Zed Head

I didn't see this on the classiczcars classified so assume this guy doesn't hang out here. I'm assuming that a complete 240Z dash in decent shape is hard to find. http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/pts/2058155665.html

:alien: Liquid-filled pressure gauges under the hood are apparently not a good idea, unless you only read them cold. I did this on my car for a while but was using the JEGS ~$18 liquid-filled gauge. Eventually I found out that it is well-established that the liquid-filled gauges are temperature sensitive. In my case, the gauge read low as it got hot. But my fuel pressure regulator was regulating high as it got hot. So the gauge hid the problem, for quite a while. What I thought was a 0.5 to 1 psi variation was actually about 4-5 psi. Below is a link to an article with more info from Aeromotive, a supplier of aftermarket engine products. I discovered my error after I got one of their FPRs and read this bulletin. http://aeromotiveinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/TB-902-Tuning-EFI-with-Fuel-Pressure.pdf Edit - Forgot to say that I also queried over at Hybridz about liquid-filled gauges and got some very good information from Tony D. To give due acknowledgement. It's interesting to me that JEGS and Summit will put their brand name on a product for use in an application that "they" (whoever they are) should know will give poor results. They're just distributors. Side note - Aeromotive is offering a free Aeromotive dry gauge with some of their FPRs, at JEGS.

I'm going to guess that that is the flame arrester that I've seen arrows point at the location of in the FSM but have never actually seen one. Thanks for the drawing.

These are the 5 mph damage control bumpers, with shock absorbers inside the mounting struts. I have seen somewhere, that you can either compress the shock, drill some holes and lock it in place (creating a big surprise for a future owner) or I think that you can carefully take them apart and remove the springs before locking them in place. There is actually a section in the FSM, BF-8, for testing the bumper shocks, bracing the car with wheel chocks and putting the factory jack between the wall and the bumper. It's illustrated, showing a jack, and a rag to protect the bumper rubber. I don't know how much distance you'd get, but it might be enough. Edit - I see that compressing the strut was mentioned above, but here's a little more detail anyway...

Looks like a nice car, 44,000 original miles - http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/2061288479.html

I would get on to Oreilly Auto or NAPAs web site, or Motor Sport Auto (the Z Store) or Courtesy Nissan if you want to go more original (but more expensive) and check out prices. If it's been sitting longer than 2 or 3 years, it could very likely need all of the hydraulic cylinders - brakes and clutch (masters and slaves), rebuilt front calipers, new brake shoes (the front pads might be okay), probably needs tires, lug nuts, maybe u-joints, maybe an AFM, new exhaust/intake gasket, new fuel pump, the gas tank might be full of rust, maybe fuel injectors, maybe an air regulator, new clutch, alternator, voltage regulator, brake booster, wiper motor rebuild, and wiper blades. Plus maybe the water temperature sensor. And some bushings. You could be in to it a couple thousand dollars pretty quickly like cygnus1 says. Actually those are the parts I have replaced on my car, except for salvaging one wheel cylinder and one front caliper. And my car was on four wheels and tires when I bought it (non-running) but had actually idled it's way through an emissions test a year before (after having sat for quite while though). But it's been a lot of fun. And I understand how things work much better than if I had bought a running car. Edit - just noticed that the injectors are missing so you can remove the maybe from above...

Didn't mean to come across harsh. I was thinking nice. I should have put an emoticon in there I guess. bggilmore, there is a lot of information over there about what you're talking about doing. You could just RB alone in the title and you'll probably get 10 replies within an hour.

You should be on Hybridz - www.hybridz.org

Nice to now that's out there. Thanks for posting that link. I wish I had one. 1.5 times as strong as stock. I got $105 for price at today's exchange rate though. Which, coincidentally, is exactly 1.5 times the $70 that g9m3c did not want to shell out.

As I understand things in Oregon, E10 has been mandated by law for all gasoline retailers since 2008. You're getting corn in your gas whether you want it or not! Is this "Clear" sold behind the station or out in the open? http://www.salem-news.com/articles/january142008/ethanol_11408.php

It sounds like the wire to the starter lug, where the positive cable from the battery is also located, may not have a good connection. It's the wire that goes up to your alternator, but along the way all of the power to the car is spliced off it up through the fusible links. Take a close look at the main lug on the starter. You should have the big cable from the battery and one more heavy gauge wire that disappears in to the wiring harness. That would explain the "zero" voltage reading. SteveJ is right, that wiring diagram will help you out. I think that you'll have to unzip it though.

"starter is with switch to the battery" Do you mean that you can power the starter separately from the ignition switch? Sounds like you should make sure you have power to the ignition switch. Make sure that you have power to the fusible links also. On my 76, three of the four fusible links have 12.7 volts all the time, key off. Only the headlight link does not. If no power is running through the fusible links then you can trace the lines in to them to find out why not. The old Z ECUs don't reboot. They're not like the modern ones, they just take signals from the engine and sensors and then send signals out to the injectors.

