.S got mine from Camskill, great price but their choice of courier left a lot to be desired (Citylink)

I'm on my second set of these now. First set with no trackdays lasted 17 - 18K miles at the rear and 23-25 k at the front but would have gone longer only replaced them due to a misalignment issue causing a bald strip.

The second set have done a trackday at Mallory and still have loads of tread.

Hey mate When I did mine I noticed the brushes weren't particularly worn just things springs that keep them in contact with the shaft are a bit pony so was losing contact every so often.

I found that sometimes I would wind my window down say half way. Stop then it wouldn't move unless I manually pushed the glass down, it would move about an inch and then start moving again. If it stopped working right at the bottom it was a right PITA to get back up!

Since resetting the brush position I've not had any problems. I'm sure it will come back at some stage tho which will result in it needing doing again or new brushes. This might also have been what was up with your original motor?

Cheers

Steve

The brushes will be losing contact with the motor shaft more than likely.

Check the guide I've written in the guides section.

Good luck

What an awful story! Feel sorry for people when stuff like this happens.

However, just to add my two cents. I don't see anything wrong with people writing about good and bad experiences and naming places on a forum.

At the end of the day we all come on here for advice and to say (within reason) our personal opinions. That is what praising or slating is - someones personal opinion and as such is not a reflection on the forum itself. Any companies who feel there is something wrong with this should also be named, why would any good, reputable company have any issues with someones personal opinion?

I can come on here and say England are the worst football team in the world - at the end of the day that is just my opinion or I could say Gordon Brown was a really good Prime Minister, both opinions are quite clearly wrong. We all have opinions and by definition what I have just stated is not an opinion of the forum. Maybe some kind of disclaimer is required to automatically add to the start of all threads stating any views contained here within are the soul personal opinion of the author and not the view of the forum/site etc etc.

If someone has had a good experience of a company and writes about it no one has issues with naming the company. Conversly if someone has had a bad experience there are issues around companies and people being named which I feel is wrong. In the marketplace today only the best companies survive and by not allowing naming of companies or persons involved in bad experiences does not drive companies to operate at higher standards and provide quality service meaning a better experience for all.

Just my opinion

He probably thought you had some 'SANTA' tyres on...that's all you can see from your pic

LOL do those come with free red noses and white beards? If so I'm bagging me some.

Steve - do you know what type/size of brushes are required. I would rather get them before I start stripping the motor.

Sorry mate I don't know the brush sizes, I never needed to go that far.

Unfortunately to get to the brushes you still need to strip the motor which involves a bit of soldering and unsoldering wires (2 or 3) but looks easy from when I looked.

Cheers

Steve

I have the exact same set up and don't get any grinding noises but do get a sort of clicking sound, kind of like a train noise clickety click etc etc - can only hear it with windows down.

Its all to do with the air going down the grooves between the pads and disc.

I'd suggest you jack the car up and spin the wheels by hand. If the disk is rubbing on the pad in some places and not others, I would say have your runouts checked on all disks, you might need the discs skimming on the car to get them to run true to the hubs. Checking runout is a must when changing brake discs.

All the best

Steve

When you say it is totally dead what do you mean? Has it set on fire or similar?

Its likely the brushes just need replacing unless the copper contacts on the motor shaft have totally worn away which is unlikely the brushes are designed to be the wear point.

New brushes will only cost a few quid there are places on net that make them to measure as well.

Also have you treid my window repair guide?

http://www.350z-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=30870

It does fix a lot of problems and extends the life of your motor.

Good luck

Steve

Thanks guys thats good to know everyones feels like mine!

Its been that long since I drove anything else I couldn't remember how they felt and when I jumped in the Clio it set the bells ringing.

I've already got the 'fancy fluid' but I will be getting some braided lines when money allows.Hopefully before the next trackday I've got booked at Cadwell Park.

Thanks

Steve

After having a bit of a play today in a mates Clio Sport I was quite surprised how completely different his brake pedal feels to mine which got me wondering is this how the brake pedal should be in the Zed.

Basically with the engine running I can press the pedal a long way and would say it feels quite soft until near the end of the travel, I don't need to apply much pressure to stop and only a few mm of movement when driving normally.

If the engine is off the first time the brake pedal is pressed it is fairly hard at the end of its travel (it doesn't go anywhere near as far as it does when the engine is running - obviously this is to do with the servo assistance).

If I press the brake pedal a few times it pumps up to being rock solid and hardly moves - this is how the brake pedal felt in my mates clio with the engine running which to be honest I preffered.

So how should the Zeds brakes feel?

Cheers

Steve

To be honest if your tyres have a decent amount of tread on them or are snow tyres driving the zed in snow is easy.

I struggled with traction last winter when its snowed froze then snowed on top of it but th eyear before no issues but I only had 2.5mm of tread left on the rears.

Chuck 3 or 4 bags of gravel/grit salt in your boot over the driven wheels and it makes it even easier.

Just be aware that you can only use the Dixel pads with Dixel discs, so if you want to use them (and I've only ever heard good things about Dixel) then you'll need to replace your discs and pads.

Thanks for that introspect,I didn't know that, so that invalidates the Dixcel R's on that basis. I don't do enough trackdays to justify replacing the discs until they are toast and they have only done 5K miles now.

