Zed Head

So this is an eBay auction? Why did you break up the url? Just make it a click-through. Starting bid $1100. Buy it now $1875. And the part is in Canada. Good luck with that. https://www.ebay.ca/itm/-/202911048885

I would go to the diagram. Identify the pins that power the solenoid coils and the pins that are the circuit being made and broken. Go from there. The Ignition Relay doesn't have that many pins to figure out. I found one on EE-5. You might have to go through a few pages to ID the power sources and circuits, but the relay itself can be tested alone with a diagram. Notice that it grounds through the mounting bolts so if you have it just hanging from the wires it might not work. Nissan added a dedicated ground wire terminal in the ZX's.

Just realized that I didn't really absorb the full title of this thread, I just l saw 280Z and looked at the picture. It says "1st gear" in the title but the picture is of overdrive (5th) and reverse. Not sure where the mixup is happening, if gnozez posted the wrong picture or just got turned around mentally. It happens.

Funny, but the gear is the same part number for both, until later, with overlap from 76 - 78. Interchangeable. So it could be a truck gear in a 280Z if I read right. https://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/pickup-1972-1979/power-train/transmission-gear/5-speed-(from-aug-76)/41 http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/power-train/transmission-gears/5-speed/40

I've read the 620 transmissions might be shorter. Can't tell much about that one from that single picture.

For going backwards?

It looks like a heavy duty straight cut reverse gear.

12 is half capacity. When lead acid batteries get fully discharged bad things happen. I had one in the garage that I kept charged but it went dead a couple of times. Then it was toast. Wouldn't hold a charge. Apparently the plates get coated and don't transfer the lead to the acid. Like having a smaller battery in a big package. There are internet stories about how to save them. Drain the acid, rinse the plates, put new acid in. At the end it might work and you have a bunch of nasty lead contaminated acid to deal with. You can also find methods of charging at high amperage to regenerate the plates, but you have to be careful of hydrogen gas and boiling acid. You can probably gamble on five used batteries and find a winner for less pain. It's a fun subject to study but it gets complex. https://www.rvtechlibrary.com/battery/bat_volts.php

I usually punch a hole in them then use a screw in the hole to pull on. That seal is probably pretty small though. That pipe with the hole in it is pretty slick.

What is timing set to now? Are you sure that the vacuum advance is connected properly and works? Does centrifugal advance work? I'd measure timing at idle. Rev it up and see if timing advances. Disconnect the vacuum advance hose with the light connected and see if anything happens. It shouldn't if it's connected properly.vacuum advance is ported vacuum. Rev the engine with no vacuum advance to be sure centrifugal is working. Connect your vacuum advance hose to a full time vacuum source and see if timing advances. Make sure everything is working right, set your timing to a conservative number then go drive it. See if it responds better to pedal to the floor compared to easing your way up in RPM. The distributors on these old cars tend to get gummed up and have various parts break. You could easily be stuck at a single timing setting.

Never really understood why people overprice their cars, then say that they'll entertain offers (obviously going to be lower than asking), but then say "don't go too low or I'll get angry". Just set a reasonable price and make the sale. He has 900 + 1350 + 1200 in parts included in the asking price. Subtract that from $11,000 and you're at $7,550. He can't get mad at that since those are his numbers.

Search "zhome registry" on the site. But, kind of doesn't matter much since you won't be able to prove numbers matching without the plate.

Could be an exhaust leak. things seem kind of wet there though. Why is the valve cover bolt so far up from the cover? Those need to be tight or you'll have a leak the cover gasket.

"Turnbuckle" popped in to my head when I was looking at your device. Maybe? Still need to support the shaft on the other side to keep it from bending. http://www.anchorboltexpress.com/5-8-x-6-turnbuckle-body/

You posted the same video two times. High idle, smoky exhaust. Looks like a cold engine from the condensate/water dripping from the pipe. Since it's running you should still do what I suggested. In my opinion. You can have an exhaust leak without having an intake leak. And some exhaust leaks seal up when the engine gets hot. Edit - but with the idle so high it will be hard to diagnose. You need a warmed up engine.

Have you tried the others? If not, no foundation for your statement.

There's Naval Jelly. A standard rust remover. It brushes on. You could probably make your own home-built paste using vinegar and sawdust. Cheap. They're all just moderately strong acids with thickening agents. You could use a strong acid like muriatic acid but it would work very fast, create hydrogen gas, and corrode metal after the rust is gone. Plus burn the crap out of any skin it touches. Blind you if it gets in your eyes. It's basically battery acid in a bottle.

If the white smoke appeared while you were "Seafoaming" it would be an exhaust leak. But there could still be an intake leak in that area. The way to test would be to start the engine and spray some carburetor cleaner at the spot where you saw the smoke. If the intake gasket is leaking the idle speed will change. Probably increase. Spray, listen, spray, listen. Confirm an intake leak first. You're right on the edge of creating a non-running car. Even changing the intake/exhaust gasket can be difficult, with broken bolts and ez-outs and drilling. Removing the head gets you in to timing chain issues, with the potential for dropping the chain and needing to remove the timing chain cover. Big hairy problems....

This might help. https://www.hagerty.com/apps/valuationtools/1986-nissan-300zx

Reset the drive quill for the distributor. You'll have to drop the oil pump. It's described in the Engine Mechanical chapter. The cam sprocket location marks are shown also, but they are probably fine. They don't have anything to do with what you're looking at with the plug wires. Or just drive it that way until you need to get in to the engine for some other reason.

What was engine temperature for the first test compared to this recent one. My other comment had some thought behind it. These systems are notorious for running rich.

All of your testing (except for my other comments below) indicates that the #6 injector is not opening at idle. It might just be too sticky to open quickly enough for the very low idle pulse duration. There's not much to an injector, a spring to close it and a solenoid to open it. Carb cleaner can't fix rust or corrosion or baked on deposits. The injectors get really hot after the engine is shut off. You could swap injectors and see if the problem follows the injector. Probably should have done that the first time. On the other hand, doing a lot of work to try to fix a diagnostic test doesn't make much sense, if the goal is to drive the car. Most EFI cars have a "missy" kind of idle due to the way they open, in batch mode. I'd be happy with a smooth idle and well-running engine. Is the #6 plug the same color as the others? If it's not opening the plug will be whiter. And, on the other other hand - I think that the idle get smoother on the EFI engines when they are running rich. There might be enough residual fuel floating around that disconnecting an injector doesn't have an effect. At idle there's a lot of backflow in the manifold. Might be that the real problem is running rich at idle. Not #6.

How about removing the PCV valve itself? Not just the hose. It unscrews easily. Probably needs replacing anyway. Or cleaning.

How about your concept but in a "jaws-of-life" type mechanism? Tiny "mandibles of convenience".

Now that would have been a good video.