Pomorza

Gas gauges in Z's (or at least mine to particular) are never accurate. It isn't abnormal for mine to read F one second and then half a minute or two later. 6 gallons of gasoline is roughly 1/3 of a tank (I believe they have 17 gallon tanks) so it should read 1/3. Unless your car is running ridiculously rich burning six gallons of gas while idling is pretty impossible in my view unless your were running it for hours on end and even than that's a stretch. In my opinion your sender, the gauge or the wiring are the culprit here and the readings your getting are off. hope that helps Jan

Blake I would say your theory maybe right now that I think about it. If the injector is leaking being unplugged shouldn't change the numbers that drastically. For what I remember the easiest way to check if they function properly is to do a electrical test on them correct? My advise would still be to get the timing down and see where the a/f ratio is. It is possible that someone had "fun" with the AFM and changed the a/f ratio or the box is defective in some manner. You did also look at the water temp sensor and all the other electrical components that effect fuel injection correct? These things can affect your emissions just as much as a bad a/f ration. Jan

Yup if you unplugged the injector and the numbers grew worse that's a good sign that the injectors are leaking. As mentioned above send them to out and get them cleaned and rebuilt. You could take the more expensive road and opt to buy new ones but its more expensive. Jan

Hey mate. First off for my knowledge 76' 280z's did not come with O2 sensors that I know of. I own a 1/76 280z and it has no O2 sensors. I too have failed emissions and mine were 4 or 5 times the legal limit. First check things such as leaking injector(s), leaking cold start valve, bad thermotime switch, a malfunctioning or incorrect water temperature sensor, improperly adjusted or malfunctioning throttle position switch, a bad catalytic converter, improper fuel pressure Secondly do a tune up on the car. Replace all the plugs with NGK's (B6ES I believe is the OE plug) wires rotor and cap. Also replace the air filter with a new one. Then do an oil change with the proper grade oil. Lastly make sure the timing is on where it needs to be. I'm positive that the will at least decrease the amount of HC they your car releases. I would not unplug injectors to pass emissions. I've heard people have done it but it isn't really a good idea. Hope that hleps Jan

Hey guys I was up in Phoenix this weekend at a swap meet. On the way there and back I noticed that my 5th gear is fairly loud. What I mean is there is a like a "roar" almost but only in 5th gear. If I down shift to 4th and hit the same speed it does not make same noise. It also has a very loud vibration in the stick that can be heard. Secondly on the way back while passing someone on the freeway I reached about 105MPH, when I released the throttle the car popped out of fifth. It went back in with no trouble but it freaked me out a bit. So I'm wondering has anyone ever had these issue or no anything about them. I'm going to check the fluid level tomorrow but I wouldn't see it being low. The transmission is a 5 speed out of 78 280z (supposedly) but the car originally had 4 speed. Thanks Jan

That pretty much seems like the problem I'm having. On the second start up it idles like crap and misses occasionally. But after a minute or two it acts normal. Please let me know what you find. I'm having a look at it with a friend this up coming weekend so hopefully between the two of us we can figure things out. Jan

I'm new to Z's so I may not be correct on this one. For what I understand from your post you Z is running rough enough that it plain dies on you occasionally. Since you say it feels like (sounds) that your running on less cylinders than normal continue with the ignition system. Check the coil and the dizzy. Make sure you are getting nice clean readings (steady) and not ones that are all over the place. Also make sure that all the injectors are indeed firing and not just a few at a time or non at a time. If only a few pistons are firing at a time it has to either be fuel spark (or air in cases) but start from there mate. Secondly I would pull the valve cover and inspect under there. Possible something is loose in there or isn't where it should be. Just get a nice good long look and see if all is good. Thirdly. Vacuum leaks as you said. I've had one in my old Jeep that cause very similar dying issues. Took me weeks to finally figure out that it was a vac leak. (spend $$ in the process). Also check that the timing is steady. I've seen a car that had loose nut and the timing kept changing on him. My best advise to you though would be to get a FSM off the net and start trouble shooting. FI systems are fairly complicated when compared to carbs so a good understanding of how they work and a good manual goes a long way. I know that's not exactly "help" but its fairly hard to diagnose over the net. Jan

Ok a bit more info. Drove to the store earlier today. Car ran great going there. I was in the store for ten minutes and came out. Started the car and it died twice before it "ran" very rough. IT ran rough for about five minutes and then evened out. Any ideas guy? Any? Jan

Hello all I'm having an issue with my 1976 280z. Since about early November that car has a bit of an issue when idling once it warms. Best example would be I drove to the store earlier today. Parked outside went in for about twenty minutes. Came out and started the car. Car had a hard time idling and the tach jumped between 600-1000 RPM. I revved the motor and held it at 2k for about a minute or two and it evened out and drove fine the rest of the day. Any ideas as what this could be? I've replaced the temp sensor (for the ECU). Haven't done a tune up but the plugs look good (although they're champions). Ideas? Jan

Sorry Steve I don't know everyone here yet. :stupid:

Joe I agree with everything you said there. I was just talking through experience as the last time my Z ran rich I check all the above and found that someone had screwed with the air meter and basically made it useless. I must apologize on missing all the steps and misinforming but again it happened to me and that's what it was. Jan

When you fail smog (at least in Arizona) you get a paper that tell you what readings your car (Z in you case) is running and what it should be at. If you have said paper it would be nice to see the numbers. But in case you don't. The 280z fuel injection system is fairly easy to understand really. Nearly all the cases I've had of my car running rich was due to the air meter. Basically the air meter is a huge flap in the intake box. When air enters the box the flap moves sending an electrical signal to the computer telling it how much air enters the engine. This reading is used by the computer to adjust the fuel curve. The air meter can be adjusted to allow more or less air to enter the engine at a given time. Now I'm not saying this is your problem but it is a possibility. Here's the bad news though. Although one can adjust the air meter by ones' self the only way to properly do it is to have an exhaust analyzer. Without one your really kind of shooting in the dark. I personally would take it to a mechanic that knows something about Z's. It doesn't have to be a specialist but somoeone that knows what they are doing. Hope that helps Jan

