Zed Head

Looking through this thread a couple of things stand out - "it ran fine until today" and "the tach needle jumps around". If it ran fine, then you can be reasonably sure that the mechanical stuff was all correct. If the tach needle is jumping around, you either have an ignition problem, as Wade suggested, or the tach died all of a sudden. So looking at the FPR and the TPS and the vacuum advance is probably a waste of time. None of those will cause the tach needle to jump around or be affected by the ignition system. Fix the known problems first, that would be my approach. You know that something is wrong with your ignition system, or your tachometer.

I don't know if it was a recall, hence my "fix/recall". As I read what Humble wrote, if you took your car in with high idle or sticky throttle problems they would either replace the AAR and/or try to clean/unstick the throttle body. Then they would do the modification to prevent it happening again. If you didn't bring your car in, it probably never got fixed. So, not really a recall, I guess.

Interesting discussion. I knew that I had read somewhere of a fix/recall from Nissan about those hoses and I just came across it. It's on Page 194 in the How To Restore Your Datsun Z-Car book by Humble. Apparently,there were two problems, a funked-up AAR and/or a sticky throttle blade. But according to the book, their fix was to route the valve cover hose to the rubber boot. Then in 78 they switched it so that the AAR went to the boot. I guess saving the AAR came out ahead of saving the sticky throttle blade, or maybe they modified the throttle body and blade in 78 so that they could handle a little bit of blow-by goo. Anyway, weird stuff. Edit - Sorry CO, we were writing at the same time. I think that the use of the T fitting is the 75-77 scheme. 1978 had the nipple on the boot, as did the "fixed" 75-77 cars. As I understand it. The FSMs, Engine Tuneup chapter have diagrams. They might have made the change mid-year though, so maybe some 78s are old-style.

Sorry for the bad information. It must be farther up behind the fan motor than I remember. I know that if you lay on your back on the passenger side floor and jam yourself up in there that you can see everything. Hoses entering the cabin, water and vacuum cocks, etc. I've had luck looking around corners with a mirror and a flashlight, if you want to try to get a peek before you commit to getting stuck. If you squeezed the hose from the engine bay, maybe it can be reached through the hole from the engine bay. Just a thought, the nipple might be right there on the other side.

Sorry silvey, but reading your posts is like reading gibberish. Can't tell what you've done, are doing, or trying to say. There is plenty of information out there about the slave cylinder and how it can go wrong, how to check it, and how to fix it. Good luck.

I went back to your first post and realized it's not clear if the clutch has ever worked. I kind of assumed that you had put the 5 speed in and were having problems. The first thing that I would do is remove the rubber boot on the slave cylinder and see if there is brake fluid inside (brake fluid is used for the clutch hydraulics). If there's fluid inside, you need a new slave cylinder. It's common to get some, but not all, of the stroke when the cylinder starts to go bad.

Some of the 280Z's, maybe all of them, have a vacuum controlled water ****. Apparently, there's an on-off water **** (the vacuum controlled one) and there's a flow control water ****, the one with the copper tube that runs to the heater core. Regardless, if you stick your head up under the passenger side dash you can see both. Removing the glove box might be the easiest way to see and work with them, without removing the dash, if you don't want to do the yoga.

It sounds like your battery is only connected to the starter and the EFI harness and the alternator is only connected to the fuse box and body harness. The battery starts the car and the alternator runs the body electrical when it starts charging. The alternator behavior is like a GM one-wire setup, which requires revving to get it to start charging. The charge light probably comes on because the L wire is not connected because someone has set up the "simple" (primitive) one wire alternator. The voltmeter's in the Z cars are not known for accuracy so the 16 volts is kind of meaningless, you need to use a real voltmeter. But before you do that, you should fix your wiring, it sounds messed up. It could be as simple as connecting the white charge wire from the alternator to the starter terminal,where it will be able to charge the battery like it's supposed to. Or it could be a nightmare wiring mess from a PO.

You didn't give any details about the clutch parts that are in the car. Are they the 240Z parts or did you install a 280Z clutch to match the 280Z transmission? Actually, extending the rod probably won't help. If the rod was too short, the slave cylinder piston would just pop put, unless the rubber boot is retracting it when you release pressure. I would loosen the rod adjustment nuts, push the rod back in to the slave cylinder, and re-tighten. The other possibility is your pressure plate and collar combination. Edited...

Do you have a good idea of how the clutch works? You haven't responded to Posts 2 and 4 and you're asking the same question over again.

Blue just gave a number in this thread - http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47300&p=410213#post410213 The numbers on the bell housing won't tell you much, and won't have much to do with how your clutch works. It's the combination of pressure plate and throwout bearing collar that matters. Tell some details about what clutch package you started with and any changes you made when you put the new transmission in. The transmission looks like a 77-79 "early" "wide ratio" 5 speed, by the way. I see that you have the adjustable rod from the slave cylinder. Have you tried extending it yet?

I had a brand new slave cylinder that leaked in the middle of its travel. It moved correctly, when viewed by eye, and actuated the clutch but when it got warm it would leak more and I would get less travel. Grinding reverse, hard to get in to first, etc. The problem was sporadic like you're describing so it was hard to diagnose. I knew I had a leaking cylinder though, when I took the rubber boot off of the slave cylinder and it had fluid inside. Take yours off, it should be dry inside. If not, get a new slave cylinder and take it apart and clean the insides before installing. The quality control at the manufacturing plants is poor and some of them get shipped out with machining and honing grit inside which tears up the seal.

