'86 na 300zx - clutch, oil lite, rpms...

skadet · Nov 22nd, 2004, 12:20 AM

Hi all, I'm new here, so an extra thanks for reading & replying.

My girlfriend recently purchased a 1986, na 300zx in good condition for $800 (!). Well, there are a couple of problems that I noticed and would appreciate your collective help in diagnosing.

First, the engine sporatically acts up. For example, while idling in a drive-through, the idle RPMs drop and flutter between 500 and 1200; applying throttle makes the engine sputter then rev normally. I would say the idle needs adjusting or i should check the plugs (how the hell do you get to them?), except this only happens on occasion.

In addition, when this fluttering happens, the oil dummy light (and only that light) comes on and flickers as if the oil is *just* hitting the sensor. Oil pressure, on the other hand, remains unchanged. Once the engine revvs normally again, the light goes off. Other than this, the engine and related components (a/c, alternator, etc) seem to work just fine.

The other major problem seems to be clutch slippage. From a standstill, the car lurches again and again, if that makes sense. It seems to be quite difficult to keep the engine engaged to the transmission with linear acceleration from 0mph. Once the vehicle is at speed this isn't a problem, and it actually seems to pass the "floor it at 15mph in 3rd gear" test. If this problem makes sense to you, I'd love to hear your input.

Once again, thanks for the help. I come from a Volvo-driving family, and I sell Chevys for a living, yet I was pleasantly surprised by this really inexpensive and fun-to-drive find!

Zen31ZR · Nov 22nd, 2004, 02:34 AM

Welcome to the world of Z31s.

It's a good car and if you take good care of it it will take good care of you.

As far as your problems go, as with any recent used car purchase I would say do a tune-up. Plugs and wires, cap and rotor, air filter, change your oil and coolant also. If you have the time and the capabilities tool and expertise wise, pull the MAF and clean it with electric component spray. They are all supposed to be self cleaning, but in real world situations that is not always the case. Not to mention the cleaning circuit may have gone bad or is weak, it doesn't affect regular MAF performance and so may not show up in a diagnostic. You may also wish to pull out the ECU and run a diagnostic, something may show up. There's a reference sticky at the top of this page for pulling and decyphering diag codes. Get a Haynes or preferably a factory manual. Easy enough to get, there's an FSM sticky at the top of this page as well.

Off the top of my head I would say a few things are probably out of adjustment, like the TPS ,and some things may need to be replaced. Getting to the plugs is a bit harder than other cars, but not impossible, I pulled all mine in 20 minutes. You will need to remove a couple things, actually one thing, to get to the ones on the driver side.