Dal123

I had this in my old 350Z; 2015 model. I bought an M2 & have been living with it for approx 1.5 years, but haven't been happy with it & am considering a 370Z but am looking into the oil consumption issue. Which is why I'm here & seeing your thread it seems like there's still issues with oil consumption. What year is your car; I just read an forum post suggesting that prior 2011 models have issues; suggesting that it may be fixed on latter models; but given the amount of posts I have seen, it suggests that the issue is not resolved. Looking forward to user's comments.

I see, thanks guys. There's a lot of contradictory information out there on the headlights.

I feel your pain. I have this same issue. I didn't burn a drop until around 50,000. Then at 60,000 I had a full engine rebuild from Regal Engines in Purfleet. They quoted me 10 days and £4k (which I paid immediately) and it took them 3 months. Mate the excuses I heard was ridiculous, he had a cold for the first week or two. Then he didn't have a ramp (I scheduled the car in with 2 weeks notice), it was ridiculous. However I must say the quality of the rebuild was good. It leaked oil from the rocker cover initially which really worried me, however it's done 50,000 miles so far so the build quality has been good. I wouldn't use them again as I spent fortunes on hiring car's. Speaking with other garage's they said it was most likely they sourced another engine from Japan and were delaying me so I didn't get suspicious as once it was in it's very awkward to check the engine #. Yes it still does burn oil. I've tried replacing the positive crankshaft (PCV) valve, valve cover (rocker cover) gaskets most recently. I'll update you on this as I can't say whether or not it's worked yet though I'm dubious on this. It really annoys me having to top up oil on it also, it's quite impractical if you're doing a lot of miles as I live on a hill so I need to top up oil at the gym when the car's on flat ground, and I always ending up ruining my Ralph's.

Thanks guys, well I was hesitant to go for aftermarket headlights, and now I'm definitely not going to. I'll have to keep an eye out for some decent second hand ones (again) on eBay. Ekona I'm not sure bud, on the tachometer it approaches the redline at 6,500 rpms and stops counting at 8,000. I've never been in another 350Z so I'm unable to say whether it's the nice interior or not. It doesn't have the slidey tray to reach the cubby behind the handbrake like in the 06 models I've seen in the showroom. Thanks again for your input chaps.

Does anyone know of a UK supplier for road legal Xenon headlights? I want new electrics really as I saw the innards of my headlights the other week and I'm amazed the PCB's still working. Looking around it seems Spyder are market leaders for the 350Z. I'm very happy with my stock lights however they're a bit water damaged, on their last legs and I'm starting to do my research to see what's available. I would buy stock again but £1k each is a bit too much to justify on a £4k car. There seems to be a common misconception (from what I've read online) is that 2006 is the model which has HID Xenons. However my model is a 2005 & it's always had HID lights. Probably something to do with October 2005 or something as the workshop manual provides a separate manual for October 2005 onward so I think that's got something to do with it. Has anyone else noticed this or do I have the only stock Z with HIDs on a 2005 model? EDIT: I'd prefer HIDs as I have a 2 lots of full sets of HID bulbs; around £200ish that I'd like to make use of and not waste.

1 - My first move would be to change the steering fluid. Obviously if it's too low that's likely the problem, but failing that a change would be my next step; 2 - Yeah I think you're right, compression arm bushing would be first go to also. Saying that I'm getting a gentle knock on my front left at the moment too. EDIT - Just read another thread and ball joints can cause this also, which would likely be what I'm experiencing as I've just replaced all the bushings at the front; 3 - No idea. Thinking aloud - and it's most likely not all this as it's very unrelated but it's the only thing I can think that's kind of near'ish the pedals. Steering rack a tiny bit loose, but I probably wouldn't even bother checking this is a it's such a silly suggestion. I'm pretty much the worst mechanic out there so take it with a pinch of salt.

I'm about to replace my rocker cover gaskets, but whilst I have it all open it may be handy to have spark plug valve cover seals to hand in case they need replacing. I'm hoping they don't as the engine was fully rebuilt 40,000 miles ago. If there's a seller in the UK that sells the repair set it may be worth purchasing the repair kit, just in case it needs doing. I'm not talking about replacing the whole units. I'm talking about the kits you see which are popular in America https://my350z.com/forum/engine/590060-r-and-d-factory-valve-cover-gasket-kit-is-back.html. I've never repaired a rocker cover gasket before but I hear they're not too bad, so it may be excessive to have these on hand if they don't need replacement if it's only an hour or so to remove the gasket?

