Zed Head

Here's an illustration of the ends of the three shift rods that are stopped by the front cover. When you move the lever for reverse the rod is stopped in its travel by the front cover. If the front cover is not installed you might be getting some overtravel, causing the gear to stick.

The very small rectangular metal piece with the spring under it. It does its work under the coupling sleeve, popping up and stopping its travel. It just looks exposed, to where it might be popping up when it's not supposed to.

Actually, the complete procedure is well written and detailed in the FSM. Mentioned, obliquely, in Posts 2, 3, 4, and CO's. Just saying, the FSM procedure is actually an easy, informative, and pleasant read. Some interesting observations - the bearings aren't really peloaded (like a tapered roller bearing might be ) even though they call it preload and actually have a torque measurement. Plus they have a torque measurement AND an end-play spec. Not sure that either of those is correct for a ball bearing, of this type. (Edit - and they don't tell you what to do if just one of the specs is off. Grease the seal?) It's a set of balls riding in two races. The distance piece is spec'ed to match the inner race separation distance to the out race separation distance (controlled by the hub casting), which should be the important part. Getting those two races aligned. It seems like Nissan might be allowing for the inner axle to expand a bit or they are setting the balls up to ride on the edge of the race. The distance piece (inner race) is closer together than the outer races. It really is interesting if you dig in to it. http://www.skf.com/binary/tcm:12-114679/140-710 BIMG 11_2012_tcm_12-114679.pdf Something that's come up in the past - using the axle nut to pull one of the bearings in to tis seat. This loads the balls at singular points on the races and should be a no-no. This puzzle is really about what came out of M. Abate's car, and why the carpartsmanual diagram is wrong, I think. Sorry, I love a good technical deep-dig...

I thought you said that you found one stuck in the grease, and couldn't remember how they came apart? Regardless, Nissan, the company, has no record or documentation describing anything between the bearing races except the distance piece. Seems like there's only one path forward though, when putting it back together. I think that the diagram is just wrong and that's all there is to the bigger picture. This puzzle is more about where the diagram originated. And maybe about where those washers were in your car, but if your guy threw all the pieces in a box, who knows? Or, somebody did measure the distance piece in the past and decided it needed to be thicker, so they stuck a washer in there. There are letters on the hub and the distance piece. Do they match? that would be a clue. No tools necessary. Looks like carpartsmanual is the source. I've often wondered where they got their information. http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/axle/rear-axle-drive-shaft

Actually that is a common cause of wonderment, but, as Captain Obvious pointed out to me many moons ago, is normal, for a parallel circuit. You're just measuring voltage on the other pin through one of the other still connected injectors. The voltage that you're measuring will have its path to ground through the transistor circuit in the ECU. The grounds are ganged together at the transistor in the ECU. That's why disconnecting the ECU breaks the parallel circuit. I think that you can move on from that concern and go to the basics, like spark, and injector opening. Have you verified spark, and tried to start it with starting fluid? Starting fluid will tell you that you have spark, and compression, and that all of the important timing events are correct. If it runs with starting fluid, you can focus on injector opening, or vacuum leaks, or similar. If it doesn't run with starting fluid then all of those other important timing events are suspect. It's a simple quick test that will get you much farther ahead than where you are now. You can usually sit at the engine intake with the can of fluid and keep the engine running for a little while, just to hear how it runs.

Probably more fun to study the diagrams, but I inadvertently developed a simple test for battery draw after modifying my 76 for an internally regulated alternator. Look for a spark when you connect the negative terminal. Seriously, a 0.3 amp draw from relay will make a sizable spark. I noticed it after I did mine, thought it was odd, then realized there was a problem when my battery was dead the next day. In my case it was the brake warning lamp check relay.

Me? I'm not a fun-poker. Doesn't this just sound a like discharged battery, and taking measurements at low RPM, where the typical alternator is barely generating any current? When he disconnects the battery the alternator doesn't have the battery load to deal with and the current draw drops. If it wasn't at low RPM voltage would probably jump to 16 or 17. There's no S circuit anymore with the battery disconnected. auvelas, don't disconnect the battery while the engine is running. It can damage your alternator. Leave everything connected correctly, and take a voltage measurement at higher RPM. Like the FSM says. More details, like SteveJ says.

