Zed Head

If the groove is damaged and letting the clip slide back inside the diff, you might try doing some work on the tips of the axles so that they slide through the clip easier. File or grind down any concentric machining grooves and grease up the tip so that it slides through instead of pushing the clip out of the groove. Once the tip starts expanding the clip in the groove it should stay there until the axle groove hits and lets it drop in to place.

Yes, the clip is supposed to sit in both grooves at the same time, internal and external. So they need to match, distance-wise.

They look like plain old 280ZXT or 2+2 CV axles. Made for old-style R200 diff. I have a pair in the garage. Could be that your diff internals are damaged. The grooves look a little bit beat up in your pictures. Not sure what the fix is. Stick your tape measure in the holes and match up the groove distances to be sure on the sides.

What part number did you get? Your clip looks like the later style, from what I've seen on a later style diff that I have. Round wire instead of flat meal. You want part #18, I think. http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/power-train/differential-gear/r200/18 Wouldn't be surprised either if a parts guy just assumed that they were the same and gave you the later clips.

Did the clunk go away? The bag looks nice but are the bushings black? Are they shiny or dull? How do they feel on your face? Soft and smooth? I digress... Good info on the results, you had the hard polyurethane before? Do you know the brand?

Thanks, I remember that now. Every single post in excruciating order, in to infinity. An endless list of topics is what I long for. Just trying to reformat the world the way that I want it to be....

You should put that in the title of your thread, or at least the text. Save everyone time.

There's a guy who just started a thread about a whole yard full of Z cars that he was helping somebody part out. Many of the pictures showed 4 barrel manifolds. I'd post a link but it's not in the last day's worth of activity and I can't find it. Search around. The title was something like "240Z, 260Z, 280Z parts", or something like that. There were a surprising number of 4 barrels. If we could just get an endless scroll of activity on a page to look through that would be so awesome. So much stuff disappears after a day. The old conversations are the reason people come back.

I don't think that the ignition module actually "flows" much current. It senses voltage but the current flow is probably more like what a capacitor might see, I'd guess.

BAT seems to be the go-to 240Z site these days. Have you been watching there? There's a member here who comments over there and might have made deals. Sccobyroo or scoobydoo or similar (edit - SCRAPPYDO is the guy). Can't remember who he is here. But he probably knows how deals get done over there. Seems reputable. http://bringatrailer.com/search/240z/

Oops. Stepped on Dave's lines... You can get spark testers also. I've never tried one but they make sense. Hard to see the spark sometimes if it's bright out.

That was interesting. I pulled down my 78 parts box and the old switch was right on top (meant to be!). I hooked up some leads so that I could easily turn the key and listen to my meter-beeper (I know CO doesn't like them but mine has a readout to watch also) and found that R had continuity with B right away and to the end of rotation, but S was iffy and seemed to only have one narrow range where it had continuity. Then I remembered that I had pulled it apart in the past when I had a problem with my 76, and had ended up bending the internal actuating rod to make it work right. Testing with the switch pulled apart and turning the electrical portion with a screwdriver showed that both S and R could be over-rated to where they lost continuity. The only thing controlling the total degrees of rotation is the mechanical (key) part of the switch So I'd guess that your new switch is just adjusted to turn the electrical switch too far. Not good news but it can be fixed, if you unstake it and take it apart. You can twist the flat rod with a pair of pliers. But I don't think it's right, it's a flaw in operation. One big "Ah Haa" from back when I used to start the 78 parts car is that now I know why it would start to turn over then let go all of a sudden, leaving the starter spinning loudly. I thought it was a starter problem but now realize that it was just the ignition switch rotating past the contact and losing the S circuit. I spent a lot of time trying to reason that problem out and never really had a good theory. Edit - more interesting stuff. I noticed that the brass male S pin was wobbly on the back of the switch. So I restaked it with a drift pin, put the whole assembly back together, and both S and R worked as expected, full continuity over the full Start rotation. So, check the pins on the back, maybe R is loose and can be reset with a little tap of a hammer.

So, to summarize - within the range of the Start position,which is essentially just off of the Run position, your switch completes the S circuit immediately and holds it, but loses the proper R circuit after a certain amount of rotation. Looks like 1978 still has an R but I can't find a diagram that shows it connected to anything. I'll dig mine out if I get out there.

