Zed Head

The point was - define legitimate. It's a vague dimensionless hard to define word. What do you mean?

Only commenting 'cause this post gave me a funny feeling. What is "legitimate"? One could argue that adding a row to the radiator is not. Or a shroud, if it didn't come with one in that year. If it's okay as long as it looks right, then JB Weld fits, because you can make it look right. JB Weld is just an adhesive, no different really than a brazed fix, if done properly. "Right" is what works. It's just a radiator.

I have an adjustable FPR and an adjustable "tweak" on my coolant temperature sensor circuit and I find that I can't get a great air-fuel mix across the full range of activity. I can tune it for part-throttle mid-range, clean-smelling exhaust at throttle lift, but I get a small miss at full throttle. If I add fuel the full throttle response is great but I get a little bt of gassy smell cruising around town, coming to the lights. The newer, like 80's to 90's EFI systems with O2 sensors and lower RPM fuel cut might solve that. Back in the 70's when all cars stank, 90 percent had carbs, and people couldn't smell them through their cigarette smoke ruined noses anyway, these 280Z EFI systems were probably considered super-clean. Forgot to say that I also have non-spec. injectors so not comparable directly to the stock system. But I've been trying to get the perfect tune forever. Very difficult.

Since this topic is current and because I mention my bad 1978 ECU and how I "fixed" it occasionally, I dug around on the internet for a transistor test and ran it on the two old 1978 ECU transistors. Which I kept, for future study. I know very little about electronics. I remember learning about P's and N's and various other things but never had need to use the information so it has rusted away in the back of my brain. I'll just put these test results here in case somebody that knows gets bored. Fluke 115, diode setting. NEC D411A M74 transistor markings. Two leads, collector is case. This procedure, because it sounded authoritative - http://www.vetco.net/blog/?p=184 These results. Values in parens are what "should" be found. Seems weird that both transistors would fail at exactly the same time. Considering manufacturing technology, not too surprising that they fail the same way though. If these numbers actually mean a fail. They might be fine. The + or - is the probe used. I ran the same tests on a Radio Shack 2N3055 type, NPN and it passed all tests. Posting for the record, no idea of value, not my league or my game. Maybe I'll take my ignition module transistor out and test it if there's meaning here. B+ --- E- .660, .665 (.45 - .9) B+ --- C- .561, .559 (.45 - .9) E+ --- B- 1.2, 1.2 (OL) C+ --- B- OL, OL (OL) C+ --- E- OL, OL, (OL)

Maaann, I saved that picture and blew it up but didn't know what I was looking at. Good eye. I still see some flags but I've reached my negativity quota for the day.

One last thing. I've seen a few MFI Mercedes Benz systems. Aren't the high pressure lines metal? The hose to the mechanical pump might be rubber, but I think that final distribution lines are metal tube. Got this picture from Patcon's link. Porsche 911.

The 8mm is smooth. You can get that at your local parts store. As far as quality, what they've done is move the fibers to inside the body of the hose wall. And they added a fluoropolymer coating inside for gasoline and ethanol resistance. That repro hose is probably of lower quality for today's usages. When I said "tight" I meant "probably won't fit". Sorry to be so full of negative news. Good luck.

But notice how they distinguished their product from common "poly". Not all poly's are the same. Somebody noticed and seems to be trying to meet a need. " Whiteline Plus bushings provide the softness needed for street driven, low vibration, noise and harshness characteristics, while displaying extreme abrasion, tear and cut resistance, and near-zero compression set at a lower durometer reading of 70-80 (versus most poly bushings 100+ rating). In addition, Whiteline Plus polyurethane bushings are able to be bonded directly to the metal shell, which provide a method of flow control giving the bushing the characteristics of soft ride while on smooth roads, and when under cornering pressure cause the bushing to become firmer for improved suspension performance. "

Pretty sure the Datsun EFI hose is 8mm. 7mm will be tight. The ad copy doesn't say it's used as high pressure hose either, to be sure. MFI systems have vacuum and vent lines too. Just saying... Here's their 8mm fuel hose. Have to say that most shops give the pressure rating. Not a great web page. http://www.partsklassik.com/p-306-8-mm-smooth-fuel-hose.aspx 5/16" is the non-metric analog, n case you search around the internet other options.

You saw that the guy on zcar had a bad ECU after all? http://www.zcar.com/forum/10-70-83-tech-discussion-forum/396890-280z-troubles-again-8.html#post2668378 I just took my bad 76 ignition module apart. The area under the transistor looks cooked, along with a component or two nearby. Would be nice to know how these things really fail. This one would repeatably fail after revving to over ~3000 RPM. Might be a good test case. Who knows, there might a $3 fix instead of going to ZX or HEI modules.

