Zed Head

Went back through the previous pages and searched for "pressure". I don't see a verified fuel pressure reading. You have a lean plug, a rough running engine, in a car that might have sat for a while. You've replaced some parts but haven't verified that specs. are right. I'd get a fuel pressure reading before spending too much time on anything else. You need to know the number. Your dilemma is typical. You're working on the easy surface items, but you really need to verify the essentials. Fuel pressure is critical for electronic fuel injection systems.

Are those irridium plugs? And what's the gap? It looks wide in your pictures. 77 doesn't have high-energy ignition, and uses about.032", not the .040" later systems used. Still not sure what, exactly, the issue is. It's not clear if you're just working on idle behavior or if you drive ti and it has problems. The 6th plug seems white. Could be you're running on 5 cylinders.

Saved it for you.

Don't overlook that if the car sat for quite a while before you got it the gas might be bad, the fuel pump might have rusted, there might be water and/or rust in the tank, it might have made it's way in to the fuel rail and injectors, etc... There's a lot missing from the story. If you define where you're starting from you might save yourself a lot of time and trouble, People often just throw a battery in to a car and suck all of the bad fuel through the fuel system, hoping the engine will fire. Then they have to fix all of the damage.

Hair only moves if you're a blowhard? Funny, but that test would probably work on the EGR system too, to see if the passages and valve are okay.

Don't install the plate until you examine the inside of the EGR passages. The problem that they have is that the metal between the two ports rots out. So your plate might not do anything. Stick your finger down there and make sure the metal is solid. The EGR valve is controlling flow from the round hole to the square hole, gasket-shape-wise. If the metal is solid, then focus on sealing the square hole. The round hole won't matter if you've sealed off the tube from the exhaust manifold.

Projects like this are great opportunities to learn new skills. Because the knowledge has immediate impact. You've mentioned "more power" at least a couple of times, but there is not "more power" available. It's just the 12.6 volts from the battery. It's basic direct current electrical stuff. You shouldn't really be looking for a better place to make a connection. You should make the proper ones work right. Giving good descriptions of what you're doing will help a lot also. "Turning the key" doesn't tell much because there are three positions to turn to - Acc, Run or On, and Start. We don't know which you turned it to. If you start using your meter to measure voltages you'll start to understand sources and grounds better. Start at the battery by connecting the positive lead to the battery positive terminal then placing the negative lead on various body and engine parts. You'll see how grounding works. And the two tests mentioned for testing the relay are very simple and should be done. Remove the solenoid wire and turn the key to Start with all of the proper wiring connected properly, and open the AFM vane with the key at On. Both of those should supply power to the pump. If you start connecting various wires to other circuits just to get power you'll end up creating more problems. It might be that you have a problem with the wiring and a weak pump, both. But you should be able to separate the two issues. Click the Fiddling with Z Cars link at the bottom of SteveJ's posts and go to the Electrical category. He has some basics in there.

SteveJ is instructing at doctorate level but you're at 101. No offense. You're going to have to learn some basic electrical concepts. Or just do the simple tests, like listening for noise when you turn the key to Start.

Not really clear what the problem is then. Sounds like you're saying that the idle just isn't high enough to keep the engine running when it's cold. Is that it? Another possibility is that the AAR hose is connected wrongly or it's clogged. It really is a very simple system. You could replace it with a cable-actuated valve and a hand lever if you wanted. That's how simple the concept is. The engineering that makes it automatic is the bimetal strip inside that opens and closes it based on temperature. But. Could be that you actually have a PCV system leak that's overpowering the AAR effect. Your engine might have been tuned around a broken PCV system. Maybe you should do some PCV system checks.

How do you know the pump is not getting power? It doesn't kick-in, it just gets power when the key is turned to Start. The simple test is to disconnect the starter solenoid wire and turn the key to Start. You can hear the pump because the engine doesn't turn. The other one is to turn the key to on and open the AFM vane. This will use two different parts of the same system. How far down did you tear things during the restoration? And is it a restoration or a resto-mod? Is the EFI/pump relay still there?

I would do everything listed in the Engine Tuneup chapter, in order. The first action is valve lash adjustment, because it's really important. But most of use do it last because it's oily and smelly and looks complicated. I'm pretty sure also that there's a test for EGR function in the Emissions chapter. Once you've passed by the easy fix zone, the changes made usually add up to "out of adjustment". You have to determine that the basics are correct. You can't really be effective doing easy first. Good luck. Use a small hammer to loosen the locknuts on the rocker arm pivots, if they need adjustment. At least open it up and examine, and take measurements if you have the feeler gauges. You can also check the timing chain and cam timing while you're in there. Engine Mechanical chapter. If you don't have time we can supply some pictures. But you have to get on the methodical track.

You haven't really defined what you're planning to do with it. A 240Z for restoration is very different than a 280Z for driving which is different from a 280Z with a transplanted turbo engine for power. You were looking at the last now you're looking at the first. Do you know what you want it to be when you're done with it?

I spent some time in a wrecking yard pulling a diff with a finned cover from a 240SX. Opened it up and it was a welded open diff. The cover was for looks. Many viscous LSD's come with finned covers, I believe. You have to remove it to know what's in there.

