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Sorry, I'm not knowledgeable enough about this particular EFI, but usually the throttle butterfly remains closed at idle (including starting unless one depresses the accelerator slightly while cranking to start, which shouldn't be done with EFI systems), so some provision must be in place to allow sufficient air to enter the engine for starting. The GM throttle body fuel injection systems used in the early days of electronic fuel injection well into the 1990's all used an idle air bypass to provide startup and idle air for engine air/fuel management.

The first Sunday of the month and another early morning car meet. Great weather led to a great turnout.

I forgot a bunch about what you were doing. I see also that you already had the idle screw opened up. There are other possible reasons why it won't run unless it gets lots of air. Maybe there is a big vacuum leak and you need more AFM vane movement to supply more fuel. You could test that by propping open the AFM vane. Maybe ignition timing is off. Maybe valve timing is off. If it was mine I'd probably prop open the throttle blade after I got it started, or before I started it, so I could keep it idling while I messed around with ignition timing and the AFM. Either have a friend hold the throttle open or prop it open na dbready to shut the key off it starts to rev too high. Once you get it to idle so that you can work in the engine bay then you can move the AFM vane more or less open to add more or less fuel through the injectors. The effect will be a clue. Actually, if it was mine I would take the valve cover off and verify cam timing, then adjust valve lash, then set ignition timing as close as possible, check the air flow path including the filter for obstructions (mice, etc.), then start it, let it idle, and start fine tuning. Lots of ways forward.

Hmm ok so.. IF the throttle body vane / plate was stuck open it might be feeding too much air in at idle and choking the car out.... might MIGHT be a possibility as the 76 efi system apparently had issues with the valve cover pipe clogging the throttle body up. I was going to check this before but then got sidetracked with fuel and afm and this and that and forgot 😄 So tomorrow i will tear it down and check 😉 Thanks for the reminder 😄

The numbers look OK. Lets try heading down another path momentarily. Something I don't remember discussing in the past is oil usage. How many miles do you drive before it needs a quart of oil and are there any oil leaks?

You can re-mark the damper pulley since you're using a piston stop to determine TDC. A 78 should have the degree marks on the tab on the cover. Make a new mark and then you can use a timing light to set timing. Assuming that somebody just put a damper from a different model on the engine. If the damper rubber is bad then it might just move again. Anyway, that's kind of how working on the EFI engines goes. A long list of small things that need to be corrected. Once you get them all correct it will run like a top.

I think those are decent numbers…Would like to get an opinion from other folks on running the leak down test just.. to confirm the engine status.

Dry test results with choke fully open and gas pedal floored: Cyl 1: 148 psi Cyl 2: 150 psi Cyl 3: 146 psi Cyl 4: 150 psi Cyl 5: 150 psi Cyl 6 : 149 psi Wet - Cyl 4: 160 psi

Been busy continuing the conversion, shoveling snow and taking care of family matters. All is going well, will continue this discussion shortly. thanks for the kind words everyone.

Maybe I didn't understand what you were saying here. Did you assume that the piston was at TDC because the rotor was pointing at spark lead #1? Or did you use a piston stop or at least something in the spark plug hole to determine TDC? The spark jumps across a gap as it gets close to the terminal so you can't really use the rotor to guess at timing. The leading edge of the rotor terminal is what you would want to look at if you're going to guess.

Racer X has a good point. You have so many different issues though it's hard to figure out where to start. On the EFI throttle bodies there is a screw with a big round head on it that you can turn by hand. That is the throttle blade bypass screw that controls idle speed through air supply control. You could try just opening that up, (unscrewing it to let more air in), and see if that will allow you to start the engine and let it run by itself. On the EFI engines there is also the auxiliary air regulator (AAR) that lets air past the throttle blade when the engine is cold. On a properly set up system the AAR keeps the idle up when cold, and the idle speed screw determines warm idle RPM. If you know that the piston is at TDC then the mark on the damper pulley should be at zero. If it's not you might have a bad damper. The rubber degrades and the pulley slips. So a timing light won't help you if that is the case. I'll circle the two parts I mentioned from your pictures and you can check them out. Idle speed bypass screw - AAR -

Hey again 🙂 I am back to Ireland now and had a day of sanding parts then took some photos of the engine bay 😄Also while I was away I got someone to do a new paint job .. happy out .. now i can reassemble yayy! But.. yes its still not running as it should. What I tried today: turned down the pressure regulator 25psi > done nothing different turned up the pressure on the fuel 40psi > no different. watched the afm opening while i had my foot semi down on the throttle ( could be opening too far? to be investigated ) found TDC on the piston > which on the distributor cap pointed the rotor to spark lead #1 as it should be > checked the harmonic balancer ( it was at 20 - not sure if this is right or not? have to get a timing light tomorrow but if the car needs to be warmed up then i cant check the timing? ) still only runs with my foot a little down on the pedal and will only do so when the TVS is disconnected and wired like in the photo for some bizarre reason. Still no revs and usually cuts out if i push the pedal too much. So thats where I am at.. if you are lookin at the photos and think.. my God what a mess.. yes.. YES it is. But it will be done after I get the engine running in-situ I will pull the engine out & tidy the engine bay and maybeeeee put a manual box on it. Also the FPR is routed that way cause its handy 😄 and yes its the right way ( in and out lines ) I have got a new filter which I will try get on tomorrow but cant see that making any difference? Thanks again guys and I am happy to be back at it 😄I included a shiny white car now and not the grey and white as before haha Also yes I know the EGR pipe isnt connected ( its blocked off for now as the pipe was broken and was so hard to see actually )