Here is one possibility, based on how I think the master cylinder pistons are set up. I believe that holes to the reservoirs are supposed to seal off after a very small amount of piston movement. Did you pull the rod from the master cylinder back from the firewall to get it to connect to the pedal? Maybe you are pulling the pistons back in to the bore, loading up with fluid that has to come back out. The fluid squirts until the hole gets sealed again. The rod end should be loose enough to wiggle back and forth a little bit. Does the fluid squirt at the beginning of stroke, then stop as pedal pressure builds? I haven't a master cylinder apart so don't really know if that's possible, but if it is, it might be plausible. Edit - just realized that if the MC is defective, it should squirt during bench bleeding too. Edit 2 - One more thing - if you connected the rod to the pedal, then pulled the pedal back to connect the spring, you could get the same fluid loading effect (if it's possible).

If you haven't read these "tips" from Paul Rusch of Rusch Motorsports, they are worth a look. He goes in to detail on how the sensors work and has some good examples of experiments he ran in the past. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/95316-braaps-l6-efi-induction-advice-and-tips/

If you had a lot of air in your lines and pressed the pedal, you would create a pressurized bubble in the lines that would then re-expand and push all of that volume back into the reservoir when you released the pedal. I'm betting that the pedal went way down and that the squirting happened when you let the pedal back up? There is a a lot of volume behind the disc brake pistons. You probably did not have the bleed valve open far enough. Open the valve farther, leave the cap on the reservoir, and try again. Wipe that fluid off of your paint with a damp cloth too, or you'll end up with some stains.

28 years of dry storage and only 21,000 miles of driving. Original tires - 32 years old, who wants a test drive? http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/ctd/2058313599.html

No, I just bypassed the solenoid valve. You want to keep ported vacuum. There should be a T off of the ported vacuum source. One hose goes to the vacuum canister and the other goes to the solenoid valve, which then passes through to the diaphragm. Run that one straight to the diaphragm. Another way to do it is to just unplug the wire to the solenoid. It is normally off. The transmission switch supplies power in gears 1 - 3, to close the valve. That is probably the easiest way to do it if you're not sure you want to run that way and want to try it first. Be aware that you'll have a dangling wire that is occasionally hot, although it does have an insulated end. Same thing at the transmission, you could disconnect that wire (anyone who does a 5 speed swap on a 75 or 76 probably has that switched hot wire dangling under the car). There is a good diagram and explanation on page EC-9 in the FSM. It doesn't show the three way vacuum hose T though. Check it out then stare at your engine for a while and follow the hoses and wires.

Home Depot? What year car? This forum and others have pretty busy classified sections.

Z Tyler Z, I forgot one important thing about the 1976 model, that probably hurts gas mileage. The 1976 model has a switch in the transmission that controls a solenoid valve that opens the vacuum advance line to the distributor. If everything is connected properly, you only get vacuum advance in 4th gear. It's described in the Emissions section of the FSM, so I'm guessing that retarded timing gives the government mandated mixture of combustion byproducts. It's only described in the 75 and 76 FSMs. I bypassed my switch (just ran the hose directly to the vacuum diaphragm) so I have vacuum advance in all gears.

Reply to this old slightly off-topic post - The compression values can vary a LOT depending on which gauge you use and with what adapters, etc. I bought a screw-in type gauge recently and got 120 psi with the adapter tube and 180 without it. The volume of the gauge hoses, adapter tubes and the gauge itself become, in essence, part of the combustion chamber volume when the test is done. As I've read many times on these forums, it's the comparison between cylinders that matters the most. Back to the point of your question, in my case, my odometer says 46,000. Could be 146,000 or 246,000. But I got five 180s and a 179. I was surprised, especially considering that my engine burns a little oil and shows some signs of a hard life.

This picture tells the story. From the 1978 wiring diagram.

I honestly don't know if the PO was smart enough to diagnose it. I can tell you that the fuel pump safety switch on the AFM module is not operational or wired in on the 78. There are no pins in the harness for it. That would be the only way I could think of that the fuel pump wouldn't run in the key "on" position since the fuel pump has to run in the on while the car is running. The '78s used an oil pressure switch to run the fuel pump when the key is at On.

Browse through these forums for a little while and you'll get a picture of what you're in for. 280Z EFI is not like 240Z carbs at all. ECU, relays, fuel pump, AFM, injectors all have to work correctly for the engine to run. If the car has sat for a while, you'll probably be in to clutch, brakes and electrical (lights, etc.) also. Just spend a few minutes reading the threads about 280Zs that won't start or stay running. It's fun but it will probably take some time (and money)..

Maybe some are leaving off the reinforcement plate that comes with the Energy Suspension mount? That would raise the diff nose up a small amount.

Coincidentally, just saw this on Hybridz from a guy who had an ECU that wasn't firing the injectors. Said he had his coil wired backwards. Post #72. Also said his fuel pump wouldn't run because he had a bad EFI relay. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/91070-moderns30s-1972-datsun-240z/page__pid__904721__st__60#entry904721