Zed Head

Actually, the screwdriver test will also show a bad electrical connection, the two pins on the injector, maybe. The OP's is doing and thinking about a lot of stuff, and the fact that the injector worked electrically, off of the car, might have been overlooked. If the spare injector connector worked it might be worthwhile to clean up the injector pins or even replace that connector, or bend the pins so that better contact is made. It could just be an electrical contact issue. The stock EFI connectors are known to be of poor quality after 30 years of heat. The spare connector might have made better contact than the old corroded ones on the engine now. " Took bad injector off, and used the 9v method to get it opening/spraying off the car with spare injector connector. i did this to my "spare" used injectors too. Off the car, they all clicked and were not clogged. "

Would somebody buy this to restore or collect? And do the flares really look like "light modification"? If the body is intact underneath, maybe, but I'd guess it's been cut. Not a 240Z guy, don't know what people look for, just curious. It's sounding more like a fairly run-of-the-mill Fairlady 240Z, isn't it?

I've had the thought that the extra resistance is more for the ECU circuitry than the injectors. The injector solenoids are covered in fuel. 2.5 ohms gives 4.8 amps at 12 volts. A few clicks using a 12 volt battery doesn't seem too damaging. I've done it with some and they seemed fine afterward. No smoke. Aren't the resistors 6 ohms? 12 / (6+2.5) = 1.4 vs. 9/2.5 = 3.6 at the asymptote. So, maybe not enough current to open up a gummy or rusted injector. You might just let some fuel blow through the "bad" injector to see if it will clear up. Nissan used tan and light green for it's NA injectors, and purplish brown for turbo. Black is aftermarket. The codes will be hard to see, molded or stamped in to the plastic plug portion. FJ707, A11...., 280 150... are examples.

The workings of the 280ZX distributor are definitely more mysterious than the 280Z's. But they do call it a magnet in the manual. I guess the real question is "does the magnet need to be intact to work at full function?". Apparently, they still work when broken, but how well?

Who flared the rear wheel wells? Don't forget the engine serial number.

Looks like your "gas gushing out" problem is back, the problem that disappeared miraculously. You probably have a stuck or shorted injector, maybe a shorted/bad ECU. Actually, flooding is one of the signs of a bad ECU. Along with no-start. I had a bad ECU and it did both. People have fixed the problem temporarily by tapping/beating on the side of the ECU and/or wiggling the ECU connector.

You're measuring pressure and connecting and disconnecting the pump, but you're not connecting the two actions, the pressure and the electrical connection. Does the engine only start with low fuel pressure, or is the fuel pressure the same when it won't and will start?

Sounds like you're living the good life. Good luck. Don't forget to reset timing with the new distributor.

Clogged air filter? When you open the throttle like that all that you're doing is allowing the engine to pull in more air. There's no accelerator pump like a carb'ed car. The fact that the engine doesn't "grab" more air could be because it can't or something's out of time. Has it had a good tuneup in the last three years?

Rockauto is dependable and the ZX distributor should work fine. Stick with that. We need to know more about this wedding that has a 1970 240Z as the honeymoon car though...

Yes, solid valve trains are noisy. If it's not ticking that means lash might be too tight and you're about to burn a valve. On top of the valve lash noise is the injector ticking which can be surprisingly loud. All you can do is take the measurements and trust the engineers and others who've been there. I've had a noisy #1 lifter for thousands of miles but it's been fine. So, the assumption is that you got all of the seals replaced, all back together, and the engine's running now?

I logged in just to say what site already said. If you haven't already bought the Cardone unit, you might just step back and reconsider everything. What are you looking for in your ignition system, how much do you want to pay, etc.? Easy to see how you got on the ZX path but there are other options. The ZX distributor and E12-80 module are a good system though.

Pretty sure the E12-80 has the modern current-limiting (dwell control) so the Blaster 2 coil should work fine. He has all of the parts, I'm betting that the distributor needs a little work. Whenever I find a ZX or Maxima distributor in the wrecking yard they're always mis-adjusted and have broken magnets. I don't think that they're very durable. Rockauto sells a replacement bushing for the shaft. " The distributor came off a 280zx "

Or disconnect the E12-80 module and do the same test you just did over again. If the module is shorted internally you'll get a stronger spark.

Remove the distributor from the engine and do the same thing with the coil main wire, but spin the distributor instead, with the key on. If the distributor and module are working you should get the same weak spark.

