Do you agree with this?

[76Datsun280z]

I was curious if you guys agreed with this?

The Z-man's Driving Tips Driving and maintenance tips for your L engine z car 70-83

These are a performance engine and should be driven differently than a lot of other vehicles. Numbers 1 - 3 apply only to manual transmission cars.

1. Never operate the engine under 2000 rpm in any gear except fifth (see #2) (except when you’re under 20 mph in first).

2. Never operate the engine under 2500 rpm in fifth gear.

3. Never shift before 3000 rpm.

4. The power band in a stock L engine is between 3000 and 5500 rpm. If you’re below 3000rpm, down-shift into a lower gear for more power.

5. It does NOT hurt to take the engine up to 5500 rpm before shifting.

6. It does NOT hurt your engine to run between 3500 and 4500 on a continual basis as long as your engine or oil temp doesn’t climb above normal.

7. If you do a lot of stop and go driving, or don’t drive your engine very hard, then we recommend a poor mans tune up every 500 miles minimum (see #15).

8. These engines should never be operated at 190 degrees or above. If your engine starts to run too hot or overheat, SHUT IT DOWN IMEDIATELY, because it can cause extensive engine damage.

9. In the summertime you can always get additional engine cooling by turning your heater on high.

10. Always change your anti-freeze every 2 years, or at least have the Ph level checked and/ or set as needed

11. Have your engine-running temperature checked and corrected as needed every 4 years or sooner depending on how much you drive it.

12. If your Z is going to sit for a year or more, you need to drain the anti-freeze out of the engine and store it in plastic bottles.

13. If your Z is going to sit for a month or more, you should leave the battery disconnected and charge it once a month on a trickle charger.

14. Change your oil and filter every 3 to 4000 miles. These are quality vehicles, so be sure to use quality parts.

15. A poor man’s tune up is necessary on most Z’s. Choose your road carefully to do this. The poor man’s tune up applies to both manual and automatic transmission vehicles. Find a fairly straight road or freeway on-ramp and take off in your Z. If you have an automatic then lock it in first. Mash the gas pedal all the way to the floor, take the engine up to 5500 rpm, then shift into second and mash the gas pedal all the way to the floor again taking it up to 5500 rpm. When the rpm gets up to about 4500 in both gears, take a quick glance in your rear view mirror and look to see if your car is blowing out brown or black exhaust smoke. If it is then you just did a world of good for your engine by cleaning out buildup from driving too slow. The proper way to do this is with a full load on the engine and higher rpms. It is that combination that produces the proper results. After this, you can resume normal driving.

Keep in mind that we are not in any way condoning reckless or dangerous driving or telling you to break any speed limit laws, so always be safe & handle the situation accordingly when doing this pro

[sblake01]

Sounds like someone's thoughts based on some facts and some personal opinions.

[MikeW]

It certainly would be nice to see an explanation for some of these. Since I have no reason to believe that there's any truth to the first three I don't know that I can trust any of them. Sure, everyone should know that you can turn on your heater in the summer time to help if the car is overheating but that's kind of in conflict with the previous suggestion of shutting the engine down immediately if it gets over 190 degrees F. Frankly 190F is fine for the car. The main risk of overheating is if it gets hot enough to boil over and with antifreeze that's well over 212F (100C).

[Mckrack]

Wow that's a lot of stuff there. Well I don't agree with consistently driving over 3500 RPMs. I don't agree with the poor mans tune up every 500 miles if you drive the car in stop and go traffic. I agree with the oil changes unless you are using Synthetic. I also agree with changing the antifreeze every 2 years. I never heard of turning your heat on in the summertime for additional cooling. It may help the engine but it isn't going help the driver when he or she is sweating in the car and the back of the legs are stuck to the seats.

I agree with disconnecting the lead to the battery if it's going to sit for a month. I actualy have a habit of doing that for any longer then two weeks. Check the engine running temp I must assume that means checking to see if the thermostat is working correctly.

This is a lot of info and some of it is just common sense. Some I don't know. But your post really helps and thanks for the info.

McKrack

[hls30.com]

...

1. Never operate the engine under 2000 rpm in any gear except fifth (see #2) (except when you’re under 20 mph in first).

2. Never operate the engine under 2500 rpm in fifth gear.

If you can in #1, but you can't in #2-I don't know that I would hold any as necessarily true.

I have never heard of engine damage from turning too slow-as long as detonation is not present.

Will

[veritech-z]

Will, I've heard that warning not to let the car "bog" in 5th elsewhere, but I've never actually SEEN anyone's engine go bad from that either.

[BRE-240Z]

Where did this info come from? Zcar.com, I betcha.....

[cegrover]

A) Hmmm...yes, it's best not to lug an engine (i.e. run at excessively low RPM and cause detonation); but what speed results in lugging depends on some other factors. Generally, you'll know if the engine is lugging by the sound and feel and then will know to avoid it. I've always thought anything else was OK.

Poor man's tuneup is something I've also heard of (AKA Italian tuneup); but I'm not sure it's ever been proven to do much. It's fun, either way. The smoke could be attributed to many other factors, however.

C) Many of us don't have a fifth gear. I suspect the advice there relates to conditions under which overdrive is OK. Lugging rule A, above, applies here.

D) What's the basis for the coolant removal recommendation if car sits for a year? That one's highly debatable, as having the coolant in there for rust inhibition would help. I've actually read it's best to put in a higher percentage of coolant vs. water when storing.

E) I'm not 100% sure what "have your engine running temp checked" means. That's just something anyone with an old car should constantly watch, as overheating can happen for a variety of reasons. Thermostat failure is the most obvious and sudden. Checking coolant is also critical on any older, iron block and/or head engine, as corrosion is always a possibility. Owners who 'patch' problems often run only water in the cooling system in order to avoid constantly buying proper coolant and this, of course, eliminates the rust inhibition benefits of using 'real' coolant.

F) Using the heater to cool the car works, but temperature problems should be addressed at the source. I only see that as a way to limp a hot car home or to a shop - except for track days or running hot on a mountain pass or otherwise under unusual load conditions. Overheating is actually worse for aluminum-intensive engines, but still to be avoided on ours.

G) If you store a car long enough, you're pretty much buying a battery, but the trickle charger can be used for quite a while. I'm not sure about once a month - best just to leave it on (in a relatively vented area), depending on how long. KEY ITEM: If you use a "Carbag" to seal up a stored car, do take out the battery. You don't want to seal up a hydrogen leak risk...

[superfunk]

"If your engine starts to run too hot or overheat, SHUT IT DOWN IMEDIATELY, because it can cause extensive engine damage."

I've always heard that leaving a car idle when its overheated is better than shutting it down imediately. A car heats up when it is shut down because the antifreeze stops pumping. You want to keep that coolant moving to help cool your engine off quicker.

[76Datsun280z]

Where did this info come from? Zcar.com, I betcha.....

It came from here.

http://www.zspecialties.com/drivingtips.htm

[zbane]

I would suggest asking Oliver, since he posted those suggestions on his site. The few times I've spoken with him, he sounded like he knew what he was talking about, so I imagine he has some good reason for this stuff.

[76Datsun280z]

I would suggest asking Oliver, since he posted those suggestions on his site. The few times I've spoken with him, he sounded like he knew what he was talking about, so I imagine he has some good reason for this stuff.

__________________

I've been meaning to do it to, I go up there every now and then to get this and that for my car not anything big because he charges way to much it seems for a lot of his stuff, but I'll try and ask him the next time I go up.