Hi All.

Have 3 items of repair i need to tackle and thought it would be better to put them in one thread instead of spamming (sorry mod if this is not approved!)

1st. Ebrake is sloppy:

Ebrake doesnt engage until right at the top. I believe that i just need to replace the brake shoes and move the adjustment nut in the wheel hubs. Want to confirm if my assumption is correct. If so this should just be a little tedious but not necessarily hard.

2nd. Believed window motor failure:

I know this is common on these cars, but i am a new owner and just want to make sure i am correct. When holding window up switch on drivers side window will roll all the way up and then come halfway down. If i hit window up quickly multiple times i can get the window all the way up but i dont think it seals properly as a tiny bit of water go through when i washed it the other day.

3rd. Dull and yellow headlights with very poor range. Replace bulbs?

I have never done headlight work before but my car is terrible to drive at night. Headlights have a yellow colored projection that is very uneven and does not project very far at all. It seems like replacing the bulbs is straight forward, just want to be thats what i need to so i dont buy the wrong part.


This is more to confirm my assumptions as to what needs to be done to fix these issues. Again sorry is this thread is not properly made, I am a new owner and pretty new to the forums as well. I am fine having this thread removed and posting threads individually if needed. Car is in for radiator repairs at this moment and want to get some "simpler" stuff knocked out once thats done before heading on to bigger things. Thanks!

 

1. Sounds about right for the parking brake.

2. Most likely the window motor. But, you can try resetting the anti-pinch feature if the motor is still strong to see if the window rolls up about a half inch after shutting the door.

3. Bulbs aren't going to give you better light output and increase your night vision unless you have halogens. Does it have HID or halogen bulbs? Regardless, if the plastic lens is yellow or hazy, try polishing and refinishing them. If you have halogen bulbs, upgrade to HID. Do NOT go over 5500K with the bulb temperature as the light appears to be whiter, but it's actually getting into the blue color spectrum which is counter intuitive for human eyesight at night. The OEM spec for the HID bulbs is 4300K which is optimal for night vision. IMO, 4500K-5000K hits that sweet spot for white appearance and useable light output.

 

Good call on anti pinch. Hadn't even thought of that. As far as bulbs im not sure what i have. Im fairly certain they are halogen but i need to check to make sure. I'll take another look at my headlights tonight and report back if i find out for certain which they are. Hopefully I can just put some HIDs in there and call it a day but i'll do a little more research

 

If you have a base, then they're halogen. If not, they should be HID.

As far as figuring out the trim level - What year is it? Cloth or leather seats? VDC? TCS? Cruise control? Bose system? Brembo brakes? Wheels?

Of course, assuming that it's still 100% stock for those things. lol.

 

And/or: https://my350z.com/forum/vindecoder.php

 

Its an 03 Enthusiast

 

I'll take a picture of what it looks like tonight. Car was in the shop yesterday

 

If your vehicle has clouded lenses from age/sun-weathering there are lots of good kits to restore even badly damaged lenses with only a drill and the kit. I've used and recommend the one from 3M, it's about $25 to do both sides, and each lense takes about 30 minutes to correct. The results are stunning!

The only gotcha is if your car lives outside, you've now completely removed the anti-UV coating and they'll age in a year. The remedy is to wipe headlights with alcohol, mix 2/3 Marine Spar varnish with 1/3 mineral spirits and apply a thin coat with a sponge. Gl!

 

Here's what they look like. Sorry for giant photos. Coming right off my phone.

Beam is very erratic and does not project far. Pretty sure driver side high beam is out too.

 

Headlights look like they just need a level adjustment. Here's how.

Do this first part during the day with full ambient light so you can get a feel for where the adjuster is. (You'll see why when you attempt to do the adjustment in the dark, by candlelight. Laff...)

- To see the adjuster, open hood and sight straight down towards the ground along the upper-side edge (towards engine side) of the light housing, a couple inches down from the top edge of the light (where it meets fender).

- You'll see the adjuster, it looks like a pinion gear in a tiny housing with a cross head on it for a very long, skinny screwdriver to adjust. (I think I used a 15" or so #2 Phillips) Test yourself with the screwdriver to get a feel for it.

Now, when it's darker (dusk is ideal)

- Measure the height to the center of your headlight projector (HID or if halogen, in line with low beam bulb); that's your baseline. As I recall, my car was at exactly 25" but YMMV will vary depending on year, lowered or not, etc. Unique to each car.

- Find a flat vertical surface (like a wall or garage door) and park your car directly facing it - as close as you can get to "exactly " 25' away. (I actually use a tape measure to get as accurate as possible. Neighbors thought I was nuts. But hey, I'm the guy who has black paint hash marks on the ground so I know exactly how close I can park to my garage door so I can still open it. Haha.)

- Put a chalk mark (or masking tape) on the wall or door at the same height as the headlight projector - the measurement above.

- Turn on lights. Put a towel over the light you are not adjusting. (Optional but it's my recommended hack, see below)

- Get in car, note where the horizontal beam cutoff is on the wall.

- Using a flashlight and the screwdriver, turn the adjuster in the direction that moves the beam upwards until the HORIZONTAL beam cutoff hits the chalk mark; then LOWER the cutoff to 3" below the chalk/tape mark. Any higher, you run the risk of being that jerk who blinds oncoming traffic. Remember to check the level with each adjustment WHILE IN THE CAR as driver weight plays into the final adjustment.

- Repeat for other headlamp. (Switch towel to other side you just adjusted.)

- Remove the towel and check that the cutoffs for each light is at the same height. OK, now that you've done the towel thing, know that you CAN adjust without covering the lamps but doing so keeps you honest.

Done.

 

Those lenses don't look too bad. You could make them crystal clear with a headlight polishing kit like the 3M mentioned above or with a series of higher grit sanding discs to wet sand them. In reality, I think the poor quality of your lights is due to improper aiming/adjustment. MicVelo posted the proper procedure above. Here you go if you're a visual learner:

 

I appreciate the detailed instructions. I was not aware you could adjust things like this but now that you explain it, it does make sense that that would be an option. I will give this a shot and hopefully I can get my lights to project more evenly. If i am able to take care of that, but light is still dull and yellow i will move on to restoring headlights/possible getting new HIDs.

Thanks for your help with this!

 

Thanks for this! I was going to look this up but you beat me too it! I assume this diagram comes from the FSM? Is there a PDF i could download of the whole thing? Stuff like this is going to be very useful to me

 

Yep - straight from the FSM. They're all available on another site even though they were briefly taken down for a little bit: https://www.nicoclub.com/nissan-service-manuals#350z

 

Well, how about that, coulda posted a pic! Laff! Never looked on FSM for that. I got my procedure from a fellow member here who did a great write-up but apparently he's taken down the site where it was located so just did from memory/exp. Cool, pics tell a story.