The part that many people seem to have the most difficulty with on these cars is the need to do lots of measuring and adjusting or fixing if the measurements are wrong. At least you have a meter and are using it. You just need to go deeper. You didn't mention pickup coil resistance or the air gap setting. The electronic module won't work right if it doesn't get the correct signal from the pickup coil. Your coil and wires seem fine, it's the triggering system that's not working.

Your wiring seems right. " 12v at the + and 12v at the - " is correct, the voltage is the same because the ignition module is not grounding the coil circuit. You didn't give any information about the distributor. You might have a bad module or a broken stator magnet. Pretty common with the old ZX distributors. Read the swap and rebuild ZX distributor links here - http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/electrical.htm

Forgot to say, those carbs are probably full of old fuel. Take a sniff. Your next move kind of depends on if you like to do things in small steps or one large one. I like to mess around so I'd start it to see how bad things are. But you can waste a lot of time messing around that way.

You have one of those PO puzzles. Each finding raises more questions. Why did the core plugs have holes in them? Was he planning to remove them? Why? Maybe it had an overheating problem? If it overheated, is the head warped? Is a warped head the real reason he decided to swap to a V8? Etc.... RossiZ highly recommends purgng the coolant channels. He did his and was shocked at how much crud came out. The water pump is probably fine since it's in a moving fluid zone. The crud drops out in the dead spots. If it was mine, and things aligned, I'd start it and run it for a few seconds to see how it sounds. I don't think enough heat will be generated to damage things. But that's me, others might recommend against. You're on the edge of just tearing things way down to check them out. Water pump, valve cover (timing chain and cam shaft), cylinder head (gasket and warpage), oil pan...

This one works well, with an extra board lengthwise for reinforcement - http://www.harborfreight.com/material-handling/dollies/movers-dolly-39757.html Not positive on plug size. Your local Nissan dealer might have them also. http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/search/Freeze+Plug/02267/C0367.oap?year=1974&make=Nissan&model=260Z&vi=5142642 Here's the head plug. Nissan uses the very proper term of "welch plug" - http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/engine-240z-260z/cylinder-head http://www.courtesyparts.com/?p=catalog&mode=search&search_in=all&search_str=11021-E3000 #9 here is the block plugs - http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/engine-240z-260z/cylinder-block-fitting http://www.courtesyparts.com/?year=&make=&model=&search_str=01648-00084&p=catalog&mode=search&scat=&search_in=all

You can run down and get core plugs at the OReilly or Autozone. Sorry ZStore. Get a cart from Harbor Freight, bolt up a transmission and starter, and you can get an idea of what shape the engine is in. Looks like it was in running shape when removed. People often remove perfectly good engines when they get V8 fever.

If it's still assembled you could clean it up and start it. Put it on a cart, crank it up and see what happens. Are the core plugs rusted or removed? Is there a head? If there's no head, is the timing chain held in place with a wedge? The short blocks are known to be very durable and last hundreds of thousands of miles. The heads tend to wear or get warped from overheating before the short block has problems.

That part is a capacitor, AKA condenser. The one wire units ground through the case and mount, the two wire units have a separate ground wire, as yours does. But they both do the same thing. If the engine starts that's not likely to be your problem. If it was shorted, you'd know it because it would short whatever it's connected to. I wouldn't worry about unless you've measured continuity and know that it's shorted. If the car sat for ten years, you'll need to give many many more details on what's been done to it before you tried to start it. The gas tanks on these cars aren't well sealed and tend to get rusty after just a few years, let alone ten. The fuel pumps get rusty, the injectors get clogged, the filter could be full of water. Who knows. But since it does start and run for a short while, describe what happens as it dies. Does it just shut off quickly, or does it slowly lose idle speed and die? Will it restart immediately or do you have to wait? If ti won't restart, does it not have spark or not have fuel? The more detail the better. You can't just replace parts one at a time on these cars, you need to do lots of testing. Check the forum's Download section and get the 1978 Service Manual and the 1980 Fuel Injection Guide.

Hope you haven't left yet. Forgot to say that the guy at the counter could't find it, but I think that he might have been faking computer literacy. He couldn't find any cars earlier than 1978 either, but there were about 10 out there. It's on Row 30. White.

Good luck, They seemed to be having a 50% off sale. I saw a bunch of flyers but didn't read the dates. Just collecting or looking for particular parts?