darom

I had a distributor rebuilt by Philbin. I emailed them the specs I wanted and shipped them a junk yard 1979ZX distributor with a shot ignition module and stuck frozen vacuum advance. This was the best investment I've ever made for my 76. The car easily revs to high rpms without a hiccup. I converted my RH side ignition transistor to the distributor mounted ign. module. Yes, I would definitely recommend their service.

zKars, don't feel too bad - you were helping your friend out. We are all human and make mistakes. It took me 2 days to figure out the no-start condition on my 76. When I replaced the intake's exhaust gasket, I stuffed paper towels to keep dirt out. After cleaning and putting the intake back, I couldn't figure out why even with the air/fuel/spark I couldn't start the damn thing. Of course, I had a bunch of paper inside the cyl. head! :-) It is funny now, but at that time I felt like hitting myself with the hammer on the head to teach a lesson to pay attention.

I have a 76, if I remember correctly the turn signal wiring all goes through the hazard switch. I took mine apart and cleaned it. It was corroded. That fixed my driver's side signal. Give it a shot. Regards!

I am wondering if that PO's wire splicing was part of his/her anti-theft solution? Basically, he disrupted the starter solenoid trigger wire with a switch or a relay? Check to see if you are getting 12V at the elec. fuel pump terminals. Before starting the car, I would drain/clean the fuel tank from rust, replace fuel filter, blow fuel lines from rust/debris etc.

Beautiful car. Thanks for the additional photos, JL. Is that a fuel leak (image 1224)? I am wondering if when the fuel tank got hit, there is now a crack?

Stanley, if you do decide to install the heater, here is the one I put on my 76: Vintage Air Compac Heaters 50515-VUH It hid nicely in the center, I had to fabricate 2 mounting plates. It freed up a lot of space behind the dash. Regards!

The same thing happened to me when I sold my 1998 Camaro z28 to a guy from Pasadena. He hadn't transferred the title to his name and I started getting $90-110 dollar parking tickets. The interesting thing is that I did fill-out and mailed the title transfer form on the back of my pink slip. I guess the DMV never paid attention to it. I had to contact a few times the local parking authorities there letting me know of who owned the vehicle. Finally for a few months I stopped getting the parking tickets. One day I received a letter from the impound place asking me since I was the last registered owner, if I would be interested in purchasing the car back from them for the amount owed to them (over $1,500). I called them back next day (I had over $3,000 invested in engine/intake/suspension alone) wanting to get my car for this amount to find out that the owner finally had showed up and paid the fees! :-( Assuming your car is still at the impound lot, maybe, you can contact the impound business owner and offer him/her the amount you can afford to pay? Or stop by and negotiate in person? Just a thought.

No problem, the MSA front dam does have a curve that you will need to 'adjust' to your fender. Pardon the dust. I didn't install the read MSA bumper. Good luck with your project!

Aluminum straps are attached to the mounting points Datsun used to hold the valance (I think). Once you prepare the area for the MSA 2 to be mounted, you will see them. I didn't use sheet metal screws. I used total 6 10mm bolts with big washers and locking nuts to hold the air dam. Plus the 2 at the bottom that you saw in the picture. I didn't fill the gaps, the air dam was test fitted/sanded etc., then painted off the vehicle. I thought keeping the lines is better, in addition taking the air dam won't damage the existing paint job in the future. The only thing I wish I did was to paint the air dam inside (you never know when you want to show your car on the lift to someone :-). The longest part of the project was to establish clean lines around wheel well area.

Same here - I used 3 10 mm bolts on each side at the top, and 2 aluminum mounts to prevent the bottom from flexing.

Zed Head, can you post some pictures of the duct/fan setup in your engine bay? Thanks!

In this case I would get the Fuel Injection Book and do all the tests the book mentions dealing with all kind of problems done at the _ECU harness connector side_. Hopefully, your multimeter will give you a clue which circuit is loose or disconnected. This will take you an hour. For example, while running the temp sensor tests, your multimeter shows 15kOhm reading when the book shows 0.5kOhm. You now go directly to your temp sensor engine connectors and repeat the test. It shows the correct reading. Now you identified the electrical wire pair which causes this abnormal reading. Regards!

After you check the fuel tank, lines and fuel filter, I would get the FSM: 1. Doesn't your 78 verify upon the start the oil pressure sending unit's input to run the fuel pump? Earlier models like my 76 used the AFM switch to control via the fuel relay the operation of the fuel pump. If the oil pressure sending unit is bad, it logically should interfere with starting the engine. 2. FSM outlines steps how to test the fuel pump relay (big relay under your steering wheel), I'd check it. Regards!

