I've owned my 350ZX a little over 24 hours and am still smiling. It is a 2004 Touring Convertible (6 speed manual) with 58K miles. Window tint is the only mod I am aware of. My son and I flew out to Ft Worth Texas and drove her straight back to Griffin Georgia through the night. I am 6'1 and a broad shouldered 270 pounder and the 13 hour ride was surprisingly comfortable. I have had time to make a few observations and have already had some exposure to problems common to this model. Here is what I've found and could use some advice with.

-Tires: about an hour after hitting the road we got a blow out on the passenger rear tire. Thankfully it happened during the day and we found a Discount Tire nearby. They only had 2 tires the size I needed so I had both rear tires replaced with the Falkens they had in stock. This is when the Z owning tire expert let me in on the toe issues and I chalked it up to owning a performance car. Any thoughts on this?

-I wanted to get the oil changed and sat in the cue with the motor idling. The service manager called me out and said he could not do the service because the temp gauge was reading hot. It sure was. It is early in the troubleshooting stage but I think it is a fan problem. The car ran 14 plus hours and the only difference is the amount of air flow. I also recalled seeing the temp go up when the car was idling after the blow out. I turned the AC on fool blast and the drivers side fan runs really weak and almost looks like it has a bad motor bearing. I read some things about this in the Forums and see that Nissan is taking care of this for '03 and '04 Z's. Does anyone know the TSB (technical service bulletin) number?

-Manual Shifting: First seems to take a lot of free board of the clutch petal to engage, and kicks like a mule when it finally does! Finding 6th gear is pain!?? Could these be signs of a failing slave cylinder? Clutch?

-Key and Fobs: any suggestions on good third party vendors, my car only came with one of each

-SLIP light: came on a few times, mainly over bumpy surfaces when changing lanes at 70+mph. I will search the forums, just mentioned it in case some savvy user has any useful info.

-Replacement owners manual: None with my car, any suggestions on finding a replacement? Ebay??

Sorry for the long post, I just want to share my experience with the community.

Oh yeah..I'll post some pix as soon as I recover from the drive and have time to clean off all the bugs!

 

CongratZ on the purchase but it sounds like you're off to a shaky start.

Re. the tires and alignment problems, that applied only to the front tires. I haven't heard of any problems with the rear BUT the rears to tend to wear out faster. That was my experience.

Re. the overheating, there is an advisory on my '05 which may also apply to yours also. Apparently some radiator fan motors fail leading to overheating.

Enjoy the ride!

 

Blu, I got a really good deal on the Z so I am not to peaved yet! I own a Harley and have an old Ford truck I have turned over to someone to restore, so I guess I am a glutton for punishment!

 

You can download a copy of your owner's manual here.............

http://www.courtesyparts.com/owners-manuals.php

 

Thanks KornerCarver. I downloaded it. I didn't know it but my son downloaded it to his phone while we were driving last night..gotta love technology!

 

You should of made the dealer flip the bill for the key in order to finalize the deal there not cheap

 

welcome

 

Duro, I would have at a dealer but it was a private sale..kinda. I found out the car was about to go back to the bank and the lady who was losing it asked what they would take to get it off their books, I worked with the bank to take it off their hands. Kinda like a "short sale" I guess. So it was an as is deal and I bought the car sight unseen.. the owner losing the car was a sister of my friend..I know TMI!

 

350ZX??? Must be new one.

I always had a little bit of an issue with 6th also. Oftentimes felt like driving a tractor trying to get in the gate.

If your slip light was coming on before you had the tires replaced, it very possible that they were slipping. Did you happen to measure the tread depth before you replace them? I had one set go to about 3/32 and they would break loose very easily.

 

https://my350z.com/forum/accessories...ob-remote.html

 

EBAY item 120545743260 Nissan 350z 2004 Repair Service Workshop Manual +++

 

Hey Tree, no the light came on a few times after I had the new tires put on. I was moving along pretty good and changing lanes at the same time. I don't know if you have ever been there, but the roads in Louisiana are in pretty sad shape. I am chalking it up to that. If it continues I'll dig deeper.

Dan thanks for the heads up on the parts. I'm holding of on ordering anything till I get back from work. I leave the country Tuesday and won't be back for 6 weeks.

Sorry, I guess I'm showing my age throwing the X on the end of the 350Z!

 

If you're driving on real bumpy roads, the slip light will go off. Since you're going airborne for a split second, it thinks you're slipping. Which, in theory, that is what is happening.

I'll let the "X" slide. At least you didn't add "2+2" at the end.

 

I had new tires put on this past summer and took them out to break them in. Early in the process the light came on a couple times. The more I drove, obviously, the more the tires broke in. It hasn't happened since.

 

yeah 6th gear is a pain to find at first (it was for me for the first week of owning the car). now it seems like second nature. you'll get used to it in no time

 

yeah i got a 07 z not too long ago
man big difference from civic lol

15 - 1st 01 honda civic lx 4dr
17 - 2nd 07 nissan 350z coupe black 6-speed

 

Welcome to the Z family and Congrats!


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