New owner of a 1990 300zx! Finally...

[everpresentnoob]

So I have been a car guy for a number of years. Had many diffrent cars, mustangs, Camaros, 3000gt VR4, RX7s, couple trans-ams, Hondas... Ive had them all it seems. I constantly hunt through Craigslist and the like and seldom spend more than 700 bucks on a car. Throw some money into it and drive it for a year or two then move on to the next one.

Now I finally got me a 300ZX. 1990 2 seater NA car. Wanted a TT, but couldnt find one for what I wanted to pay or trade. Had an older Harley Sportster in my shed that I havent ridden in over a year so I figured I would off it up on the auction block. Found a kid with a Z that wanted to trade. I was looking for a car that had a straight body, good compression and above all else was easy to work on... Well two outta three aint to bad I guess.

Drove it home and started playing with it. Drove it to work one day (85 miles one way) and found the rear Diff was making a hellacious howl. Figured a fluid change was in order. popped the fill plug and drain plug and discovered there wasnt anything in it... Ummm. yikes! wonder what I toasted driving it to work? any way, topped it off with new royal purple 75-90. fired it up and buzzed down the road. noise was a LOT reduced. Stopped at a stop light and niticed smoke drifting up past my windows. looked uner it and saw the front of the diff was leaking. got it home and up on jack stands. couldnt for the life pf me get the damn nut off the pinior shaft so I couldnt pull the companion flange off. Hmm... well the diff is only 4 bolts on the drive shaft, 10 bolts on the two half shafts adn then 4 bolts on the diff. Yea, gonna rip that sucker out. all roads paved with good intentions and all that...

Got all the bolts out and knew it was gonna be about 80 pounds or so so I figured I would just man up and pull it by hand. it was loose so I knew I could get it out. Started finageling it between the exhaust. damn companion flange got hung up on the sway bar. ok, check, yea the rear studs are still slightly engaged into the cups in the rear bushings... Lets shift my grip real quick... Bad move sucker!! damn thig decided at that moment to fall free. Right onto my chest. Wouldnt have been bad but for the nice fresh coating of Royal Purple 75-90 on it making it to slick for me to grab. so I just layed there for a few mins under my car with a diff onmy chest.

Ok, so now the Diff is out. fought the pinion nut used a 1/4 X 1 inch flat bar 2 feet long drilled for two bolts to go through the flange to hold it. Put my 2 foot breaker bar on the nut and stood on it. had to jump a couple times but it finally came loose. used a puller ont he flange and found my leak. the damn seal was in all crooked. one side was pushed all the way down to the bearing while the other side was actually still above the edge of the diff. I could put the tip of a screwdriver between the seal and the housing. popped that out and replaced the seal.

ok, getting ready to reinstall... Hmm, those bushings dont look right. poked one with a screwdrive and the entire center rubber part fell out. Replacements from Energy suspension will be here tomorrow. Wondering how much life is left in this after I drove it with no/minimal fluid in it. Oh well, its easy enought to pull out (just gotta watch dropping it on my damn chest next time). if it is still bad I may just get an Ebay or junkyard unit and replace it.

Future plans for the car are simple... timing belt and all the front seals/pullys/tensioners. Replace the plugs as it has some autolite crap in it. pull the transmission and replace the rear main seal. while the transmission is out replace its seals. Something is leaking up front and I think I smell gear oil so Im thinking it the transmission. Then just clean it up and DRIVE!

Wow, sorry about the wall of text. didnt think I was gonna type so much. But any way... HI! Im new!!

And because people allways like pics:



Thing has JDM headlights in it. PO had bought some PNP HID kit for it, but the 9006 bulbs didnt fit right. Well yea, the JDM uses H3C for the lowbeams, not 9006. So I bought some cheap bulbs on Amazon. Got the wrong kelvin rating and they are to damn blue, but at least they fit. Probably gonna put a set of TL or E46 projectors in there later. With these JDM projectors they flare up on the drivers side into oncoming traffic due to the whole driving on the other side of the road thing....



And heres the chest compressor...



NIce and oily....

[rgregoryb]

Welcome to the Insane Asylum, we Z owners like to share the pain! The yellow paint markings on the diff makes me think it came from a junkyard. Good luck with the car and it seems like you know what you are doing I see a bright future.

[everpresentnoob]

Yea, I do know it was taken out at some point. The driveshaft was marked along with the flange on the diff. Im just curious how the hell they got the seal so jacked up!?

[DCaff300ZX]

SOP, unfortunately (messed up Z32 repairs) when using anyone but a reputable Z32 mechanic.
You will find that nearly all mechanics are not able to work on the Z32, and that even Nissan dealers can't do more than read codes and change fluids without as much research and such as it would take you to find the problem/solution/part yourself, and worse they know NOTHING about the car or parts when questioned.
Owning a Z32 is a life of doing it yourself, or hopefully finding one of the few reputable Z32 mechanics out there to do the dirty work if you can't/won't, period.

[rgregoryb]

What he said....

[everpresentnoob]

Well, the damn diff is back in!! during my massive scrubbing operation I found a sticker on it that said Viscous LSD. I was worried when a former woner swapped it they perhaps put something else in. I was glad to find that sticker. Granted Im sure running it out of oil didnt do it any favors. the bearings all seem to rotate smoothly, no grittiness or binding.

Origional plan for installation was rather stupid... I was gonna set it on my chest and then wiggle my way under the car and lift it into place. Yea, that didnt work at all. Im working on a gravel driveway so my jack wont roll, plus I found that during all my under-car exertions during removal I managed to dig a slight hole with my body under where the diff goes. stood it up on its back, then got the companion flange over the sway bar. for there I was able to grunt and groan and get the back of it up and put a jack under it there. Then it was just a matter of fighting it to get the rear bolts through the subframe. New bushings from energy suspension look good in it.

I have two bolts in both sides of the half shafts and the driveshaft is still loose, but I kinda ran outta light. and then my led work light died... So ill finish it up tomorrow and hopefully can drive it again this weekend! well unless the diff totally dies on me...

[everpresentnoob]

Got her all buttoned back up tonight. axles, driveshaft, wiring harness off the back of the Diff. Took her for a spin and NO LEAKS!! Granted it still howls under load, but she is driveable again. Not gonna put to many miles on her until I get the 120K timing belt and stuff done, but that is gonna have to wait until november. Funds arent quite there right now.