Zed Head

Can't remember what problem you're trying to fix. But, both wiring diagrams are available on this site and have the Hazard switch wires shown.

Check your wires too. And connections in the cap. Not uncommon to not get the wires seated fully. Swap wires to check, with the timing light. Bad spark will follow bad wires. If ti's the cap it will stay on 1 and 3.

My "disable the cylinders" comment wasn't just a flyer. Find out where the popping is coming from. You might have a bad cylinder.

Try putting the timing light lead on different cylinders and see if the flashes make more sense. Might give a clue. Seems like you're locked in mentally that things are right and you might be missing something. Cognitive dissonance.

The things suggested will affect all six cylinders equally. You might see if the problem is from a single cylinder by disabling one cylinder at a time. If you have electronic ignition make sure that you ground the plug wire before starting the engine. Sometimes they don't like it if the spark has nowhere to go. Takes more time but it's less risk. If the popping goes away with a certain disabled cylinder then you can start thinking about other things.

Maybe an exhaust valve stuck open? Is it like pop pop pop pop pop ....? "Continuous" implies that the same thing is happening every series of cycles, unlike the somewhat randomness of ignition misfires. A compression check or leakdown test might show something, or a very close examination of the valves and rocker arms. Double-check the lash.

Did you just do everything at one time? Not clear what, exactly, worked. Weird that Nissan had those parts designed so tightly. Maybe that spring-loaded ZX shifter is more subtly complex than it seems. Has anyone compared the action of the two? Maybe we should be bending ZX levers to fit out old transmissions. There's a lot of parts there, a scenario that automakers try to avoid.

Loose bushings can amplify the shifter problem. I have tight new bushings, and my 76 4 speed shifter worked fine in three of my 5 speeds. There are tiny nicks from contact but no big notches like you're showing. I wouldn't overthink it. Get the parts right then see if you need new parts.

The popping back out of gear is a concern. Once the shift mechanism pushes the coupling sleeve in to place there are a variety of small parts that are designed to hold it there. The shifter and other parts are released from duty and should just sit there until your hand puts them back in to action. It hsould either go in to gear and stay there or pop out immediately. I think that we're all hoping you don't have a deeper problem but once you freed the lever from all encumbrances you should have been able to put it in to 5th and have it stay there.

I would remove all of that stuff, take the shifter out and put some machinists blue or even black sharpie, or paint or a piece of tape on the spots of the shifter that site showed in the other thread, then go drive it. It will either work fine and you'll know it was the boot, or it won't and you'll have some evidence on the shifter. You might find it's some other weird thing like a console wire hanging or the console doesn't fit right. Edit - sometimes you just have to do what's necessary to see the source. I was working on some plumbing yesterday trying to find a leak and I finally just stuck my head down on the concrete so I could see the bottom of the fitting. The leak was not coming from where I had calculated from the landing point of the drops. I wasted a lot of time trying to brain it out, when a little dirt on my head and some contortions would have found it earlier.

The shifter would be the first place to look. It's been talked about a lot, I assumed that you would have looked there. Here's the thread, #86 is where the shifter interference pops up.

That same thought popped in to my mind. It's like a constant battle. I have friends who say that politicians always lie, but I think that the media executives are worse. Some of my favorites are companies like Oregon Public Broadcasting that create premium channels for the cable companies to sell, but still have their fund raisers where they try to get people to "donate" to support the programming for the leftover channel. They've gone free-market on one hand, and stayed non-profit on the other. Something doesn't fit. Future scandal. Edit - to be clear...it's not a CZCC problem, it's just the internet and other media, in general.

I can't remember exactly, but "loose countershaft nut" and "broken shift fork roll pin" come to mind. If I recall correctly, neither is huge or expensive deal but both require removal and disassembly of the rear case from the adapter plate. Sunchro problems can make it difficult to get in to gear but once it's there it stays there. Popping out of gear is not a synchro problem. The fact that it's changing over time suggests the loosening nut problem. Probably want to catch that early.

Seems to be a new kind of pop-up, it's on many web sites. I think it's a "mouse-over" thing, like the annoying ads in the middle of text that play sound if you mouse-over them. They always find new ways to break through. If there's one thing on the internet that needs a "dislike" or "hate" button it's these kinds of ads. There must be a whole bunch of gullible management types that are being convinced that these ads actually help sales. Somebody is getting conned.

