Zed Head

I think that Mark went directly to what might be the real problem. What you described is an electrical circuit that is made, then broken for no apparent reason. If you make the contact by pushing the horn button, what causes it to go away? You didn't let up on the button. And Terrapin's pictures show what is even more likely, I think. Rusty, dirty contacts will open up as they heat up from current flow. That contact is supposed to be always made, even as the wheel turns. I think that you could check that one by pressing the button and turning the wheel. You might get several beeps or it only beeps in one spot. I had that problem on a Pathfinder, the contact had just worn away. 240,000 miles on it. It was a different design but had the same purpose.

Follow the white wires from the fusible link sockets. The thing with the white square plastic cap on it. One of them should go to the starter lug. http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/wiringdiagrams/75_280z_wiring.pdf

No harm, no foul! If the tool is the same, undamaged, after its unintended usage, you've added value. Vise-Grips probably started as a pair of pliers with a C-clamp on the handles. Bubba doing R&D.

Nah. Washington was a popular guy. OR not MN.

There's not a lot to the "mechanism:". A spring holds one metal piece away from another metal piece. When the two metal pieces touch, the horn beeps. If it beeps it should keep beeping. Was your mechanic really focused on it or did he just make an offhand comment? And how was he making it beep? Not really clear that you had the complete assembly together and were pushing it as a normal horn button, or doing something else. I thought your horn button was falling apart anyway.

I circled in red where I think your problem is. you left a wire disconnected maybe. Follow the power path. The wire you're looking for is white and thick and will have a ring terminal. Here's another page from site's link - http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/wiringdiagrams/75_280z_wiring.pdf Edit - had the wrong year before.

I've done numerous disdainful things. I don't think the press would have the leverage. I'd use a mallet on the shaft and brace the table. Maybe drop it down on to some wooden blocks. Inertia is your friend.

You bring up another option. If he has a drill press he might be able to stick the shaft up through the bit relief hole, block/fixture around the bearing and either use the press as a lever or drop the table down and pound on the shaft.

I'd post a lizzle to the wizzle pizzle. Or a link to the product page. Just for conversation, if nobody actually is using it.

I think that you can use a piece of appropriately sized pipe, diameter and length, to install the bearing. On pullers - I've had to use a clamp to hold the jaws of a two-jaw puller closed, on the CS bearing, when they kept slipping. Accidentally turned it into a bearing splitter. Just an anecdote.

If you have the fabrication skills, you could probably extend the jaws on a regular small bearing puller using steel strap or rod. Three long pieces of steel. Get some tension on it, then heat it, then tap it. Combine all of the tips and techniques.

Try running through the gears under acceleration keeping your hand firmly on the lever. See if all of the gears feel the same or if 2nd feels different.

I'm not trying to make you look bad, but are you saying that there is no power to the switch? Or just no power to the starter and Crane box? You keep saying the same things but you're not really communicating anything. If you have no power to any of the wires that go to the switch then forget about the Crane box, and the starter. They get their power through the ignition switch. No power to the switch = no power from the switch. And there's nothing special about the Crane system. It doesn't get "energized". It just needs a power source, as does the coil. You should be measuring power at the coil terminals, with the key On, not the Crane system.

Here's a though, and a question - when the shift lever is moving in to second gear does it move up or down? could be that the internals of the transmission are moving, causing the shift lever to move. In other words, the coupling sleeve is moving back and forth on the synchroniser hub for some reason. If only second gear does it, and none of the others, then it's not likely to have anything to do with the mounts. It would do it in all gears if that was the case. Could be that you're seeing the first signs of a future failure. Along the same lines as post #15 - can you stop the movement with your hand? If you can hold it where it should be then it could just be a detent problem. But if you can't then it's probably something significant forcing the coupling sleeve to move. The shift forks sit in a groove in the coupling sleeve. The sleeve would move the fork, which would move the rod and lever.

Take voltage measurements, or use your test light, at the plug to the ignition switch until you find at least one wire with battery power. If you don't have any power at the switch it won't help to run any extra wires from the switch. A methodical approach is best, especially when you're not sure of what you're doing.

