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Thanks guys. Pumping the pedal was the answer but I didn't know that yet when I lost the brakes here.
I have two front wheel bearings on the way. The passenger one is on it's way out for sure. Might as well change both. I'm hoping that is the culprit. I don't hear many other Z owners complain of this problem.
I had also thought pad knockback was common(when under high G loads) on the 350Z partly due to caliper placement.
If the new wheel bearing doesn't completely fix it I think there is also a wire you can cut to the ECU so it doesn't cut power when you have the brakes and gas depressed. This way you can continue to brake check on the straits without losing power. But don't ask me what wire, just read it once or twice on this forum.
Last edited by rancor; Jul 7, 2016 at 11:15 AM.
Reason: clarification
Front wheel bearings are very common failure for the Z. Your loss of brakes however, I hope its just knockback sounds odd.
It was definitely pad knock back. Once I started pumping the brakes in the straights the pedal was firm and the brakes worked great.
Both front wheel bearings came in today. I'll get them installed on Saturday at the latest. I have a potential track day on Sunday if I can get tires figured out.
I had also thought pad knockback was common on the 350Z partly due to caliper placement.
If the new wheel bearing doesn't completely fix it I think there is also a wire you can cut to the ECU so it doesn't cut power when you have the brakes and gas depressed. This way you can continue to brake check on the straits without losing power. But don't ask me what wire, just read it once or twice on this forum.
I didn't notice it cutting power during the pump or maybe I thought it was just the brakes being slightly applied. I'll check it out. Thanks for the heads up.
I made 3 track days at Western Michigan Honda Meet 16 at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven MI. My first track day was WMHM 5 in 2005. The car did great. With replaced front wheel bearings, new rotors and new pads the car performed flawlessly. I went with GLoc R16 pads up front. GLoc was pretty cool and got me the pads within a week. They had to make them and I paid for 2 day shipping. That is some great service. I ordered them through TF-Works.
The DTC 60s I had on the car worked great but only made it through 3 track days. They last forever on my 240sx but the increased weight and lack of cooling to the z brakes put the hurt moves on them.
Here is a video with some fun edits in the beginning and some laps to finish it off.
This event is one of my favorites of the year. We all camp at the track and the party after the track goes cold is unmatched. Here are a couple of pics.
Early morning paddock.
I got up way too early for this one.
One of these is not like the others...
And yes, there is a ford freestar with no roof, all graffiti-ed up, with two kegs inside, a stripper pole and two tappers on the side parked in our paddock. We got 37 people on it and 2 dogs as we did laps around paddock dispensing beer.
I had the Clutch Slave Cylinder fail. HR so it's the concentric one inside the trans. I want to stay street class for SCCA Autocross but have heard horror stories about the stock one. Zspeed makes a concentric replacement that is supposed to be better. That should be okay for street class if I retain the stock lines.
I really want to do the ZSpeed CMAK conversion that converts it to a regular slave cylinder but that would definitely bump me from Street class.
I attended Gridlife South at Road Atlanta this weekend. The event was pretty amazing, I'll post up some pics later. For now I have some video of Road Atlanta. That course is SCARY! Walls to hit everywhere, blind corners and crazy elevation. It was a great time.
I also found out I can't handle that down south heat and humidity. It was like living in a sauna. I drank 12 waters one day and still got mild heat stroke. I'm in pretty good shape too.