FastWoman

My bad. Yes, it's 4 guage numbers, not 2.

Mike, the fusible links are those wire loops with female spade connectors on the ends that are connected inside the two little (2" x 2"?) plastic assemblies on the passenger side of your engine compartment. The assemblies are mounted to a larger (6" x 6"?) black box, which is mounted to the inner fender. (Your various major relays are located inside the black box, BTW.) The fusible link assemblies have little white covers over them that typically turn very crumbly and might even be missing. Anyway, a fusible link is simply a funky, ultra-slow-blow fuse. It's a length of wire that is about 2 gauge sizes smaller than the wire they're protecting (e.g. a 16 gauge fusible link wire to protect a 14 gauge line). Mine were all crumbly and awful, so I replaced them. The project is documented here... http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35588 I have photos towards the end. My new fuse block assemblies are mounted where your fusible link assemblies would be mounted.

Tyler, check out the following source for Japanese OEM-style connectors: http://www.vintageconnections.com/ When you get your switch, try to find a mating connector there. Meanwhile, if you must drive your car, wrap up any dangling bare wire bits SEPARATELY with electrical tape. If you can leave your car where it is, pull the cable off of the negative battery post, until you can get your loose wires under control. I understand you can download a factory service manual for free on the Internet. Others here may be able to point you to a useful link. You can also order a used paper one from Amazon or Ebay, as I did. The FSM will show you which wires go in which connector positions. If your FSM is like mine, you'll have two different wiring diagrams that sort of intermingle -- one for the emergency flashers and one for the turn signals. Good luck! PS Nothin' wrong with a 280! It's a different sort of car. A 240 is a better car for racing, weekend driving, and for fixing up for sale. A 280 is better as a daily driver, IMO, provided the fuel injection is in good shape. It's more comfortable and reliable, and you won't cry quite so much if someone leaves a huge ding in your door. It all depends on what you're into.

Enrique, I do agree with you. However, sometimes people also get "stuck" and need a temporary fix. Sometimes people need a cheap/free solution to get them as far as their next paycheck. Sometimes the car is a rusty old heap, and the object is simply to get it running and legal for as little money as possible. The fact that Tyler is paying a mechanic to fix it doesn't mean that he can afford a proper fix. It could simply be that he's over his head with anything electrical and has no other choice but to pay an "expert." I know *I* would fix it with a replacement switch, but not everyone fixes things the way I do -- or you do. In the end, all I'm suggesting, if a proper fix isn't feasible or available, is for a jumper to be inserted into the switch connector. Then it's a rather obvious thing to figure out why the hazard light switch doesn't work: It's not plugged in, and there's a jumper plugged into the wiring harness connector. Perhaps an adhesive label applied to the backside of the defunct switch to label it "bad" would also be a good idea. Anyway, no criticisms, and your 2c is well appreciated. I just know too many people living from paycheck to paycheck to make too many assumptions.

Your turn signal won't flash if either one of the signal lamps (front or rear) is out. If the rear one stays on solid, check the front to see if it's out. The third lamp, of course, is the dashboard indicator light. Check that it's working too. Headlights are electrically another matter. Check your grounds. The high/low beam switch should have a good, beefy ground (black wire) on the other side of a 6-wire connector. Check that the contacts in the connector aren't burnt. On the other end, electrically, your headlights and signal lights draw their +12 power from one of the brown fusible links (don't know which one). Because your signal lights are working (sort of), I doubt this is the problem. However, check your voltage at the battery, at the fusible link, and at the left top two fuses in the passenger fuse panel. That should all read the same. If there are any significant voltage drops between these points when the lights are on, you'll know you have a faulty connection somewhere. In all likelihood, you'll have some very corroded crimp connections in the wiring tree on the righthand side of your engine compartment. Aside from the +12 from the fusible link and the ground on the other side of the high beam switch, everything else runs through two different circuits (fed by the above two fuses). Multiple things would have to be out for your headlights (both of them) not to work, but that's quite plausible too. My guess is that it's the ground wire off of the high/low beam switch. If you find that your connections and/or switches are getting too crusty and unreliable, you might do as I did. I wired my headlights to relays, taking most of the current load off of the (precious) combination switch. This sort of work isn't for the electrically clueless, but it's not rocket science either. Do you need 1978 wiring diagrams, or is this a job for your mechanic?

