DC871F

I have had this 240 for about 12 years waiting to be restored. Before I got it, it had been sitting for about 20 years. I believe the car has only 22K miles on it through various indications around the car. I have had several 240's through the years and it seems this one is a true low mileage car. I am doing a complete restoration back to original specs. the car "had" automatic transmission, factory air, Hitachi flat tops. I am converting to manual gearbox with 83 ZX 5 speed, R200 diff, rebuilt 2.4 engine, and been looking at the Vintage Air A/C an not reinstalling the factory A/C. I just starting the process, I hope to be done within the year, but you know how things like this go. Going back to original white with the red interior. Original dash is mint. Sorry the files are so large, dont have the skills to make them smaller on the screen.

So something is not right with my connections. Thanks for checking.

No, I havent heard that before. Kill it with fuel idling? I see no difference when I adjust it idling. Ill check the connections.

So the distributor is a story that is definitely convoluted. The short of the long story is, I ordered one through RockAuto, and the ignition module was bad, so I ordered another one and swapped the module and all's fine, until this low end stumble. I honestly thought that the ignition module was failing again, but I'm just speculating. Over 20 years ago I did this exact thing when replacing a Turbo ZX distributor, where the new distributors module was bad. TVS I have adjusted and it seems to be fine. Some of my electrical connection are far from stellar, and need to be replaced. So telling me you replaced all your connectors is quite inspiring, and it really need to be done. " I have no idea what portion of that work corrected the issue." Isnt that the real story of these cars? But at least you got it fixed. Your issue is exactly how mine in acting, I can accelerate through the stumble. Thanks very much.

All good.

Ok. So mine is stumbling at low RPM when starting off from a a dead stop until about 1500-2000 RPM, smooth otherwise. I have adjusted the resistor many times, without much success. Does anyone have a resistance number that seems to work if measured?

I installed the resistor that you can get at ZCardepot when in was troubleshooting the car in the past. My question is what symptoms are some of you seeing whether a lean or rich condition exists.

What symptoms are you trying to remedy with the added resistor on fuel injection?

Great. I have a manual A/C control dash control unit, and the manual heater core unit it was hooked up to. The engine side items I will need. Thanks.

Anyone have experience on converting ZX auto A/C to manual A/C?

Mint condition 1979 280ZX dash, along with door panels that are in great shape. Included are the lower dash panels with courtesy lights, steering wheel, spare tire cover, center air conditioner vents, radio mount, fuse box cover. Zero cracks. A rare find, with analog Quartz clock, chrome trimmed door pockets, cigar lighter, stereo surround adjuster. Wiring harness is intact, and complete. Both defroster ducts included, pictures only show the one, but both are included. Door panels are in great shape, solid with no tears. Spare tire cover has a few blemishes, but is very acceptable. Discoloration in pictures of dash and A/C vents is cleaner that was drying. Right side lower dash panel with courtesy light was drilled for alarm system, but is not seen when mounted since its on the bottom of the panel, vacuum selector switch on left panel is also intact. Give me a reasonable offer for all.

I saw the BCCD under the intake, doesnt look like I can do much with it. 79-81 have a dashpot, 82 they got wise, or fancy, one of the two. Thanks. Until next time.....

Mine doesnt have those components. I adjusted the TVS (just with mounting screws), didnt take the cover off to manipulate the contacts, all fine now. Whats interesting, is that the TVS is no where near the original position before I even touched it a couple weeks ago. So hopefully this chapter has come to a conclusion. A bad distributor, which was in itself an argues side story being that it came with a bad module, but at least it didnt take long to troubleshoot. I really appreciate all you guys help, I really needed it, and I know more now than I ever thought about how a 280ZX operates, which honestly was just as valuable as fixing the car.

I took it off.

No, I will need a bunch of Bourbon if I start going on the other side of the car and pulling fuel lines off. Not opposed to it, but not tonight.

Put the old module on the new distributor, fixed the hesitation problem (the original problem) damn! So now a new problem, which I hope is the TVS valve since I have adjusted it without mercy . During low speed driving and you let off the gas, it seems the fuel just cuts off, same accelerating at low speed, then it will drive normal. High end it accelerates nice and smooth. So the distributor with the OLD module fixed the issue. Which honestly I have issue with, unless there is an unseen issue (mechanically) with the old distributor. The car has 119,000 miles on it. Any thoughts?

Yes, engine stops (stalls).

What kind of problem were you having? I did not have the cover off, but I trouble shot the TVS earlier, it seemed to check out.

So If I made a living from fixing 280ZX's, I would be really hungry, divorced, and sleeping under a bridge. New distributor is on. Now it wont accelerate past 2100 RPM (no load), then just quits. If I slowly push on the accelerator, say about 2000 RPM, the RPM will pulse between quitting and 2100. Timing is close to 8' as I can get it. I adjusted TVS, and if I adjust it anymore other than where it is now, it wont even accelerate, it will just die. All the meanwhile it idles perfect. All this is static in the shop, cant even get it out to drive because it will just sit there and backfire. I'm almost out of ideas, other than a bad TVS. Theres a saying, enough horsepower you can make a brick fly, maybe if I spend enough money I can make this car run, or more education.

I don't think the vacuum advance is the reason for my issue, but a bad ignition module. When I first got the car back on the road, it ran strong for the next few drives. Then this hesitation set in. It's so stark, it really seems it's dropping cylinder. But the kicker is, finding that sweet spot where it accelerates nicely. Intriguing, yes, to me anyway.

Thanks all. I need the whole thing, my vacuum advance is bad, and to find just the advance is impossible. What do you guys think of the module curing this problem? There is a thread here that they guy says a new module cured his problem of a cylinder that was dropping. The 31-1002 is what all the searches on the autoparts houses say mine is. I dont quite understand that, but.....

Comes with new module, but I'm waiting on the third one to arrive from O,Riellys. First one they sent to the store for me to pick up was a core, no joke, even said core on the box, complete with used dirt and oil. Second one they sent me, the module was broken, cracked, and fixed with RTV, so the checks in the mail.....

Hmm. Will a test unit determine a bad ECU, OB codes? I have talked to a couple different diagnostic shops, and they say its almost impossible to extract "relevant" information from a test unit for this vintage. I'm pretty sure the TVS is good. I have a new distributor on the way since I need a new VA can, plus maybe a little troubleshooting with a new ignition module. I really hate throwing part at problems, but it does serve a little purpose just to get the vacuum system back in shape. I was reading on a thread back a couple years ago, that someone had a cylinder dropping off, and after a bunch of troubleshooting, a new ignition module cured the problem. I admit, I am more of a venturi and float kind of guy, so at this point, I am doing OJT on this engine, but after reading that thread, I feel a little compelled to go ahead and invest a distributor and module. I do feel its dropping a cylinder, which make no sense, but I have been through most things twice at this point. ECU? Maybe a diagnostic code search is in order. Is that worth my time or should that be under the category of remove and replace?

I took AFM off the car, inspected under the cover, clean as a whistle. I also looked at the vane movement, felt nice and smooth, no hangups, not dirty inside the airflow side. It bogs in all gears, I was just giving an example. Deficiencies in communicating in this manner definitely rears its ugly head doesn't it? In 5th gear doing 65 MPH, you can stab the gas peddle to the floor, and notice the car being "held back", but if you do the aforementioned "throttling" of the gas peddle, sure enough you'll find the sweet spot and its off to the races. I really hate to go back through the fuel injection, but maybe theres something up there. But I dont want to muddy the watter quite yet.

ZCardepot resistor. I assumed it was 10 ohms, but reading it actually doesnt say. When I get back to it I'll measure it.