Check your belts!

Nissan 350z / Nissan 370z general community discussion forum
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BusyBadger
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Just a little reminder for everyone to check an often overlooked part of the car.

I was driving to work the other night, got the green light an started transitioning from the on-ramp to the expressway and (in the worlds of Emeril), "Bam!" Suddenly no power steering, battery and brake lights come and stay on, the serpentine belt snapped. No biggie...the car was up and running in less the 24 hours, but I was left with a couple of reminders I thought I'd share with everyone.

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When the belt snapped it hit the underside of the hood so hard that it not only dented the aluminum but it caused the paint to crack and peel away! It's covered by insurance (and my comprehensive is a $0 deductible) but it's time out of my schedule and away from the Z. Can't imagine what it would have done to carbon fiber or fiberglass.

Check 'em folks...it's easy to do and can save you some time waiting for a flatbed, a repair, and some hood damage. ;)


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370Z/28
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Sorry you had a problem, BB. They make cars so dependable nowadays that sometimes we take things for granted. Glad the Z wasn't hurt too bad.

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MinisterofDOOM
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I didn't know Z33 hoods were aluminum. Guess that's my fun fact for the day.

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BusyBadger
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370Z/28 wrote:Sorry you had a problem, BB. They make cars so dependable nowadays that sometimes we take things for granted. Glad the Z wasn't hurt too bad.
Yeah, when I heard the "bam" I figured I had caught a rock at an odd angle with a tire and it got kicked up into the frame, a-arm or some other metallic underbody component. Then all the bad stuff happened. :)
MinisterofDOOM wrote:I didn't know Z33 hoods were aluminum. Guess that's my fun fact for the day.
Yeah, I've told people before that if they're looking to save weight a carbon fiber hood really isn't going to save much (unless it's dry cf). I think the hood for the 350Z weighs in around 20 pounds and most cf hoods are in the 17-18 pound range.

Carbon fiber hatch is where it's at if to save weight on a closure.

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BusyBadger
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Finally, TWO YEARS after the original date I had the hood dings repaired. The body wash or that State Farm recommended couldn't repair the original hood, the creases from the belt slap were too severe, so they replaced the entire thing! Paint is a spot on match and all the other chips and nicks from years of high speed commuting are gone too. :) I'm glad insurance coveredthe repair, the bill that State Farm is getting is just a hair over $1400. If it were on my fine I'd probably just picked up a new, decent cf hood instead.

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