I check the fuses earlier and found them to be all OK. I guess I was blind as the one for the STOP lights was clearly blown. I replaced with a 10A fuse and rear lights now work. Thanks. The flasher fuse looked nice and clear but I'll replace and see what occurs but not now as its fairly dark. Thanks Jan

Hello all After three weeks of being away from my Z I returned last night. This morning I bought a brand new battery as the old one was well, um not exactly good any more. (leaking all over and such). Put battery in the car (negative terminal first then positive) and started the Z after three weeks of sitting. Not to my amazement the car started and ran perfectly. Once warmed up I revved the car a number of times and then took it for a nice ride. Later that evening I was driving home from a friends. Noted two things. One the warning flashers (emergency lights) no longer work. Push down the switch and nothing. Blinkers still work fine but the emergency ones do not. Secondly brake lights are gone. Press the brake and no lights at all. I do have driving lights (as the rear lights turn on with the lights on) but brake lights are not there. Any ideas on above problems. Thanks greatly Jan Lentowicz

Hello all I've read a number of threads here about installing cruise control on a 280z. Does anyone have any thoughts on which one to go with and pictures of how it looks. I'm interested as I'll be making a fairly long distance drive this summer so I'm doing a bit of planning ahead Thanks Jan

Hello all I actually have two questions. First off my Z has nasty overspray on the passenger side door panel. I tried using paint thinner to get it off with very little success. I've read a thread someplace to use lacquer thinner, does this work better? Anyone have pictures or tips about getting paint off said panel. Secondly. I cannot for the life of me find a 280z emblem for the rear hatch. Does anyone know of a place or have some lying around. Most of the places I've found use the "replace" method where you ship yours in and they give you a "new" one. But I don't have one to send in and the price is a bit steep for just an emblem. Jan

Can't really help you on the first question but as for the AAR. AAR I believe would be the Auxiliary Air Regulator. And yes it allows more air to enter the engine when the engine is cold. Basically its a giant vacuum leak that closes over time. It sits on top of the intake and has two hoses going to it and an electrical connector. Jan

I had this same issue on my Z where the P.O drilled a hole in the tranny tunnel about a sixth of the way back. My advise is this. Either figure out where these "mystery" wires go to and what they control. Once you have this figure out you can do one of two things. First reroute the wires in a more appropriate way and weld the said hole shut. Or you can leave the wires there and fill in the hole with some rubber or gasket maker or something. Either way fill in that hole. Water has a nasty way of finding its way into any area where it can. Water and thirty plus year old metal isn't exactly the best combination. Jan

Wow this is a fairly perplexing situation. I'm still leaning on there either being a blockage in the block or as you said some kind of crack in the water jacket that isn't letting water flow. But in that case you would still get an area of very hot water for a time, or at least I would think so. One more idea to throw out there. Try flushing the system in different areas. What I mean instead of just forcing water through the thermostat housing down try maybe forcing it through the heater core, through the heater return line through the water pump. There has to be a reason your engine isn't getting to a proper temperature. Jan

Leonard one more idea I have. First off go around the engine with a temp sensor (laser type) and see if the engine is all at the same temperature. What I mean is make sure the front and rear of the engine are all at the same temp. It is possible that you still have a clog or something in the water jacket that restricts the flow. I can't see any other reason why you engine should run so cold. Maybe a faulty temperature sensor is causing the engine to lean out the mixture prematurely.. This in theory would cause the engine to run cooler but again...just an idea. Hope that helps Jan

Leonard from what you found it sounds to me like your block has a clog in it. To me if you had no flow prior to the flush and some flow afterwords the flush had something to do with the "fix". That being said, are you the original owner of the car? Have you (or the P.O) ever used any of that stop leak stuff? Jan

Was browsing craigslist looking for parts for the ol' Z. Stumbled upon a 1970 240z. Doesn't look to be in great shape but it's there. http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/cto/1515289015.html Jan

I know this one...its a dog. :laugh:. But anyhow I will take a look at it when I get back from Christmas vacation. Thanks all Jan

Leonard the only thing I can think of that can lead to your specific problem would be a clog somewhere. I can't see anything else causing the water not to flow towards the heater core. That is about all I can think of. If my memory serves me right you own a 280z. If so try taking off the piping where the lower radiator hose connects to the block.(lower water neck I guess would be the name?) Take a look at all the lines and see if they are nice and open. Is you heater core clogged maybe? Jan

Ok here is a bit of an update. I drove the Z in the mountains again this past Saturday. The drive took about 45 minutes. About half way there the ticking started. (). But as advised I just drove on my happy way ignoring it. Parked the car and left for oh five hours or so. Came back and did the same drive (exactly just up hill) and long and behold no ticking...none nada. So upon arriving home I popped the hood and began to inspect around the exhaust manifold. There "seems" to be a bit of a brownish haze along and above where the manifold meets the head. Didn't get to touch it as the engine is still hot. Did notice that the valve cover gasket it saturated with oil, weird, its new. A number of reason why I'm leaning on an exhaust leak. (please feel free to advise on these). First when driving there is a fairly constant smell of exhaust when cold. Secondly when, say I'm going 55 (or any speed above 40) and I release the throttle for a few seconds and then reapply the throttle a fairly nasty smell of exhaust fills the cabin momentarily. Let me know if this helps in you diagnosis. Jan