New z32 owner, inexperienced mechanic, where to start?

[trvsqueen]

What's up guys? I've had my Z for about a year, and after jumping in and pulling my heater core (turns out it just needed cleaning) and successfully returning everything to its proper place, I've fallen in love with the idea of doing work myself. There are no serious problems with it mechanically, and the previous owner had already done the 120k maintenance. I do know, however, that it is not at 100%.

Now, to the point. I was wondering if you guys could shine light on some minor things to do so that I could become more familiar and comfortable inside the engine bay. Cleaning, (minor) replacements, tweaking, anything like that. I'm not naive enough to think that I can go in and pull the engine to do a full tuck, but I really want to get my hands dirty. I'm aware of the various forums and I already have the FSM. I just need a nudge in a good direction to go without getting in over my head, and actually learn something.

Thanks!!!

[DCaff300ZX]

OOOOoooo, someone WANTING to dive under the hood of his Z!
A fairly beefy but doable project is to change out your spark plug coil pack and injector connectors. You can get the two connector kits at the normal Z32 vendors and if you can cut/splice/solder/heat shrink wiring, your Z will most likely respond with smoother idle and takeoff from the loss of the corrosion that almost always will be there at the injectors, and make your spark plug changes easier losing the brittle OEM connections for some new ones. Takes about a half to full day depending on your skill and time available, and requires removing a few of the top engine pieces like the balance tube, throttle cover and linkage cables, and a few other similarly minor items as you go about the work. Do take the time to route you new wiring for better avoidance of heat, and be sure to lengthen the #5 wire so it isn't going over the intake runner, but around from the inside like the others...
Cleaning/replacing corroded connectors is a must for our cars, as Nissan did us no favors in that department until 1996.
Another good maintenance project is to redo your connectors and wiring for the two CTS sensors, and depending on the age of your Z, replace both sensors.
Another good project is to remove the PTU from the front of the engine (best done when doing the CTS work FYI) and loosen your radiator enough to slip the harness through and into the front area, and remounting it down on the DS frame rail. Cleans things up in the front of the engine, and puts the PTU in a much better environment away from all of the engine heat. Be SURE to open BOTH connectors and clean them well, as most likely they are green with corrosion as well.
More good projects can be found on your Idle Air Control Valve on the back DS of the engine, it has two connectors that most likely are unhappy and can cause you idle issues, and warm up issues.
Have fun!

[trvsqueen]

Awesome, thanks. I'll look into all that.

[solaire]

If you're good with soldering and such and plan to relocate that PTU I'd eliminate the sub harness connector while you're there to prevent misfire problems later on. Just do everything smart. Sometimes these cars if you mess with the corrosion and such in the harness it will make things worse until you've repaired everything. Also do a self check for DTCs. I've seen these cars (even tho the one I saw was a curse) that had codes stored in the ECM but no check engine light. Could give you an idea on anything that may need attention. Don't forget vacuum hoses as part of maintenance. Some often overlook them but they can cause vacuum leaks. They're easy to change if you get about 7' of hose and do them one at a time.

if you want to really get your hands dirty there's alot of delete guides out there for EGR, AIR and other emissions that could help the car run better. Coolant hose deletes to clean up the plenum, etc