mx5 Paul Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 I have just bought my first 350z. A 54 plate GT Spec model. After driving it for a few days to get used to it and find out any issues that might crop up. I have a few questions. First the clutch pedal seems to bite pretty high and the pedal seems quite stiff/springy, clutch on the way out I hear you cry! But I can't get it to slip and it shows no other sign of it being on the way out. The second issue is the Bose stereo when playing the radio all is well and it sounds great, but as soon as I put a cd in it, only the speakers on the drivers side work?? If anyone has any ideas what I could do please let me know. Cheers Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleR Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Both common issues. The clutch is just a pain because it's so high, but there is a guide in the guides section to lower it As for the Bose, options are punch the passenger door card which sometimes works or buy a new head unit, sony/alpine/etc, all better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 (edited) 350 clutch is one of the heaviest I've used but you soon get used to it. New fluid might help if its not been replaced in a while. You could try adjusting the clutch pedal and see if it improves the biting point. Bit of a faf to get under the dash and need to make sure it still touches the cruise control switch (add some kind of spacer to make it touch if you have to) It was super easy to tell in mine when the clutch was going (stop, 1st gear, ESP off, dump clutch, lots of noise but no movement/wheel spin). Can't help with the Bose head unit im afraid. Edit: best way I found to get at the clutch adjustment Edited October 27, 2013 by longsh07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 how many miles has the car done? i thought about 60k was normal for a clutch, but can vary hugely depending on how the car is driven. if it does slip, it'll start under full throttle in 5th and 6th. The method for testing a clutch as described above isnt really the way to do it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 (edited) how many miles has the car done? i thought about 60k was normal for a clutch, but can vary hugely depending on how the car is driven. if it does slip, it'll start under full throttle in 5th and 6th. The method for testing a clutch as described above isnt really the way to do it... Ill admit its not the most sensible (obviously risk of burning flywheel/wrecking clutch plate) but it works. Plus you only have to do it once to know you have an issue. Edited October 27, 2013 by longsh07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony.r123 Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 i had the left channel issue and found an old thread on here that worked, a hard thump on the center consul plastics in the passenger side foot well adjacent to the stereo sorted mine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mx5 Paul Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 The car has done about 66k miles can't find anything on the service history to say thats it been changed. If the high clutch bite point is a common issue then I will have to see how it goes. Im not sure what to do about the stereo though, I will try the thump first. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Best thing to do Paul if you want to sort the stereo problem is just buy a second hand decent head unit. Something like a Pioneer or Kenwood imo. Not much help I know but it's what I'd do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragon Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 mate as previous op's have said change unit, see how you go with clutch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ricky Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 (edited) This is a little mod I did on my Skyline 350GT, which is essentially the same as the Z apart from the body, it helped with clutch control and feel immensely, it may help if your mechanically inclined. Disclaimer: if you decide to go ahead with this, ITS AT YOUR OWN RISK! if you don't feel competent then don't bother. I have felt for a long time that my clutch is rather heavy and too quick, as in short engagement window, and lack of feel, which spoils the driving experience, now i have already removed the clutch pedal assist spring, which did nothing but make it even heavier. So with this in mind i went hunting on the US forums and came across a thread that a guy with some engineering experience came up with an idea of how to combat this, but basically altering the leverage/fulcrum point of the pedal, his opinion was as mine is, that the master/slave cylinder combo was mismatched, and didn't work well. Anyway his idea was to fabricate a rather over elaborate method of shifting the fulcrum point further up, and so reducing the effort needed along with increasing the engagement window, which make clutch control a lot easier. Now at first i thought i would be lazy and see if i could order one of his kits, but he only makes them for LHD cars, so i decided to bite the bullet and pull out my entire clutch pedal and see if i could make a much simpler modification and achieve the same result, and the answer was yes i could with nowhere near the effort that he had gone to. So its just a case of removing the pedal and disassembling, then marking and drilling a hole of the same diameter about 15-20mm higher up from the original clevis pin pivot hole, i actually just used the clevis and held the bottom edge of it flush with the old hole and using the original to make a mark, i then drilled this to the correct dia, so i could refit the plastic/nylon liner back in, thats it for that bit, you could probably put it all back together and live with the slight master cylinder rod misalignment, as it allows for a small amount. However i decided that i dint want to live with it, and so i just fabricated a small metal plate drilled with two clearance holes to fit the same size as the master cylinder rod, the holes in my case where drilled again at about 15mm centers, so i have enough clearance for the two adjusting nuts, the pics will explain it better,but you get the gist i hope. Just to avoid confusion, the lower bolt/nut are where the original master cylinder rod with the two lock nuts would go when its fitted, the bolt was just there to check alignment etc. And the result! well i wouldn't go so far as to say that it halves the pedal effort, but i would say it now requires about 35% less effort to depress the pedal, and the other result is to give a much wider engagement/disengagement window, which results in about 60% more feel, so well worth the trouble IMO. Obviously you will need a little mechanical know how for this, but its not rocket science, but i guess you will have to make up your own mind as to whether you fell confident enough to tackle this. Edited October 28, 2013 by Tricky-Ricky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Personally I don't mind the clutch but I do agree it has a pretty small biting point (engagement window). Seems like a fair bit of effort (how hard is it to get the pedal out?) but a pretty cool idea. Love it when people come up with these sort of solutions nice work Ricky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ricky Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Thank you! IMO its not much harder to actually remove the pedal than adjusting the bite point, the hard part is getting in there and positioning a light to see by, it probably easier to remove the seat first LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longsh07 Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 That's ture! Getting under the dash, and being able to see, and being able to move enough to adjust the pedal is a nightmare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2000 Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 That's ture! Getting under the dash, and being able to see, and being able to move enough to adjust the pedal is a nightmare Yep, ive tried 3 times. All ive ever achieved is to give myself a red face and make me feel sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mx5 Paul Posted October 29, 2013 Author Share Posted October 29, 2013 (edited) OK I MIGHT HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT. BUT WHAT ABOUT A HEAD UNIT GOT ABOUT £200 TO SPEND. JUST WANT SOMETHING THAT SOUNDS REALLY GOOD RATHER THAN HAV BITS AND BOBS THAT I WONT USE. SUGGESTIONS PLEASE. PAUL Edited October 29, 2013 by mx5 Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 OK I MIGHT HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT. BUT WHAT ABOUT A HEAD UNIT GOT ABOUT £200 TO SPEND. PAUL Your caps lock appears to be stuck on Paul. As for head units, plenty to choose from at around the £200 mark; http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/jvc-kwav51-jvc-kw-av51-double-din.html http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/121099690870?hlpht=true&ops=true&viphx=1&lpid=95&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=95&ff19=0 http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-pioneer-avh-x1500dvd_p-27763.htm You just need to shop around for the best price once you find the one you like that does everything you want it to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mx5 Paul Posted October 29, 2013 Author Share Posted October 29, 2013 Cheers, I was at work and forgot to take the caps off. Will have a look at the links thanks. But I have just had a shock, the engine management light has come on. No change in power or how the engine runs?? Will get it checked Wed/thurs anything that I should be aware of?? Do sensor play up on these? Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Cheers, I was at work and forgot to take the caps off. Will have a look at the links thanks. But I have just had a shock, the engine management light has come on. No change in power or how the engine runs?? Will get it checked Wed/thurs anything that I should be aware of?? Do sensor play up on these? Paul There is a way of reading the engine codes I believe but I'd get the code read from a garage just to be sure. Info is in this thread though; http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/113-engine-codes/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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