Doesn't look like you're really understanding how the power flows through the wires and various parts. You said that there's no power to the switch, but you replaced the switch three times anyway, even though it was receiving no power. How can it do its job if there's no power there? The problem apparently happened after working on the wiring, the kill switch and external starter. Go back to that area and figure out what you did. The Crane ignition has little to do with anything. Tying off wires doesn't really make any sense. Some of those wires might need to be connected. Did you do the interlock at the same time as the kill switch and starter? Not sure what all the stuff at the end is supposed to mean. You should be measuring voltage at various points along a circuit to see when it's there and when it's not. A meter or test light is needed.

Wasn't trying to offend you. People get lost on these kinds of projects all the time though. You don't seem to be reading the stuff we're referring you to. No biggy, it's more fun to tear stuff down and see what's in there, I get it. On the loose metal comment I was just talking about your driving experience, before and after. You didn't know you had a problem until you saw the bearing cage on the magnet. We see people "upgrading" things on the forum all the time and ending up with downgrades in driving experience. That's all I'm saying. You could end up with a new bearing and a poor driving experience because you lost a piece. Carry on and good luck.

Seems like you might get to a point where you think that you're moving too fast. If you do, I'd say you were right to think that. You've already found a mystery part, and probably came close to throwing away a very important shim. Dave WM spent a few posts, with pictures, talking about that mystery piece in his detailed thread. And the shim is described in the MT chapter. Just saying, you're on the edge. You had a transmission that worked well, just had some loose metal in it. You might end up with no loose metal and one that's noisy and difficult.

We're all agreeing on the principles. The rest is a matter of degree. I don't remember what the eight possible contact surfaces looked like when I took mine apart. The nature of the driving before disassembly would play a part also. Might start searching images to see what's been captured unintentionally. Maybe somebody has some parts apart right now?

People have said that you can remove the clutch fork pivot pin and run a longer bolt in the hole to push the cover off. Sounds sensible. The front cover has the same problem as the front housing, it's essentially glued on. EuroDat/Chas has compiled a parts list out there somewhere, I believe. Worth a search. The bearing part number will be there.

I sent a message to Greg@TheZStore with a link to this message. They can't help if they don't know. Gonna try oe of those @ things - @Joseph@TheZStore @Joseph@TheZStore siteunseen likes this Like t

That's a good point. Some PB blaster or solvent might soak in and loosen it up. Don't stick anything between the pieces and try to pry though. That will damage the sealing surface.

Here's an example. The 1978 5 speed instructions will work. Maxima manuals are hard to find. Look in the forums Download area. I'd post a link but the site is turtle slow today.

You really need to get a good set of instructions and keep track of what you're doing or you'll end up with a pile of parts, or extra parts when you're done, or break something. For example, there's a snap ring on the main shaft bearing that has to be removed in order to get the front case (aka bellhousing, not cover, the snap ring is under the cover) off. Doesn't look like you removed it (you didn't mention it, and you mentioned the Torx bolts instead). The instructions will also identify the shafts. The guys here are saying it's easy, but it's not "remove 5 bolts and replace a bearing" easy. It's a "long series of simple steps" easy. The MT chapter of the Factory Service Manual is your best starting place. That looks like the bearing that commonly falls apart. Good luck.

I believe that you're correct, in should never be. But there must be something stopping the control arm from moving back and forth around the hub, or the hub moving inside the arm,because there's rubber there, and rubber compresses. The other piece stopping movement is the locking pin in the hub. Probably why it and the metal around it gets deformed. The locking pin locks the spindle pin in place and the washers and nuts on the spindle pins compress the inner sleeves against the shoulder of the spindle pin. You can draw a line of force through the washers, the sleeves, and the spindle pin, to the locking pin and hub. Easier to imagine without the control arm in place. There must be some metal to metal contact somewhere, at times, either at one of the two inner gaps, or at one of the two spindle pin washers on the outside against the outer edges of the control arm bushing holes. In static conditions the hub and spindle pin become one solid assembly floating/isolated in two pieces of rubber. But loads can compress and elongate the rubber in any direction. Nissan designed a lot of their Z parts to be hanging in rubber space. There are people on Hybridz replacing the spindle pin with 5/8" bolts. I think that I went through this whole thought process before but forgot the details. They get metal to metal contact for sure, easily, if they don't grind a locking slot in the bolt. Then it's just a time-consuming way to make a spindle pin. Anyway, there's just two examples of how to look at these aftermarket parts. What are they supposed to be doing and what will they really do?