beandip

Be vary careful with this engine. Any time one of these engines are stopped , there are two valves open to the outside air. This has two problems , one is the possibility of the cylinders rusting and the other is the valve stems can rust and cause them to stick. Be Vary sure to first , turn the engine over several times BY HAND ! With a wrench on the crank pulley. As Carl said , remove the valve cover and pour oil over the cam and all components. And add the AFT in the cylinders . I would let that oil soak over night. Then use the wrench and see if the engine is free. With the plugs removed you should be able to turn over the engine easily. Pour oil into the new filter before you screw it on, it helps a little to get oil moving to the bearings just a little quicker when you do start it . When you do get her running keep the RPM up around 1500 to 2K , this will benefit the oiling of the cylinders and provide oil pressure to the bearings. Watch the temp as she warms up. I have had these engines heat up because of air locked up in the thermostat and keeping the coolant from contacting it and it stays closed . Watch it closely not just the gage feel around he head with your hand . If it get really hot to the touch shut id down. Let it set for a few minutes and start it up again, conducted heat will open the thermostat and coolant should flow. I wouldn't add any antifreeze until much later . When you drain all the fluids , just add plain water to the rad. If you have leaking hoses or anything then you can do the repairs with only water to deal with. when all is good I use 50/50 mix. Let us know how your car comes to life . Gary

You tried jumping it and did it turn over ? So you needed to jump it , is the Batt dead? If you turn on the head lights and blow the horn do the lights dim or go out? If so the batt is dead. Have you been having problems with the car recently or is this something that just happened out of the Blue? You didn't give much info to go on. Have you been working on the car ? If so what? Gary

send a PM to Allan Thomas maybe he can read he Japanese writing . There may be some info in that.

the ''other event '' EScanlon mentioned is planed to be the following weekend ,the 25th - 26th I gave E the wrong dates. At this point this event is still going on as planned. Gary Sorry E.

to avoid loosing the Z , I would call for a flat bed tow. You have learned a lesson here and I don't need to say more. But leaving the Z there for more 24 hrs is asking for some one to steel it. Don't compound one bad judgement with another. You won't be able to do the repair in a parking lot. So either have it taken to a repair shop or your home. Others can be of more help with he job ahead than me. Start with a multimeter and check the fusible links and fuse block. then go from there. the problem can be in the harness now because with a dead short like this if the wires got hot enough to melt the insulation they could be fused together or grounded out inside he harness. Gary

If you used new nuts and staked them you will not have any problem. The flats on the stub axles with the nut bent over them even slightly will not allow he nut to rotate. if you did not stake the nuts . I recommend that you do before you drive the car vary hard and or far. Gary

Phil, all the ZX dist that are form a non turbo car and manual trans. are the same. So look for one from a '79---'83ZX And the '79-'80 are the ones with the module with the 12-80 marked on the side of it. This is the module to use with Carburetors . The 12-80 module can also be found on the 720 pickup, 200SX ,210, 310,510 and the Maxima If you find a dist at a bone yard be sure to also get the mount that fits between the Dist. and the engine. The 240 part will not work even though they look the same. You will not be able to properly time the engine. I found a great unit on a '84 Maxima for a friend just the other day. Now it has he wrong module but this is a snap to change. Gary

5/8'' gas line can be found at NAPA. Large gas line is sometime use on inboard boats. Sold by the foot and not expensive. Gary

Look for the black/white wire coming from the tach to the ignition. The tach must be in the loop, or the ignition wont fire. Gary

I just used a putty knife and started scraping. If doing the tar mat that is inside on the floors . Dry Ice to freeze it and the putty knife will lift it off, If where you live it is still cold it may come off without the Dry Ice.

You shouldn't ever need the choke on a warm engine. She should fire right off. When the engine is cold , this is a totally different matter. Always use the choke to start. When the engine finally does start . Is there smoke coming out the exhaust? like a cloud of black smoke? Did they get into the carbs? Because if they messed with the float levels and set them up too high , this could cause raw gas to run into he intake and flood the engine , making it difficult to start. A cold engine can use he extra gas , but one that is up to temp it is too rich and will flood it. This is just a guess on what is happening. Since you have spark .

