I don't think we ever talked about the condition of the dampers themselves. We probably should have started there, but anyway...

Is it difficult to lift the pistons? When you stick a finger into the carb mouth and lift the piston manually, you should be fighting the damper oil. And even with ATF, there should be significant resistance to pushing the piston up. It should drop easy, but it should be difficult to lift.

If the damper is working correctly, it should take multiple seconds to manually lift the piston, and it should leave a dent in your fingertip. And then it should drop with a "clunk".

And the pistons should drop at the same rate.

6 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

I don't think we ever talked about the condition of the dampers themselves. We probably should have started there, but anyway...

Is it difficult to lift the pistons? When you stick a finger into the carb mouth and lift the piston manually, you should be fighting the damper oil. And even with ATF, there should be significant resistance to pushing the piston up. It should drop easy, but it should be difficult to lift.

If the damper is working correctly, it should take multiple seconds to manually lift the piston, and it should leave a dent in your fingertip. And then it should drop with a "clunk".

On 5/17/2026 at 1:21 PM, Patcon said:

@inline6

Garrett what did you ever do to resolve your air filter not being thick enough. I don't recall the solution and I have the same problem...

My air filter element is too thick 😁 So, the edge (around the circumference) of my air filter cover doesn't contact the rubber seal on the air filter back plate. Said replacement rubber seal was sourced (if I recall correctly) from Banzai in MD. Instead, the cover sandwiches the air filter element against the air filter back plate tightly. But again, the cover does not seat against the seal on the back plate.

There is a chance that the replacement rubber seal from Banzai is not as thick as the original seal. I have to investigate further. But since the air filter element is securely held and no air gaps are letting unfiltered air into the engine, I have this issue de-prioritized.

So... you have the opposite situation?

There is a difference in thickness of the air filter elements (and thus the air filter housings) across the years of the 240z. I am uncertain of the details.

Yes, I have the opposite.

New filter is 10mm narrower

OEM part? What part number?

I believe the narrower one is Zcardepot aftermarket. I bought a NOS air filter off Ebay that should be correct when I get it

The 10w-30 got my acceleration to richen up. It probably needs a little more fine tuning but it's serviceable for now

On 5/20/2026 at 3:17 PM, Captain Obvious said:

If the damper is working correctly, it should take multiple seconds to manually lift the piston, and it should leave a dent in your fingertip. And then it should drop with a "clunk".

Uhm... " no " 🙄. It should have a little resistance going up but not super heavy

5 hours ago, bartsscooterservice said:

Uhm... " no " 🙄. It should have a little resistance going up but not super heavy

Well then, I suggest that maybe you've never actually experienced a damper that is working correctly.

Either that, or I've got delicate soft fingers while you've got rugged manly-man lumberjack hands. 😀

Either that, or I've got delicate soft fingers while you've got rugged manly-man lumberjack hands. 😀

I think that's it exactly! ;)

Haha!

So Shelley was in the yard the other day and the Lilies were blooming