JonGon

I was pulling down my driveway when she broke down, luckily... But the car always had a clicking noise when the clutch wasnt pressed, mainly audible when idling. I purchased it about a week ago, and the dealer said it was just the throwout bearing.

Anyway after a day in town at my gfs house, on the way home the clicking sound was up tempo, louder and rough, like grinding. The acceleration was weaker btw. Everytime i slowed down, the car engine would shut down. That happened a total of 3 times, each consecutive the car struggled more to turn over and the loud "rough clicking grinding" noise would intensify.

Eventually when i got to my driveway, of course you have to decelerate, the car turned off. I started it up "barely", and the sound was way worse. I just about shifted into second, and stuff happened... it turned off, I heard metal drop from underneath, and the car started smoking...
After parking, i went to go pick up what dropped, and it looks like a metal chunk, and broken clamp, which there was a spill trail of some sort of fluid.
The car wont start at all. Soooo guys, what could it be?

dcains

iTrader: (15)

Smart of you to keep driving it as the noise got progressively worse. Next time buy a used car with oil in the crankcase.

nizmo_0385

iTrader: (5)

Damn i guess this is what justin meant when he said your not a car guy if... you keep driving when you know something is going catastophically WRONG!

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Wow- what a difficult way to get started on this board. I certainly hope you got some type of used car warranty from this dealer, and if so, suggest you have it towed there. But as you can guess from the responses you've received on this thread, continuing to drive the car when this VQ was clearly breaking down was an extremely bad move.

My guess (and it's just that) is anything from terminal engine failure to a serious clutch problem. It sounds as though you don't have much, if any, experience with cars in general, so pics of what the damaged pieces look like would help. But ultimately, this Z needs to be towed to a repair facility to be accurately diagnosed and repaired.

JonGon

Where im located, there is no stopping and figuring out whats wrong. Im in the part of Florida where your neighbor is a mile away, and they all have guns. Im in the sticks, plus it was night. So if anything, your best bet is to get home.

Besides such, i bought this z expecting to put money into it. The z is my second car, my first being an sc400, so yeah maybe im a little new but that doesn't help me figure the problem out guys..
Ill upload two pics.

turboed350z

Its 2016, if you dont have a cellphone that you could use to call tripple A, you need to reevaluate your priorities...

JonGon

The two pieces i recovered.

JonGon

I have a cellphone, but still. I dont have triple a or such. Idk how a lot of **** works, i just walked into the world of adult problems. Also i wouldn't want to leave the car on the side of the road, ppl are crazy around here, they bag on jap cars because they're not huge trucks.

turboed350z

Paying 100 for a tow is alot better than the thousands youre about to pay...

JonGon

Youre right, but still wether i towed it now or then, that problem was still existent, meaning it would still have they same payout.

travlee

iTrader: (8)

you need a new engine dude, good job noob

turboed350z

*facepalm*

A 3in gash is going to require less stitches than a foot long one....

turboed350z

Lsx time!

JonGon

Anyway, thanks for the saltiness guys, cause i am new to Zs lol. Also thanks for the help

I said i was going to put money into it. So here we are, time for a new engine. The question is what engine should i get?

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

The two pics show a rod cap and most likely, a piece of the engine block. You comprehensively BLEW that VQ up, and should use this as one lesson from the school of hard knocks. You didn't mention whether or not any warranty was included with your one week old sale from the dealer, but this will be expensive.

Depending on what year Z you own, you'll need to totally replace the VQ35DE/rev up/HR, as the shortblock in your Z is no longer rebuildable. You'll need to carefully select a skilled wrench to do this, as it's not a job for someone that's "a little new" to cars. And while you might live in a part of rural Florida, or any isolated part of the country, the next time you hear an engine knocking like THAT, just park it and call for a tow, before you burn it to the ground (like what happened this time).

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Gotta be kidding- just get the same type of VQ engine that came with it and learn how to take better care of it. Check out a freshly rebuilt VQ from a reputable vendor like Z1 and have it installed. Save some of your budget for refreshing your Z (clutch, brakes, shocks, bushings, etc) critical components that could be installed at the same time the new engine goes in.

JonGon

I was looking into the history of this car, and accordingly the problem has surfaced before. The repair form stated something to the effect of a cam shaft adjustment like 10%.
In retrospect, i bought a broke car, and i helped finish it off. Ultimately im going to engine swap.
But point taken. I dont think ill have a car break this bad again. Btw the car was bought as is, I planned on a problem to begin with lol.

JonGon

Yeah, shes blowen up.

But if i stick with a vq motor, i want something that can handle at least a 16 psi turbo. If i were to get a new vq, what exactly would i do to make it handle 380+ hp?

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Sorry to hear that the Z had no warranty at all. Use this as the first step in learning about cars- if this was a pre-existing problem, DON'T excuse it by saying "I helped finish it off". This could have helped you negotiate a better deal in the first place AND there was no reason to trash the motor afterwards. This was a completely preventable problem, and it's somewhat poetic that your Z made it back home before suffering such terminal problems. It's like riding a once-strong horse to death.

travlee

iTrader: (8)

ls2 swap, mild cam, and you will be at 380whp easily no FI needed