It is not just the harness you need. It's the computer, and all the support items that are necessary for the system to function, and no you will REPLACE the old harness. The gas tank and fuel pump are different among many other things. By the way I see you live in California. Does this car need to pass emissions testing?

When a clutch goes bad it is almost always because the clutch disk is worn out and the clutch is slipping . Sounds like yours is engaged. Something isn't right here. Where did you bleed the clutch? just at the master cylinder ? maybe? Sorry , but sometimes guys don't have the knowledge and we need to go back to the basics. If there are no leaks of brake fluid any where , I hesitate to say that it is the master cylinder. I have never seen one of these go bad without leaking fluid. There must be air in the line or in the master, try bleeding the master and then the slave again. This may save you a bunch of work and $$.

You didn't say weather or not you have spark at the plugs. Check that before you tow to a Shop. That is most likely what will be the first thing that they do. for $50.00 a hour. Plus the tow bill. you can always have someone you don't like hold the end of the plug wire and turn the key. You will know for sure if there is spark. I saw a guy I worked with do that to one of his kids that was being a smart arse. while he was working on his lawn mower.

This is going to be a big challenge to switch the whole electronic fuel injection and turbo and all. Forget the 260 air cleaner it's not even close to expect that to work. You might find it a better choice to look into a after market injection system from my limited exposure to them they are much less complicated .

If you can have someone turn the engine over while you check the plug wire for spark. that will tell you if it is ignition or not. If you received some dirty gas and plugged the filterers is a possibility but this is not likely. Being that this is a ZX you have a module on the side of the Dist. If this is beginning to fail it will act like this also. So check for spark at the plugs if no spark , look to the module. Gary

Welcome to hte club. Good luck in your search for and good Z . Gary

Ask at your local body shop. they should have a box full of them. bring your badge with you because they come in different sizes. Gary

We don't have the cold here in the North West like you do up in the North country . But we get our share of rain. Global Warming my arse . It has been 10* below normal for the past 3+ months. Although not that cold comparatively like Canada. We haven't seen the sun for several months. Supposed to clear and hit in the 70s this weekend and NorthWest Z is having a cruise and I can't wait. I am getting ''shack nasty''. Right now it is 55 and raining again. I cant keep the damn ducks out of the swimming pool and I have about worn the paint off the Z polishing it. NOT. When my Z was all in pieces for those 3 years I found it hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel then. You guys came through for me. Summer is just around the corner. things are turning around. Gary:cheeky:

Do you realise this thread is 3 years old?

the first two caps shows some wear but the third one doesnt look all that good . What does the crank look like? I would think the crank would polish out fine just from the looks of the bearings. If you need to replace the pump , go for a turbo pump. They deliver more volume, mine gives me 25 psi at idle and 50 while driving after the engine is totally warmed up. Not much difference in price either.

The Euro stage 1s Carl Beck was the ''ram rod'' on having them duplicated and they had to make over 70 sets to get the price reasonable. These are Lerner springs not progressive , this is why we were able to cut them and still have a decent ride.

I will say again. I have Precision brand weather stripping . I bought the complete kit. it fits '70-'78 Zs. The rubber fits perfect and is pliable and soft. I have no leaks. I can only account for my 240 but they have been on the car since 03 and I couldn't be more satisfied. A good friend is just starting on there Z and I recommended Precision to them also. Gary

Have you had any trouble with the ignition switch? I don't claim to know much about the year of Z you are driving. If you had a 240 I would say to look at the ignition switch. With your car do you know where the power is controlled to the fuel pump? Have you had any other trouble or have you been working on it and maybe a unrelated problem. I am trying to raise questions since no one else has come forward here. Could it be that you are loosing power to the pump? It must be something along these lines since you have power to the plugs as you stated. Check for loose connection at the pump , or maybe a compromised connection along the way . Is the pump grounded ? I hope some of this helps. Gary:cry: