What to look for when purchasing a Z31?

[wheelman]

I have the chance to buy an 89 300ZX 2+2 from a family friend for $500.00. I don't know much about the history of this car except that both his teenaged sons have driven it and it now has an electrical issue that drains the battery over time.

 

Before buying it are there any specific things I should look for?

 

Here is what I do know about it.

 

Non-Turbo

5-Speed

T-Tops

 

Wheelman

[Guest Dick]

usually if the battery wont hold a charge the altenators gone. common problem with a 20 some year old car. or it could be bad relay leaving something on. . . who knows Rust seems to be the biggest thing to look for. and if two teenage kids have been driving it for the past couple years theyve probably ragged on it. but heres a great site to read through-

 

http://z31.com/lookfor.shtml

[roger.svoboda]

The security system on the z31 will kill the battery over time. But probably not the problem if it seems to be a new thing. Easy enough to hook up an ammeter between battery post and battery cable. look for a small drain and then start pulling fuses til it goes away. If fuses don't stop the drain then really got some detective work to do. Wire insulation rubbed off somewhere and touching the frame??? Be sure the battery itself is good and there is no corrosion in the cables and connectors. Lots of auto parts places will test charging system and battery for free. The original strap type connectors on the battery cables are crap. I had one split and tho it looked to be good I was getting intermittent connection. Another common problem is that someone put one of those one size fits all battery cables with the phony clamps on cause the stock cables went south. Those things corrode and you get corrosion down inside the cable insulation. If your cables look at all bad replace with good ones. Don't blame the alternator as above batteries go bad more often than the alternator quits. Be sure your ground connections are clean. I usually run a 10 gage wire from the battery ground to the frame on both sides of the engine compartment to ensure proper grounding. This won't help the battery draining problem but might prevent future electrical issues that will entail much cussing and hair pulling.

[Racinjitter]

On my 88 before the swap I also had a draw I went through all of the fuses and noticed that it went down from 2.6A to 2.1A when I took out the fuse for the interior lights. My major draw was actually from the alternator once I unplugged it the draw was a respectable 0.15A. The reason that the alternator was drawing current is the internal diode was bad.

[Guest Nissan_Nick]

if it runs and dose not have a lot of rust (check under the spare tire and jack tools in the back) then 500 is a steal.