Zed Head

Just for fun - CECU. Figure that one out.

I didn't even get my explanation right. I used the chapter label, EFEC, instead of ECCS. I'm not really sure what ECCS stands for.

The 280Z control system could easily have ended up as the EFIS.

Actually, the the ECCS was introduced with the 280ZX's. The ECU is used in both but started with the 280Z's. Generally, ECU stands for Electronic Control Unit or EFI contol unit. Edit - not sure what ECCS stands for. Of course, it's all translated from Japanese, so the words might not make the most sense in English. But that's how ECU and ECCS are used in the FSM. From the 1982 FSM, below. Might be the the ECCS "computer" should actually be called the ECCSU. There have been some discussions about what should be called a computer. I don't think that either of these actually do any number crunching.

I had forgotten about that. Reminded me that you have to lock the door with the key from the outside after you close it, if you want to lock it and leave it. Of course, based on the above. The knob is only for locking yourself in. I used the knob to work the mechanism free becuase I was afraid that I would break the key.

I remember the lock mechanism on my 76 being almost impossible to move even with the knob and cylinder attached correctly. It might be that you just need to get a better grip on the part that the knob rod attaches to and pull harder. Might be worthwhile to fabricate a new rod and attach it to give you something to pull and push on. With lubrication and some manual working the mechanism on mine eventually loosened up. The car had sat for many years before I got it.

Here's an old post from TerrapinZ with good measurements. Just noticed that posts don't have numbers anymore. Bummer. It's about 1/3 down page 12 if the link doesn't take you directly there.

I should have mentioned the distributor itself also. They are known for worn bushings allowing the reluctor wheel to contact the stator ring, breaking things. If it won't start with fluid, it's not going to start with gasoline. Good old Blue wrote up a thing about them. The magnetic pickup can fail, there's a test for that. The air gap can be off, there's a measurement for that. Described in the Electrical chapter. https://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/distributorrebuild/index.html

You said but you didn't describe. Try starting fluid. If it starts but runs poorly, it's not fuel pressure.

Is the spark strong and blue or weak and orange? I had an ignition module go bad and it showed spark. But the engine would only start with starting fluid. As far as fuel, the fuel pressure regulators tend to start leaking down if they sit for a long time. The seat n the FPR gets corroded. They will maintain pressure while the pump is running but leak down quickly once it stops. The simple test is to clamp the feed or return lines and see what the pressure does.

I had the same thought about needing some angle being necessary to work the needle bearings. Side note about the "AI Overview". It is basically a boiled down compilation of everything available on the internet. Including all of the garbage and nonsense. The tech marketers want us to start believing what the AI algorithms produce. But, really, it should all be ignored and only verified professional sources should be considered. At this point in time, "AI" is good for entertainment purposes only. If you really study the statement below you'll see that it actually says very little, and some of it makes little sense. Like "allow the shaft to change angle". Empty words, really. No offense intended. It's just another of those things to be worried about. The word intelligence does not guarantee intelligence.

Not clear what year 240Z you're driving but Nissan moved the diff back because of vibration. I can't find a reference but it's been well-discussed. The shorter "pre-modification" propeller shaft was/is popular for people doing the 71C transmission swap because the length was perfect. Anyway, maybe you're just experiencing the reason Nissan made a change. I think that it was actually mid-71 but not sure.

I found the option to click to get the site back to the thread title view. Upper right, next to the auto-update comment, pasted an image below. I guess that the default is post-by-post. Not sure if it sets a cookie or not. Might have to click it each time.

Here is the basic answer to Mike's comment "Or just log in...". On top of the above is the effort expended to peck in the email address and password. If you use your computer for other things like banking the constant username and password inputs gets tiresome. And, a new change - not really sure why, but the "Topics Last 30 Days" option is gone now. I suggested that way back when so that people who had not been on the site for over a day could look back over the previous few weeks. At the time the "Load More Activity" thing didn't go back very far. So if you missed a few days and nobody posted, the thread was lost in the Forum sub-titles. It's been very handy, especially when the posts were categorized by Topic. If you remembered a thread about somebody's clutch replacement and wanted to see how it had come out you could go back and find it. Can't do that easily anymore. The new post by post list doesn't work well. parman's thread is entertaining but when the whole page is parman...? I also notice that the old problem is back on the "Topics Last 24 Hours" page. Each click takes you to the first post if you're not logged in. More clicking and scrolling required. That's probably the key message here - reduce the number of clicks and scrolls required to get to the new stuff. Just trying to offer some constructive feedback. I hate to be critical but the site was working really well before, like a well-tuned Z. It has a few misfires happening now.

