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or is there a inherent problem with these cars that I'm unaware of?
I ordered the car in 1989 it has a manufacture date of 6/89, took delivery late that year as model year changed over. It's been a ****ing nightmare almost from day one. The car has literally been 'garaged' almost it's entire life. Either in my toybox or service garage or parking garage. It now has 132022 miles on it; the last 15 miles have been put on it in the last 3 months. Prior to that it sat in my toybox since August 3, 2004 after the Nissan service tech told me the engine was bad and needed a $10,000 replacement. Bah!I have the complete service history on the car: dates, miles, parts, repairs, etc etal.
Other than routine maintenance, I took the car to the dealer in Jan1991 with 8058 miles on it with a severe hesitation problem. The car had been doing it for several months. Dealer replaced plugs, one injector(#2), timing belt and Crank Angle Sensor. Car ran great. September 1991, took to dealer again with moderate hesitation under load, service tech adjusted timing. 12,444 miles. February 1992, 17,723 miles, took to dealer with severe hesitation, a noticeable miss, fuel smell, rough idle. Dealer replaced plugs, passenger side 02 sensor, fuel injector(#2), timing belt and Crank Angle Sensor(CAS) and rear main seal. Also rewired #2 injector, #3 injector, and #1 coil, and cleaned throttle bodies. Also replaced Alternator because oil or power steering fluid leaked all over it and ruined it. Kept the car almost 3 weeks on this one. August 1993, 24,890, took to dealer with moderate hesitation. Adjust timing car ran ok. January 1994, 31,001, took to dealer with severe hesitation, noticeable miss, fuel smell, rear main seal leaking. Dealer replaced Power Transistor Unit(PTU), Crank Angle Sensor(CAS), Fuel pump, Throttle Position Sensor(TPS), both 02 sensors, Fuel Injectors #1 and #2, rear main seal, and A/T speed sensor. Also replaced alternator because oil or power steering fluid leaked all over it and ruined it. Car no longer under warranty: $2921.76 Kept car a month. December1994, 38,533, took to dealer with moderate hesitation. Dealer replaced spark plugs, wiring on #2 injector, PCVs, adjusted timing. $325.88. Also told me rear main seal was leaking. Car ran ok. Kept car 2 weeks. October 1995, 46,098, called rollback to take car to dealer with severe problems. Dealer replaced #1 and #2 injectors and coil packs and rewired the connections. Replaced PTU, CAS, cleaned throttle bodies and replaced PCVs. Replaced timing belt and cam sprockets and seals. Replaced spark plugs. Fixed rear main seal again and A/T speed sensor. Also replaced alternator because power steering fluid or oil had leaked all over it and ruined it. Kept car 3 weeks. $3100.00
I parked the car in 2004 with the same problems mentioned in the 1995 dealer repairs. Those problems recurred, consistently until I parked it. I'll stop here. The above should give a decent sample of the recurring problems I've had with the car. I finally just parked the car in August of 2004 having spent roughly what the car originally cost. $31k Since new, every 5-8k miles it needs a timing adjustment and by 14-15k needs at least #2 injector, cas and timing belt and rear main seal.
Non-engine related- things that have been replaced or no longer work. Door window switches, 4 times, window motors 2 times, Bose radio 2 times. Antenna assembly 2 times. In January 2016 my youngest son, now 28, asked me what I was going to do with that black piece of ****. Told me it was the most problematic, worst car, hardest to work on, etc. He was really down on it. He has 2008 GTR with as many problems as my Z. :p I told him I was going to fix it as I was between project cars. 3 months ago I started on it. This site has been a real help as I know nothing about foreign cars and the forums are full of information. I've been replacing parts one at a time as most of them and the associated connectors are no longer working or are corroded. 1- Battery- $138
2- Alternator- $285 OEM new
3- Cleaned all ground connections and added a few.
4- Coolant sensor and connector $30 (ECU code on this)
5- both O2 sensors. $310 (ECU code on passenger side)
6- Spark plugs. $65
7- All coil connectors $30
8- Connector for #1 and #2 injectors $5
9- PCVs and hoses $140. Hope I never do this again.
10- Fuel pump and fuel filter. $325
11- Oil change and oil filter. (smelled like fuel) What I've checked or cleaned but not replaced. 1- all coils and plugs have been checked for fire
2- cleaned or replaced all coil connectors.
3- Ohm'ed all injectors, cleaned and/or replaced connectors. As usual, #2 injector is bad. The rest are 12.4-12.8.
4- Rear main seal is leaking.
5- Cleaned MAF and connector
6- Cleaned TPS connector and Ohm tested TPS. ok
7- Cleaned PTU connectors
8- Cleaned CAS connectors. The CAS itself is advanced as far clockwise as it will go. The car is slightly out of time by a few degrees. Loosening the 3 bolts that secure the CAS cause the car to run really rough or kill the engine.
9- All connectors I have cleaned I used a product called CorrosionX if that makes any difference. What I use on all my stuff.
10- Cleaned Throttle bodies of gunk.
This is all I've done so far. Car fires right up, Idles really rough until warm then smooths out. There is a audible miss from drivers side exhaust. Placing your hand at exhaust pipe you feel the miss in exhaust pulse and the exhaust is hot. The passenger side exhaust is relatively cool with the occasional 'white smoke' which would indicate unburned fuel. The smoke is not water vapor. If you get in the car, put it in gear while it is cold, you can accelerate it to above 1000 rpm and drive it. Once it warms up, you can barely make the car move. If you put the car in drive, while it is warmed up, the hesitation is so bad that the car barely moves. eventually, feathering the gas pedal, you can get the engine over 1200-1300 rpm and the car will go. These are the symptoms that always led to a $2-$3 trip to the repair shop. I know I need to replace timing belt, CAS and #1 injector as that is always the only way to make the car run for 10ish k miles. I hesitate to spend $2000 on parts that won't last 12k miles. Oh, and the rear main seal, too. Any ideas why I have to keep replacing the CAS, #1 injector, timing belt and rear main seal every 12-15k miles? sorry this is so long.
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