Hi From A New Stagea Owner

[Cephas]

Hi,

I just bought this Stagea from a forum member.

I'd been thinking about getting one for a while, and finally got sick of squeezing our twins into a Honda Jazz.

So far the main thought is 'why didn't I get one sooner'?

I've got a couple of questions (tried searching, but didn't find anything definitive) 1. Who's the person to do a FAST lookup on car? Would be nice to get a complete list of what's on it.

2. Any mechanic recommendations in Taren Point / Kirrawee? I've had a few recommendations out of the area, but mechanics near work are so much easier.

3. Is poor / non-existent radio reception with after market head units a common issue? Or has the installer just forgotten to hook up the antenna?

Thanks heaps.

[BigDirtyJase]

First up welcome to the forum and the Stagea family. If its the one in the photo (white M35 with dished rims)...looks very nice, chrome dished rims on white looks nice - dunno about the roof racks

Whilst I can't answer all questions...I try and answer question 3

Is it poor / non-existent on AM or FM or both...I have the same issue with some AM stations (and yes I have hooked up the antena) but generally it's fine on AM, FM works great (but then again 95% of the time i'm listening to MP3's)

[iamhe77]

Hi Peter. Congrats on the purchase! While I have not seen the inside of your car, it is a very nice example if I go by what some of the NSW guys tell me

Fair step up from a Jazz. Nearly as large a step as my mate made (clapped out 1992 Magna 4cyl to a fairly modified NM35).

anyway, to answer 2 of your questions

1. What is your VIN? Quite a few of us have FAST and can run your VIN through no worries.

2. No idea. Sorry.

3. Suppose it depends on where you live. Do you have a heap of hills near you? They can generally cause poor reception... but generally no, the M35 has very good radio reception (aftermarket or OEM)

By the way, picking up a PA11-NIS from US ebay and installing it was one of the best (and cheapest) things I have done for my car. Plays the iPod perfectly

Edited October 2, 2009 by iamhe77

[Cephas]

Its the one in the photo, but with the original Autech 18" rims, which to be honest look much better.

Radio is bad with AM and FM.

[danMcd]

hay mate nice ride! and welcome

bit mor room for the twins!

[Cephas]

I'll PM you the VIN. (or I will once I have 10 posts)

The interior is in very good condition.

By bad reception I really me no reception

I guess something is disconnected somewhere. I'll have to learn how to get a hard unit out and see if its anything obvious.

Edited October 2, 2009 by Cephas

[scotty nm35]

My FM reception is poor too, I just assumed its because the antenna is in the glass. I didnt want to put an aftermarket antenna on, just and amplifier. Has anybody fixed this issue with one?

[bubba]

I don't know about the M35's but the older nissans needed an adapter for the aerial cable, I have seen a lot of dodgied up connections (cut and fold lol) so that may have been what happened to your aerials.

Radio reception in my C34 is mintox except for in Perth CBD.

[GoldZilla]

Hey Peter, congratulations and welcome to our Stagea community!

i was trying to convince my old man to buy that car as he'd been talking of updating his car for a while, but unfortunately it wasn't to be... He loved it when he first saw it, and was excited when I told him it was for sale, but he'd already planned to go o/seas and spent a bit too much money while he was there.

Oh well, his loss and your gain!

As far as radio reception goes, there are likely quite a few M35 owners here in Sydney willing to help you rip out your dashboard to check if the antennas are connected properly.

As far as workshops in that area of Sydney, I'd probably recommend trying Greg at Autosport Engineering in Kirrawee: http://www.autosport.net.au/

[Cephas]

It took me about a week to get from seeing the add to picking it up.

I convinced the wife by taking her around the car yards on Saturday looking at the run of the mill cars.

Showed her the Stag on Sunday and she was convinced...

People at work at shocked when I tell them its an 03 car.

[Cephas]

Ok,

Looks like the stereo is missing something like this

http://cgi.ebay.com/1987-2008-NISSAN-DIVER...id=p3286.c0.m14

Anyone got more info on what this adapter is doing?

Thanks

[GoldZilla]

Peter, that device is basically to plug two antennas into one socket - because the car has diversity antennas, it feeds two signals into the head unit and the head unit chooses which one is strongest (or maybe also combines them???) to use to transmit the reception. Most Aussie-delivered stereos (especially if yours is aftermarket) have only one antenna socket, so you use that plug to feed both antennas into the head unit.

[Cephas]

That makes sense.

I did a bit of reading myself and it seems that the two antennas are designed to be slightly out of phase.

They are not designed to work individually.

[Cephas]

Another question...

The "4WD" light is coming on from time to time.

I've checked the ATTESSA reservoir in the boot; and if anything its a little over full.

There is nothing noticeably wrong with the way it drives.

From a bit of forum net searching I know it should be possible to extract the error codes from the ECU somehow, but the various instructions I've found are either for C34s or I can't get them to do anything on mine.

Is the a foolproof way to figure out what its complaining about at home, or do I need to get it plugged into a workshops diagnostic machine?

Thanks

[iamhe77]

Click HERE for the instructions for error codes for an M35.

and then Go HERE for an idea of what the code relates to.

Edited October 11, 2009 by iamhe77