Zed Head

That's a good point. Funny that we have those 6 potential short circuits sitting there all the time, with the crappy typically burnt crispy connectors the only thing stopping it from happening. I don't get too far in to the fine details of of a problem until I know that the measurement techniques are right. I suspect that DC8 is early on the learning curve, but making rapid progress. You're the one that pointed out to me that if the other injectors are connected, you'll see voltage on both pins of the disconnected one you're testing, because there are parallel circuits. So if all are disconnected you see only one pin voltage but if others are connected you'll see voltage on both. I think that still applies even without dropping resistors. The wiring diagram implies only one grounding transistor though, but all six terminate there. Kind of interesting.

Check your local yards and craigslist for manifolds. I took my first one to a shop to have a stud removed and have it ground and the guy charged me the very top of his estimate,even though I told him if it didn't look like it was going to come out to just stop. He looked at it and said it wouldn't be a problem and should cost at the low end. He seemed sincere. I think that he just enjoyed the challenge of removing it, at my expense, when it turned out difficult. My fault for not resetting the upper end of the estimate, but I found junk yard manifolds later that I could have bought and used right away for 1/3 of what I ended up paying.

Don't forget, Kansas is way out there. You can't ask big coastal-city money when you live in the country. No offense kacrow.

When you grounded them at the ECU connector you took the ECU out of the picture. So you can't determine if the ECU is good or not. But you could say that even a good ECU won't open the injectors. How did you do the grounding? And which pins did you use on the connector? And was the key On? Did you measure battery voltage at the pin before you grounded it? No offense, but you might be missing something. Not enough detail to tell if you did it right. You can also power each injector individually. Some people use a 9 volt battery because they're afraid that a full twelve will damage the injector. But a short tap or two with full power won't hurt them. It's the extended current that causes the damaging heat. A tap or two with a full twelve volts might be enough to pop them open. It might get you running but they might not be balanced if they've all been stuck. Kind of odd that you don't get at least one click.

It's described in the FSM. The ECU uses spark counting to know the crankshaft has turned. It's a revolution sensor but not an angle sensor. As noted earlier, your car doesn't have a CAS if it's NA.

I've seen it proposed but haven't actually seen it - bad grounding of the spark plug body and threads to the head. Several ways to test it or fix it, from vigorous cleaning of the threads to running a dedicated ground wire from the plug body to ground, or jamming a screwdriver between the plug and head. You get the idea. Seems far-fetched but fits the symptoms.

Another test for the injection system is to connect a lead to the coil's negative post. Let the other end hang free, turn the key On then tap the free end of the lead to ground to create a spark. Every third tap should cause all six injectors to click. That test works all of the parts, including the ECU. It provides a stronger spark though because the starter motor is not engaged. If you sit down and think things through and collect all of these various suggestions, you can come up with a systematic plan to test parts, in addition to the factory tests. You're talking about taking the injectors out but you haven't test their functioning yet. You can also ground each injector at the ECU connector, with the key On, mimicking the ECU's function. Then you'll know if they're stuck. Lots of little tricks out here.

I would try starting fluid, with a squirt of oil in each cylinder, before going too far, just to be sure it's an injection problem. If you didn't flush the lines to the injectors you might be squirting old dead fuel or water in to the cylinders. The injectors also tend to get stuck closed if the fuel in them dries out. I've freed them up by tapping with a screwdriver. There are many other possibilities for not firing or not injecting. You have to work your way through them. Using starting fluid is a good way to test many things at once. Timing, spark, compression, etc. A friend and I spent hours trying to get an old 1963 Bonneville to start that had only been sitting one year. A farmer cruised by on his tractor and told us to squirt some oil in the cylinders. We did and it fired right up. The rings were dry and it just wasn't compressing the fuel-air mix. I've also had an engine that had spark but it was weak. It would only start with starting fluid until I changed the ignition module. Your ZX module could have bad grounding and produce a weak visible spark, not strong enough to kick off old fuel in dead dry cylinders. Could be a combination of weaknesses.

A penny saved can be dollars lost. @Joseph@TheZStore

If you remove the nut or bolt on the front of the head that holds the fuel rail you could probably even leave the rubber hoses connected. But, if you have old hoses, it's a good opportunity to just cut the hoses to get everything off easily then take your time removing the old hose with the manifold on the bench. Actually it's a good opportunity to replace all of the old hoses and insulators and injector seals.