Cheers

Steve

Right have done some reserach an dfound teh following:

Ferrodo DS2500's have a coefficient of friction (Mu) of 0.42 throughtout the temperature range

EBC Yellowstuffs have a coefficient of friction (Mu) of:

0.5 when cold

0.31 up to 550 celsius

0.21 up to 800 celsius

And Project Mu pads:

"LEVEL MAX 500" (Oct/2006)

>> Material: Carbon metal, Temp: 0~500C, Friction: 0.41~0.47mu

"LEVEL MAX 700" (Oct/2006)

>> Material: Carbon metal, Temp: 50~700C, Friction: 0.43~0.51mu

"LEVEL MAX 900i" Renewal. (Oct/2006)　

>> Material: Carbon metal, Temp: 100~900C, Friction: 0.45~0.60mu

Couldn't find the info for the P 01 compound. Does anyone have this information?

This explains why as my yellowstuffs were getting hotter and hotter on Saturday I was having to brake earlier and earlier and why it felt like they were fading.

This takes me back to a post I made about not to run Yellowstuff with discs that have grooves and that they are intended to be run with solid type discs.

Hi Bullet, I must have missed that post, I don't recall it anyway but my memory is not the best!

I've had a look around the EBC site and can find no information saying stuff pads shouldn't be used with grooved discs, as such I have sent EBC and email. See if I get a response, I didn't last time I contacted them!

I am intending on getting some braided lines before my Nurburgirng trip in August / Spetember and I will change the pads before then as it seems most people think this is the root cause of my issues.

Currently I have been given options of:

Ferrodo DS2500's

Dixcel R's

Performance Friction 01's

Mu Pads

I'll have a look on the various websites and see if I can work out which are best for 2/3/4 trackdays per year.

Thanks

Steve

yesterdayi paid a little visit to an open pit laned mallory parK racetrack.

I had an awesome day and the zed was brilliant on track all except for the brakes which just felt terrible the whole time! I wouldn't say I was 100% confident in the braking performance. The brakes never seemed to develop or have an aggresive bite and flying down to gerrards at 120 was sometimes a bit worrying!

I'm running yellow stuffs, turbogrooves and motul rbf 600. Is this problem likely to be a pad issue? I.e I need better ones like 2500's? The brake pedal pumps up rock solid which suggests no fluid issues.

Any suggestions appreciated

cheers

steve

That kit is awesome, never seen that B4 looks lovely, I wanted a Nismo but now. . . . . . .

Hope you get it sorted.

I have used KNM Motors in the past at Morley- http://www.knm-motors.co.uk for odd bits and pieces and got my brake discs skimmed there.

They are part of the good garage scheme and have decent reviews.

Google good garage scheme.

Its a family run garage with lots of new equipment all the guys I've dealt with seem like decent chaps and so does the owner.

They probably don't have much experience of sports cars or Zeds but everything you have mentioned in your list are simple tasks generally speaking, there is no major surgery so any decent garage will be able to do the work at a fraction of the price over Nissan.

or there is always the option of DIY.

use someone who has a good system. Hunter is a excellent one.

+3 got mine done last weekend on a Hunter.

Where are you located? If anywherer near HD2 (Huddersfield) give Allcar Tyres and Exhausts a call thats who I used and they did a good job. Car feels totally different.

Feel your pain my exhaust was also a PITA I resorted to a big angle grinder to get it off in the end.

The Y pipe to mide pipe bolts were super tight took some big effort to get that off!

Suppose this is one for the mods.

Just wondered why there isn't a Technical >> Suspension+Steering forum? Is it possible for one to be created?

Its difficult to post something in a relevant area that people will see relating to suspension.

Choices as I see it are:

Technical >> Tyres

Modifications >> Suspension

Technical >> Servicing

In my opinion non are the kinds of places you might think to look for geometry settings (I have seen these in the tyres bit BTW) etc or where you can post a problem relating to OE suspension.

Just a question not a complaint, I don't mean to offend.

Thanks

Steve

I too have spent a shedload this month

Tyres - £450

P2 Service - £235

Japspeed K1 and Y Pipe - £260

Auxiliary Drive Belts - £30

4 Wheel Alignment - £65

Trackday - £120

Total £1150

Fun = Priceless

MOT is next month then insurnace two months after - an expensive summer

Still plan on doing Cadwell and the ring before Autumn as well!

Great guide SteveW.

 

Can anyone tell me if they have managed to fix a problem with the driver window continually winding down half way using this guide? Mine has started doing this; I can wind the window fully up or down, but as soon as I let go of the button the window returns to the half down position. This is clearly a pain as it's a bit dangerous driving along at speed whilst it's raining and holding the window up so I'm going to get wet

 

I'm not too mechanically minded and not feeling brave enough to attempt this as my first bit of Z maintenance without knowing that it's a similar problem.

Thanks mate,

Before I did this my window would sometimes wind itself halfway down when I armed the alarm since doing this its never done it again.

Hope it sorts yours out

I'm selling a Sony Digital Photoframe DPF-D72N.

Its brand new and never been used. No lies or beating about the bush I got it free when I bought a new TV last week and have no use for it because I already have two other types.

It retails at £79.99 but seen as I got it for free I'm selling it with a big discount.

more info on the item here http://www.sony.co.uk/product/dpf-simplicity/dpf-d72n

How does £50 delivered sound?

Cheers

Steve