NEW OWNER

[ACK]

HELLO

So here are a few things i would need to do and ask a few questions about my TT:

#1-im hearing a little bit of what sounds like valve ticking, the oil is clean, i know from the previous owner he used Mobil 1 , however i dint ask what grade, i will do a an oil and filter change soon. any ideas what grade i should use? any additives that you guys recommend/not recommend at all ?

#2- i smell a bit of fuel on cold starts, would this be what i have been reading with the injectors? might be a fuel hose, further research is needed.

#3- When shifting from P to the , i hear a " clunk" from experience i think its the diff. bushing and/or a transmission mount?

#4- i would like to replace the transmission fluid (AT) and filter as well, and replace the diff. fluid also.

#5- i will replace the antenna mast, or the whole unit. i can hear the motor running , however the antenna will not move up or down.

#6- I can feel a faint vibration once in motion, trying to pin point if its the motor mounts, or a drive-line bushing going bad maybe? (tires are 19's and new 85%)

#7- your recommendations for spark plugs, i know they are NGK platinum.

#8- i notice small crack around the throttle body hose connection, (boost leak ?)
i will replace the vacuum lines and find and replace the pcv as well.

i would like to start with the suspension bushings and upgrade all to poly bushings.

All your inputs are welcome. Thanks in advance , im looking forward to tune my Z and enjoy it for the years to come.

[t.mcginley.jr]

First, congrats! Welcome to the club

Now for the questions:

#1) It's not uncommon to hear some lifter tick due mostly to age (oil buildup on lifters, etc). Most people use 10W-30 full synthetic, mostly Mobil 1 but everyone has their favorite brand. You can try thicker oil to try to get rid of the tick, or you can put Marvel Mystery Oil in for ~150 miles and then drain and refill with a new filter. Several people have had good results doing that.

#2) Fuel smell around the cabin or engine bay is usually a leaking/loose hose unless you have a pinched injector o-ring, but it would run like crap if you did. Smelling fuel in the exhaust is a faulty injector spraying excess fuel into the cylinders. If you check the "Everything you need to know about the Z32" thread at the top of this forums it will tell you how to check them via ohm test, CAS test, etc.

#3) Could be either, but leaning more toward diff. bushings

#4) Your favorite brand of Dexron III ATF for the trans, filter can be had at any parts store, diff. fluid is 75w-90 (most people use Redline Synthetic for this)

#5) Yeah these go bad with age, replace the unit

#6) This could be many thing, motor mounts, trans mount, tension rod bushings, rotors, etc.

#7) NGK PFR6B-11B http://www.z1motorsports.com/product_in ... ts_id=1621 or any other Z parts vendor

#8) The throttle body hoses can crack with age/heat. If you have erratic idle then it could be a source of a boost leak. You can buy replacements new or used, or get a set of silicone hoses. Use silicone for all the vacuum lines, mostly 4mm, one or two 6mm hoses. There are 2 PCV valves, one on either side of the upper intake plenum. If you feel around underneath the sides you should find them, those hoses connected to them are probably rock hard so you'll have to replace them too.

Suspension upgrades are always a great way to improve these cars.

Good luck with it!

[ACK]

Wow! Thank you very much for taking the time and answering my questions. I will check the section you mentioned above . Thanks again !

[t.mcginley.jr]

Your welcome! When I bought my Z I had to do much of the same research, I might as well pass it along

[ACK]

good man! Cheers

[ACK]

so today, i changed the engine oil and filter, using, castrol syntec and bosch filter, i also removed the oil cooler and degreased the insides, and gave it a nice hi temp paint, replaced the hose clamps as well.

i ordered the transmission filter kit, i will be doing that tomorrow, and i need to order the poly differential bushings and change the differential fluid and clean it up a little. next is going to be the front suspension bushings, any ideas? i know poly (energy suspension) is the way to go, while im at it any other bushings/parts that need to be considered?

btw i replaced the plugs, with NGK's and replaced a few fuel lines that were a bit brittle, and i replaced the fuel filter, im still getting a bit of put put while the car is at idle.... any ideas? coil(s) ??? i performed the ecu diagnosis and it gave me 5-5 which is no errors according to some articles i found.

all your inputs are appreciated.

ps where can i find "how to upload pix" section here?

[ACK]

transmission fluid changed, i used WIX filter kit and Valvoline Dex VI synthetic, it took about 5 qts.

next is the rear diff fluid and then ill start the suspension upgrades and intake kit.

[t.mcginley.jr]

You might want to also get poly busings for your steering rack as well. Makes it alot tighter.

Have you ohm checked your injectors yet? They should be between 10-14 ohms. Injectors, especially if they are stock, would be the first suspect for any rough idle issues, etc. If they are good then you go from there. Coil packs don't generally go bad (although they can).

Btw I don't think you can upload pics directly on here, most people upload them to Photobucket or similar and then link to them using the "[ img][/img]" tags

[ACK]

im going to check the ohms, it goes away or i cant tell once the engine rpm goes up.

[t.mcginley.jr]

You can also do a power balance test. You pull each of the coil pack connectors one at a time while the car is idling. Each time you pull one, the rpms should drop noticeably. If you pull a coil pack connector and the rpms don't drop, the injector for that cylinder isn't firing right.

[ACK]

yea i have done this on my turbo Volvo, it works . i just don't want to brake these connectors, they are so brittle...

what is the less expensive companies for upgrades? ie. intake, exhaust, decals? for example. i found concept Z for example, and the TT decal is $20 , where others were $25+ , where as the silicone turbo hoses at specialty Z is $74, and others $100, if im not mistaken. thanks

[t.mcginley.jr]

Yeah they tend to break no matter what, none of mine have the snap part, they're just pushed on.

As for parts, there's Concept Z, Z1 motorsports, courtesyparts.com, Import Parts Pro, etc. Even Rockauto.com for some parts that don't need to be specific, like O2 sensors, oil pressure sensors, fuel filters, etc. Another good cheaper way to get parts is buying them from other Z owners. This site and twinturbo.net have classifieds sections for buying and selling parts, and there are also two (that I know of) Facebook groups dedicated to it. One is called Z32 Marketplace, and the other is Z32 buy/sell parts. They are both pretty active and most people pay via paypal, I've bought a number of things off of people from these groups and had good experiences.

[ACK]

GREAT!!! thanks again, btw, stock TT struts, i found out that tokico makes them the : illumina", is this correct? i love to keep the OEM adjustable system.

[t.mcginley.jr]

GREAT!!! thanks again, btw, stock TT struts, i found out that tokico makes them the : illumina", is this correct? i love to keep the OEM adjustable system.

Yeah that's correct and I think KYB also makes an adjustable version of their AGX struts

[ACK]

right on ! tnx