MattMe Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Hi everyone. Went to test drive a 350z last night, silver, 54 plate, GT, good spec nice car. Firstly Was about to go out for a drive with the owner and my girlfriend turns to me and says "I'll wait here, they're a bit cramped in the back." I looked at her. She was being serious. I laughed ans said, "You're right, there isn't a lot of room in the back." Poor girl. She's looked at a good few with me so I don't know why she's never noticed the lack of seating in the back. So long as she doesn't buy me a rear seat cover for my Birthday I'm happy for her to believe whatever she likes... Anyway, that wasn't why I posted this thread! I noticed something while driving this car I hadn't noticed in the last one I drove and that was an almost complete lack of self centering in the steering. I know it's fairly heavy steering, which I like but I expected after pulling out from a junction and accelerating steadily it would self center, but I found myself pulling it back to avoid driving up the curb. Is this normal or is likely something's wrong? Maybe I'm paranoid but something else I found a bit strange on a 54 plate car was the Rays had been refurb'ed last year. Do they often need refurbing, or should I be thinking it's been smashed or driven hard into a curb somewhere and perhaps damaged some part of the suspension or steering rack, hence the lack of self centering? Cheers everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexx Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 The refurbed alloys could be totally innocent. We're all prone to curbing now and again, and as a meticulous owner, Id have the alloy refurbed asap cos Im a perfectionist. As for self centering. Mine does it. But Im sure someone with more knowledge will be along soon with a more constructive answer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattMe Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 I know what you're saying about the wheels being refurbed purely because the owner is that way inclined, which is entirely possible considering the little bits here and there like Z valve caps and Z badges and a few other little bits. It was just the combination of the two things that made me a bit unsure. It's not like it didn't self centre at all, but a heel of a lot less than I was expecting as I pulled out. I've not driven another car that I had to correct by hand so much since a 7 I built a few years ago, but even that wasn't as bad as this. I hope it's just a 'feature' of the cars and I'm just being overly sensitive to it as I've hardly driven any. It was a nice car otherwise... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3FIDDYZ Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Hmmm... Not sure about it not self centering... It should do it almost to a point, you may need to give it a little nudge one way or the other just to get it totally true.. It may just need alignment, as its a RWD and if the front wheels are out of true then this will show... Not a hard adjustment to get done. Me and another forum member went to get alignment done the other day and his was out of line on both front and back, front point left and rears pointing right, now all sorted and hes much happier with the difference. Wheels are as Lexx says! Where is the car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIXXERUK Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 The zed is very fussy on the front wheel alignment, get it right and it feels like a different car, check the wear on the front tyres is even, stand in front of the car and visually check the camber of the wheels it should self correct, it isnt normal but it could be a simple fix like 4 wheel laser alignment (approx £40), if in doubt ask him to get it done and take another test drive the rays are a common and known issue - they bubble, most have been refurbed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Mine is exactly the same with regard to the steering. Its just because its not particularly aided by the power steering, so if you have a lot of lock on, the inertia of the wheels will keep it pointing in the direction you turned rather than coming back to centre. Mainly I find it only happens when I turn tight turns (ie junctions), round rounderbouts it will return to centre. Also after reading the others posts, it should if you are going in a near straight line, return to dead centre, and not require any input. If it does then the tracking will be out. Refurbed Rays are very common. They bubble a lot and anyone anal (like most of us on here!) will have them done. Ask them why they were done and if they say bubbling or corrosion, you know it was legit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattMe Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 Thanks for the replies guys. I thought I had read someone mention that they had to refurb their Rays already so kind of thought that might be the case, it was just the two combined that made me suspicious. The other problem was it's the owner's girlfriend who's selling it so she doesn't know all the details unfortunately. The other thing I forgot to ask before was about listening to the engine. From the two I've heard with the bonnet up they seemed quite clicky, like the injectors are quite loud, is that usual? Any other under-bonnet things I should look out for other than the usual right oil level when cold and no mayo round the filler? ta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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