Pomorza

TDC of the dizzy looks like this http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q251/datzenmike/L%20Z%20Heads%20and%20Motors/motordistributortiming.jpg Motor looks like this http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqmWj9GKsGFZqTdRksl-3KHSatSiPrYU5jrmQ5zem6zLIz8EmojDtLT_qc Once you have both lined up the dizzy only goes in one way and this should be tdc of the #1 piston. One its in there start the car and adjust the dizzy until your timing is right (~12 degrees at idle) Jan

Or even better, get a manual http://jalopnik.com/5940410/once-again-car-thieves-thwarted-by-manual-transmission

Thank you

Olzed, I actually had this thought this afternoon. My actualy oil consumption is pathetically low at the moment (last time I did an oil change I lost ~.5 quart). I know if I coast and give it gas I can smell burning oil so I know the consumption is there but I don't drive nearly as much as I use to (the last oil change I did was three months and 1100 miles.). I over reacted since I had a rather large white cloud behind me yesterday afternoon. If anyone could provide me with the images (links) for future reference that would be amazing, I'm also just curious as how one accomplishes this. Thanks all Jan

Hey guys, Yesterday afternoon I started the Z after she had sat for ~24hr. To my surprise a large white cloud of smoke (bluish hue, smelled like oil) came from the exhaust. I drove the Z to work and parked her. There was no smoke when driving (none) and none I could see at idle either. I checked both the oil and the coolant both which looked exactly as they should. (The oil is new so it still looks like honey, the coolant is nice and green, smells like coolant). So I believe that my valve seals are getting old. My question is, I've seen some place (maybe on this site) that there is a way to do these without removing the head, is this true? It didn't do it this morning at all, (no smoking at all) so its rather interesting to me. I did slightly over fill the car when I did the oil change (5 quarts instead of the 4.... Thanks Jan

Leon V yup we were talking about two completely different things. I was indeed speaking about the air FLOW meter not the guage.

Yup that's what I mean (PM has been sent)

Cutoff switches are the way to go in my opinion. Mine has two (one for the starter and one for the fuel pump. They're cheap and easy to hide. Jan

I'm selling an AFM if anyone needs it. It came off a running (about six months ago) so it did work. (I've had it stored since then). PM me if interested. Jan

Jack I've been daily driving my 280z for just over 3 years now (August of 2009). To me the most important thing to have is driving skills. Anyone can kill themselves in any car no matter how safe by driving like an idiot. I'd agree that a rollcage might be overkill but if you want one go nuts. There's three bigs things I did to improve the Z. One I upgraded the stock suspension to a more agressive one. (it doesn't have to be updated but in good shape is a must). I updated all the busings to poly and I updated the head lights.(a lot of people over look this but it gets pretty damn dark out here in the desert). Jan

Mike, I run MS1 on my Z. Way more power and way easier to find gremlins (which I had.). Anyhow I don't remember jumping any pins on the circuit board but I could be wrong. The support for this is pretty insense (I've built one of these completely from scratch now) so its all there (on the internet or from the company). That being said if/when you get the its all about taking your time and doing it right. Tuning is by far the most tedious part at least from my stand point. If you need any help builing/tuning one of these things shoot me an email (me) and I'll help if the guys and DIY can't. Thanks Jan

Hello guys This evening while driving the Z my gauge stopped working. I drove it the five blocks home and started investigating what exactly went wrong. Long an behold the single wire that goes to the temp sensor (the one for the gauge clearly) broke apart. Clearly the years have not treated this wire well. Question is, does anyone know what end one must use to connect to the water temp sensor. I tried using regular butt connectors (i have 100's at my house) but none of them worked well. Any help would be great. Thanks Jan

Guys, I have learned this the hard way in my Z. Vapor can happen (can) if the system is not completely isolated. This is what i mean, if you look at the fuel injection system as a pressure vessel (in our case at ~40psi), there is no chance for air to get into said system if it is seal. With it sealed there fule has neither the space or the needed air to vaporize. But if you have a leaky injector, bad check valve, or an assortment of aother issues pressure will not hold in the system. Once the system's pressure is low this gives the fuel enough room (and air in some cases) to vaporize and thus cause "vapor lock." That being said, when does this "stumble" occur? Is it during driving, during idling, when you first restart the car when hot? The only time I've ever had problems with vapor lock was when I let the car sit after a drive (a longish one). On restart the car would run really lean for a few minutes and then drive fine the rest of the time. Hope that help Jan

I don't know if anyone asked this but do you have a fan shroud? I know people that believe these don't do anything but they do indeed help cooling the engine. Check the fan clutch also as stated above Jan

