Lockjaw Posted January 30, 2003 Share Posted January 30, 2003 There is a power window relay that has gone out on my car that is over on the passenger side under the dash that is a royal pain to replace. Water pumps seem to go out, perhaps due to all the belts, but beyond that, and warping rotors, thats about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad-ManQ45 Posted January 30, 2003 Share Posted January 30, 2003 I have an '83 ZXT w/177K on it. Had dealership replace Auto Climate control Head unit that they said was bad - probably wasn't but I had no place to troubleshoot tanything at the time. 134K replaced turbo w/water-cooled T3/T4. 3" exhaust. 140K Alternator - put in ForTaurus 130A for stereo I didn't have yet. Just put on new Nisan water pump ~$40. Will be replacing Digital Dash (speedo doesn't work but OD does) and at same time am swapping out auto climate control system. Mine still works even after an AC company hosed up the vac lines (thank god for my FSM!). I intend to rid myself of Nissan's worse ideas... I already have the wiring harness and Analog Dash kit. bought 120 MPH speedo and swapped out speed sensor. Waiting on Heater/AC stuff now... Oh well - It's still cold out so I'm buiding my basement HT....Eventually will build the rotisserie for my '75 project. Too many projects and not enough time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl327 Posted January 30, 2003 Share Posted January 30, 2003 pretty dang reliable, dont think anything commonly breaks down, unless you really really beat on it and dont take care of your car or dont do the proper steps to making more power. i keep 5 spare 300zx ignition transistors- i had one go out on me, i converted to 300zx ones from jy and never got around to putting the other ones away. and about twenty spare green and black nissan relays-when i go to the yard i take everyone in sight. i also clean all my connectors down to the injectors everytime i wash my car, which is at least once a week, after I found out that what i thought was a miss when cold was really dirty ecu connection/bad efi ground combo, i havent had anything but regular maintenance and simple power mods so far, and he has been berry berry good to me, im gonna treat him to an intercooler berry soon. one alternator and one battery, but thats just because i left it to sit for a month with the battery cables attached, alternator may still have been good-but i replaced both as a unit cause im paranoid. i replaced water pump when i did the swap-its only right, plus at shop cost its like 18.00, had to. starters dont go out a lot on nissans- they really dont get very hot since the exhaust and intake is on the other side, classic Zcar problem though, the intermittant response from either solenoid or the starter relay connection to it or the pin side on the switch. its a blast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted January 31, 2003 Author Share Posted January 31, 2003 Can you guys who have been long time owners of ZXTs give me some info on which parts typically go bad, and what those particular symptoms are? Reason: I just got a 1983 ZXT with all the trimmings and don't have a good maintenance history on it. Apparently the Turbo has been rebuilt, and it appears that the engine has been opened (at least the head off). This has become my daily driver, and already has 170,000 miles on it and at this point drives beatifully, but I'm waiting for something to go south, so I'd like to do some preventive maintenance on the common stuff before it becomes an issue. Thanks, Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 They really seem to be just as relieable as the regular Z cars. The only things that I haven't broken myself and have had to replace more than once are the waterpump and the alternator. I have upgraded hadlights and a high power stereo so that may be the cause for the alternator being suspect. I've had 4 ZX's and other than a starter or two I don't think I've really replaced much that really needed to be replaced. Knock on wood but, I've never been left on the side of the road with one. Everything else that I've replaced has been either because I just wanted to or was given plenty of notice before what ever part was going to go out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted January 31, 2003 Author Share Posted January 31, 2003 Thanks Cody, If the water pump goes out, I'll probably get one of the new CSi electric ones The starter is a new 'reconditioned' one, so that's ok. It may be my imagination, but I can sometimes feel a bit of very (very) slight hesitation while cruising, almost like a bit of wind buffering, but no wind, and the digital tach appears to be fluctuating/flickering one bar or so. I will likely replace the dizzy cap and wires, and spark plugs and generally give it a service with a new oil filter and some synthetic oil. The car was smogged very recently and was ok, except the hydrocarbons were right at the max! Anything else I should look into? Thanks, Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted January 31, 2003 Author Share Posted January 31, 2003 I seem to remember reading horror stories about the AFM causing headaches and certain sensors going bad and being hard to troubleshoot. Any validity to these statements? Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 The AFM shouldn't give you any trouble unless you mess with it. Yes, some of the sensors can give some crazy information proublems if they get dirty. Just clean them and they should be fine. I would go ahead and clean all your grounds just in case. There is one that most people miss; it's almost under the AFM. Take a good look around and you'll find it. FYI--If you replace the turbo then make sure you replace the oil line. You've proubably heard that before but, I thought I'd add it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aaron Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Most of the issues I have seen are bad connections or corroded connectors. The AFM or Crank Angle Sensor can cause problems if they get very wet. I have replaced a water pump at 120,000+ miles. According to my dad, most of the turbos he replaced were doctors that regularly sped to the hospital and shut the car off without letting the turbo spool down. Power window motors were a problem, especially in the early years. I repaired mine by replacing the brushes with some Makita Drill replacements (slower than normal, but was a lot cheaper that a new motor). You should check the CV boots for cracks and replace if necessary. If the car is a T-Top, a thin coat of WD-40 or Vaseline on the gaskets will stop a lot of leaks if they are not cracked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramercyjam Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 I had an '83 zxt since it was new until it had about 100K+ miles or so. Problems started coming up after a few years that seemed premature. Here is what I remember about it for what it's worth: Ignition - bad transitor on coil. Turbo - bad bearings (I was running a dino oil in it. After first turbo replacement, switched to Mobil 1. 5 speed - premature wear on input shaft and input bearing. suspect this was due to excessive heat put out by the turbo. Revisited this issue several times. Finally machined tranny housing and put in much larger/better input shaft bearing. headlight switch - burnt contacts Radio/Cassette player - electronics problems Idle air valves - worn air valves causing vacuum leaks, poor idle, etc climate control - poor temperature regulation. A/C not really up to the job in South/Central Texas. Power steering rack oil leaks Mushy stock suspension. Rear trailing arm setup results in lots of squat. Leather/suede seats that were mostly plastic and tore up rather easily (got a ~$300 credit from Nissan on that as a deceptive advertising lawsuit settlement. Used the credit to buy new rear brake calipers to replace the original ones). Leaking T-Tops Bad power antenna Fuel injector problems and connector corrosion. Under hood plastic electrical connectors disintegrated - more problems that were probably related to high under hood temps from the turbo. Never had problems with digital dash though. The car wasn't all that bad really. It was fun to drive and made several road trips to the North East from Texas without problems and was my primary transportation for may years. The car was eventually wrecked (totalled) and the still strong engine and tranny were donated to an early 240Z conversion project. After that, I replaced the 280zxt with other cars that I still have (C4 Corvette, a pickup truck, an SUV) but my weekend "fun" car is now a '73 240z. --john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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