One of the first things I heard when I got on these forums was that there are many mistakes in the documentation. Translation errors and such. The TSB and FSM descriptions of the processes seem to make it pretty clear though, don't they, that the washer in question goes outside of the distance piece area? The only questionable thing is the image with the part numbers. There are no words describing washers or shims between the bearing races. Just that one drawing. FSM's 1970-1978 all support no washers between the races. And describe measuring and verifying. Is that drawing from the microfiche CD, or is it from some other non-Nissan source?

You're in Greece George, which seems like a foreign country to us. Shipping costs make those options not worth considering, for us, over here. The Traction Concepts product and others like it are generally seen as cheap, low quality options, to get both wheels to spin. Not "real" performance products. More of a gimmicky work around, one step below a welded diff. I don't think I've seen anyone on any of the Z car forums I've been around actually buy one and use it. It's surprising that the product is still available. One interesting thing about the Subie diffs are that there are two types, Torsen and clutch. So you have to make that choice, if it matters to you. Another thought is that it's actually fairly simple to change gear ratios, via a new ring and pinion gear set. The cost comes in having a good shop set the clearances back to spec. correctly, after installation. One thing that's fairly common to do is to assume that the backlash and the bearing preload will stay in spec if only the carrier is changed. I know that certain skilled people on this forum have done that with R200's and been fine. It's common across OEM diffs, the housings are the wide-spec. parts but the carriers are typically precise and accurate. They can be swapped, across gears and housings. But then you can have those night sweats that gnosez gets. I just went through all of this with a Ford diff, swapping an LSD diff and carrier in to an open diff housing. There's a bunch of different ways to get it done, but that means there's a bunch of different ways to make a mistake too. There's a ton of videos and instructions out there. It's a fun DIY, and even if you choose to have a shop do it at least you'll know what they're talking about. And here's another option, the Cusco, which seems to get good marks. https://www.rallysportdirect.com/part/limited-slip-differentials/cus-lsd-182-l15-cusco-rs-rear-lsd-1-5-way-r180 Obviously, the work will make you chew your nails... eeeew...

But where are they? The numbers from the cost comparison. I think we're looking for numbers and sources, not so much opinions about what somebody thinks is the best way to go about a project. Many people enjoy building their car themselves. Some people just take their ideas to a shop. 7tooZ asked you where a person would get a Quaife for an R180 back in post #4. That might be useful info.

I was mainly responding to gnosez. Somebody always has a less exepnsive way to do things if everything falls in to place just right. He didn't really offer an details. If you take your $250, and silvermine's $375, and add say another $100 for the pinion flange, you're at $725, for bolt-in R180 swap. Not bad. http://www.silverminemotors.com/datsun/datsun-240z/drivetrain-17/lsd-r180-sti-out-output-flange-conversion-stub-axels The hybridz thread linked in the wolfcreekracing page has many stories from people who tried John Coffey's axles. They loved the final package, from what I read. Looks like the link is broken though so here it is - http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/78123-subaru-wrx-sti-r180-side-axles/ And here's a Google with a bunch of the development thread work linked - https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=vvwJWrG6Kc28jwOdlLqYDg&q=site%3Ahybridz.org+subaru-wrx-sti-r180-side-axles&oq=site%3Ahybridz.org+subaru-wrx-sti-r180-side-axles&gs_l=psy-ab.3...1370.8646.0.9920.18.18.0.0.0.0.93.813.18.18.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.5.322...0j0i131k1j0i10k1.0.dtx90L00WPY It was pretty well thought out and ended well. So well that other people are riding John's coat-tails.

If you buy all new, or assume that a used Subie diff will be rebuilt professionally, then it's probably a wash. But John C had the axles made for DIY people, assuming that they were buying wrecking yard Subie diffs and rebuilding them themselves or just using as-is. If you're just going to open a wallet there is a wide range of possibilities.

I saw this over on Hybridz a while ago. It really works. It's an add-on that somehow pulls in Photobucket images. It doesn't work in Incognito mode, only in normal Chrome mode. Boy from Oz contributed it. Hybridz is now on the same platform as CZCC so don't get confused as to which site you're on. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/128090-old-pictures-only-show-as-namejpg/?tab=comments#comment-1197332

My impression has been that it's just an old out-of-business aftermarket supplier, or maybe even the supplier to a supplier. You might have more luck just looking at injector images, but I'll bet that at some time in the past, pre-internet society, when you went to Autozone or Oreilly or one of the others and bought Brand X injectors, you got those injectors and the "RAM" is just an artifact, unconnected to the brand name of the supplier. Random Access Molding maybe, did the injection molding for the plastic portion.