R's have a resistor in the plug that, for what I've been told, reduces the amount of electrical noise given off by the plugs. I'm sure there's other reasons but that was the one I was given by a few people. I've never run anything else but NGK's in my Z or any other L motor at that. They're not too expensive and don't seem to give me any issues at all. Hope that helps Jan

The large thing there is the center under the crank pulley is the oil pump. It's more then likely not leaky coolant, its probably leaking from above and coming down all way there. If you look at the top left of the picture you can see coolant sitting on one of the bolts up there. Something above there is leaking. Check the water pump, hoses and all the fitting that the hoses go to. Hope that helps Jan

deadflo, Blue described the basic process. I did this about a year ago and took a few pictures if you'd be interested.

LeonV, Correct me if I'm wrong, but just because compression is even on all cylinders does not necessarily mean that the head gasket is good? That being said I have seen aluminum heads have pin hole leaks in the water jacket which causes water (coolant) to leak into the combustion chamber and thus causing the said issues. Either way the head should come off to see what the problem is.

Jim, What kind of miss? Is it a miss fire as in the engine, (poor firing, hesitation type thing) or is it in the intake (like a popping noise). Both are never good but if its the latter (popping in the intake) you maybe running lean. Remember just because you have propper fuel pressure does not mean you have propper volume of fuel entering the combustion chamber. With old FI system like the one in 76s (I have one) the electronics tend to fade over time and lean the heck out of the mixture. To really understand how the old L-jet fuel injection works on Z's I've included a link (TADA). Its of an old manual I found someplace on the net when I first got the car. I used it constantly when I had the old L-jet system to make the car run better. I finally had it set and running the way I wanted and then the wiring finally started taking a crap:mad:. Go through it and see if you've done everything suggested. For reference, throwing parts at a miss with these cars rarely ever fixes them unless you know exactly what the problem is. (I learned that the hard way) Hope that helps Jan

Guys, So here's a question. Going of what Wade said in the post above, I could use a standard one wire capacitor instead of the one that Datsun used correct? I ask as at the moment my car is not getting spark period, none, nada. Its not helping my injection system either (aftermarket) as its not getting a tach signal from the coil. I don't think the actual condenser has anything to do with it but I don't like using 30+ year old condensers with brand new coils and dizzies. I was looking at just getting this one from autozone earlier in the weekbut chose to use the one I had found at the junkyard. That being said I chose to use the stock coil to see if the ignition problem I was having was coil based or something different. Sadly it was the "something different" case, now I just need to figure out what. Thanks for all your help guys Jan

Thanks blue. The capacitor had two black wires coming out of each end. There's nothing on the case color wise and the only writing it has is "c-122 250-0.47 Sy" if that tell you anything. I'll have the fire extingisher ready just in case the thing explodes. Thanks Jan

Thanks Blue. I use it for a slightly different reason but basically I need to get rid of the electrical noise in the circuit. I can't really tell you which side of the condenser is postive and which side is negative. I wired it the same way mine was wired. I haven't run the car yet as I would like to make sure I did it right. What could go wrong if I have it wired backwards? Thanks again Jan

Hello all This past weekend I was changing out the coil in the Z with a stock unit; the blaster II coil is great (MSD) but sadly I'm tired of going through rotors every few months. Well in the process I unplugged the condenser that sits atop the coil mount. The wire that connects it to the coil broke off from old age. I spent the large part of this week searching endlessly for a new one. Sadly the only condensers I could find only had one wire and not the two that the one in my Z has. I ended up going to the local wreching yard and pulling a rather nice looking condenser out of a late 70's maxima (I want to say it was 79). It looks exactly like the one I have in the Z and has the same values. So I have a few questsion for you all. First off, is there a reason that it is grounded? I ask as the condenser, accordoing to THIS is connected to the positive side of the coil. I was alway lead to believe that the negative side is the ground on things. Secondly does anyone have any idea where one could get a new one of these? Thirdly, since I have a "new" one that I pulled out of that maxima (810) does it matter which way it goes? Its not labeled + or - anywhere that I can see. Thanks for all your help guys, Jan

Are you sure its the fan clutch that is whining, could it be anything else? I don't believe I've personally ever heard a fan clutch whine. When they break they tend to just lock up and you're fan will always be on. (and the car will sound like a jet driving down the road).

Good point there mjr, copper spray does work if the gasket is in good shape. It all depends on condition. When I did mine a few years back I put RTV on the whole top of the cover and I haven't had a leak yet. When I did my brother's I did the same thing and oil leaked out like a siv. Jan