Hey Guys,

Those of you who have high mileage Zs, what have you found that needs replacing over time? Are there any issues with bushings that need to be replaced, suspension arms that eventualy fail, oil or water pump problems? What are the weak points on the cars that I'd need to pay attention to?

Thanks a ton guys. This forum is great.

-Rich

 

What do you consider high mileage?

 

About 80,000 or so miles. I'm really concerned about the weak links on the car. What goes? What do I need to watch for?

 

I'm almost at 96k miles and I haven't had a problem yet. Well, unless you count the regular problems with the 03's such as the window motor and the tranmission problems. Both were fixed long ago.

 

Hello,

I'm Rich's crew chief. Thanks for the responses so far. I think the main issue we're looking for is simply this: during our various shakedowns and once the Grand Am Cup season starts, we're going to put a year's worth of stress on the car every month or less and we want to get some idea of what surprises are going to catch us off-guard. As we build the cars, there are obvious places for reinforcement, but nothing teaches better than experience...

So I guess the real question is simply 'what breaks for people either over time, or when they drive aggressively / track the car?'

Thanks!
Joel

 

I can help answer this since my Z has seen a lot of track time over its 39K miles. The wheel bearings are definately weak. You will get a lot of hub flex when you put your sticky tires on and have brake pad knockback. I belive other Grand Am teams have blueprinted theirs.
The diff is another potential problem. I run the nismo lsd and fluid leaks out the breather when pushed hard. You will definately need a pump and cooler to keep the temps down. I put in a simple catch can to monitor my fluid loss.
Shoot me a pm if you have any questions along the way. It looks like I'm local to you guys.

 

Hello,
Good to know. I guess we'll be investing heavily in wheel bearings. One of our shake-downs will be the 25-Hour... I figure that should show us any long term weaknesses of the car.
Yeah, we have a pump and cooler for both the tranny and the diff, and a cooler for the engine. How is the fluid flooding up to the breather - just during high G events or is it all splash? We'll plumb accordingly to minimize either possibility. Thanks!
Sounds good. I'm sure we'll have more questions for you after SEMA. For now, we're working hard to get everything ready for the show - the cars will probably never look so pretty again once they've become battle tested!

Joel

 

Not sure the reason for the diff fluid loss. I doubt the fliud is actually boiling so it must be frothing and expanding or sloshing out. It seems to be worse on high speed tracks like thunderhill.