richard1

Today it became a bit worse and after close examination, i made the decision to remove the water pump after I bought a new one. This sucker has just not even some play in the bearing but just enough to drip a bit (dry streak) at the bottom of the casting close to the "hole". I inspected the radiator and it is fine. Thanks to everybody for their comments.

No, it would have been too easy.

Recently, I found than only the inner left front fender well was stained with coolant from the frame rail up to the vent duct connecting to the radiator support. At first, I thought that it was one of the hose from the transmission cooler that was the problem but it is not the case. For sure, this streak of coolant is shot from the fan but it is impossible to find from where it is coming. Here is what has been checked: -The upper and lower radiator hose......they are new from last year and tight. -The water pump..........replaced last year. -The radiator........doesn't leak and has been replaced by a brand new one two years ago. Top and bottom tank are dry (copper radiator not aluminum). -Radiator cap........new from the same time. -Thermostat housing........no leak. -Small hose connecting to the thermostat housing from the intake manifold......dry and no leak. -Head gasket..........dry. -Coolant..........clean There is never any coolant spot on the floor, the radiator is always full, the water pump is not noisy and doesn't show any sign of leak around the front of the engine after complete cleaning of the erea. It is very mysterious and I wondering where to search for any clue. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

It is leaking oil and Cotmann Transmission where it has been rebuilt is not able to locate a replacement part. Any help would be appreciated.

The ignition switch on my 72 240z has the following problem: when I turn the key from lock to accessories and start, it get stuck and I have to play with it several times to finally be able to go to start. It is not the electrical part of the switch being the problem but the mechanical part where the key goes in. This part is sealed and i don't see how it can be dismantled to look what is wrong inside. Is it fixeable or does it need to be replaced?

I need a good use one. If you have any clue where to find one please, email me: richarddube@cox.net

excessive play in the throttle shaft bushing. Any clue where I can find a replacement?

it works fine but when the headlights are on, the dashboard lights shut down and I have to play with the "stick" to keep the dashboard lights on. Any suggestions what to check? The control arm is tight with no play......a connector to clean ...or what else? Still fully original unmolested 38YO.

It is a real tough issue...... -I tried to remove the speedo by removing the wing nut.......it doesn't want to come out as supposed from the front of the pod, so I left it there because I don't want to damage the dashboard (I put thin plastic business card around the speedo bezel but it doesn't come out). -I removed the speedo cable from the speedo and make a test drive........same squeak. Conclusion...the speedo itself is not the problem and the cable was in a bent position to intensify the squeak it would have been the problem. -I looked at the mileage reset wheel assembly and found some play moving the assembly up and down with a possible similar squeak. I lubricated the with silicone and installed a soft rubber spacer between the knob and the under dash where it is installed. Everything is tight on this component.........road test again......same squeak. This problem is not from the speedo or the cable. Any other suggestions? -vent flaps? tried open and same problem. -fender bolts? all tight. -window door rail bolts tight. -dashboard vents? tested for dry felt and no problem.

It squeaks when I start from a stop.

it could make sense..........could it be lubricated if I disconnect and remove the speedo for better access? the speedo can be remove from the front, correct?

Since about two months I am trying to locate an intermittent squeak that come from the left side of the dashboard. Now that it is cooler, it is more audible and real bothersome. Furthermore, there is nothing I have ever done and I found absolutely nothing wrong anywhere. It happens when I accelerate at a stop and now that it is cooler, it is clearly audible and constant on the freeway at mostly any speed above 40 MPH. It sounds like if two piece of very dry rubber would rub on each other or some lose nuts or screws not tight enough would create friction. Until now, I have done the most imaginable checks on everything: -Torque all the steering bolts and supports under dash -Torque dash attachment bolts under dash and under the air defroster finisher. -All defroster duct screws were tight -Removed the cover under the wiper and checked all screws and put teflon tape the tabs and plastic inserts in the cowl. -Lubricate the wiper hardware -Lubricate the inspection cover clip with silicone grease, remove the inspection cover to lubricate with penetrating oil......there is a play in the hinge but not enough as lubricated to be the problem -Torque all fender bolts -Torque ALL door hinges inside the foot well panel -Ckecked the wing nuts of the speedo and tach -Checked the air vent attachment screws to the elbow under dash -Checked the rubber drain hose for friction with the cowl insulation -Checked windshield rubber seal for any cracks......fine, furthermore applied W40 all around the inner cabin seal using a fine needle bottle use for acrylic panel welding -Checked brake and gas pedal bolts and screws to the firewall -Checked steering mounting bolts to the firewall -Checked windshield washer hose connector and among others.....transmission mounts bolts, struts, engine mounts..... To conclude, I am pretty exhausted in the search of this annoying noise. Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

