Grinding/Growling from rear end

[two50below10]

Hello guys! First of all I am new to the forums here and after reading thru just a few posts I am looking forward to learning a great deal from all the knowledge that resides here. I am impressed already!

Over the weekend I purchased a '76 280Z to go along with the '79 280ZX I have owned for 20 years. I bought the 280Z knowing that it has a very loud grinding/growling sound (grwow grwow grwow grwow for lack of a better way to describe it) that increases in frequency with increases in speed. This car had just shy of 21,000 original miles so it has spent much of its life sitting. I am hoping this sound is just wheel bearings that need replaced. Does this sound like a logical guess? Or could this be something more serious like differential problems?

I am pretty good with tinkering with all things mechanical but after reading through the factory service manual that came with the car, changing wheel bearings is something I don't think I want to tackle. It sounds as though there are some pretty specific steps to be followed as well as some special tools required to do the job correctly. So my second question is, should I take this car to the local Nissan dealer, should I take it to a transmission specialist or should I be looking to take this to someone that has specific experience with Datsuns? I want to make sure it is done right!

I look forward to hearing from anyone who might have some insight for me. I also look forward to being part of the group here. Thanks in advance for any help.

Chad

[esmit208]

WELCOME CHAD

A failing U-Joint will also make a droning consistent GROWL and increase with speed. Get underneath the car and rotate the driveshaft back and forth while looking at the U-Joint. To answer your question......DO NOT TAKE IT TO A NISSAN DEALER. there maybe no one around that knows how to properly diagnose the issue. A transmission specialist may not be much help either since it may not be a trans related issue. 21K does not seem like a lot of miles but maybe just enough to be at the point of parts beginning to fail. A vehicle that sits for prolonged periods of time can have issues as well. So that leaves you with the option I would choose, and that is find someone that has experience with these cars. Take it to the same person that works on the ZX unless it is a dealer. The service manager in my local NISSAN dealership didn't even know what and "SU Carburettor" was.

[Travel'n Man]

When ever I look for a specialist to work on my Z my first question is "how old are you"? Most don't even know what a Datsun is......much less a 240Z or anything about it.........age does matter.

[two50below10]

Thanks for the responses so far guys. Unfortunatley I live in a fairly small city with no one that specializes in old Datsuns. As for who works on my 280ZX, that would be nobody. The poor thing just sits in my garage and gets driven once a summer for about a week. It hasn't seen a maintenace shop for anything other that an exhaust system, and that was about 18 years ago.

Now I hope none of you are thinking what my wife said when I was contemplating buying this car which was; "why do need another Z when you already have one that you don't drive". Nah, you guys wouldn't think that, you guys understand the need for more Z's in the garage.

Back to my problem. Ok, so I'm not taking it to the dealer, a transmission shop is not probably the answer. Should I be thinking that I might need to ship this car somewhere to get it fixed correctly? Boy I hope not! Should I attempt this repair myself? Any other suggestions would be very welcome.

Thanks again,

Chad

[Darrel]

Narrow down where the noise is coming from. Unhook the half shafts to check the rear wheel bearings, if those are good, then unhook the driveshaft.

Have you checked all the fluids?

Is it a manual transmission or automatic?

21k original miles? We need pics. ;-)

And download the factory service manual from zenon.

[ajmcforester]

Check the diff make sure it's got fluid, grease all the grease points lets try to get it lubricated. You might need to just get grease into the wheel bearing. Check for and joint that just does not feel right.

People might be able to find a shop if they knew what part of the Midwest their are Z shops in that area.

Also make sure to get them out more they are fun to drive and driving them helps the car, they are not designed to sit.

[Pomorza]

Hey Chad,

As mentioned above try to narrow down the issue, as replacing something that isn't broken is a bit of a waste of time. Secondly, what part of the midwest do you live in?

If you choose to tackle the job this will help you greatly. There are a few other sites. The factory service manual (FSM) can be downloaded from here if you don't already have it. While some of the repairs require special tools you can rent them at the local parts store (autozone ect.) for the day, usually for a small fee. In my opinion if you are good at tinkering you can more than likely do nearly any repair on a Z.

Jan

[kjohnson2444]

Brakes?

[bluezcrazy]

Hey Chad,

I agree with Pomorza. If you let us know where you are from maybe someone on here is in your area and can repair/check out your car. If not, surely they can refer you to where might be a good place to take it.

Bryce

[two50below10]

Guys, thank you so much for the help so far. Between work and my three kids I haven't had another chance to do anything with the car yet. I will definitley try to narrow it down before replacing parts. I am slowly in the process of changing all fluids and lubing required locations. I haven't gotten to the differential fluid yet. Everything on the car is pretty dry. I will let you know if any of the above happens to fix the noise. Thanks for the recommendations so far and the links to information!

I am in Dubuque, Iowa, so if any of you are close by here or know of a recommended mechanic/shop in Eastern Iowa, Southwest WI or Northwest IL, I would be grateful for that info too.

Thanks again,

Chad

[Powderkeg]

Chad,

Go to AtlanticZcar.com and look under the technical articles. There should be an article by "Blue" showing how to change wheel bearings.

The author, Blue (aka Phillip), has written several "how to" articles.

He also contributes to this forum and has also posted quite a bit on zcar.com. Although I don't recommend zcar.com any longer, there are some good articles by Blue in their archives.

(After searching here extensively of course)!

Dave Ruiz