Here is the story.

Just got of phone with Jacksonivlle Nissan (where i bought the car). Bitched about the service im getting down here in South florida, and the TSB tire feathering problem.

He said the following.

One, people having probs with tire feathing will typically get new tires out of the deal if they are under 6k miles

two, DO not get your car aligned anywhere else besides nissan otherwise <poof> nissan alignment warranty.

three, Nissan alignment warranty only good up to 12k.

four, Nissan HAS RECENTLY CHANGED THEIR ALIGNMENT FIGURES!!!

--at this point i asked, "How recently", he said "Recently".

So, what does this mean?!?!

Possibly that, any of you who have had your tires replaced and have had the alignment fixed to the NEW numbers, may not see any problems.

Those of you who have had the TSB service, then still had problems after wards, may have had the fix, but the fix was still under the OLD alignment settings.... (which means the problem would come back)....


Lets hope things are getting better.

~AJ

 

Well, with my car there isn't an uneven tire wear at 2,400. I don't know if the allignment that was completed at 500 miles had anything to do with it. And this was done because it was pulling to the right. I brought it in becasue I thought it was an allignment issue not knowng that there is a TSB on it.

What I'm seeing on this board is, a lot of people started to have the noise problem at 3,500 miles. For those people, did you notice anything prior to the 3,500 miles?

 

I didn't have hints of feathering till after 7500 mile or so. Then the roaring came after that & got LOUDER pretty quickly. I had the alignment which didn not stop the roaring on its own. Went back & had em re-check the front align & swapped the two fronts. The noise stopped. It's been a couple thousand miles since so we'll see. guarded optimism.

 

Noticed roaring noise at 7500. Took the car to the dealear and SM already new about this problem. This saved a lot of time and grief. Dealer performed TSB and swapped the front tires. Then the Roaring noise came back with a vengance to the point that it is almost unpleasant to drive. My car never pulled to the the right but Aligment was performed when the tires were swapped. Still drives stright. I now have 9500 miles and I am getting to the point where I am going to need new tires. I can bear the noise but this is now becoming a safety concern. So what is next Nissan? Get new tires and destroy them agian?

Frustrated me

 

Sunzet...
What was the date you had the TSB? If i wasnt lied to, there are new numbers for alignment on the Z. If you had it done a while back, and the tire problem is still there, it may be because they were still aligning on the F'd up specs.

Try another alignment. Ask if they are familar with the new numbers. Note however, if your tires are already screwed, it doesnt matter if the alignment is good, youll still need new tires.

~AJ

 

I had the TSB done about 1 1/2 months ago. The interesting part is that may dealer sent the car to a tire shop as they did not have the equipment to do the job. So I am assuming the did not have the latest aligment specs. Do you know when they came up with new numbers?

 

No i dont bro, "recently" was all i was told

~AJ

 

Well, in 3hrs today, I will be taking my z to the dealer and they will be installing my new tires. I also have to take my car to another shop to get the alignment done! How can I get the new alignment specs so that I can be sure they have the info to do my car properly? I have 11,000mls on mine and since the alignment only warrants up to 12,000 miles, then I need some answers fast! And, are they calling this a fix? My luck, my service manager knows nothing of this news. This town I'm in is so slow on info! Or maybe they are just acting and I look like the dumby here!?

sincerely,


calvin
SS,touring,3m-bra,7"wide screen,dvd,LED's

 

Spoke with NNA today. VIN# ...5690 -Turns out that when the dealership aligned my Z back in March, they replaced a "pan hard rod". The back-order on the tires is running from 5-6 months so I asked if there were any comparable tires they could be replaced with. I was promised a return call by next Tues.

Does anyone know what a pan hard rod is and why I wasn't told that it was replaced?

The Nissan rep asked me if the dealership had ordered all four tires. I was honest with her and hope that I get the same in return. What questions should I ask when she calls back?

 

I think you mean to say "panard bar" which are used to prevent movement.

 

I thought that I had misheard her as well, so I had her spell it out. I found the part a common "beef-up" for 4x4s to keep the left to right axle movement down.
So, to the point that I beleive that there is a problem with the design of the suspension, why would that part be replaced? More importantly, why did the dealership not tell me about it? The Nissan rep was the one that informed me of the replacement four months after the fact. If they would just be up front and say they don't know whats wrong but they're trying to fix it, I wouldn't be posting here in the repair section of this forum. I just want all to know as much about what is trying to be done, since Nissan isn't.

 

Yesterday, Friday, the dealer told me that to cure my noise and feathering problem they did an alignment. Also here on the East Coast it will be 30-45 days until a "redesigned replacement tire" [!!!????] is available. Anyone hear of this so far?

Now I'm waiting for the dealer's scratch guy to repair the "one of my kid's first weekend I had the car with her bike" scrape on the driver's door and quarter. And to repair the front nose stone chips.


Well at least I have the trans. replaced and windows that won't re-roll down in the warm weather now. I'll get it back this coming Wednesday and report on the results then.

 

It's part of your suspension . Alfa used them for years . I think its French in origin ! I had one on my last Alfa , GTV-6 .

FrankieZZ

 

Does anyone have over 10,000 miles and not experienced any alignment or feathering problems.

Does every 350Z have this problem.

I've written NNA 3 times and they have never responded-even to advise they are working on the problem.

 

I got my Z in December

Vin # 4528


Current Mileage: 10,112


NO FEATHERING
NO ALIGNMENT PROBLEMS

She's my daily driver and I'm left wondering whats with the fact that other people in the same VIN range have feathering, but I dont.

 

Just over 10K miles now, and no feathering or alignment problems whatsoever. My wife hates the OEM tires and can't wait until I replace them, but infortunately for her, they still look great.

Got my Z in February, and have experienced none of teh problems reported about the Z, other then the rear window washer fluid sometimes leaks when I floor it.

 

I now have 14,000 on my car and have had new tires put on, the TSB applied and 4,000 miles later the new tires are showing signs of cupping again!

And now, instead of cupping on the inside tread blocks, they cup on the outside tread blocks. This is like an episode of "PUNk'D" (MTV) Where there is a hidden camera and the show is playing a bad joke on me.

I have been into the dealership so many times that I know the service people and the shuttle driver by name!

NNA has told me that they want me to take the car back yet again to have the "NEW" alignments specs applied to my car.

However, they will have to give yet another set of tires, due to the fact that the tires I have now are cupped. When will this nightmare end?

I have to admit though that I still enjoy the car, but I am getting very frustrated that Nissan will not step up to the plate and find a final solution to our problem. Nor, are they willing to communicate what they are doing to fix the problem.

The new VIN#s seem to not show any signs or the cupping. So, why doesn't Nissan just fix the older cars like mine?

 

What's your VIN?

 

The 7/14/03 issue of the publication Autoweek is asking for your "likes and dislikes" of the 350Z. Respond to autofile@crain.com This is our chance to tell the world what we are experiencing. Lets Roll!!

 

Guess what? Took the car in yesterday to get an alignment and fix the other common problems (rocking seat, grease streak, etc.) Called today and they told me that they ordered new front tires, the car will be aligned after they arrive, all other problems fixed. Now I'm impressed! Good customer service and no hassle. I think that they had too many with the same cupping/feathering problem. Just in case, after I took it in yesterday I called Nissan Consumer Affairs (800-647-7261) to check on the tire issue and got a case number, if I had any problems in the future.