I think that thing in the valve cover hose (edit - left out the "hose" earlier) is called a flame arrestor. It is kind of odd how Nissan decided to put that port on the very top of the valve cover. Seems like they could have shot it out the side and saved an inch or two of engine height. I wonder if the valve cover is designed to distribute the fresh air over the rocker arms, purging the area evenly, leaving no dead zones for sludge buildup. You could get fancy inside the cover and seal up the air supply area, creating a type of manifold, then place the fresh air inlet at the back or front of the cover to feed the new manifold. Run the air supply hose next to the fuel rail, or underneath the intake, to streamline things. Edit 2 - looking at JSM's picture I realize that the filler cap is also high. So the PCV elbow height isn't that significant.

Manifold vacuum has little to do with determining if you have a vacuum leak. What it measures is how well, and how, the engine is pulling air. You might have a vacuum leak but that's not what the vacuum gauge is used for. And you'd be better off to block the brake booster line and use a small port on the manifold for the gauge. Plus, when you give a vacuum gauge reading you should also include RPM. Might be worthwhile to reset and re-describe what the problem is. You've probably changed some things, and verified others, and have more numbers to report, since the last post almost three weeks ago. And you might be better at describing what's going on. We're on Page 2 now and I don't remember what the issue is beside rough-running. It almost always helps to review work done.

Maybe not magical, but practical? That large chunk of mesh at the PCV hose port in the block acts as an oil most separator, I think. We used to build them from pipe and steel wool to separate oil on vacuum pump exhausts. If we didn't have them they'd spray a substantial quantity of misted pump oil. You could add mesh at the valve cover entrance/exit probably. Or do a catch can. Seems like both top and bottom see the same thing, exhaust gases from blowby, either rings or valve seals, and oil mist from moving parts.

Looks like it's priced for the turbo. Front end looks bad, bumpers gone, only showing one door panel and one seat (makes you wonder). No idea where you're looking or where you are, or where the car is, so advice will be limited, re rust. I got a complete 1976 car with minimal rust, non-running, for $1000. Got 20,000 miles out of the engine once I got it going. If you're just looking for a sound body, there might be better options out there. Also notice that that's a 280Z fuel rail, not a 280ZX fuel rail. Could be that all it really has is a TURBO valve cover. Beware.

You could swap n a 1980+ 280ZX engine with a P79 head and CHTS. Run the wire around the back of the cylinder head. Or you could pair an AD and DA converter, with wireless technology.

Does it close? That's the important part because it's the only thing that makes it different from the idle speed air bypass screw, which also does what CO described for the AAR. You should be able to raise your idle speed by turning the idle speed screw. But it will stay high after the engine warms up. The AAR doesn't stay open very long, it has its own internal heater that closes it well before the engine gets to operating temperature. If you connect a battery to the terminals you can watch it close if it's working correctly. Some people remove them and just hold the throttle open for a short while. As Captain impled, it has very little affect on how the engine runs. It's just a convenience.

You haven't said if it was full of coolant. And hose pressure is really only a test of the radiator cap. Pressure comes from heat and expansion, and the pressure is distributed evenly through the whole system. Didn't say either if you drove 10 minutes on the highway or ten minutes through the traffic lights. Just making the point that it's the little details that will tell the story. If you've been hitting 240 and you had a steaming engine, you might have a blown head gasket. You might never know if it happened before or after the belt change. But it might be the cause.

If you're sure that you're measuring resistance through the pickup coil itself then that $30 Autozone coil is the way to go. They don't fail often but they do fail. Didn't even know that you could get those at Autozone. http://www.autozone.com/ignition-tune-up-and-routine-maintenance/pick-up-coil/duralast-pick-up-coil/80242_0_0

The overheating could be coincidental to the belt swap. No cause and effect. Belt and fan problems would show up at idle, like at stop lights, or slow driving. Radiator problems show up at highway speed. Thermostats affect both. The "haha I only saw steam" comment sounds like you don't have any coolant in the system. You didn't' really explain what you meant. Are you saying that the radiator is not full? That could be the whole problem right there.

It does look that way. From here he could go through the 1978 Engine Electrical chapter tests. Your documents might be a bit much for the OP at this point in time. Just saying, it took a few days to get to the pickup coil. No offense. To the OP - the rotor pulls right off the top of the shaft, in that picture, it's a press-fit. That will give you a good look at the other parts. The wires to the pickup coil look fairly weathered, they could be broken where they enter. Also, there are other things you should check while you're n there, but it might be best to focus on one at a time.

Darn it. Just realized I was looking at your terminal block wrong. It's actually right for 78. Ignore all comments about two pickup coils, yours looks right, a block for a single pickup. But the resistance you measured isn't right, it's way too high, essentially open Triple check those wire ends, it looks like somebody put new ends on, and might not have got them right.

Looks like you have a mish-mash parts. A single pickup distributor, which is right for 78, but a two pickup terminal block. If I read your meter right, you're in the Mega-ohm range. Not the spec. you're looking for. The test shown in the FSM, for that distributor, is from the TIU plug but it ends up on the same wires you're testing. Spend some time making sure you're getting good contact with your probes and that the ring connectors haven't broken loose from the wire ends. The test and spec. is shown on page EE-32.