I just thought it was funny. It appeared from nowhere but when I clicked the X a smaller Fred Meyer ad was there. It amazes what ad people think will get people to buy stuff.

I've wondered the same myself. Maybe a translation thing? OD has to be 5th because it's OD right? Maybe top is the highest before you get to OD? The followup question might be "what would you do in 4th that you wouldn't do in 5th?" Interesting (to me anyway) thought question, aside - why is overdrive significant? It's really just one factor in a string of multipliers. At the end of the full calculation, it's essentially meaningless what that single ratio is. But it sure does look like somersetting in the advertisements. I think it's one of those buzzy words that just sounds impactful. Example - "Bachman-Turner Overdrive". Much more exciting sounding than the Bachman-Turner band. But close to ultimate meaninglessness. They don't even play that fast.

People sometimes have to grind them off.

A mirror, long socket extensions, a wobbly socket attachment, and tape could all come in handy. Working on them is an acquired technique and can be very frustrating in the beginning. Make sure that all of your surfaces are clean and flat when you reassemble because the exhaust system is prone to leaking. Even new headers sometimes need some minor surface work. If you think that stud is about to break, stop and think hard before deciding to go ahead and snap it off. Heat, and PB Blaster and tricks might be better used early than late. The same problem is there with the thermostat housing bolts. They like to break too.

The FSM doesn't really cover that very well. Here's a better picture from a parts manual site. There are clamps below that hold both manifolds at the same time. You might get just the intake off alone, but most people remove both at the same time. 78 used studs and nuts with "yokes" that clamp the manifolds. They look like thick curved washers. http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/engine-280z/manifold-egr/from-aug-76

Yes, just ran a hose straight to the distributor. Make sure that it's the correct hose, from the bottom of the throttle body. Ported vacuum. You can determine your transmission, or you can look for the switch. Find the wires sticking out from the passenger side of the transmission. One will certainly be the reverse light switch. If there are more, disconnect the wires (if they're connected) and use a meter to determine when the switch is closed (continuity) and when it's open. If you have a checker that beeps you can just connect it then climb up and put the lever in to fifth and listen. You might that there's only one switch and the decision is easy.

Here's a good reference, in addition - http://www.gates.com/oreilly/PDFs/Fuel Systems.pdf

It actually only opens the vacuum line to the vacuum advance mechanism on the distributor. It's an emissions thing, page EC-9. I think that, generally, the view is that retarded timing gives cleaner exhaust. They must let it actuate for highway cruising because it gives better mileage. Which also gives cleaner exhaust. I removed mine and just let the vacuum advance work in all gears. I think it adds a little throttle response since the timing is generally more advanced at mid-range RPM. If your 5 speed doesn't have the top gear switch, it's useless anyway. There are a whole range of switches on the various 5 speeds so it's impossible to guess what you might have. The 83 ZX has the most, I think, you could check that FSM.

The guys that really know diffs say that wear of the spider gear shafts and their holes is commonly from one-wheel burnouts. It causes the diff to spin abnormally fast, and thus the spider gears, and wears the shaft bearing surfaces. In some cases you can see the wear around the shaft as the hole takes on an oblong shape. It can get really bad. This allows the shaft to **** (male chicken) and the spider gears to get misaligned. It sounds like what's happened to yours. If that's the case it can't be rebuilt anyway. If the fluid is changed and they're driven normally they really do seem to last almost forever. I'd examine what you have more closely to see if you can find what's worn, then examine any used ones to see if they're better. On the other hand, the STI diff is pretty nice.

You could probably just get another Nissan R180 from somebody who did an R200 swap, if you wanted to get back to basics quickly. Diff removals and installs are pretty easy so the issue of putting a worn diff back in doesn't really matter much, does it? Really? You just want the Subaru LSD diff. Right? Rebuilding an old R180 doesn't seem effective at this point in time. Some day they'll be hard to find there's probably a decent one out there somewhere that is better than a rebuilt one will be. They're pretty durable.

Bazaam!!