All of that is correct. The nut is supposed to clamp the insert in to the strut tube. The sleeve keeps the insert centered. Your gland nut does look a little bit deep though. When you tighten it down are you sure that it is actually clamping the top of the insert? It might be bottoming out on the internal threads. Tighten it down with the shock/insert inside then grab the shaft of the shock and see if it can be moved side to side or up and down. You can put a washer on top to get more clamping if it's bottoming out on the internal threads.

Here's something that might be illuminating - what happens to the circuit to the starter solenoid when the power to the R terminal switches? If you don't get power to the starter solenoid then the R terminal is kind of irrelevant. Instead of looking at key position look at solenoid power.

"Loose" was a poor choice on my part. How about poorly or incorrectly assembled? The rotating mechanical parts are misaligned with the rotating electrical parts. So your basic question is "Are there supposed to be two electrical circuits possible in the one Start position of the switch?" Seems to me that if Nissan intended two circuit possibilities that they would show two circuits possible at Start in the wiring diagram. Anyway, might be fun to have a few people test their spare switches. I have a 78 280Z switch in the garage, but they stopped using the ballast in 78 so don't know if it would be the same.

You have the correlation or cause-effect conundrum. The loose wire might have been significant but not the cause of the problem. Intermittent problems are the hardest to solve, you have to be ready to test and diagnose right when they happen. When you say "spark" do you mean that you actually removed a plug wire and checked for spark? Or that the engine wouldn't fire? No spark could be the fairly common ignition module problem, no-fire could be wet plugs.

Not really clear (to me anyway) what you mean by "further against the detent spring". Are you saying that the Start position has two states? Start is at the end of the cycle so there shouldn't be another position beyond it. Sounds like a loose switch that is passing its contact point. Defective. Pretty sure that SteveJ has written about the differences in the Ignition switches, in the past. @SteveJ

You can build a simple plate with two holes in it to seal it. A test might be to remove it and leave it connected to the fuel hose, but disconnected from the electrical connection. Stick the nozzle in to a small jar or cup. Then remove the starter solenoid wire and turn the key to Start to pressurize the fuel system. If it's leaking you'll see it. You won't have to worry about intake vacuum with the starter disconnected, you'll only be testing the CSV when its pressurized.

I might go directly to the coolant temperature sensor circuit. The best way to test it is at the ECU connector, since what the ECU sees is what matters. Compare the resistance measured to the value in the chart. If it's too high you'll get too much fuel. This book has tests for all models up to 1980 -

I think we're just a little miffed to be the last resort instead of the first. You probably spent a lot of money that you didn't need to. And sometimes old Nissan parts are better than new aftermarket parts. As far as measuring things, people do it all the time without realizing it. If the engine dies you measure the fuel level by looking at the gauge, if it starts running weird you measure coolant temperature by looking at the gauge, voltmeter, oil pressure, etc. A multimeter is just a way to get a little bit more valuable information. It's just another gauge.

I was thinking about the instrument lights. The 240Z wiring isn't quite the same as 280Z wiring though. Not sure how they did turn signals, or instrument lights for the 240Z. But the switch pitting and wearing, causing overheating, is just a design weakness that they carried all the way through the Z car years. Edit - most of the switches in my car worked more consistently after I sprayed CAIG Deoxit in to the internals and worked the switch. The inherently moist Z car interior isn't good for the switches. How is the dimmer switch for your headlights doing? Mine didn't work until I Deoxit'ed it. Bummer that you tore the whole interior out only to find that damaged switch on top of the steering column.

The wire breaking off at the solder joint is fairly common, I think. Not unknown anyway. My headlights wire did that. I ended up running the running lights and the headlights through relays to take the heat out of that switch. The cause for that, as I've seen it discussed is that the contacts get pitted and carboned up and get hot, hot enough to either melt that solder or cause it to fatigue after many heat cycles. Better check your tail lights. They share power with the instrument lights. No instrument lights means no tail lights on my 76 car. The fuse is probably blown. Looks like two problems, one is the overheating switch, and the other is the blown tail lights. The current from the shorted tail lights might have pushed the switch over the top before the fuse blew.

You probably solved the real problem by trying to solve one that doesn't exist. You supplied power to the coil through the pump power circuit. Didn't read back through your thread but you need to take measurements with a meter or use a test light, to know what's happening.

Ya gotta measure stuff. Fuel pressure, coolant sensor resistance, etc. If all of the measurements are right, another possibility is a bad ECU. People have temporarily fixed them by knocking on the side or wiggling the connector. You'll want to take your measurements at the ECU connector so that act alone might solve your problem. You can test site's suggestion by removing the black cover on the side of the AFM and watching the weight while it runs.