Forgot to say, it's not uncommon for people to measure voltage or use their test light across the connector pins. That's the wrong way and will show zero. Measure voltage from the pins to ground. The block or manifold or some other path back to battery negative.

Yes, you want to examine the circuit FROM the battery to the injector connectors/plugs if there is no power at the injectors. The ECU is on the grounding side of the circuit, the very end. There is power (voltage) in the wires and injectors all the way to the ECU as soon as you turn the key On. When the ECU grounds the end of the circuit, current flows and the injectors open. Fusible links are notorious for corroded connections. The will also blow if the wire between the injector connector and the fusible link is shorted to ground. Becuase the resistance of the injector is not there to control current. Take your Fluke, find the fusible link for the injector power and see if there is power on both sides of the link. If there is then work your way up to the injector connectors until you find the break n the circuit.

Are you on a phone, smart or not? Here's a smaller snip of the picture I posted. From my computer. I labeled the picture "the battery". Edit - I finally got a smart phone and understand how the big pictures get lost on the tiny screen. It's not smart to use a smart phone to look at big wiring diagrams.

The injector power exits through the ECU but does not start there. You're looking at the wrong end IF the injectors really don't have power. If you mean that the injectors aren't opening though, the ECU is a possibility. And 1982 non-turbo (NA) engines don't have a CAS. Kind of reads like you're new to auto electrical. Don't replace until you do a few tests. Make sure you're working from the FSM, EFEC chapter. http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/14-280zx/

It's just a shape with two screws that hold it on. Fab something up out of plastic. You could probably use scissors on a coffee can lid and it would make a nice shiny flat cover. The 6AL has two official trigger options, plus I think that you can trick it in to working with other methods (apparently, since JSM and others do it). The same way people use the GM HEI module in place of the ignorant on the turbo cars. But, summarizing everything you said - if you want to have the E12-80 readily available as a back-up just leave it on and run the wires out from behind it. I'm sure that you can create a gap without harming the function of the E12 module. Otherwise you have to remove your new cover and reinstall the E12 which would probably be taking up space in your glove box. https://static.summitracing.com/global/images/instructions/msd-6425.pdf

You've done an uncommon thing so won't see many replies about what people have actually done. If the E12-80 is dead you could just file a groove for the wires and use it as the cover. Even if it's still good, you could leave it on.

Nice car. Not many ZX people on this site. You might try zcar.com too. And bringatrailer.com is more nationwide. You're probably not getting the right eyes on it.

Lack of Coriolis force? Confused Coriolis effects maybe. Too much laminar flow?

That's right, it doesn't matter. You're just passing current through the solenoid coil to energize it. Direction doesn't matter.

Are they really from Pakistan? There was a big kerfuffle about Nike soccer balls being assembled by Pakistani kids, a few years ago. Maybe they moved on to seat covers.

Good luck. "New" does not mean much these days. Beware.

No, I just posted that to contrast with 246's post about setting timing. Just another view, about the current state-of-the-situation. sweaty got a lot of suggestions about popping and timing when apparently it wouldn't even start any more. Looks like he has/had two problems at the same time: popping and setting timing. Probably two different causes, bad spark on 1 and 3 and something's off mechanically.

The 1976 diagram by Saridout, here, is excellent. The other unlabeled diagram is unknown, but here's a 78 link, 2nd one, I remember from the past. It should be inthe Download section. @Mike http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/1-wiring-diagrams/ The FSM's are here - http://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/13-280z/

It runs now, with four solid sparks and two hit or miss, apparently, but not clear if it's popping now. Just realized that when you use the rotor to determine if the distributor is right, there's an inherent assumption that the spark trigger is in a certain place. Either points are about to open or the electronic trigger is about to hit. I would start from scratch, lining up damper timing mark, cam lobes, and rotor, and see where the trigger mechanism is. The facts suggest that it's not where it should be. With the range of adjustments on the Nissan distributors, there are many possibilities. The trigger needs to be just at the trigger point when all of the other stuff is right.

Which one was that? There are a lot of threads out here. I'd be happy to help but I'm not interested in searching. You can post a link to the other thread, or copy the relevant words from it. Just saying, make it easy for everyone.