You should be able to test your sensors from the ECU plug, it will take you half an hour: at cold and once it is warm. I would even try to make it run really hot, shut down and immediately retest every sensor again (esp. the AFM) per Fuel Injection book. I am wondering if one of the sensor wires is close to the exhaust, and once hot, creates an infinite resistance. Does your car have an aluminum shield under the intake? I have a '76 and without that shield the exhaust manifold would have cooked everything there. I also installed another shield from a later model to protect the master brake cylinder area. To sum it up, it looks like our cars (smog results confirm that) run leaner than they should. Lean mixture makes cars run hot. My freshly rebuild Cardone AFM was set to be on a lean side, the WTS potentiometer mod fixed that problem without opening up the AFM for adjustments.

I use the 5k resistor mounted in the old Clifford alarm enclosure. I added 500 Ohm to the circuit. The car passed CA smog with flying colors. The idle fuel pressure is the same as the PO's (29-30 psi) at idle. I tested the fuel pressure with 2 new fuel pressure regulators - there is an electric fuel pressure sender in the line, the manifold vacuum is 16 (no leaks, thanks to FastWoman's yogurt cup :-) testing tool).

Hi Samson, any updates? Did you re-test your car? I would assume that catalytic converter should have helped you pass. Regards!

I found an Excel spreadsheet on this forum which listed suspension bolt/nut combos + pictures. I stripped the images due to the size of the attachment. I ordered all metric parts from an online vendor (with the exception of some bolts) for my 280z. I thank the person who complied this list. With best regards! 240z_hardware.xls

Samson, did you get your car to pass smog and what kind of numbers did it post?

Here is a link to the downloadable FSM for your car: http://www.xenons30.com/reference.html All the info is here for troubleshooting your issue.

I don't think a vacuum leak will cause a rich condition. On the contrary, it probably should lean his mixture out. What I suggested was in response to the OP's low vacuum readings. I hope he posts his solution to the problem to close the thread and give Z fans another thing to check :-)

Remote shot, but it is worth checking - examine your vacuum hose from the brake booster going to your intake. There is one-way check valve. Maybe you are loosing vacuum on that side, however you would have probably noticed it due to a different brake pedal resistance feel. Did the new FPR resolve the issue?

My 76 has the same 2 wires (white) next to the ECU. Do you have car junk yards around where you can get a used FPR just to run a quick test? The new ones are about $50. Or check the hybridz.org's 'Classifieds' section - I usually have good luck finding used parts there.

With such a low vacuum, you are getting 34-36 psi fuel pressure? IMHO, this is too much. You should be getting this pressure when the engine is under load. At idle, the numbers will be in mid/high-20s. I don't think your fuel pressure regulator is doing its job. Here is another good thread to consider (the guy is running aftermarket cam with 5 in of vacuum): http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/thread40602.html

Did you download and read the "280-Z ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION • THEORY • TROUBLESHOOTING", aka the Fuel Injection Bible? I think pages 14, 15, 52 and 54 might help. I realize that you said that you had replaced the water temp sensor with a new one. Have you checked its resistance cold and hot? Have you tested the air temp sensor in the AFM? What are its resistance parameters? Have you tried testing the operation of the Cold Start Valve (CSV) while it is out? Does it continuously spray fuel? Have you tried unplugging it and see if the car runs leaner? What is your fuel pressure? Excessive fuel pressure with a malfunctioning fuel pressure regulator will cause the car to run rich. What happens if you unplug your AAR? Does the idle stabilize? Here is a good thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/thread41966.html where FastWoman mentions the "yogurt cup test" to find the vacuum leaks. GL!

You will need to attach the hand held mechanical oil pressure gauge to the sender's port and test it. Once you confirmed that there is oil pressure, you will go to the electrical oil pressure gauge inside your car, identify the wire that sends resistance to the gauge, put your multimeter on it and see what readings you are getting. If there is proper resistance, you can confirm that this is indeed your electrical gauge that failed. On my 76 I was getting the right resistance, but the gauge was bad. I installed an autometer's sender + gauge and am getting the right readings. The stock gauge was very inaccurate (basically, it will show 'low', 'middle' and 'high'). If you take an aftermarket route, don't forget to order the right adapter for the sender (BPT to NPT).