Zed Head

Where have you looked so far? No use going over ground you've already covered. The switches are used for either Emissions or Engine Fuel control. Look through the FSM's in those chapters and you'll probably find what you need.

There is another swap procedure out there that leaves the light on all the time, I believe. I think it's on zcarcreations.com. As you described, with the light on all the time you lose the pressure imbalance indication. If you unplug it, you still lose the warning, but you don't have to look at the light all the time. There are many ways to get messed up. If I was starting over and really wanted to do this, I would use the atlanticz procedure, then cut the yellow wire at the brake check warning lamp relay and rewire it to the fuel pump power line. That's what I ended up doing after trying both procedures and draining my battery a couple of times. I went through the hassle just for the challenge. But in normal usage you would probably notice that your brakes aren't working right at the same time the light turned on. It just confirms what your foot is feeling.

Bummer that the 71B rebuild didn't work out. Apparently they're not easy to get back to factory-level performance with the parts that are available for rebuilding. What kind of noise does the 71B make? Shifting, driving or just sitting in neutral? I have a late ZX 5 speed in my car now that needs synchros, and a 1985 300ZX 71C with the front case swap completed ready to replace it. I'd like to take a shot at rebuilding the 71B but there's only one person who seems to have really improved his 71B, and been happy with it, with a rebuild and that's duragg over on Hybridz.org. And he spent a lot of money on Nissan parts, and a lot of time on fitting the synchros perfectly to the gears.

The brake light is supposed to light up when the key is turned on but the engine is NOT running. That's the "check" part of the circuit, showing the driver that light works. Then it's supposed to turn off when the engine starts, if the brakes are okay. Then, if the pressure balance switch on the hydraulic lines moves the light will turn on again. Is that what you mean by "on and off as it should?" If your brakes are in good shape all you will see is the light on when you turn the key, then off when the engine starts. If you follow the atlanticz procedure you might find that the brake check light never goes on, because the relay always has power. You probably wouldn't notice the light but you would notice the battery draining. One sign that the problem exists is a fairly large spark at the negative post, and a click from inside the car, whenever you remove and replace the negative cable.

How are you measuring voltage at the connector when you crank the engine? I'm curious. If you're doing it with the connector off of the injector then you might really just be measuring the electrical system voltage drop that results from the big draw of the starter. If that's the case and it drops to three, then you might have a bad battery or a short somewhere. I think that a starter will typically draw enough current to drop battery voltage to between eleven and twelve volts. Three volts is way too low and indicates a problem somewhere.

You should have battery voltage with the key on, and a drop during cranking due to current flow in the injector and the starter motor. Three volts seems pretty low though. But without knowing starting voltage, three doesn't mean much. The test light flashing is a good sign though, it means the circuit is being opened and closed by the ECU. Sounds like you're close, you just need to know a few more numbers. Do the starting fluid test, it's simple and will tell you a lot. Plus it gives a little more incentive when you actually hear the engine rev.

What do you mean by weak? There's not really a pulse at the injectors. Start with battery voltage at the connections, the ECU lets current flow, the injectors open and the 38 psi squirts gasoline out. Have you tried starting fluid to see if you have compression and proper timing, both cam and ignition? If it runs on starting fluid, then you can focus on getting the injectors to open. Seems like I'm over-simplifying but that's all you need to get it to start. Getting it to run well can take more work. And to be clear, when you say it won't start do you mean it won't even pop a few times or it won't stay running or it won't stay running long enough to drive. The more details the better.

The two most basic items to check when trying to start an EFI engine are spark and injection. Spark is pretty easy using a spare spark plug, injection takes little bit more effort. The 280Z ECU's like everything to be wired as it was from the factory, from the blue wire at the coil negative to the tachometer to the inline resistor on the tachometer wire. Have you checked for spark and injector operation when cranking?

The differential is essentially completely independent of the rear suspension and the body. It floats in and on a bunch of rubber. If you crawl under the car and lift on the mustache bar you'll probably find that it's free and not levering anything. But whatever bent the bolt could have bent something else. Metal can flex quite a ways before yielding, bending other things along the way. The upper half of the control arm mounts are part of the body so if there's a misalignment with the diff mount control arm divots you should be able to see it.

I'm seeing some masochism here... Curious - are you lumping everything from Asia in to "China" or do these two products have "Made in China" labels?

Maybe you just have a bad tachometer. Why are you sitting still and revving the engine though? I've only done that a few times to check my tachometer calibration and distributor's timing advance mechanism. Otherwise the engine only sees above 1500 RPM when it's in gear and the car is moving.

Seems like it might be easiest, though not as fun, to just install it, drive it, watch the AFR's, and use the GUI "wheel" to change the slope and the base pulse width to set the "y". Just sayin', the time spent on figuring out stock AFM flow-voltage curves might be moot. That's the point of adjustability, right? So we can tune to our set of old used parts. The AFM's are also complicated by the shape of the air passage. It's not a vane in a straight tube, it's a vane in a contoured passage. Nissan must have spent a lot of trial and error time getting things just right.

