Hello and Please Help me with my 280Z

[SilverSurfer]

Thanks again for all the advice. I hope to find time this week and next to actually tackle (and learn) the electrical system.

 

On a side note, the car was still stuttering from time to time and it was not heat related. So, I installed a fuel filter between the tank and the fuel pump. I drove the Z hard today and had no issues, either on the highway or in the city. The filter seems to be helping.

[SilverSurfer]

Some small progress on the electrical side of things.

 

I rechecked the fuses and two of them were no good. One was for the hazard. Now my hazards work (both on the dash and outside on the car) as do all of my gauges on the dash (voltage, etc.). However, the actual dash lights do not work nor do the turn signals (neither on the dash nor outside on the car). So, the only non-working things are all my dash lights and my turn signals (internally and externally). All other dash components appear to be working properly.

Edited May 25, 2015 by SilverSurfer

[siteunseen]

Maybe the dimmer switch needs some work.  Squirt some electrical cleaner in it and turn it a few times.  Or you may have to get inside the combo switch and put 12 volts straight to solder spot and see if they light up.

 

 

 

There's some write ups on the turn signal mechanism, you'll have to search around.  Mine have always worked. 

Edited May 25, 2015 by siteunseen

[SilverSurfer]

Good news! Internal and external turn signals are working! Bad news is I am not sure why, actually. After having the front end aligned, and the steering wheel adjusted (it was a custom wheel the previous owner had installed and was all crooked), the turn signals just started working again. The mechanic who had worked on the car previously (the one that did all the engine work) had also done something in that area because the horn had not been working. I am wondering if something, like a connector, had been lose (and maybe still is) and when they adjusted the steering wheel it knocked it back into place?

Dash lights still are not working, but I have not had sufficient time to work through the harnesses, etc.

[Redwing]

Hi silversurfer, Welcome to the club.

Your engine stall issue sounds a lot like the TIU is failing when it gets warm. Typical for these old cars.

The next time it does it. Pull the center HT lead out of the dizzy and hold it a couple of mm of the manifold and get someone to crank the engine.

You may want to do this test when its cold and all working as it should. That will give you a good base line to compare to.

I used and old spark plug. That way the gap in the plug would always be the same during the tests.

A second check you can do is simply check the tacho. If it starts bouncing around, its a good sign something is wrong with the ignition system.

Here is a link to my TIU conversion. There are other ways to fix a failing TIU like fitting a 280ZX dizzy, but I chose to keep the original look.http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/49588-fitting-a-hei-module-in-transistor-ignition-unit-1977-280z/

I don't think the lights are related to your engine dying problem. More of a coincidence.

Here is a link to the Factory manuals. A must have when working on these carshttp://www.xenons30.com/reference.html

The Fuel injection supplement on the xenons130.com is more complete for the efi even though its on the s130 site. See the S130 EFI manuals section. Early version.http://www.xenons130.com/reference.html

Chas

[SilverSurfer]

 

Hi silversurfer, Welcome to the club.

Your engine stall issue sounds a lot like the TIU is failing when it gets warm. Typical for these old cars.

The next time it does it. Pull the center HT lead out of the dizzy and hold it a couple of mm of the manifold and get someone to crank the engine.

You may want to do this test when its cold and all working as it should. That will give you a good base line to compare to.

I used and old spark plug. That way the gap in the plug would always be the same during the tests.

A second check you can do is simply check the tacho. If it starts bouncing around, its a good sign something is wrong with the ignition system.

Here is a link to my TIU conversion. There are other ways to fix a failing TIU like fitting a 280ZX dizzy, but I chose to keep the original look.http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/49588-fitting-a-hei-module-in-transistor-ignition-unit-1977-280z/

I don't think the lights are related to your engine dying problem. More of a coincidence.

Here is a link to the Factory manuals. A must have when working on these carshttp://www.xenons30.com/reference.html

The Fuel injection supplement on the xenons130.com is more complete for the efi even though its on the s130 site. See the S130 EFI manuals section. Early version.http://www.xenons130.com/reference.html

Chas

 

 

First of all, thanks for the links and advice. I do appreciate it.

 

I wonder about it being the Transistor Ignition Unit (I had to look up what a TIU is ... sorry ... I am a bit ignorant of the proper terms) failing as it gets warm because the stuttering/stalling issue does not happen when it gets warm. It happens intermittently. It can happen shortly after starting the car (i.e. the car is cold). It can happen within a few minutes of the car running. It can happen 30 minutes into driving the car down the highway. The vehicle is acting more like it is struggling to get fuel than an electrical issue. However, I am not ready to rule anything out.

 

Now, to really show my ignorance here, I need to ask a few things. You say the following:

 

 

Pull the center HT lead out of the dizzy

 

What is the 'dizzy'? What is the 'HT lead'?

