OMG ZT-T - my first V6

[BorniteIdentity]

Update 2 - I discovered what I think I already knew, this car is not 'cool' in the 'real world'. Went to a gig the other night and ran into a friend, offered her and her two friends (all three female, early 20s) a lift home to save them a train journey. Walked from the gig venue to my car and on seeing it was greeted with "that's a dad car, mate" from one, and immediate agreement from the others...

 

I might be just into my 30s now but I'm not a dad and I'm certainly not old enough to be theirs...

 

They did all enjoy the novelty of a cassette deck and a broken television though.

 

I’ve always been a really good judge of character, but my shit old cars are better. Anyone who makes disparaging, judgemental remarks is honestly not someone you want in your life. The folks who think “He’s a bit different/thinks for himself/is confident to step outside the lines” are the ones to surround yourselves with.

 

That said, a bunch of lasses in my car? With my reputation? I’d have ignored my own advice too.

[Split_Pin]

"AND WHAT?" is always my reply to people who make stupid comments about me or my stuff.

[Aston Martin]

Update 2 - I discovered what I think I already knew, this car is not 'cool' in the 'real world'. Went to a gig the other night and ran into a friend, offered her and her two friends (all three female, early 20s) a lift home to save them a train journey. Walked from the gig venue to my car and on seeing it was greeted with "that's a dad car, mate" from one, and immediate agreement from the others...

 

I might be just into my 30s now but I'm not a dad and I'm certainly not old enough to be theirs...

 

They did all enjoy the novelty of a cassette deck and a broken television though.

 

 

 

That’s a train there love. You’re getting on it.

[oldcars]

I would have driven then to the train station and dropped them off

 

Getting the K seal out of the cooling system should be a joy, good luck.

[Dan_ZTT]

I haven't updated this in ages... key events have been as follows;

1. I got the belts and water pump done by mobile specialist, £600 including their travel, all good on that front.

 

2. A month or two later, a coolant hose sprung loose and the whole system emptied itself. In central London traffic. On a very hot day. Cue 'engine overheat' warning and immediate pulling over into side road. I suspect this loose hose was the issue all along and the waterpump replacement was unnecessary, but at least I got the belts done I guess. Anyway I couldn't wait for the RAC as I was on my way to play a gig with bandmates and instruments in the car, so I let it cool for 15 minutes, drove for 5, cooled for 15, drove 5 more and made it to a Halfords car park in Wandsworth. A new pipe and some jubilee clips were procured, along with antifreeze and water, and after a short while with some frustration and swearing, it was fixed. We opened for Teenage Bottlerocket at the New Cross Inn and got back to Redditch late that night without further issue. Here is a picture of me mid-fix (yes I know I shouldn't have been under it on just the jack, but no alternative);

 

3. Since then I've done local journeys a few times a week plus a couple of return trips to London and it's been fine, no overheating and no leaks. As mentioned elsewhere though the heater isn't getting hot any more so I do suspect an airlock due to me doing the hasty coolant flush and refill in a carpark. I will sort this out soon.

4. I used it for a tip run. There's plenty of space in the back and the load guard mounts cleverly on to the folded-down seats, definite success here.



5. Last week, the screenwash jets (front and back) stopped working. I did a bit of googling and it seems this is a common fault with the washer fluid tank basically gunging up and blocking a little plastic filter, supposedly easy fix. However, the previous owner had not long had the washer fluid tank replaced (I know because he gave me the old one as a spare) so I wasn't sure if it would actually be that or something else. Access is quite easy through the wheel arch so the other day I decided to take a look;

 

 

Couldn't see anything obvious so I decided to drain the tank to get to that little plastic filter at the bottom;



However to my sort-of-disappointment it was all shiny and clean. I was a bit stumped and was considering swapping the pump off the old tank to test it, when I suddenly noticed the wiring into the existing pump was only loosely attached. Gave it a little push and it very satisfyingly clicked into place, and suddenly all was working fine again. Washer fluid refilled and job done. It's nice to get a little win sometimes...

6. I don't know why I started numbering these. This is the last one. I noticed the horn doesn't work. It may never have done, I'm not a regular user of said device and I can't remember ever actually using it. Is this technically an MOT fail? I think it is, which is a pain. I can hear a relay clicking (I think) when I push the button, but that's as far as I've got in terms of investigation. Thoughts welcome...


In summary, I have grown to quite like this car. It's MOT expires mid-January so my plan is to get it booked in for a test mid-December, not far away now, and decide on the next step from there. If it passes or doesn't need much I'll treat it to a full service and new tyres. If anything unexpected shows up then I might have a rethink...


 

[clayts450]

Yup no horn no ticket.

[Split_Pin]

Good work there.

 

V6s are reportedly a bugger to bleed up after a coolant change, the 75 forum will have an answer.

[oldcars]

Nice clean looking ZT-T. They look well in silver. 

[Wack]

I had a ZT-T in 2005 , it was a year old 54 plate saloon , advertised at well under what it was worth by an old boy 15 miles away, went to have a look , it was black, with black wheels and all the windows blacked out, I thought if I start driving this around Manchester somebody is going to start shooting at me

 

Bought it

 

Than night I was driving it when the clutch pedal hit the floor, FFS, got the old boy on the phone, no mate never had a problem with it, yeah right

 

I limped it home and rang my mechanic who came and took it away, internet suggested master cylinder , steve thought slave cylinder which IIRC was inside the bell housing , turned out to be a leaky union somewhere, it'd been topped up to get rid

 

I think the old boy thought it was going to be a ££££ fix so got rid, turned out to be less that £100 inc recovery

 

I had it for 6 months and made money on it but mrs wack couldn't drive it , clutch was too heavy and she didn't like the visibility 

[dollywobbler]

That jack-only pic is scary. I would have at least put the spare under the raised wheel or something. There's no coming back if that much weight falls under gravity's spell.

[louiepj]

Your own post no. 37 states your nephew found the horn. Problem solved send nephew with car for mot.

[Dan_ZTT]

Your own post no. 37 states your nephew found the horn. Problem solved send nephew with car for mot.

 

 

He did! I'd forgotten about that, well spotted. At least I know it worked at some point, think I'll have to investigate the wiring this weekend.

[Dan_ZTT]

That jack-only pic is scary. I would have at least put the spare under the raised wheel or something. There's no coming back if that much weight falls under gravity's spell.

 

Quite right there. I was in such a mad rush to get it sorted that I didn't really think about it, but I wouldn't do it again.

[Dan_ZTT]

Nice clean looking ZT-T. They look well in silver. 

 

The photos flatter it to be honest, it looks a lot worse up close, giffer dents and scratches everywhere. You're right about the colour though, I'm not usually a big fan of silver cars but it works well on this.