The VIN only shows on the Salem ad, not your original Multnomah County ad. He might just be a newbie to internet sales, hence the first attempt with the old-school soap on the windshield. I think he's only changed the ad once, probably after looking around the CL ads. Looks like a nice car. Somebody might travel for that one.

The VIN is 3211, it's on the upper right of the CL ad. The one I posted. He missed it in the other.

Something weird going on. Could be the old bait and switch. I'm a cynic at heart, can't help it. http://salem.craigslist.org/cto/5774183394.html

So we don't reaaallly know if the original ECU was bad. It didn't get warm/hot like it would in extended usage. Can't blame you for being safe, but your spare ECU might only be good for a few miles.. Ignition modules are typically heat sensitive when they go bad.

Looks like it even has those vents on the hatch that mean different things to different people. Seems a little too good to be trueish. @Mark Maras

I wonder if you have the wiggly connector issue. There's a fair record of sporadically bad ECU's out there. I'll see if I can dig some threads up. Here's one. The guy hasn't been around for a while. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/34229-280zzx-ecm-tech/ Some wiggle the connector comments - http://www.zdriver.com/forums/280zx-s130-forums-77/resoldering-ecu-31290/ Of course, all of these people and me included could just have been doing random things and the act of taking the ECU apart and putting it back together was what "fixed" the problem.

Maybe the lock bolt is just there to keep the spindle pin from falling out if a nut comes loose. Maybe the spindle pin nuts aren't even really necessary. Hmmm....

Brass tacks and all that (whatever that means, I've never really known). Dave had a problem, he swapped ECU's and the problem went away. In the interest of avoiding distraction and unnecessary excursions maybe re-installing the "bad" ECU would be worthwhile. If the problem follows the ECU, it's the ECU. Right? Just saying...

He removed the CSV entirely and nada. That's a good point about two transistors. Maybe I replaced mine for the wrong reason and the problem is still there. My dinking around might have moved something. Although if one transistor is sticking its injectors open there might be enough fuel to go around. I replaced the transistor because I thought the symptoms were similar to bad ignition modules and also thought that's why they failed. But I could be wrong there also. Sometimes I just try stuff and it works, but the reason why may be unclear. Can't remember if the transistors are split n to two and four like the dropping resistors or if it's three and three. It's been discussed before. I think that CO knows. There are so many things that add injector open time. Any one of those circuits could be bad, I'd guess.

Spare parts are cool. Can't have too many. I had a similar situation but I was testing my spare. It was bad itself and killed the engine dead. There's actually quite a bit on this forum about the rich ECU problem. There was a guy called Night Train or Mad Dog (Boone's Farm maybe?) who suggested re-flowing all of the solder at the connector pins. He said that wiggling the connector cable while driving could fix it temporarily. Other people kick the ECU to knock things back in to shape. In my case, I replaced the transistors and that fixed it. There seems to be more than one cause. Edit - I also have a spare known-good ECU, and ignition module, behind the seat.

Wow, that's a lot of money. So glad the guy taking the pictures for that BAT ad wasn't naked.

That is correct, you're just pushing the air out and if the end of the tube is in the fluid no air should get sucked back in. Bubbles that don't make it all the way out could get sucked back though. So clear tube is advised so that you can see the bubbles. Another consideration is to have the front end of the car lifted so that the bubbles will be up by the bleed port. Be the bubble.

People have replaced the spindle pin with a 5/8" bolt and not had obvious problems. So the lock pin is apparently not necessary. It would be interesting to assemble all of the metal parts but leave the rubber out (you'd have to remove it from a factory bushing or replicate the inner and outer sleeves from metal tube) and see how it all fits together. Under driving conditions the rubber certainly flexes allowing the metal parts to move. The question is how far they move and how the loads are distributed. I'm guessing that there are three areas of load transfer - the ends of the spindle pin and the lock pin. The metal of the casting is probably much more rigid than the stamped sheet metal of the control arms. The spindle pin is drawn and worked steel. It's a puzzle.

I meant friction as the "locking points". Friction at the contact points locking it in place. I think it's just rough cut steel edges riding on each other. With lots of leverage due to the diameter of the part. Blue has the good pictures. You might even be able to "pick" each contact point with a piece of shim stock or similar to let it slide.

If a press made it easier to assemble it might also disassembly. Get the pressure off the locking points so you can trun the pieces.