No, the studs are not the same length. Most likely you're selling the shorter ball joints then like other sellers. They're NOT the same length as the OEM, just that bit too shy. The thread length of the cheaper ball joints are 78mm, the length of the OEM ball joints is 85mm. After trying 3 different suppliers I know everything about the front ball joints now lol. "The protrusion is controlled by the thickness of the stud", yes that is a factor as you say she slips into the cone, however given that non OEM suppliers are mostly 14mm this would cause the stud to go even further as it's a smaller width, thus not being hindered by the cone, enabling it to go further. OEMs are thicker & longer; by around 5 - 8 mm ish, difficult to measure as it's needs to be perfectly perpendicular from the base to get an accurate measurement. Spend £400 on a knuckle from Nissan and you'll see what I mean. EDIT: Picture attached.

Sorry bc1987, you're completely right, I don't think you need to worry in that case, I overlooked that major important part. ZMANALEX, yeah they're 16mm diameter, all the one's I received from others were 14mm, though this wasn't the issue, yes a 16mm would've been better to spread the load with the flange nut. However a washer with the 14mm and the castle nut's that were provided wouldn't have worried me as I'm only plodding around at the speed limit nowadays. The problem was the length of the stud, the 14mm's simply weren't long enough, from any supplier. Though it seems you're the only person I've come across that offers the 16mm, man I wish I posted here a few weeks ago. Hopefully this does help someone in the future.

I'm sorry bc1987, I'm not sure about the Hardrace, I did enquire of the length of the studded thread and they sent me a diagram with lots of dimensions except the actual dimension I needed and requested lol. I just looked at the schematic diagram just now for you and going from scale it doesn't look good to me, they seem quite short but that's just my opinion. The hardrace ones are very expensive and that's what enticed me to enquire as if they're charging that money the quality must be justified. However mine is a 2005 Coupe model (looks like you're a 2006 Coupe) so you may be lucky. With all my searching though I found only one other person who experienced the issues I experienced so maybe the problem's me! 6824.pdf

What sizes are they? I've lost faith in all ball joint suppliers as I purchased several sets all claiming to be the correct size, but none of them were!

I'm having terrible trouble with my Energy bushings on the compression arm. Reading up on them there seems to be a mixed bag of reviews on the Energy compression arm bushing. Logically a single piece bushing would be much better as what seems to happen with the 2 part bushing is they separate due to the angle the compression arm operates at, combined with the fact they don't bolt up snug to the underside of the car naturally the 2 part bushing separates (can't believe they can sell them like this; they're not fit for purpose at all). I've reinstalled my compression arm bushing several times and no matter what it separates. Yes I've used plenty of grease, and bolted the cross brace up fully. Yes it feels much better when driving however I wouldn't recommend the Energy polyurethane bushings (or a 2 part bushing) for the compression arm (elsewhere I would but not the compression arm).

I had an absolute nightmare doing the ball joints. Firstly I purchased ball joints from ebay for the knuckle which holds the lower control arm. Getting the ball joints out was extremely awkward and took me massive amounts of time. I'd recommend a tool like bc1987 purchased. I had a 12 tonne press but the problem is the knuckle is an awkward shape and really you need to make a complex jig to hold the knuckle and press out the ball joint. So I ended up drilling it out, using a reciprocating saw and the like. It was an absolute pig! After all that I discovered the ball joints sold on ebay are too small. The thread was just 5 - 8mm too short to get a full nut in and the cotter pin through. https://www.dormanproducts.com/gsearch.aspx?year=2005&make=Nissan&model=350Z&origin=YMM&parttype=Ball%20Joint%20-%20Suspension Is the actual ball joint used by Nissan however I couldn't find anywhere in the UK that sells so I needed to purchase entire new knuckles as Nissan don't sell the ball joints individually (£800 cost). I think if I'd purchased a tool like bc1987 it would've been a lot better however 140,000 miles mine were extremely weathered so it was never going to be easy. Oh, I also tried using the press against the floor with the knuckle and ended up snapping the knuckle itself lol.

Well you were right Zma, I tried it a few times the next day and in the end I reluctantly removed the dust-boot and you were completely right. There was a metal ring-like collar which sat at the first 5-10 mm of the spline of the axle. I needed to be sure of the position and drive it back in. I'd say it must've been about 40-50 mm in the end. Wasn't that big of a deal to remove the dust-boot in the end. Thanks for the advice again.

Thanks ZMA, yeah it's tricky resetting it but you can feel when it's connected properly (off of the car anyway). I've had it disconnected from the diff when attempting it on the car as I think it's completely necessary or the angle would be off. I think I'll give it another try in-situ tomorrow; just a question of patience and lots of attempts I think.