Strange Drivetrain Vibration

  • #1

    Strange Drivetrain Vibration

    Over the weekend, I changed out the subframe bushings on my beater Z. Just the standard drop the rear subframe and replace the bushings. There were no complications. On my way to work this morning, I noticed the car has developed a coarse drivetrain vibration. It only occurs in gears 3rd and above and only when accelerating. I'm stumped at this point. Any ideas?

    1985 Nissan 300ZX 2+2- My first Z, back in the family
    1987 Nissan 300ZX Turbo RIP 4/87 - 4/28/2011
    Under Construction: 1986 Nissan 300ZX NA2T Slicktop
    Originally posted by Tempestas
    Well, one of the t-tops wasn't latched real well… God only knows where that t-top flew off to at 150+ mph. Didn't scratch the car or anything, just a boom and it was gone. I sure as hell didn't stop to see where it went. I didn't see any stories on the news… so that's a plus.
  • #2
    Maybe it was there all along and couldn't tell on the old bushings. :-?

    1986 300ZX Turbo…sold
    1990 Skyline GT-R…new money pit
    2014 Juke Nismo RS 6-speed…daily
  • #3
    mark the drive shaft? or cv's for that matter?
    Hmmm, Whats next?
    Full Size Bronco, smashing shit.

    84ZXT
  • #4
    Well its all gone from bad to worse. I got new CV's for the car but one of them WILL NOT clip into the diff. What a massive pain in the ass!

    1985 Nissan 300ZX 2+2- My first Z, back in the family
    1987 Nissan 300ZX Turbo RIP 4/87 - 4/28/2011
    Under Construction: 1986 Nissan 300ZX NA2T Slicktop
    Originally posted by Tempestas
    Well, one of the t-tops wasn't latched real well… God only knows where that t-top flew off to at 150+ mph. Didn't scratch the car or anything, just a boom and it was gone. I sure as hell didn't stop to see where it went. I didn't see any stories on the news… so that's a plus.
  • #5
    Is the c-clip on the end of the axle missing or damaged?

    I had a cv axle on my 91 SE-R that had a too small diameter c-clip and the axle popped out of the trans 2 miles from the house. Luckily I had LSD to get me back to the house to put the old busted one back in.

    1986 300ZX Turbo…sold
    1990 Skyline GT-R…new money pit
    2014 Juke Nismo RS 6-speed…daily
  • #6
    NissanEgg wrote: Is the c-clip on the end of the axle missing or damaged?

    I had a cv axle on my 91 SE-R that had a too small diameter c-clip and the axle popped out of the trans 2 miles from the house. Luckily I had LSD to get me back to the house to put the old busted one back in.
    OT: :? Reminds me of when I broke an axle on my maxima, and makes me sad…because I had no LSD and it stopped going Wheel Hop FTL
    - VG30DET (HE341) 86 300ZX - 1982 280ZX Turbo - Headered NA 1986 300ZX 2+2 - 2000 Xterra -
  • #7
    when you lowered your control arms at an angle to remove the rear springs, did you over-extend the half-shaft at an extreme angle?

    I've learned that the best way to go about dropping the subframe or letting the control arm droop down far is to pop the inner half-shaft tension by prying on the diff where the half-shaft goes into the diff. This will break it's bond free and allow it to slide out sufficiently enough to do the rest of the work.

    You may have over-extended the angle at which it can operate and it may have popped something loose inside. even @ 20 years old, the boot will not rip but you can do considerable damage doing so.
  • #8
    I'm going to have it towed to a friends house to check out tomorrow. Will update after we take a look.

    1985 Nissan 300ZX 2+2- My first Z, back in the family
    1987 Nissan 300ZX Turbo RIP 4/87 - 4/28/2011
    Under Construction: 1986 Nissan 300ZX NA2T Slicktop
    Originally posted by Tempestas
    Well, one of the t-tops wasn't latched real well… God only knows where that t-top flew off to at 150+ mph. Didn't scratch the car or anything, just a boom and it was gone. I sure as hell didn't stop to see where it went. I didn't see any stories on the news… so that's a plus.