Aging Man with an Aging Car -- I need help

[sblake01]

Are the connectors mentioned identical?

............

They are all pretty much the same other than the color of the wires and the color of the connector itself. Except for the one that goes to the throttle switch which has three wires instead of two. They do get brittle so you have to be careful with them. I'm pretty good at soldering so I decided to change them all after having a couple of them break. As far as a forum for other Datsuns, I never noticed one except for the 240K forum. If you ask questions here, I will try to help if I can. And if anyone wants to whine about it not being Z related, well I've more or less learned to ignore the whining since there always seems to be so much of it here

[sideshowbob]

For the wires themselves, they should be fine but if they DO crumble they need serious remediation and shouldn't be left to themselves to break at the worst moment. They'll be fine unless the car's been sitting in the sun with the hood up for a few years (don't ask how I know this). The (injector, thermotime valve, cold start, ect.) connectors, on the other hand, will fall to pieces. Their main body will remain but the peripheral extrusions, which hold the metal clip, will most likely fall apart. They can usually still be used at this point if you're in dire straights but it is preffered to replace them altogether. When you remove them look for the GREEN EVIL, which is kissing cousins to the BROWN EVIL (RUST) that is the bane of these cars. If the connectors are anything but shiny, and they will be, you need to replace or clean them. I wish I has a pic to demonstrate how the metal clip inserts are removed using a very small screwdriver or similar instrument.

In addition to the EFI connectors that sblake has shown us, there are Nissan's infamous 'bullet connectors' to clean. These also tend to corrode badly when moisture becomes trapped within the rubber sleeves. These are further up the harness from the clip-like connectors.

Go to this page for the best breakdown of cleaning all of this electrical mess:

Electrical Conn. Cleaning

It's part of THIS (Click Here) site, that I've found invaluable when it comes tho this stuff, though it may not pertain much to you, since you have an 810. The connectors, however, should be in about the same places. You can also find the EFI bible here which (again) isn't for your car, but may still be useful in diagnosing the trouble.

[wm_e_smith]

You guys have provided valuable information. You have revived my interest in my car. At times, I wanted to junk it but something told me to not do it. People are always asking, if you want to get rid of it, let me know. I assume they have ideas for it. So, I'll hang on. It has been a wonderful car and other than the idiosyncracies, still has the potential -- I'm convinced.

Seems to me though that after discovering this site, I want to talk about it rather than work on it. So, I better hop with it. I have a lot of information now from you that doesn't sound so costly.

[sblake01]

I'd like to see a picture of your 810. Don't see many of them around anymore.

[wm_e_smith]

Picture will be coming up as soon as I learn more about the how to's of this site -- it's ugly, in a woman's veiwpoint, (rusty and needs attention) but body is in pretty good shape. considering it's age, etc.

[wm_e_smith]

Another question while gathering information --

About 18 years ago, my 810 would die on the city streets, on the freeways, or on the interstates, not often -- maybe like every 2 or 3 months. It would not start unless I let it sit for about 20 mintutes. Nissan could not figure it out. A service rep even drove it back and forth to work for 2 weeks. Then I was told he couldn't get it to fail so the "computer chip" was replaced. That did no good. Finally it died and was impossiible for me start. I had it towed in and they said it was the relays. The intermittent problem I was having never occurred again. What are the relays, are they a simple part or something complex? Are they easy to obtain and install?

[wm_e_smith]

I'm pretty good at soldering so I decided to change them all after having a couple of them break.

I'll eventually do this also. What would be the disadvantage of NOT soldering but using some kind of inline wire connectors to join the wires?.

[sblake01]

I'll eventually do this also. What would be the disadvantage of NOT soldering but using some kind of inline wire connectors to join the wires?.

That would also work but I just like the fact that with soldering and heat shrink tubing, I was able to hide the repairs under the rubber boots. It's a much cleaner look.

(Hey, this is post #2000 for me!)

[wm_e_smith]

(Hey, this is post #2000 for me!)

And congratulations. I don't know about the other approximately 1990 of the posts but the ten or so for my benefit sure were helpful.

[wm_e_smith]

Ignore Message.

Testing changes to my profile, etc

[wm_e_smith]

The BMW connectors are similar to the other types. I just thought that they were sturdier and easier to remove. You just pull the clips straight out and they come off, push the clips back in before you put the connector back on and it snaps tightly into place. And the moisture seal is better than the original ones.

I didn't thoroughly read the info within the website http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/injectors/connectors/index.html to which sideshowbob referred me. Do the connectors shown on this site coincide with the ones you displayed?

[sblake01]

Those look like the same ones. Except he paid $12 ea. for his and I paid $5 for about 30-35 of them at the junkyard. I got them from mid to late 80s BMW 6 cyl cars. Whatever material they are made from is superior to what Nissan used because I've never seen a cracked one in the junkyard. And though they are not 25+ years old like the original ones on our cars they are still 15+ years old. Every one I pulled simply needed a minor cleaning and the terminals were always clean.