but now that it's back in the 80's & 90's here in Phoenix it seems to have all gone away...


- Latch wouldn't release the hatchback door when hit the remote or pushed on the release button, had to hold it down and lift up... but now... gone.

- Creaking/cracking noise in rear part of car when going up/down sharp inclines.... Nissan tech's couldn't explain it... had no solution... but now... gone.

- hydraulic lifts on hatchback wouldn't hold door open, would have to push it up 3-4 times to make it stay open... but now... gone.

- 3rd gear grind when first starting to drive when engine was cold... but now... gone.

- CD's skipping while changer warmed up... but now... gone.

crazyness... now if that damn rattle in the center console would go away

 

When it was really cold here I noticed a totally different drive. It seemed bumpier and noisier (creaking). I noticed, however, that if you warm it up for like 10mins or more, it def. drives better. Even the shift **** vibrated like crazy when it was cold but went away when I warmed the car up for a bit

 

duh.

 

 

You mentioned EXACTLY everything my '03 does when cold too!! And yes it's all gone now that it's warmer. So i'd have to say it must be normal!!

 

These are some of the reasons why I did not buy an '03.

 

Latch - Try taking the weight out of the back and try the penny trick (do a search and it should come up pretty quickly)

Ceaking noise on hill - My guess is that its akin to your house settling. When your car is cold, the metal is cold and doesn't flex as much as when warm. Could also be lubrication at joints are cold as well so they don't lubricate as well?

Hydraulic lifts - Again, try taking the weight out. I have a nismo spoiler on which makes my hatch really heavy. I ended up getting new lifts from Jason (https://my350z.com/forum/body-exterior/251518-fs-heavy-duty-hatch-struts.html#post3363485) and now they work great!! I'd absolutely recommend this!

3rd gear grind - very common with 03s. I believe theres a TSB for this. If you're within warranty, you should be able to take it in to get taken care of. With mine, my dealer said to just grind away until its repeatable. Worse the problem, the easy they can diagnose and fix. I grinded it hard once, and now have absolutely no problem. (not necessarily recommending this, but it worked for me!)

CD's skipping - Hmm.... try a CD player cleaner? maybe some gears just need to be lubed?

if the rattle in the center console is bad.. try sound dampeners?

Good luck!

 

other than a little annoying dashboard rattle on the passenger side every now and then..... depends on road surface and time of day, my 03 runs like a dream.