Ekona

Will do bud. Car's booked in at Nissan in Bishop's Stortford on the 7th of next month (!) so we'll see what they say then as well if I haven't had any luck sorting this. Hopefully they'll be replacing my bubbling alloys as well while it's there

Haven't tried swapping the wheels over, as trouble is I'd need to swap the tyres too as they're uni-directional, but that's a good idea. We measured all points underneath the car on both subframes and the chassis on both sides of the car and they're all within 2mm of each other. Top mounts are fine, and no knocking when going over bumps. Tyre pressures are also spot on (nitrogen filled too). Matt, thanks for the offer, I may well take you up on that!

Guys, I'm really stuck here and I'm hoping someone will have some ideas as this is now getting daft... Please bear with me, will probably be a long post! To put it simply, if you release the steering wheel when driving in a straight line the car starts drifting left, and also to get the car to go straight you have to hold the steering wheel slightly to the right. Everything points to a lack of alignment somewhere along the line, but having spent 7 hours at DMS yesterday we're 99.9% sure it's definitely not. Here's the basic story: I've had at least 8 alignments now and no matter what we do, the car always drifts left. I've had a normal OEM setup, a fast road setup, an aggressive setup, an even a setup that should have the car pulling so far to the right it's untrue, and still no success. Nothing makes any difference! I've got some Cusco adjustable a-arms on the front and Eibach arms at the rear to give total control over the camber of the car, so it's not like it's the stock setup leaving no room for adjustment. Last time I knocked my perfect alignment (and it was perfect, so it's not just the car) out it happened as I ground the car ever so briefly but fairly heavily on a country road, but there's no damage underneath (few scrapes on the bracing, but nothing too bad over and above what you'd normally get). We've checked: Front top and bottom control arms Rear control arms ARBS Shocks Springs Warping of the chassis/subframes Toe adjusters In short, everything it could be. The only we haven't taken apart is the steering rack: Given that mine's a speed-sensitive setup on the MY06, is it possible that something there is damaged? Maybe in the gearing when the rack connects at the bottom? I dunno, I'm grasping at straws here. Any help/ideas would be much appreciated, even if it's stating the obvious that we might have missed.

I... I'm almost lost for words. Best get some new friends, preferably ones with half a brain so that they may realise that even starting the engine with no filtration on at all is not exactly a great idea, much less blipping the throttle like it! I agree, probably hasn't done any damage at all, but it only takes one little bit of dirt to get through to completely screw up an engine.

Most important question is who's doing the tuning? I have no problems with that price at all (and I'm staying N/A), but if I'm paying that sort of cash I want it to be with someone with a proven background. Also, which Haltech are we talking about here?

Too late, already did that trying to install a replacement gaitor for the gearstick

Bugger, I'm changing to an Alpine unit! Ah well, I'll just order up one of those boosters and fit that at the same time. Cheers for that Matt, much appreciated. *EDIT* Ah, will need an aerial adaptor too, more good info!

I wouldn't. They're completely different tyres with completely different treads, and mixing tyres is really not worth the savings as they're the only thing keeping you in contact with the road. PS2s are easy to come by seeing as how they don't make the PS1 any more.

Given the amount of time/miles that have passed before it came back on, it's got to be something related to the exhaust that needed a few cycles before it tripped again.

Don't think he's been charged yet Rich. Shame to hear that Jerry, but will be interesting to know what the issue is.

Out of curiosity (and the fact I'm changing my Bose out in the next few weeks), is there any particular make of head unit that only gives half volume when connected to the Bose amp + speakers? Or is it really down to the individual specs of each particular head unit?

One man's anti-social is another man's OMFG THAT'S AWESOME!!!11

More power, I'm guessing. E85 is a very high-octane fuel. If the Haltech gives you the option of switching between maps on the fly then go for it, but given the scarcity of E85 you'd have to have a decent petrol map to go along with it.

If it doesn't come back then I'd call that a decent result, and reckon the code was probably some random fluke. Glad it's sorted matey

Great news Adam, thanks for the update!

Yeah, basically what he said. I'm wondering if there might be an issue with the valves somewhere along the line, but I have precious little knowledge of the detailed working of the DE engine so don't even know exactly how it does the EGR. As far as the car goes, I can't see it doing any harm at all driving round like that, but it might be masking another issue that could prove problematic further down the line. Be interesting to know if the code comes back after it's been cleared.

Here probably

But what was the code? I'm assuming it's exhaust related and that's why he started doing the emissions tests, but without knowing the code you're still kinda very much in the dark.

Personally I'd find a local reputable tuner and ask them what system they personally prefer using. It may be that the Haltech Platinum is a far more capable piece of kit than the EMB (actually, it is!) but if the tuner doesn't like it/hasn't got the equipment to access it, then it's pointless fitting one. If you know someone good who's familiar with the EM range, then I'd be tempted to stick with that. The only question mark I would have is whether there's a loom available for the EM for the Zed, as you don't really want top be hacking into the stock ECU loom unless it's a last resort.

It'll give just as good gains, it's all tuner-dependant. Some are better than others, and if you can find a good one then you're laughing. All you're doing basically is balancing the AFR with the timing to produce the most power with the least knock, so it's quite possible to map a car yourself if you're confident to give it a go. I can happily play with maps to get to smooth them out a bit, but I could never map a car from nothing.

+1, I vastly prefer it to the older orange.

Not on the Zed, but I've used an EMB on previous cars with success. I quite like 'em, even if the tuning software is somewhat clunky and you have to have a really good match between the EMB firmware and the support tool else it won't read the maps. Hardware-wise I've had no issues with it at all, and there's certainly enough there to do what you need it to do unless you're having a custom built engine or something (but then if you were, you'd go full standalone not piggyback). The EMU Ultimate is by far the better option now though given the extra features, and it's certainly something I'd be considering were I in a position to do so. I think most people with a Zed tend to run either a Haltech or a UTech as their choice of programmable widgets, I have no personal experience of these on the 350 though.

They should just ban singers from that show full stop. If you want to sing then go on the X-Factor and let us all mock you, and if you can't but can juggle a bit then you go on BGT and we'll mock you there instead.

They might have fitted them then, but unless they've only been on less than, say, three months, they could well argue that something came loose or has now broken and needs fixing etc. Probably won't if they fitted them in the first place, but they could. In all honesty, you'd be better off getting a code reader off eBay (or even the RAC one out of the Argos catalogue) and reading the code yourself, letting someone on here diagnose it for you and then sort the problem yourself. At least you'd then start having an idea about your car and how to fix simple things without incurring the expense of a garage, if at all possible. We all gotta start somewhere matey, no harm in giving it a try yourself and then asking for help at all