The green LED is not a constant state indicator. In normal operation the LED should light at ignition ON and turn off as soon as the ECU senses engine rotation (crank angle signal from the optical disc). Then it's OFF unless and until the ECU is attempting closed loop. There are many conditions that will cancel the closed loop attempt so don't rely on the green LED to trouble shoot. The ECCS should run the engine well WITHOUT EVER attempting closed loop. Again, closed loop is ONLY for fine tuning the fueling at cruise for emissions and fuel economy. If you have a stumble or poor operation at 2000 RPM the fault is more likely to be worn carbon traces in the AFM if the AFM is original (not rebuilt/renewed). It could also be a host of other issues - MOST of which could be related to the stock ECCS harness wire and connectors. The L28ET really hates a lean condition - loves to run rich. Are you sure: 1. Your injectors have balanced flow 2. Your fuel pressure is correct and the FPR working properly. The FPR should maintain a PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL of ~36.3PSI between fuel and manifold pressure (meaning 36PSI STATIC and 36PSI minus vacuum pressure OR plus boost pressure) So if the intake manifold has 10 pounds of vacuum the PSI should be ~26 pounds 3. No one has messed with your AFM spring 4. EVERY connector on the ECCS harness is CLEAN and making superior contact with a CLEAN mating connector on every sensor or device. Have you checked the wire itself for oxidation? Even in Arizona we get some pretty GREEN copper inside that insulation. (this should have been NUMBER ONE.) 5. Your Bypass Air valve is closing. 6. I'm sure I'm missing something since I left the stock ECCS 10 years ago... (I also had a mysterious issue with the CAS at one time - broken solder connection on one of the connector pins gave me random faults and was a nightmare to track down. CAS optical unit can be replaced and many of the late 80's - early 90's Nissans used the same type unit) A wideband would help you a great deal rather than guessing what your AFR's are (reading plugs or using colortune).

Funk it up.

It is a lot of money for the school and a little bit for the Datsun. Several people contributed directly to the school as well.

That's a lot of money for Datsun. Amazing what prices have done in the last 10-15 years!!

Last of the major metal work was replacing the tail light panel. The original panel had seen better days with the center section pushed in from the rear bumper, some damage around the RH quarter, and at some point someone cut the panel around the exhaust tip for a larger muffler. Rather than fixing each of these areas, replacing the entire panel from Resurrected Classics was the path taken. Overall the panel was a nice piece. Had the right amount of crown across the surface, all the wiring tabs were placed corrected and it fit well to the existing metal with some trimming. Overall removing the existing panel wasn't bad. Just take your time and ensure each spot weld has been drilled out. First fitment of the panel. I'd say out of the box it was 85-90% there in terms of a direct fitment. Biggest job during this was ensuring the seam between the quarter panels and the new metal lined up. While they didn't fit perfectly from the factory, I think we got the new panel pretty close with a bit of trimming.

I’m watching with the necessary accoutrements.

1. EFI Conversion I am not going to tell you every detail about how to do this, just to make the point that while it can be daunting, it is SO WORTH IT. I did an EFI conversion on my “other” 69 510 back in 2018 and have never looked back. The increase in reliability, drivability, and maybe mostly the ability to be informed about the state of the engine, and the ease of monitoring any input or output has made it a pleasure to drive. I have done literally NOTHING other than routine maintenance in 5 years…. Hop in, drive it. Park it for the winter. Hop in April drive it till it snows. Repeat. It’s cool vintage looking. I used the Jenvey Heritage Throttle bodies that look like dual webber carbs. I get the classic look and appeal but it runs like a modern car. On this one I’m doing more or less what Datsun did with the 280z EFI, just the 4 cylinder version of that. Bit of rare kit, but that makes it fun. “L18E” is the thing to look up if you want to find out more. I’m only using the intake manifold. The high tech part of this that I will identify and name is summed up in one acronym, CANBUS. If you do an EFI conversion, get a system that has CANBUS at it’s heart. It will be give you control and monitoring in a hundred ways. I used HALTECH on the first 510, I’m using MegaSquirt 3 Pro/Evo on this one. There are “easier” options, like using a 4 barrel manifold and bolting on Holley’s EFI system with a 4 barrel EFI carb looking thing. But make no mistake, this is not for the faint of heart no matter what you do. Perhaps the hardest part is the need for an “outside”, ie a tuner to make it all run right after you build the hardware.