Just took my 70,000m (110,000km) Z out of storage and performed a list of repairs, maintenance, and check ups:

- oil change (was time anyway, aside from winter storage)
- new oil filter
- coolant change (probably had never been done)
- tire pressure (back to 35psi from 40psi storage; still had flat spots)
- cleaned throttle body (was quite dirty)
- replaced driver-side rear brake caliper and pads (were sticking)
- new brake fluid
- misc. checkups for safety inspection

Nice to get it back in shape.

I wasn't too happy to replace the rear brake (and to only be replacing one of them), as I wanted to do a full brake upgrade for track use eventually and now would have been the time. The 350Z brakes are the biggest bottleneck to the car's performance, I find. It really deserves better brakes even for street use.

The mechanic said the driver side brakes get more dirty and tend to fail more often. Curious if this is a trend with the 350Z?

 

Nope- DS or PS, it makes no difference. If we're talking about brake pads, they should be replaced in pairs. Or are you referring to calipers?

 

My guess is he said, or meant to say, that rear calipers are continually catching crap thrown up from the front tires and because of it seize up more often than front calipers. Did he use a new OEM caliper from a Nissan dealer? How much did it cost? Nissan also sells an inexpensive overhaul kit; it’s just a simple dust cover and a O-ring.

 

I wanted to replace the pads in pairs.

What was replaced was the "blown" (not sure what word to use here) caliper and the pad that went with it. The caliper was sticking and caused premature wear on its pad. The other pad did not need to be replaced, however I do not like the idea of having uneven pad wear.


You got it right, except I was thinking the driver side calipers/pads (both front and rear) catch more dirt thrown up from the road from passing cars. And you alerted me to the likelihood that the rear also catches dirt from my own car's front.

He did not use OEM calipers, however used caliper and pads of the same materials (ceramic). It was about $160 for both. The claim was that these were a standard (not high end and not cheap) caliper and pad set, likely close to stock 350Z.

Tell me more about the overhaul kit please. I'll see what I can find on my own.