THERE IS A GOLDEN RULE FOR EVERYONE WHO OWN A PERFECT DASH IF IT IS AN ORIGINAL CAR......PROTECTION, MOISTURIZING EVERY MONTH AND EVERY TIME YOU DETAIL YOUR CAR. I owned my original Z since 2000 when I bought it from a picky collector. For sure it was perfect in every way. I drove it for enjoyment as all my other classic cars, fully restored or just original OEM. I live in Vegas.........you know what it means. Since the last ten years I own this car, the dash has a coat of protection every two weeks in the same way I clean the carpets..........I ALWAYS have a sun shade in the windshield no matter sun is shinning or not.........if I drive the Z to work, the car is covered with the best car cover on the market (NOAH) tailored to the Z body shape (water repellent, UV protection, sap and bird droppings). A perfect dash needs to be conditioned to keep it in flawless condition ALL the time and not once in a while.

No matter you have a reproduction of the the dealer's parts book, very few OEM parts are available and reproductions are most of the time garbage or poorly designed. For some hoses, you have to be very creative to buy some OEM still available (braided) to make your own if they need specific radius to fit the original. My experience of ten years owning an original never restored 72 Z.

If you tried to scary me. It was just fine tuning carb adjustment and balancing after tune-up and timing advance.

Brand new cap, rotor, points, condensor and coil. Still run rough only at idle very peppy and responsive otherwise. Weak fire on cylinder #4 at idle when wire unplugged. Wires changed 03/09 with Napa Blue BMX (about 14K ago). My feeling is the #4 spark plug wire is the problem. The engine was running smooth a couple of weeks ago and it happens only at idle as missing intermittently on one cylinder. What do you think?

today was 108+ considering the bright sun lets say maybe 5F more to be conservative.....so 113. At 3.00PM, it is the worst I have ever experienced in the last two years.....driving up in the valley toward the mountains with both fuel pumps and the engine missing on acceleration because of starving......everything back to normal at stop light but very low RPM because engine still starving. I stopped for an errand without having to stop the engine....it died by itself. No problem to start back but all the vapor lock was in the fuel lines barely feeding the carbs. Members in other countries still driving on lead fuel have not have this problem. As you said some state regulations make hard on us with classic cars we still driven on a regular basis for pleasure when we have A/C. The state of Nevada really sucks because they made the decision two years ago to ignore the need for seasoned additives to keep our classic drivable all year around. In my neighborhood, a gentleman owned a fully restored 356 Porsche....... he drives his classic excluding summer time because of the lean gasoline problem here in Nevada. Just to conclude......my MPG range is about 18-20 in cool weather.......right now, it is about 12-14 MPG range. It gives you a picture how volatile gasoline is here in Nevada in the worst summer months at 95-115F range. Our state is bankrupt so they need to fill their coffers in one way or the other.......regulations on the cheapest gas in all the country to bring more taxes because you need more to go to point A to B no matter you drive a new Z or an old one By the way, I would be curious to hear about gas quality in other warm weather states......not on the verge of bankrupt as here in Nevada.

First, I would like to say Thank You to everybody who replied in regards of my need to include some additive in the fuel during summer heat for keeping my engine from starving in intense summer heat(100F+). The product doesn't bring any benefits to gasoline volatility in the climate condition mentioned above. The electric fuel pump is sucking as hard as before to supply the carbs. Same loss of power and no improvement........maybe a bit easier to start between engine shut down and start-up a few minutes apart. The engine performs flawlessly on the freeway with the electric pump on in the hottest time of the day.......always cool (middle of the temperature gauge)....right thermostat, A/C always on at this time of the year and never a problem in early morning or early evening. I will keep adding Star-Tron additive for the next few weeks until the heat wave will be gone here in Vegas. To conclude.......... I may be wrong but I believe that state agencies have their own regulations on additives the distributors have to add......here in Nevada, the rules may be cheaper gas than anywhere else in USA. It is my opinion based on the facts my car idles better in the morning and evening and in mid day I have vapor lock problems.

you have pin pointed the problem and I read all the info in your reference and more on the Starbrite website. All the information make sense and I believe it will solve the problem. The product is only available at marine shops and the Bass Pro Shop in Las Vegas at the Silverton Casino which is close to my office in my way back home. I will definitely drive the Z Monday with a forecast of 107F and put some of this additive right away to see what will be the difference when I will stop for some errands after about 15 miles of freeway driving. I will keep you posted about the results.