I tend to agree with others that the best fix is to replace the switch. That's a repair you can easily do yourself for less money (for the part) than you would pay the mechanic. However, if you need something to get you by for a while... I'm looking at my '78 FSM. From what has been said above, there may be differences in the way my '78 and your '76 are wired. However, if the overall logic of the circuit is similar, I note the following: The switch is the first stop between the turn signal fuse ( one of the IGN circuit fuses in the passenger side fuse box) and the signal lamp system, so one of the wires coming into the switch is going to be +12VDC. When the hazards are not switched on, this contact is closed. When the hazard switch is turned on, this contact is broken, the left and right signal lamps are connected together, and these lamps are powered through a hazard flasher unit off of a different fuse (from the BAT circuit of the passenger side fuse box). With all due respect to EScanlon, who is very knowledgeable about electrical matters, bypassing the switch is simply a matter of recreating the connections the switch would make in the "hazard off" position. In this case (AT LEAST IN A '78 MODEL!!), you'd find the wire that's +12 with the key in the IGN position and dead with the key off (color coded green in my car). Then find the wire that leads to the turn signal flasher unit (color coded green with a yellow stripe in my car). Jumper between the two, and don't connect anything else up. That would do it IN MY 1978 VERSION. As far as I can tell IN MY 1978 VERSION, it would be possible to blow anything up by connecting the wrong two wires, as the closest ground is on the other side of each lamp. You might have lights come on inappropriately, but that would probably be it. I guess it is possible, though, that you could blow one of the two fuses involved in this circuit (either for the turn signal or the hazard) by jumpering the two +12 wires together. That could happen in the ignition off state, where the two fuses would back-feed power from the BAT circuit to the IGN circuit. If one of the fuses doesn't blow, it could cause your engine to keep running even with the ignition key off, and it could eventually drain your battery (because the IGN circuit is never switched off). However, it wouldn't cause permanent damage to anything. Your fuses protect against that. Again, and this is important, THIS IS ALL WITH RESPECT TO 1978 WIRING. THERE MAY BE DIFFERENCES IN THE WIRING OF YOUR 1976.

Is it important to you to have only original parts, even if your hazard flashers aren't functional, or do you want to get your system functional, even if you have to replace the OEM switch and/or connector with a generic one? I'm assuming your '76 is wired similarly to my '78, and I'd be happy to check the '78 factory service manual for you later, when I have a bit more time.

There may be any number of causes for your car's running rich, but it probably wouldn't be a vacuum leak. Vacuum leaks tend to lean the mixture. Even so, it's a very good idea to get vacuum leaks under control. The air flow meter can be adjusted to alter fuel/air mixture, but that's a job for someone with the equipment.

I think he was asking about the fuel injection module (driver's side), not the ignition module (passenger side). Module might not be the right word, granted, but I think he's talking about the big box with the semiconductors in it. I'm not being critical, mind you. I'm the world's worst dyslexic. I understand and sympathize with the error(s). DYSLEXICS, UNTIE!! :classic:

Er, well, that's where the relays are located. The control module is located behind the driver's kick panel.

I read in another thread about an overflow reservoir cap that kept being blown off, with lots of coolant spillage, etc. Others were speculating it was a blown head gasket (i.e. with exhaust pressurizing the coolant system and blowing coolant and gasses out through the overflow). Look here: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35701 It would appear the problem still isn't diagnosed, but it looks like you might have a similar problem.

FAIW, the warranty book for my '78 has a page where the original configuration of the car, owner info, etc. are recorded, apparently by the dealer. The engine s/n is also included there (at least on my car).

Hi Draztik, FAIW, I think the starter cable on our new Dodge Hemi truck is about 6 gauge (!!). It seems to start just fine. Maybe it's a gear reduction starter. For your car, I think 4 ga would probably work much better. I've always been pleasantly surprised at the new breath of life a starter system gets with new cables. :-)

Yes, head milling will result in the sprockets being closer to each other, so the same number of links of of chain inbetween will leave the cam sprocket turned a bit and the tensioner ever so slightly more relaxed. The effect on valve timing would be somewhat like having a worn chain. I don't know much beyond that. I think I've read that the cam towers can be shimmed to add the height back, but I might be imagining that.

What was smoking? The starter itself or the + cable? Is the cable in good condition? Is it a good quality of cable? When the cable got hot, was it just at its one end? It's possible the connector at the end isn't making good contact with the wire. (Just a theory.) If it's the starter I think you're in good shape. I think most of the AutoZone parts are lifetime warranty. You don't even need your receipt, as they'll just look it up on their computer.

Hey, I had my Z out at night for the first time. (I don't really get out much.) Wow, my lights were beautifully bright and steady. That was the best $5 I spent in quite a while.

It seems this is a purists' question, and the criteria only serve to exclude others from the club. Can't we cast a broad net and say that sports cars are used for competition driving, whether on a curvy course, a drag strip, or in the mud? Dunno, maybe the bar could be set higher: A *real* sportscar has only one seat and no doors.