They do seem exposed. The ends of the shift rods are all stopped by the front cover. You might make sure that all three rods are on the same plane and see if the inserts are still exposed. Could be that the coupling sleeve is just moving farther than it will when everything is fully assembled.

The synchro that you're looking at is the 5th gear synchro. I haven't really studied the way that Nissan added 5th gear to their 4 speeds but it looks like they made the reverse gear in to the coupling sleeve for 5th. Pretty cool. When it's uncoupled to 5th it's used as reverse. Dual usage. Never realized that. 5th gear will be engaged when you're cruising down the free way at 60 mph and those parts are rotating. Not sitting, with no rotation. You might be making much from not much.

Here's a snap-shot of the actual TSB from the compiled volume that the "Canadian formerly known as Blue" uploaded. It's in the Manuals section but should be in Service Bulletins. You'd have to know what type of noise they were trying to reduce, to know why they chose a copper washer to serve the purpose. They say metallic. Could be a clank, or a clunk, or a high frequency noise. I'm going to guess it was clank-related.

@Dave WM and @EuroDat have been deep in to the 5 speeds. They might have some thoughts. You might be looking at 5th gear. Reverse does not have synchros in 1983, it's the straight-cut gears. Reverse and first are the only two gears where shafts might not be rotating when shifting. All of the others will have the output shaft rotating with the propeller shaft. Without oil things do tend to get sticky. When you put it together make sure that it's not locked up after. It's possible to get it in to two gears at the same time when putting the front case on, because the shift rods will move. Most people put it in to a certain gear like 2nd or 3rd then put the case on.

Since you know that the engine will start and run, but your problem now is getting it restarted, and keeping it running, I would not do anything drastic. Focus on getting the right things done in the right order so that you don't get lost in unnecessary details. If you do decide to do "while I'm here" things or things that will need to be done eventually make sure you get them done to completion or you might end up with things torn apart and a bunch of new puzzles to solve. The starting system is essentially independent of everything else on the engine and car. The starter is connected directly to the battery, and is controlled by the starter solenoid. You can work on it independently of all of the other things you're looking at. Can't tell you what exactly to do but that's how I would look at it. You should be able to easily get the engine to spin using the starter, if you're battery is charge. "12.5 to 13" implies that you're using the dash gauge to measure voltage though, and it's not accurate. Get a real meter, you'll need it. Your alternator ground wire is in the wrong spot but it is probably not a big deal. "E" stands for earth, which is also called ground. But the alternator case is also connected to ground. It looks like your T plug has been messed with. Take that white piece of tape off and see what's under there. Your fusible link ends look like they need cleaning. Be careful that you don't short your battery when working on the electrical stuff. Take the battery negative cable off if you're not used to working on electrical. Burnt wires would be a nightmare for you. Those are bad battery cable ends also. They get dirty easily. Could be part of your problem. Good luck. Take your time. Take notes. Record numbers.

I would give it a good buffing with a soft pillow.

Googling around just now, I did find this - http://www.ebay.ie/itm/6x-RAM-Fuel-Injector-For-485cc-NISSAN-Skyline-RB30E-280ZX-300ZX-Z31-High-Flow/171746383140?hash=item27fce1d524:g:UTgAAOSweGxZc4v7

Congratulations on the new-to-you 280Z, and getting it started. Considering all of the facts, a bad or dirty/corroded starter seems possible. Assuming that the engine is okay. When the engine died did it stop immediately or did it die slowly? Are you sure that the engine is not seized? Try turning it over by putting the car in gear and rolling it, or using a wrench on the crankshaft or timing sprocket bolt. If the engine is free but the starter just doesn't have the juice to push the bendix out and turn it, you might remove the starter and clean it up. It's pretty easy to do. You can also remove it then reconnect the cables and test it off the engine. Make sure that you get the cables connected correctly, Nissan did not use red and black like everybody else did at the time.

The silverminemotors.com link in Post #6 of Abate's thread is about "Datsun stub axles" for the Subaru R180. John Coffey designed them and saw them through to production then gave the info to Wolf Creek Racing. Not sure how Silvermine came in, unless they just made a copy. Here are two links in one, Wolf Creek and a link to the relevant Hybridz thread. http://www.wolfcreekracing.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=31

I can say that I've seen the "RAM" injectors before. They were part of a mixed set on a used engine that I bought. I think that they're aftermarket, not one of the big OEM's. Pretty sure that mine were black though. I threw them away, they were in really bad shape.