The Activity page now lists each post instead of each Topic. Is that intentional? All a person sees today is a long list of parman's thread posts. Not much interaction there either, it seems to be a collection of old pictures and a story. Nothing wrong with that except that it's dominating the "feed".

When did the work on it start? It wasn't 18 hours ago. Is it done now? What are your plans? Edit - is this the 4 year restoration car you mentioned in a different post? Those first pics are four years old?

Is it a 1971 249Z? I see a clutch pedal with low wear, a sign that it's low mileage. Must be a manual transmission. Any more details? Looks like a fun project. There'a thread on the forum, I think it's called "waking the beast" or something like that. You should find it and read it before even spinning the engine. It's possible that it might not be too rusty inside. But unlikely. One of those bore scopes will tell you a lot. Good luck. Edit - found some details on your profile.

Thanks for the tip CO, I didn't know that other pages worked differently. I'll just start using the main Activity page now and avoid the aggravation.

Without it, a person has to find the place to click and click multiple times, plus scrolling to the bottom of the page, to get to the new post at the end of a multi-page thread. Going to the first post of a three page thread is pointless if you've already seen the three pages. If you're on a "phone" it's swipe swipe swipe, touch, swipe swipe swipe. It's why the software developers created the "X hours ago" link. That is its purpose. Go directly to the new stuff. It's odd that it doesn't work on CZCC. You were using the same platform as Hybridz. You can jog over there and check it out. https://forums.hybridz.org/discover/

Click on X hours ago - go to post that happened X hours ago Click on title of thread - go to first post in thread This how most other forums work, across the internet. This is how CZCC used to work, logged in or not. We've all become used to this format. Something changed when you started customizing.

Just stopped by the site not logged in to see what's up. Clicked on the "1hour ago" link, took me to the first post in an 18 reply thread, clicked on the "18 replies", took me to the first post in an 18 reply thread. This is most likely the major factor in the big drop off in activity. You can see from the main page that most people don't stay logged in. There's only five signed in right now. But 135 others (don't really know what that last one means) who also can't easily get to the new stuff. Just trying to help. You can try to change the behavior of the masses or you can make the site easier to use for them. Carry on...

I think that part of the disconnect here might be that Mike is a social media focused guy who happens to like Z cars, while many of the more active members here are car guys who just use the internet to learn about and talk about cars. In the end it's a compromise between the two mindsets. As for the drop in activity it might be that what several of us have mentioned plays a part. In social media world you're supposed to stay "logged in" at all times, permanently engaged. In internet privacy world you stay logged out until you feel the need to engage. With the current state of CZCC.com if you click on a link to see what the latest posts say while you're logged out you get taken to the first post in a thread no matter how long it is. You have to log in or go through the hassle of scrolling and clicking to get to the new stuff. So, many of us just bail out and click on some other internet site. In short, the site is just harder to use now, less enjoyable. Instant gratification has been diminished. Overal though the site is still one of the better car-based sites on the inernet. I visited zcars.com a while ago and it is chaotic. Even after you find a sub-forum that you might be interested in viewing it has about 20 pinnned threads that you have to scroll through to find the new stuff. The "Topics Last ..." format at least avoids that, although I did see some pinned threads here that confused me. It wasn't obviuos that they were pinned. Also, while I'm here, and I've already mentioned this, potential new members have to pay $10 to join. If you're searching around the internet to talk about your new Z car, you can join Hybridz or zcar.com for free. Pretty obvious that people will do that first. So, fewer new names popping up, just us old-timers here resisting change.

Are the changes to bring in new members or for the use of existing members? A poll to find out which page most members start from might be informative. If the analytics don't show it already. I start from the Topics Last 30 Days page.

I had the thought that there is probably some patent literature about it out there and found one that describes a design whose purpose is to isolate the sound/vibration from the car body. It's translated from Chinese so makes for a weird read. In short, I think it stops the people in the car from feeling the vibration. Buzzy butt, probably. It's from 2008. https://patents.google.com/patent/CN201300772Y/en I tried to find a patent from around the Z time frame but patent searching is hard. I did find this though. Radar equipped cars in 1972. https://patents.google.com/patent/US3833906A/en

Probably just quantity. Air can be pressurized too. The FPR can't tell the difference.