| So saw this post in the tech section and had the guy bring his Z over. http://www.twinturbo.net/nissan/300zx/forums/technical/view/1112953/Nissan-dealer-vs-local-mechanic-problems--sputtering--loss.html Guess he's been having issues for about a year now but had been posting over on Zdriver. While I'm a member on there I rarely go on there. He has bought many new parts and has been paying out the ass for them and the labor. Nothing fixed the issue. Car had a stumble in the low rpms in most of the gears and was low on power. Car had a fuel temp sensor code because there was no sensor installed. I knew this wasnt the issue but went ahead and installed one to clear the code. Looking at the CAS I knew something was wrong. It was clocked all the way to the side, but it was advanced not retarded. Checked the timing and it was way low. Customer said he just had the timing belt done so I started looking into that. 
Started pulling it apart, noticed the new tensioner was installed wrong and was collasped. 
In his front seat was a box of parts the shop didn't install. I asked him about it and he said they charged him $600 to just replace the belt and waterpump and were going to charge him $50 a piece extra for each of the cam seals. It was already too costly so he passed on the other stuff. I about lost my mind when he told me the price. And they didnt even replace parts that they had to mess with anyway (rubber hoses, crank washers, etc) 
We went ahead and decided to redo the belt and install all the parts they skipped. When I took the crank pulley off I noticed the key was gone, wasn't in the pulley either. When I pulled the coolant pipes and thermostat off I heard it fall into the bucket. It appears it was pushed out when they were installing the pulley and it was sitting on the oil pump. So the pulley could have been off a tad causing the timing to read off as well. 
This fell out when I pulled the covers to do the t-belt. WTH...free tool. Very lucky!! 
This is better: 
While I was doing the belt I took the CAS off and found the real issue. This is pretty rare but I have read about it before. The teeth on his cam itself were wearing off. Inturn they wore the CAS allignment teeth as well. This will cause the timing to be off because of the slop. The shop actually widened the slots on the CAS so you could turn it more to try and get the timing in spec. but the CAS was too worn out for that to do any good. You can either replace the end part of the cam (JWT sells a replacement) or swap the cam out altogether. Either method involves removing the cam and he wasnt prepared for that bill right now. So I replaced the worn out CAS with a used one I had. I was able to get the timing to the correct setting, but the CAS still had to be turned all the way to the side. So eventually he'll need to get the cam issue corrected. Hard to see but the teeth are pointed and actually have a step in them and the half moon is worn a tad as well. 
His tension rod bushing were shot as well. Replaced them with the ES units
Also he was leaking PS fluid like crazy. Every hose was leaking fluid. Ended up replaced them all. PS fluid soaked (and re-installed wrong to boot) 
Car runs totally different now. Actually has power and is smooth. No more stutter. And best of all the power steering works now and is leak free. There are lots of other issues that we are gonna look into at another time. his radiator shroud had a hole in it so I replaced it with an extra I had. Wiring harness is shot and needs replaced, shop put in copper autolite plugs, needs a clutch and rear main seal, etc. The joys of owning a Z :)
JackB nimble JackB quick JackB can suck my dick =P - james-lee 11/02/01
Arrogance is the #1 weapon against Supra Owners - MikeH 08/06/02
Dallas with a Z: I like the bulge dude 05/02/03
Bezbefootball: Does dick have anything for me? 10/21/03 |
This is why I don't trust/hate local shops. - 
17:49:05 03/24/11
