82 280zx has no power

[p_trice]

I have a 1982 datsun 280zx non turbo. It runs decent and idles great. I has decent power when i cruise around in town, but when i get outside of town and try to go fast, it seems like it has no power. It kind of sputters a bit, like it's running out of gas or something. I can put throttle to the floor and it just sputters. I put more gas in it but it still sputters a bit. Do I maybe need new fuel filter or pump. I also have a red warning light that turns on on my gauge cluster. It is supposed to be green and say OK. I have seen it turn green and say OK before but now it won't do it anymore. What does this red light mean? Also how do u tell if the injector wires are going to the right injectors? I think the person before me got them wrong. I am a decent mechanic but, I am new to working on older datsuns so please make reply easy to understand for a datsun newb. some help getting this car straightened out would be greatly appreciated. thanks

[zbane]

ok... here are a few thoughts for you to investigate...

Have you checked out the inside of the gas tank? At the end of the fuel sending unit is a fine mesh screen. Depending on the interior of the tank, you may have rust/sludge/crud being sucked into the mesh thus reducing gas flow. It may not be enough to cause a bother at in town speeds, but when you up the RPM and draw more gas...you get the idea.

The same idea can be applied to the fuel filter in the engine bay, as well as the fine cone filter in the fuel pump...

Another problem might be your fuel pressure regulator (located on the fuel rail). If it's failing, the pump won't be able to maintain adequate pressure to feed the car, and might cause stumbling...

The injector connectors have no particular order. So long as they are firmly connected, they're good to go. Spark plug wires are obviously a different matter.

When you push the "check" light, it should give you the error causing the red... Mine has, since the day I bought it, shown red, the fault being battery related, though it has shown me low radiator fluid, brake fluid levels, lights, etc... when appropriate. The battery one just shows, no matter what I do...so I ignore it.

Now, there are other possibilities for your poor at speed performance, such as timing being off, or the distributor being a few degrees off...but let's look at the easier to rule out, more common problems first.

How long have you had the car, what was it's condition when you bought it (been sitting for years, or a daily driver), what have you checked and/or replaced, etc...

And perhaps most importantly: Do you have the Factory Service Manual for your s130... the actual FSM, not the Haynes or Chilton book (nothing against those, as they have their time and place, but the factory manual has all the diagnostic references..)

[p_trice]

I have had the car for about 2 months myself. It is the 2+2 non turbo. When I got it, it has been sitting for about a year. I had to trailer it home as the clutch was stuck to the flywheel. I got it home and pulled motor, put new turbo clutch and flywheel on it, put header on it, new timing chain and tensioner, new valve gasket, oil pan was leaking so i put new gasket on that. Cleaned out intake, made sure the motor was mechanically sound internally, it has 84,000 original miles on it so it was in great shape on the inside. I put the motor back in it, got new coil, distributor cap and rotor, new spark plugs and wires, new water pump. set timing, located and fixed any vacuum leaks. I recently started driving it about 2 days ago. After further investigation, i realized the gas tank had about 1/2 a tank of old/bad gas, and was also quite rusty inside. I dropped tank out about 3 hours ago and started cleaning it. I was actually pulling out handfuls of rust chunks/chips. I am going to try to clean tank as best I can. I'd rather not buy a new one. Any suggestions on what to clean tank with? I got rust chunks out, but there is still surface rust on inside of tank. And as for the red light, it used to turn green and say OK when i first got the car. Should i just ignore it then?

[madkaw]

There are a lot of posts about cleaning out tanks. For now you might want to use a clean chain and some kind of cleaner solvent and swish it around the tank till your arms fall off-

The chain will take a lot of the loose rust off. Then you can coat it with some kind of sealer. You might be able to find a radiator shop that will clean it out for you.

Take a close look inside your sending unit. Blow out the lines with some air.

Edited November 27, 2011 by madkaw

[Walter Moore]

If you have the money, the best way to clean the gas tank is to take it to a radiator shop and have them clean it for you. If you lived in this area there is a really good shop in Frankfort IN that I have used for years. But there should be one near you, ask around at club meetings or car shows if you want to be sure.

A lot of times they can even coat the tank to seal small leaks. If you search the site for gas tank repair there are many, many threads about doing this yourself.

[zbane]

Sounds as though you found the base cause of your problem... while the tank is out, you might as well pull the fuel pump (mark the cable and pump posts for Pos and Neg, they are easy to switch....I know from experience). Remove all the rubber lines that run between the pump and filter and replace them. Go ahead and replace the fuel filter (it's most likely rather contaminated) and inspect the fuel lines from the filter to the engine to see if they are cruddy as well...

Be sure to get EFI rated fuel line hose... don't assume the parts people will get the right rating for you (again, experience).

While all the hoses are off, backflush or use compressed air to clear/clean the hard fuel lines...

[p_trice]

I have cleaned out the fuel pump, it's wasn't really that bad inside. I have also cleaned out and replaced any lines that needed it. I am in the process of reverse electroplating the rust inside the tank. I took a battery charger and hooked the ground to outside of tank, and the positive to a metal rod sticking inside the top of the tank but not touching it. I then filled up the tank with a solution of water and dissolved arm & hammer washing soda. The process sucks the rust right off the inside of the tank wall and it sticks to the metal rod. I just turn off battery charger and pull rod out and clean it off about every 2 hours. the process actually works quite well. When i am done and have emptied out all the water, I plan to spray inside of tank with wd-40 to get rid of all leftover water and help protect against further rusting. I am then going to take a leaf blower and blow air in the tank till it is dry. It should work out pretty good.

Edited November 27, 2011 by p_trice

[p_trice]

reverse electroplating worked perfectly, inside of gas tank looks brand new again. my 280zx runs like a champ now.