Major screw up

[Reverend]

Timing is set up to about 12 degrees, runs quite okay on idle BUT i have major problem. Its leaking coolant from somewhere. Coolant drops from the lowest point of transmission (bell housing). I looked both block drain screw and heater hose outlet, but both seemed okay... im very confused right now.

[Zed Head]

Check between the head and the block right above the starter at the back of the engine. My last engine leaked there, from the headgasket, and dripped down the back of the engine. There's also a core plug in the back of the head that you can check.

[z boy mn]

Hey Reverend, I want to chime in here as the photo a few posts back (#48) is from my engine bay...and I stripped it off the car this year as it was binding up. :-(

What you see there is how I modified the firewall bracket to make a "repeater" of sorts, but there was so much slop that it never hooked up correctly and the rubber washer/o-ring in the stock firewall assembly didn't let it rotate smoothly, so it would stick. Plus, there was so much side tension that both the repeater on the firewall and the bar on the carbs would deflect a lot when you stepped on the gas. The car originally had the repeater assembly with a long rod that attached to a bracket on the closest carb cover, but that didn't work well either.

My solution this year (untested yet as it's still COLD in MN) was to eliminate that middle piece, put a heim joint in one of the arms on the carb rod to account for the misalignment, and make new connecting rod that goes from the pedal all the way to the bar (it was about 11"). I did lots of figuring, and my mock-up worked great...but, no real-world testing yet. I do have some photos on my other computer I should be able to find if that would help.

So, if this helps, don't do what I did (or maybe you could try it but do it better somehow).

My next solution was to just switch to cable. Top Performance had a cable kit for about $100, I think.

Edited March 23, 2014 by z boy mn

[Reverend]

Yea, pictures would be awesome! Meanwhile i have WAY bigger problems ahead. As i said before, my engine is leaking coolant from somewhere. Engine drain plug is dry as sahara and i checked that the head bolts were at correct torque. Then i realized something. There is water plug (or whatever it is called, those 8+1 plugs that are around the engine) just over flywheel at transmission side. I squeezed the lower water hose to get some pressure on the system and a fountain of water started to drip from the bell housing... There is high (100%) possibility that the water plug is leaking... SO i have to take the engine/tranny off to fix this problem...

[z boy mn]

I just found a picture of the test bracket I made to make sure everything lined up smoothly and the carbs opened all the way. A simple fix. Since then, I made a custom rod that has a heim joint at one end (carb arm) and hooks to the pedal assembly on the other. Hope this helps! (P.S. No idea on the coolant leak...good luck with that!)

[Reverend]

Looks simple enough to me to make And it works properly? I think less the parts, the better it works.

This is not carb related, but is core plug failure common to happen on Z's? Mine is from CA and i suspect it has been run with very minimal amount of anti-freeze (wich has anti-corrosion materials). Im going to try to replace the plug by removing only tranny and accessories....

[z boy mn]

Hi Reverend, I can't guarantee it works just yet, but I think it will. It sure looks a lot clearer without that extra piece, and everything feels really smooth. Of course, we still have 2 feet of snow on the ground, so I won't know for sure for another month...or two...when the roads clear. :-(

[grannyknot]

Reverend, if that rear freeze plug is leaking coolant because of a corrosion issue you might want to replace them all while your at it. Sorry, I'm sure you don't want to hear that.

[Reverend]

Yea, i might change them all, i have to start from somewhere. Thank god the rest of them are 800% easier to replace. So far so they all look good and does not drip or sweat...so time will tell. It has been most warmest winter of this decade, snow has melted from all over the country, as normally there is at least 2 feet. I dont mind at all... haha. This is my solution to the carb linkage, so far it works good but as the long rod over the manifold does not have support at the end part, it bends a little, not much, just enough you notice.

[Reverend]

Seems like i need to make more modifications, linkage works but its stiff as hell (at the pedal) and wont pass inspection as it is now. Carbs works...okay-ish. You can accelerate without any hesitation but cruising steadily 2-3K rpms..that aint working. It spits and stutters while holding your foot steady.. too little idle jet?

Oh yea, i managed to change the freeze plug. It was nice 8 hour 2 man job... Well at least i got to introduce the world of Z's to my friend who now is all Datsun

Edited April 8, 2014 by Reverend

[Reverend]

Carbs are synced now and idle jets are 2.5 turns open (50F9) but it still spits while cruising. Taking the car for tuning soon, hopefully that solves it.

[z boy mn]

Hey Reverend, just an update on my end. I'm putting together the carb assembly I talked about and you tried, and I think I figured out a way to keep the bar from deflecting. I'm using another bracket that comes off the valve cover to negate the tendency of the rod to pull away from the motor. I'm using heim joints and some threaded rod. I'll have a photo when I put it all together. Good luck with your tune-up in the meantime!