FAIW, I've just done a lot of upgrading to my electric, including the addition of headlight relays. My total cost for the headlight upgrade was about $5. Yes, I used cheap Chinese knock-offs of Bosch relays, which I bought off of Ebay. They're rated at 40A, so I expect them to hold up. If they don't, I can buy name-brand Bosch relays and swap them out in a few minutes time. If you feel you can unwrap about a foot of wiring tree, identify the four largest red wires (but check your FSM, in case the 240 is wired with different color codes from my 280), snip them, solder/crimp in new connections to the relays, and wrap everything back up, you might want to consider this approach. This part of my upgrade project took me about 2 hr. I think about 2/3 of that time was spent cleaning oxidized copper wiring, so that I could solder it. Use a fine sandpaper, splay the strands, wipe, rearrange, splay, wipe, etc., until shiny. Crimp, and then infuse solder for a solid connection. I posted a schematic in this thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35588 It's pretty simple stuff. No need to buy an expensive kit to do it. If you want to go back to stock, you'll be able to reconnect the four headlight wires to each other, and you're done. That's not completely unaltered, of course, but the evidence will be wrapped up in a wiring harness where nobody will see it. (You'd be amazed at the misdeeds and bad original design I found wrapped up in my own harness.)

You can put a big choke on the power supply to the CB. Better still, you might run both your (fused) +12 and your ground directly from the battery. If you do that, I bet you won't need a choke. Twist your + and gnd wires together, and keep them away from the ignition circuitry, including the ignition module on the righthand kick panel. Before doing these things, though, you might want to make sure the noise is through the cigarette lighter and not RF interference. Try the CB on (internal) battery power and make sure you don't get the same thing.

An upside down "N" is still an "N." An upside down "Z" is still a "Z." "N" for Nissan. "Z" for 280Z. The steering wheel is correct in any orientation, just like the wheel centers. It's all part of the great circle of life. Be happy.

Here are a few photos, BTW: Pardon the fuzziness of this photo:

Hey, I finished with this (not so) little project! Here are a few pics. I'm sorry I didn't detail the whole process, but I'm not going to handle any of my cameras with dirty hands. Here are the two MaxiFuse blocks. I think they look pretty nice. Here's how I mounted them to the relay box. I used two rails of 1/4" aluminum edge trim: Two more views of the boxes: Note the black epoxy paint on the vacuum bottle. It doesn't look quite as sickly this way. Here's a view of the wiring harness. Note the extra branch, which goes to the headlight relays. (The relays work great, BTW, just as I sketched out.) I know what y'all are thinking. You're probably thinking I need to put a bit more color under the hood to jazz things up a bit. I'll consider it. After a job well done We decided to go out in our powerboat to have a sunset dinner on the water. Our transmission went belly up. We had it rebuilt only 3 years ago. A kind soul dragged us back to dock. Next project... FOLLOW-UP: It wasn't the transmission. Yea! It was something jamming up the propeller shaft but not anything obvious like a rope wrapped around it. Sort of fortunate that it happened, because we discovered that both of our anodes had rotted away. (Replacing anodes while holding one's breath is quite an adventure!)

I had an old '73 Plymouth Fury III whose gas tank got punctured by a bouncing stone. (I spent a week wondering who kept siphoning my gas!) I cleaned around the hole, kneaded some epoxy putty (gas tank repair stuff), and quickly stuffed it over the hole. The repair held for at least few years until the day I sold it. I dont know if that would work for you, but it did for me.

A solid solution, as in a solid line? Yes. I simply bent a length of 3/8" copper tubing to shape, painted it with black epoxy, and connected the two ends with short lengths of generic hose. I used a pulley wheel (i.e. for ropes) as a form for bending, so that the tubing wouldn't kink. Finally, I took my OEM vacuum line, which is still in "OK" shape, and put it in storage. My replacement is 100% functional and durable and looks quite alright. BTW, I also replaced the rubber hose from my valve cover to my throttle body with a 1/2" painted copper line. I made my own flame arrester out of bronze screening, which I soldered into the tube.

Very nice, Arne! I've bookmarked that one! Mike, if it works, it works. You probably went to more of a heroic effort than I would have. FAIW, I've discovered that copper tubing of various sizes makes an excellent large-gauge and multiple wire crimping material, as long as you sweeten the connection by infusing it with solder. I've been reconstructing the high current bits of my engine compartment wiring tree this way. I even used a short length of 3/8" copper tubing to construct a great output post connector for my alternator. It's really beefy and actually looks not too homemade.