These guys seem to have all of the things that you're looking for, except the drum shoes. To each his own, have fun. Click around the Products section. Silverminemotors.com Edit - should say that Eurodat gave good advice. But sometimes it's just fun to modify anyway.

Thanks for getting back. So there are either two sets of instructions floating around for the 1761 Ignitor, one paper and one internet, and they use different specs. for the coil recommendations. Good to know. Have to say that although the Pertronix products were probably innovative when introduced, they don't seem to have done much with them but ride the brand name in the last few years or more. Looks like they're even sticking the brand name on GM HEI modules, and generic aftermarket electronic ignition parts. No offense, just a commentary on how popular products change over time. I'm sure that they still work great once you get them set up right. Performance Ignition Modules Compare the RockAuto electronic ignition to the Ignitor II. Kinda interesting... Edit - actually, that looks like the Ignitor I, I guess. And, contrary to most brand names, the name brand is cheaper. Over $160 for the Airtex. More weird. I don't get it.

Great that you're getting closer. I was just trying to give some insight on basic electrical principles. Can you give the part number of your Pertronix part? I'm always interested in figuring out which web sites have good info and which don't and how companies' various products work. I'm surprised that your instructions are different from the Summit Racing instructions, which appear to be generic to all Pertronix Ignitors. Maybe you have a II or III Ignitor? I opened up the Summit instructions for 1761 referred to in madkaw's #15 and it says 3 - 4.5 ohms for 1 - 6 cylinders, on a 12 volt system. Just a little unclear on the details, you seem to have a different Ignitor.

That's for the coil. But the Pertronix Ignitor seems to like about 3 ohms total, coil and resistor, I believe. I know that there have been many discussions about the topic. Here's a link to the recommended coil , it comes in 1.5 or 3 ohm flavor. Oddly, there are no specs or instructions for the Ignitor on their web site, so unless the paper instructions give advice, it's trial and error. Edit - I did find instructions on Summit Racing's site though. Might not be the exact kit but the general specs. should be the same. Calls for 3 - 4.5 ohms on the primary circuit. Edit 2 - if you do have a low resistance coil you can just add a resistor to get in the right range for the module. Or buy a coil with those specs. Edit 3 - Note also in the Summit instructions the recommendation to check the Pertronix sticker for signs of over-heating. Obviously a fairly common problem. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/pnx-1181/media/instructions 40,000 Volt Canister Coils Ignitor

Great that you took the time to find a scope and use it, but I think that you were looking at the wrong things. Voltage is not "demanded", it is produced, or available. Current could be considered to be a demand item, it is a function of resistance and voltage. The 50,000 volts that you measured is about normal for some coils, but could be a sign of too much current through the coil and module (the Ignitor), which could be caused by a bad ignition module or low resistance on the coil's primary circuit. As madkaw suggests, have you measured resistance on the primary circuit? Maybe you just need a resistor in the line. If you get a similar coil you might just end up with the same problem.

Sounds like you're going to buy a new coil anyway so it doesn't really matter which you do first. A coil is probably cheaper than a new Ignitor. Good luck.

Isn't one advantage of the Pertronix, over other electronic ignitions, that you can pop the points back in easily? Might be a quick way to test the Ignitor.

Don't you want to know about moving to Georgia? It's not Arizona. They got skeeters and snakes and tings that make weird noise in the night.

Here's a 75 FPR for comparison. Tomohawk shows what your rail is designed for, this is what you have.

Pictures look great. Well-sized. Looks like someone installed a 75-77 FPR on your 78 fuel rail. It should work fine, but that's why it's not attached properly and has the blocked off port. Not the safest set-up either since the only thing holding the FPR on is the hose clamps on the inlet and outlet ports (unless there's a bolt that I can't see in the picture). If the clamps loosen it could pop right off and the engine would get dowsed with gasoline. Check those clamps and see if you can get a bolt in to the bracket. The part of your situation that seems most important is that the engine died and you had to have the car towed. If it was a simple tuning problem, you should be able to drive around with low power all day. Does the engine start now? If so, it could be a heat-related problem, if not, maybe something broke unrelated to the low power problem.

You should be able to just put the new sprocket back on using the same dowel hole - 1, 2 or 3. Assuming that the flaw with the old sprocket is just the fact that they didn't cut the notch in it. Once it's on, you can determine if cam timing is retarded or not. And, if the old sprocket isn't worn out, the only reason to install the new sprocket is to check cam timing. So, you could also get a used one and stick it up next the old one, aligning teeth and 1-2-3 holes, and check notch alignment. Or, if you're good with measuring tools you could even transfer the notch location to the old sprocket and just leave it on. Just offering a new view. Nissan stopped referring to chain stretch in the later ZX FSM's. I wonder if it really has that much effect, considering all of the other things that wear. The funny thing about it is that it moves the power peak to higher RPM (as I understand things). Which is what people who modify usually want to do. My thought has been that one cheap way to make a higher revving engine is to put a used chain on.

How fast are yours now? Maybe they're abnormally slow and a stock replacement would do the job. Need numbers.

Weird that we've all given up on grammar. The hordes have worn us out.