but it is mostly related to FI engines and not carb ones. As somebody reported in this tread, it may be related to ethanol in the gasoline or a lack of previous additives during summer. Since the last three months I fill with Shell regular 87 and I have always use 87 octane no matter the brand. Higher octane doesn't make a difference. In fact, I would associate vapor lock and evaporation/starving in the same category because it never happens in normal climatic condition below 90F For example, here are some situations happening most of the time: -Cool morning temperature below 90F.....engine fully warmed up....smooth idle, responsive acceleration, steady engine temperature, no starting problem after multiple shot down and restart (always we A/C on) and no needed use of the electric fuel pump. -Afternoon temperature of 95F+....smooth idle at start up, responsive acceleration after engine warm up.......engine starving at about ten miles of freeway driving......engage electric fuel pump and everything coming back to normal. The engine temperature always normal. Exiting freeway......engine still idling fine at stop lights but with a tendency to drop 150 rpm. Shutting the engine for errands for 5 minutes..........slightly harder to start even with electric pump on and need to idle to higher RPM for engine to rev up due to starvation because it is obvious, gasoline evaporation has happened somewhere between the rear fuel pump and the carbs. Now the engine idles rough at 700 RPM and the electric pump works twice harder (I hear the pumping I never hear otherwise in normal condition) to feed gas to the mechanical pumps and carbs. From there, the engine idles or breath harder......kicks up quickly at stop lights but not as responsive on heavy load and acceleration but still acceptable. Yesterday, I made a test after exiting the freeway and going to an errand for only five minutes........I let the car running at idle (doors locked of course) with A/C, electric fan and fuel pump. When I came back, the engine was dead with all the aforementioned accessories still on and the electric pump still "pumping". I restarted the engine without problem and left the parking lot. My conclusion is this problem is only related to the gasoline and nothing else. It is the reason I am looking to an additive that can help these engines to perform better in very hot climate because it is not a overheating problem....badly tuned engine or leaking fuel lines. Everything is perfect and carefully taken care of. It is quite simply a fuel volatile evaporation problem and I don't believe to go higher octane level will even fix the problem. Is there a lead additive available on the market? it is the only option I could see to fix this problem in the three worst months we are going through and enjoy my classic as before in these summer months "day time"......never a problem in the evening in cooler temperature.

I remember gasoline additive were added some years ago for desert climate states. Here in Nevada, they stopped this year or a year a go and vapor lock is becoming a more serious problem than last year and we are not even in the 115F of the summer. I have an electric fuel pump, filters are replaced twice a year, engine is properly tuned and there is nothing else I can do for a full original vintage Z. I have the dealer installed A/C fully restored a couple of years ago blowing accordingly to specs, an auxiliary electric fan to cool the condenser which maintains the air at the dash outlet to 51F and on this side, I am happy to use the car as a comfortable daily driver if i want to. The engine temperature is always in the middle of the gauge and never goes higher. My question is......can I add some "supplement" to the poor gasoline quality that we have in my desert state to improve the vapor lock problem and excessive consumption in summer? In other words, from about 20-22 MPG in mild climate, I drop down to about 14-16 MPG because of the evaporation problem. My engine is very responsive early in the morning as supposed for a full tuned engine but sluggish in the afternoon because of this fuel starving problem. Could octane boost solve the problem or what kind of additive could help to fix this issue? Both fuel pumps are OK, filters brand new at last tune-up a month ago, carbs are fine tuned, ignition components replaced at tune-up time. The problem is simply what kind of gas additive could solve the problem in a desert environment.

I am not happy with it , the left door is pretty much OK but the right door.....the window frame fits offset but the door is very hard to close. I can understand the hot climate in Vegas can fix the problem over time but my car is always covered outdoor when of of my garage and I don't believe it would solve the problem. I am looking now at the the Mc Master weatherstrip option to have a more flexible extrusion for a better fit as discussed in this tread and I would like opinions fro members with stories to share. .

It is what I needed to know.

door weatherstripping and the MacMaster-Carr option, I am not convinced that both are perfect fit to look as original as possible for an original never restored S30. Slamming doors after installing a new weatherstrip set doesn't make sense to me. The best comment I found in this matter is about the Black Dragon kit and I ordered one. The price is right and I will see how it will fit. Now.......to install a new set of door weatherstrips, is is necessary to remove some of the inner inside mouldings as the plastic "U" cap/finisher around the cabin and the inner plastic threshold moulding mounted with three Philips screws?

for your courtesy:cool: