I'm going to look at a 86 300zx NA today and was wondering what to look at or for? It's a 5spd t-tops car any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

The most important thing that I look for in a new Z is the rust. The most common place for rust is under the trunk/hatch. Thats the first thing I look for. Ask the owner about the timing belt, as this is an interference motor. Don't let the current owner warm it up before you get there, as a cold start can tell you a lot about the condition of the engine. But thats all I can think of right now besides the normal stuff, like checking the oil and other fluids.
How much is he asking for it?

Good luck and welcome to ZDriver!

 

If the t-tops leak, overheats, if dash all works if gll model, if the a/c blows hot air under throttle, electrical problems, if it has trouble shifting gears, if the hatch stays up when u open it, and that I can think of right now.

 

Well, I went and looked at it. Its rust free, t-tops don't leak, but it wouldn't start while I was there. He said that it has always been reliable, so I made him an offer even though I couldn't here it run. If I get it and can't get it running I'll make my money + some if I part it. So hopefully he'll accept my offer, he's been trying to sell it for awhile.

 

Update.

Well I got the car. I've been trying to diagnose the no start.

It has spark, and the fuel pump primes the system. I tore the front of the engine down to check the timing * the timing service was done less than 40k miles ago at a Nissan service center * it is in time.

So I brought a noid tester home from work, and its not getting a signal to the injectors. So what do you think is the culprit The distributor * cas * or the Ecu?

 

If I recall correctly, the cas is only used for the spark and the injectors are run from the ecu itself. There should be a testing procedure in the fsm for the injectors and the wiring/ecu. That's where I would start.

 

Ok guys sorry to bother again. I just want a second opinion before I buy a ecu.

The car cranks, has spark, fuel pump primes.

Has voltage to the injectors.

Has no noid signal to the injectors.

Wiring from the cas to the ecu checks out ok as per this write up http://www.xenonzcar.com/z31/SENSORS/cas.html

I figure it has to be the ecu. But please correct me if you feel I have overlooked something.