Questions and Answers

300-ZX Issues Q. Hello, I have a 1985 300-ZX, V-6, manual, high milage, fuel injected, no ABS, A/C, cruise (busted), with rack and pinion steering. I have a couple questions. Answers or suggestions for one or all would be greatly appreciated.

1) When the outside air temperature is low (below 40-50 degrees) the car runs really rough and basically won't produce enough power to actually move until the engine is up to full temperature. Is there anything that can be done about this?

2) Occasionally the car will stall while breaking to stops. This isn't a huge problem as it only happens at low speeds, is there anything that can be done about this?

3) Finally the climate control system no longer responds to the buttons on the dash (I have the analog dash without the automatic climate control system). I dismantled the control unit (the box that the buttons for the various air flows are in) and it seems fine. Is there a mechanical device that shifts which vents get the air, if so where is it, what's it called and can I replace it?

Thanks for your help, I am a college student at Ohio University and being as such have a limited budget so doing repairs myself is really important.

Brian

A. 1) This is probably a bad Coolant Temp Sensor. Easy and cheap to replace.

2) Take off the large air intake hose at the intake manifold and give the throttle chamber a real good cleaning with carburetor cleaner. That will probably fix this problem.

3) There is a vacuum line that goes from the intake manifold to a vacuum tank and from there to the inside of the car. Make sure this line is connected and not broken. If it is okay and you have vacuum to the control panel, then you have a bad control panel.

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