ok so my 78 280 Z has been acting up for awhile and i can't figure out what the deal is. now i cant keep it started, and the exaust is spraying out oil. whats up?

if i had to guess off the top of my head i'd say head gasket or cracked block/head

Pull and check for oil fouled spark plugs. It sounds like heavily worn valve guides and seals to me without any other specific description of problems. A head rebuild may be in order.

you can have a crack some where oil maybe one of your oil seals on your pistons have been blown...im getting the same in my car

Pull the plugs and do a compression test. This will tell you which cylinder is in trouble. Could be a broken ring , a hole in a burnt piston. Several things . None of which are good. Most likely you are looking at a rebuild .

are you sure its oil and not fuel... could be running pig rich, un-spent fuel your seeing.

Or ..... it sounds like rich exaust carbon coming out with cold start up

moisture - splatters like oil, but dries leaving a paint can splatter on

the ground directly behind the pipe in the mornings , no ?

is it possible to get oil from the exhaust without getting burnt IF it was leaking from weak piston rings?

He did say oil. However if this was oil , I would think there would be lots of blue smoke. Like unkle said, likely it is just moisture condensing in the muffler and mixing with the soot coming out of the exhaust. Since he did say the engine is not wanting to idle. There may be a nozzle sticking when he stops using the choke. 1015 try this . pull the choke lever all the way back and then push it all the way forward, with the engine not running. then reach under the air cleaner and feel for he small hose that runs from the float bowl to the nozzle of the Carb. Push up on the adjustment nut and see if it clicks up. If either of them do this vary likely the problem . Also while you are there feel the hose to see if there stiff. A stiff hose will cause the nozzle to stick. If the nozzle sticks down it will cause a VARY rich condition . Gary

Gary, he has a 78 280Z/EFI. I'd look for things like leaky cold start valve, leaking injector(s), a bad thermotime switch, a bad temp. sensor, etc. Any of the things that would cause a rich mixthre in an EFI system