1 hour ago, Patcon said:

On a different note @SteveJ why does my ammeter wag like crazy? It seems to settle at idle but when driving it wags from one extreme to the other most of the time

Do you still have the old style points regulator? If it's slow to open and close the contacts, I could understand that as a result. If the lighter is working, you could get a USB adapter like this to monitor the voltage while driving: https://www.amazon.com/Charger-Adapter-Voltage-Cigarette-Charging/dp/B0C9DLDN19

20 minutes ago, SteveJ said:

Do you still have the old style points regulator? If it's slow to open and close the contacts, I could understand that as a result. If the lighter is working, you could get a USB adapter like this to monitor the voltage while driving: https://www.amazon.com/Charger-Adapter-Voltage-Cigarette-Charging/dp/B0C9DLDN19

I will have to check. I have a voltage regulator but I will have to check to see if it's the points style. What would I be looking for on the voltage display?

I was planning on going to an internally regulated alternator eventually

1 hour ago, Yarb said:

@Patcon I can only assume my strut isolators won’t work on a 240.

Merry Christmas friend

I had one on hand to swap in. If I have another failure, I will probably replace them all with new

31 minutes ago, Patcon said:

I will have to check. I have a voltage regulator but I will have to check to see if it's the points style. What would I be looking for on the voltage display?

I was planning on going to an internally regulated alternator eventually

Well, I would expect to see 13.5VDC up to 15VDC. The voltage fluctuations shouldn't be too much, less than half a volt. The fluctuations could be an issue with the charging system, battery, or ammeter. Smooth voltage would have me look at the ammeter more.

First drive! That's awesome! Congrats!!!

@Patcon , Send me a pm.

Edited December 26, 2025Dec 26 by Yarb

51 minutes ago, SteveJ said:

Well, I would expect to see 13.5VDC up to 15VDC. The voltage fluctuations shouldn't be too much, less than half a volt. The fluctuations could be an issue with the charging system, battery, or ammeter. Smooth voltage would have me look at the ammeter more.

I checked voltage earlier today but I will recheck. It was like 14.7, pretty stable but that was at idle

240Z alternator? External voltage regulator?

The earlies don't use a shunt (like the 260-280) to the ammeter. So power to/from the battery goes directly through the ammeter (via large wire). The ammeter measures current flow, not voltage - even though it's important to have a proper and stable voltage from the alternator and regulator. What could be causing disruption or variation of current flow? Does it stay in the positive, or is it swinging from positive to negative current flow?

The battery discharges at start cranking and then is recharged by a properly working alternator. This recharge should show on the ammeter as a significant flow in the positive direction at first, but taper off as the battery is charged, ending with the ammeter showing a slightly positive value for the rest of the drive (or engine operation). The ammeter should also show changes in electrical use - like lighting, headlights, A/C compressor, electric fan, and etc. being turned on and off as more (or less) current is being drawn during their use.

(Ya, I blabbed on for all those youngsters who didn't grow up with an ammeter...)

Update

Solid state VRegulator

@cgsheen1

The needle whips back and forth almost the full range when driving. Negative to positive current at almost a constant wiggle

240 alternator with external regulator, obviously.

We did have some magic smoke out of the dash when we started it months ago. So possible Ammeter issue or over current on a dead battery? How would I test the ammeter?

Congrats on the first drive! Hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas.

I went with this kit for my car. After having numerous electrical issues on past z's, I thought this would be a no brainer to go with the LED bulbs and refreshed electrical harness.

https://www.thezstore.com/product/85/60-amp-alternator-upgrade-kit-70-72-240z

More Christmas pics

Edited December 28, 2025Dec 28 by Patcon

On another note, I figured out my headlight issues.

So the H4 LED's I have are interesting. This is the typical H4 pin locations

So when I attached power to the ground location on the LED and tested the other pins the Hi's and Lo's work fine. But they also work fine no matter where I attached the power into the bulb. Very strange

So the Phenolic at the bulb has these labels

I decided I would wire it this way.

Power in on the right side and high beam (red w white) on the left hand side. I then took the other headlight out and made it match. Now everything works as it should. The indicator is on in high beam and completely off in low beam. Another thing off the list