BACK TO MY NISSAN ROOTS

Post by **bertvorgon** » 31 Mar 2012 08:13

So, after seven months of driving, my spongy brakes are back again. I did some online research again this morning, but no one really knows...same Internet misinformation, or, most people blown off by Infinity. Very common complaint non the less.

I guess I will get them pressure bled again, see if it is an air issue again...I'm going to pull a pad and make sure there is no taper wear on it, just to eliminate that.

Still cruising at 27+ MPG, not bad for winter driving.

Waxed the car a few weeks ago, not impressed how the front has chipped, I would have thought the "special" paint was tougher than that. Chipped in some weird spots too, kinda like the magic Kennedy bullet.....

Other than that, no other issues, and this motor does not have the oil issue that others had...so far...

HudsonMC · Post by **HudsonMC** » 31 Mar 2012 09:03

Yeah, that's another major complaint with these cars: the weak paint. I suppose it's pretty susceptible to rock chips.

Post by **bertvorgon** » 31 Mar 2012 13:35

I just find it weird that there can be so many things that are kinda not right ...like the paint.

My Honda Odyssey van's front bumper, 2004, has taken some major hits, and is almost perfect.

Have you adjusted your headlights? Mine are a tad low, and I"m going to get in there and crank them up some. I've got the Zenon ones, they have a nice bright white light, and very distinctive cutoff, so I think there must be an adjustment screw in there somewhere.

I'm going to change the trans and diff oils coming up here, I suspect they have not been done since new.

Post by **duke** » 31 Mar 2012 18:34

Keith, you might consider covering the bumper and similar areas in clear protective film. My friend had a G35 and he did this to it. Never had any problems with chipped paint after that, even after countless track days and auto-x's.

Post by **bertvorgon** » 31 Mar 2012 19:23

Yah, thanks Duke, I did think of that. The factory put some on the back wheel arches. We have used it on the race cars, and I use it on my mountain bike in a few spots.

At least you can't see the chips in the picture, and I have some tough up paint that is perfect colour match. A little dab here, a little dab there.

HudsonMC · Post by **HudsonMC** » 31 May 2012 12:48

Sucks that your brakes are getting spongy. I did a little research, and looks like the 350z has a slightly larger diameter master cylinder maybe? 1" vs 1-1/16". May be worth trying one out to see if it stiffens up the pedal any.

Post by **bertvorgon** » 31 May 2012 13:11

Thanks, I willkeep that in mind.

The issue IS pad knock back, no doubt! For some reason,of which I am about to go into a full forensic attack on the problem, is that the pads are being pulled back in eccess to the caliper. What is causing this...?

1) rotor runout.....
2) taper wear....
3) seals in calipers bagged, or.....
4) worn pads to the point that Infinity's caliper is loose on the sliders...

any or all of the above.....

Post by **S15DET** » 31 May 2012 13:43

Be sure to check out the shape (cross-section) of the piston seals. I believe there's a design that causes the pads to pull back (eliminate drag for hypermilers) and another design that doesn't. It might be an add for a "newest generation" caliper that saw that mentioned.

TUF510 · Post by **TUF510** » 31 May 2012 14:26

Not sure of the design on that particular car,
I would check the amount of wheel bearing play

Post by **bertvorgon** » 01 Jun 2012 05:15

Yes, I know about the seals, thanks for that! There is a difference between square and round...I know I made sure I had the good ones on my Brakeman calipers on my 510, to minimize pad pull back..

The wheel bearing play was the obvious one first, but, this car does not use taper bearings, it uses two roller bearings in a hub assembly. These cars where known to have some front wheel bearing issues, but, in terms of giving the wheel a rock, to see if it moves, like we do on our 510 hubs...it does NOT move one bit. I do have a funny low speed rumble, which I am not sure if it is tires, or...wheel bearings. I did see a link on the G35 site that ROCK AUTO carries a nice assembly, with SKF bearings in it, for about 120 a side. I may embark on a total replace deal, as I hate the brake feel at the moment, very hard to heel and toe consistently.

The brakes on this car are GREAT, hauls it down in serious fashion, just need to figure what is going on.

.

Post by **bertvorgon** » 21 Jul 2012 10:28

I finally got my gas pedal modified for heel and toeing. Now, I will get onto the brake pedal issue.

One funny thing as I was doing this on Thursday. I parked on the back ramp of Specialty, which has the air field right behind that. I left my door open, so the sun would light the floor area. I also had left my sunroof open. As I was walking into the shop to do a bend on the piece of aluminum, I heard the big radial engine of the Beaver aircraft come in for a landing. As I put the piece into the vise...it hit me that he's taxing BACK to his parking spot...right by Andy's. I start running to the car...just as he swings the tail pointing to my car.....the prop wash is HUGE...sending one of those dust and grass clouds boiling towards my open car....I could see the face of EVIL in the cloud, like in the movies....grinning

as it filled my car.......Holy CrudMucker......choke, cough, gasp......I did not make it.......

Friday morning I vacuumed my car......

Post by **two_68_510s** » 21 Jul 2012 13:43

Not your typical form of parking hazard!!!

Is it like this beauty?

: beaver.jpg (106.18 KiB) Viewed 3418 times

Post by **bertvorgon** » 24 Jul 2012 04:41

Not as beautiful as that one......wow..someone loved their plane.

One of the "perks" now, being at the Air Park, is a small group of pilots now come for coffee at Andy's. They, like us, are enthusiasts for their sport, so, like to share when they can. Bob is one of those, who flies everyday the weather is good, so, as he says, he's going up anyhow, "Want to come for a ride?"

After doing the gas pedal, I got to go up for a flight, even getting to take the controls of the Jordel, and fly over to my house in White Rock. This plane is very easy to fly. We did a circuit over the development going on just East of me...NOW...I can really understand both why the traffic has gotten so bad, and, why it is going to get even worse. Talk about lack of planning for the roads ( my rant for the day), when you see it from the air, so much density going in, with the same goat trails that have been there, no change to the infrastructure.

We did some steep turns over the White Rock pier, then went over to Morgan Creek ( BIG, EXPENSIVE, SAME BOX, housing development ), then, back over the end of Boundry Bay. I could look down on HWY 99, and again, a two lane highway woefully too small for the traffic volume.

I wonder if traffic planners ever do a fly over, just to see what flows where, and how it all feeds together. They sure missed it in the lower mainland. I'm sure Bob would love to take them up. One of the biggest issues I saw was how SHORT the merge ramp is from 91 to 99. again, what in hell were the engineers thinking when they did this. They have lots of room, so that should not have been a concern. Get a large truck, or stupid driver on there.....which is why traffic comes to a standstill at times there, as it does at the other merg ramps.

Landing in the grass strip was sure bumpy, some good hidden dips in the grass. I really enjoyed that flight!