350Z Blog

Anyone need a shop manual for the 2003 350Z? Click here to download it! Note that this sucker is huge - 44 Megabytes, so you better have broadband or a lot of spare time on your hands.

You need WinRAR to uncompress the file. Inside you will find manuals in PDF format for every part of a Z. Includes schematics, maintenance procedures, everything you could think of for maintaining your Z. Includes wiring diagrams useful for swapping out the head unit.

Enjoy!

Welcome to prospectjuvio, our latest member!

I am up to 75,000 some odd miles on my 2003 Track. I have been tearing up the I5 and 101 here in central Washington State, commuting back and forth to work. Doing my best to keep the Washington State Patrol on their toes.

Emma (my Z) has braved some 6″ deep snow, torrential rains and some generally sh*ty weather for the last couple months without a hitch. I sure wish I could wash and wax her and have the shine last more than a couple hours.

I was really surprised at Emma’s performance in the snow - I had heard dire warnings about traction issues with 350Zs on snow. During the last snow storm I didn’t have any problems getting to work (~20 miles) until the last couple hundred feet. The snow in the parking lot at work was deeper than the snow on the road. It was kinda fun drifting around in the snow and ice in the lot. I got to do a little Autocross in the lot before sliding into my parking space. I don’t know how fun it would be if the snow got any deeper, but it _was_ drivable.

I am really looking forward to the spring when I can take Emma out on some road trips with the wife. I love to pick a random destination on the Z’s Nav system and go for a picnick lunch a couple hundred miles out. But will it EVER stop raining here in Olympia?!!! Its been raining for 2 months straight!!!!

Kevin

Thanks for posting!

Compared to your Z, mine is pretty stock.

I have a silverstone 2003 Track with the GPS Nav system. I bought all the options.

I replaced the stock Brigdestones with Michelin Pilot Sports, which I am very happy with. No feathering in 5-10K and the tread is holding up far better than the stock tires. I did get a nail in one a couple weeks ago. There went $250 bucks up in smoke - forgot to get the road hazard warranty

I replaced the stock Nissan brake pads with Hawk HPS Street pads. Far less dusting than the stock ones. These were really scary for the first few days of break-in. Whoa Nelliebelle! Once broken in they stop as good as the stocks, according to my butt dyno. They do squeek a bit when cold.

I have a Passport 8500 radar detector I had professionaly installed. The power cable is routed through my defroster outlet and its wired into my 12V system, so the cable is all tucked out of sight. The detector still uses window suction cups, but it is out of my sightline and not too obnoxious. The silver Passport matches the car and interior nicely.

I replaced the stock non-Bose head unit and rear speakers with an Alpine CDA-9847 and a pair of Pioneer 3-way speakers. I also added an integrated (no ^&@*$# FM or cassette tape adapter) Sirius satellite receiver that connects directly to the Alpine. The system sounds awesome, even without a power amp or sub-woofer. If you crank the Alpine, you can watch the hatch window vibrate in the rear view mirror. The little hocky-puck antenna is mounted just aft of the hatch hinge. The Sirius audio is CD-quality.

I got the Alpine, since its built-in CD player handles MP3 and WMA CDs directly and has one of the few CD changers that also plays MP3/WMA disks. Most of the other changers I looked at only play standard music CDs (WAV). I have yet to buy the changer, but I do have space for it in my big glove box. The Alpine shows the title/artist name on the headunit display when playing MP3/WMA disks. It turns out I don’t listen to CDs much anymore, since I listen to Sirius almost all the time so I may hold off on the changer.

Replacing the Z’s head unit wiped out the Nav system audio (”turn left at the end of the road”). It used to mute any music playing on the stereo, say its thing and return to playing music. I am in the process of adding a Motorola amplified speaker that plays the nav audio from under the seat. There is no good way to mix in the Nav audio with the music inputs, so a separate amplified speaker is the only way to go. The Alpine has a mute signal input, so I should be able to kill the music while the Nav is talking.

I tracked down the manufacturer of the Nav system map DVDs and bought the latest update from them directly. I think it is cheaper than buying it through the dealer. There have been a lot of new streets added since the stock 2003 nav disk came out. I don’t “run off the end of the world” so much in rural areas as I did with the old map disk.

Last, I got pulled over by the cops for no front license plate, so I had an aftermarket bracket installed that fits in the cooling air intake. Looks a lot better than the stock plastic POC plate holder.

I hooked the push-to-talk button of my cellphone walky talky (I got Nextel) to my gear shift. Makes it easy to talk to the wife while shifting the 6-speed manual - also got the hands-free microphone and speaker.

I’ve had my Z since May 2003. I have about 70,000 miles on it so far. My longest road trip so far was the 1200 mile trip up to Washington State, from Southern California a couple months ago. I am working up there on a long term consulting gig and didn’t want to use a rental car.

The Washington State Patrol has turned I5 into the worlds longest speed trap. Its 60 MPH there from way south of Olympia to Seattle. People all drive 58 in the fast lane, and the cops will bust ya for doing 62. There are slightly fewer radar threats than pre-war Baghdad. The cops even drive unmarked pickup trucks, SUVs, Volvos and other non-standard cars to pop you for speeding. Its un-^%@#$ believable. Its a big shock coming from California where *everyone* is doing at least 75 MPH in the fast lane, and when it opens up on other fast roads, its more like 85.

I still get to blow the carbon out from time to time when my Passport finally goes silent and there is nobody in my rear view mirror

Things I’d like to add:

Stillen Supercharger

LED turn indicators around the side Z emblems - I think the ones from BMWs fit.

Nismo street-tune exhaust, or maybe something a little louder. Screwing with the exhaust system forward of the cat converters is verboten in California. Don’t know about Washington if I ever move up there.

How is your Z holding up maintenance-wise? I have had a *lot* of work done on mine - thank God for the extended warranty!.

Kevin

Welcome to my 350Z site. Please post comments about Nissan Z cars here.

Kevin