[Redwing]

Hello, I am a 72 yo.female which has just purchased my 2nd Z car. I bought a new '71 back when they first came out HLS30511904. I put 256,000 miles on her. My second one I have had for 3 months. It is a 1976 280 Z, HLS30277450. I had the original title, a one owner car till sold, lived in Arizona. It has several problems which the local mechanic is not giving me confidence that he knows what he is doing. The last spark plug next to the wall, has been coated with drippings from the heater hose. He cleaned it, and tightened the hose twice. Then he replaced the hose. It still is covering the spark plug with drippings. He now says the main motor gasket will need to be replaced. Not sure what to think about that, except I think that may be extreme. So I joined here to look for ideas. This post that I am responding to, sounds like what she is doing now that the warmer weather is here. (In cool weather no problem with running perfectly.) Starting and dying, but mostly hard to start while engine is still hot. And then very large chugging, hard to keep running, sometimes impossible. I do not know if this is caused by the drips on the spark plug. Or maybe by the part mentioned in the post. Another thing I have noticed, when getting fuel, on opening the gas cover, a huge "whoosh" of air happens. Gas vapor? Never when cooler out, or in the a.m. when I have checked it. Any relation to my chugging problem? With my first Z, my Dad taught me a lot about her. So I do know some about my cars workings. Thanks ahead for any insight on this for me.

[siteunseen]

What is the 'dizzy'? What is the 'HT lead'?

The distributor is what we call the "dizzy", it has a cap with 6 spark plug wires going around the outside edge and the 1 in the middle goes to the coil (beer can looking thing on the driver's side firewall).  Taking the center wire from the distributor cap, HT lead (high tension), and holding it about a quarter of an inch away from something metal it should make a pop sound and you should see a small "lightning strike" from the metal inside the rubber boot to the metal you're holding it next to.  Do this in the darkest light you can or you won't see it.

 

If you're feeling sparky, just hold it and let somebody crank over the car.  It'll shock the crap out of you, but you'll be okay.    

 

The one going off to the right in this picture,

[SilverSurfer]

Thank you, siteunseen! I appreciate it. I do know what a distributor and coil are, I just did not know that the distributor was called a 'dizzy'. Now I do. And since 'dizzy' is used a lot on the forum, knowing what it is will really help me out.

 

For trivia's sake, is it called a 'dizzy' because of how the rotor spins? Or is there another reason?

[SilverSurfer]

Concerning the tachometer - I had noticed that the tach is not always working properly. Sometimes it seems to get 'stuck' between 2000 and 3000 RPMs and stays there no matter the speed I am going (in city, on the highway, stopped at a light, etc.) until I park and shut off the car. Most of the time it is working and appears to be working properly (i.e. the RPMs seem to be matching what the car is doing correctly). At no time does the tach jump or bounce around.

[siteunseen]

Hello, I am a 72 yo.female which has just purchased my 2nd Z car. I bought a new '71 back when they first came out HLS30511904. I put 256,000 miles on her. My second one I have had for 3 months. It is a 1976 280 Z, HLS30277450. I had the original title, a one owner car till sold, lived in Arizona. It has several problems which the local mechanic is not giving me confidence that he knows what he is doing. The last spark plug next to the wall, has been coated with drippings from the heater hose. He cleaned it, and tightened the hose twice. Then he replaced the hose. It still is covering the spark plug with drippings. He now says the main motor gasket will need to be replaced. Not sure what to think about that, except I think that may be extreme. So I joined here to look for ideas. This post that I am responding to, sounds like what she is doing now that the warmer weather is here. (In cool weather no problem with running perfectly.) Starting and dying, but mostly hard to start while engine is still hot. And then very large chugging, hard to keep running, sometimes impossible. I do not know if this is caused by the drips on the spark plug. Or maybe by the part mentioned in the post. Another thing I have noticed, when getting fuel, on opening the gas cover, a huge "whoosh" of air happens. Gas vapor? Never when cooler out, or in the a.m. when I have checked it. Any relation to my chugging problem? With my first Z, my Dad taught me a lot about her. So I do know some about my cars workings. Thanks ahead for any insight on this for me.

If it's leaking coolant above the spark plug at the rear, that's #6, you may have a cylinder head gasket leaking.  You could very carefully re torque the head bolts and maybe stop it but if you have to have the head gasket replaced, that is a major job unless you're a mechanic, shade tree even.  

 

If I was you I would start a new thread topic on your problem, you'll get more responses.

 

Good story about your history with the Z.

Cliff

[siteunseen]

Thank you, siteunseen! I appreciate it. I do know what a distributor and coil are, I just did not know that the distributor was called a 'dizzy'. Now I do. And since 'dizzy' is used a lot on the forum, knowing what it is will really help me out.

 

For trivia's sake, is it called a 'dizzy' because of how the rotor spins? Or is there another reason?

It's easier to spell and faster to type. 

 

If your tach is acting funny then that very well could be associated with a bad ignition module, or TIU.