A leak down test would identify a leaking valve. At least do a cylinder pressure (compression) check. You're jumping way ahead to an expensive conclusion. You might just need a simple tuneup - plugs, rotor and cap.

Valve lash set too tight or eroded valve seats from unleaded gasoline could cause a burned valve. When the valve doesn't seal completely hot exhaust gases squeeze through and erode the valve and valve seat material or warp the valve from uneven heating. Then the valve doesn't seal well at all, you get compression loss and it's all down hill. If the valve is burned the valve seat is probably bad also. You would have to remove the head, replace the valve and install new valve seats. If you have one burned valve, unless you made a mistake setting valve lash on a single valve, it's probably time to rebuild the head.

Curious, did you compare the old strut mounts to the new? I picked up some new spacers also (from Courtesy Nissan, the rubber ones) and found that the old ones had taken a pretty serious set over time, along with the strut mounts. One side was higher than the other, so I ended up with the two sides in the back at different heights because they had got "mis-clocked' when I put them back in, in the past. Anyway, the new softer rubber strut mounts probably absorb shock and vibration better than the old 30-40 year old rubber of the old ones. Good idea if you have the cash. Mine still have a set to them but I matched high sides when I re-installed them so my back end is level now. Attached few pictures of what I found in my car. Really not bad but had an effect. Mounts are still rock hard. Interesting stuff, I didn't even know those spacers were there and didn't realize how much set the old mounts and spacers had taken.

Have you ever changed the fluid before or is it possible that it's the original fluid? If all of the pieces are fine, there's not a lot you can do or worry about. The bearings are all designed with a loose fit to flush debris through and the magnet will grab whatever passes by as the oil circulates. Flushing with gas won't do much but put more wear on the bearings and synchros, maybe even cause a failure that wouldn't have otherwise happened. A fine paste of metal shavings is normal for an old transmission. I would just put the new fluid in and drive it. If you're worried, drive it for a few hundred miles, drain the fluid in to a clean container, examine the magnet, then put the fluid back in. You'll probably find no new shavings.

It's the same type of connector as used on the injectors, so if you can find a write-up or post on that, it will be the same. I know that Fric Frac has written a tutorial and posted a video over on Hybridz, for installing the upgraded connectors he was selling. I think that you have to slip a small screwdriver or pick down behind the wire to hold a metal clip back, while pushing the pin in, then pull the pin out when the clip is clear

Jarvo, did you try ZSpecialties, the first link I posted? Or is $62.95 too much? http://www.datsunstore.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=advance&x=0&y=0

Better check the length first though before you buy, since they list one drive shaft for all 240Zs. The discussion here seems to be about the very early ones, that were shorter.

The early 4 speed, the later 4 speed and early 5 speed, and the later 5 speed all have different 1st gear ratios. This will affect the quickness from a stop. Something to consider. You can see how the 240Z got away with a 3.36 final ratio. 3.592 240Z 4 speed 3.321 280Z 4 speed to 79 5 speed 3.062 80-83 5 speed Looks like the factory tried to stick around 12:1 for first gear overall ratio, in general. The 260Z and 79 ZX are oddballs. 240Z - 3.36 x 3.592 = 12.06 (if this is what they had, the FSM says 3.9, still confused on that. Looking at the numbers it looks like they just got 3.36 and 3.9 swapped in the FSM since the 5 speed has a 2.906 1 st gear) 280Z - 3.54 x 3.321 = 11.76 80-83 ZX - 3.9 x 3.062 = 11.94

The advance curves, vacuum and mechanical, are different among the numerous distributors that you could run on your engine. The advance specs are in the FSM if you want to compare, and somewhere on this forum there is a thread with a spreadsheet linked compiling most of the options out there. You started out looking for a 1972 vacuum advance canister, why don't you just swap that instead if the advance curve is the same, instead of a whole distributor? Is there more to the story?

I have an RT style mount on my 76 280Z and it fixed the thumpy part of the clunk. Now all I hear is the lash in the diff and axle parts. It's also very convenient if you work on your suspension or plan to, since you can remove the cross member that clamps the transverse link and leave the diff hanging, if you use the GM mount instead of the snubber. On the other hand, most old diff mounts are loose even if you can't see any damage. A new stock mount would probably fix clunking also.

Here's one - http://www.datsunstore.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=advance&x=0&y=0 Type "advance" in the search window if it doesn't come up. Spendy! And, weirdly enough, Courtesy Nissan shows the part as available, for a lower price - http://www.courtesyparts.com/advance-va-p-277665.html Parts number from here - http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsunS30/DatsunZIndex/Electrical/Distributor/240Z/ForManual/FromSep71/tabid/1633/Default.aspx

I was going to comment about just threading NPT in to the BSPT hole, since that's what the PO did on my current engine. Your method works, but you went the other way than Texas is going, threading BSPT in to an NPT hole, he's threading NPT in to a BSPT hole. The problem is that the typical NPT fitting is larger diameter at the tip than the typical BSPT fitting. From what I've seen, even if you get a small NPT part (minus manufacturing tolerance) you'll only get one or two threads in the BSPT hole, if you're lucky.

Pretty sure it's BSPT. I bought the pipe nipples below from McMaster Carr a while ago. I think I tested them out but so far they've been sitting on the shelf until I need them. 5832T121 BSPT-to-NPT Threaded Brass Pipe Nipple, 1/8" Pipe Size, 1-1/2" L, Threaded Both Ends, Schedule 40