Engaging in that ZT-T?

[JagDriver]

Originally Posted by SD1too

The colour coding on the camshafts.

Simon

Can you see this through the oil filler neck or do the camshaft covers have to come off?

And which color is which?

The owner also says it's running fine in general, no weird noises, no stumbling, willing to rev, it just feels less powerful than it used to be.

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by JagDriver

Can you see this through the oil filler neck or do the camshaft covers have to come off?

The camshaft covers need to come off.
It would be easier to check the engine number. If the first two digits are "25", it's a 2.5 litre.

Originally Posted by JagDriver

The owner also says ... it just feels less powerful than it used to be.

From my earlier post:

There are other things which result in a poorly performing KV6:

• Stuck VIS balance flap and/or faulty actuator
• Faulty Power VIS actuator and/or broken valve linkage
• Blocked breather hole in the cam covers.

Simon

[JagDriver]

Originally Posted by SD1too

The camshaft covers need to come off.
It would be easier to check the engine number. If the first two digits are "25", it's a 2.5 litre.

From my earlier post:

There are other things which result in a poorly performing KV6:

• Stuck VIS balance flap and/or faulty actuator
• Faulty Power VIS actuator and/or broken valve linkage
• Blocked breather hole in the cam covers.

Simon

Is any of these likely to happen (=gets touched) when the timing belt is done?

I actually went there today and inspected the car. It looked very nice on the exterior, almost no scratches or dents. The interior had some damages (carpet, 2 door panels, rear bench fabric) but I have seen worse (but actually the green one was almost mint inside). Rust-wise it's a bit difficult to tell, because the undercarriage had been recoated. One sill-end had already been done a couple of years ago, the other side is about to come. If I substract the undercoat it will probably not look much different than the green one.

The engine sounded smooth, yet a bit sporty, like I am used to it from other ZTs (almost like BMW M52 or M54) but it was a little bit shaky (at least on idle). When driving, I'd say it almost performed normally in the first two gears, but in third gear or higher, there didn't happen much below 4000RPM, then it got awake but still did not perform like 190hp, maybe like 120. And it didn't matter whether you fully stepped on the throttle or just slightly touched it, it would just accelerate very slowly.

The green one for comparison, behaved slightly different, it did not vibrate on idle but there way this whining noise that was predominating everything else (and even was audible in the cabin) and that came from the left hand side of the engine where the auxiliary belts run (and I think also the timing belt). It also performed poorly on low revs and wouldn't rev consistently, but it had its bright moments where it suddenly began to perform.

I am bit in a conflict right now. The one from today (trophy blue) drove very, very nice, at least if you forget about the lack of power (and the brake shudder, which I think became less towards the end of the test drive). The owner offered me a good price, but I'll have to take a gamble on the engine issue. But it would be the same gamble on the green one which would cost about 1300€ more (but would then come with 2 years MOT instead of one).

Of course, none of them is perfect. If there was a variety of offers on the marked I would probably consider neither of them, but there isn't much choice. I could spent another 3, 6 or more months hoping for better car to come up, but from what I have seen so far, that is not very likely to happen.