Zed Head

The red circle is a bypassed heater core. The common leak point is the control valve, just on the other side of the firewall where those hoses used to go. The blue circle is the throttle dash pot, to keep the throttle blade from slamming shut when you let off the gas. It doesn't take a vacuum line, it just looks like it does. The hole is just an outlet for air to pass in and out of as the diaphragm inside moves. Must be a car you just picked up and it doesn't run? Why are you removing the engine?

1976 has a Brown (Br) link that estimates out to about 30 amps, based on gauge (color and gauge shown in the FSM) and interpolated between the other "known" links. Red seems to be the popular replacement for Brown, but there appear to be two versions of the Red links, the ~30 amp, which you would get from Courtesy for example, and a 50 amp which others sell. There does not appear to be any supporting documentation for Brown = Red = 50 amps, but it's out there. Be careful with any fuse swaps you do.

Most important is what the wire does, when the car is being used. I would check if it's grounded first, using an ohm-meter. Maybe it shorted in the past and has been bypassed. Then see if it is powered at the different key positions, using a test light or a voltmeter. That information will give you more clues about where it should be or was. Edit - Don't connect it to anything until you know what it does. You could cause a short and burn some fuses, fusible links or wiring if it gets power during operation.

For 1981 the FSM shows a CR of 8.8 for the NA engine versus 7.4 for the turbo engine. The earlier N42 blocks (with stock pistons), and N42 or N47 heads, ran 8.3 CR, no turbos, EFI.

You might be lucky that your order didn't go through. Apparently the owner has not been very responsive in the recent past. Read through this thread for reference - http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/62367-anyone-heard-from-ross-modern-motorsports-lately/page__pid__934028__st__120#entry934028

Are you sure that you're not feeling the benefits of an extra 9 degrees of advance? That would be noticeable by seat-of-the-pants. There is no reason for your timing to change with the new module. The E12-80s don't have any timing control like some later ignition modules do.

I've seen it recommended that it's better to block off the water hoses than to bypass them. Search "heater" and "cooling" on Hybridz. Best guesses on the hoses - 1. Ported vacuum from the throttle body - distributor vacuum advance and ?? 2. Same. 3. Charcoal canister 4. AC control reservoir 5 or 6 - Brake booster, can't see the picture clearly. All memory and guesses but I think they make sense. When you get the engine in the car it will be more clear.

The screw on the side of the AFM only adds air to the idle mixture. It can give a little smoother idle (in my experience) but at the expense of running richer at idle (and failing emissions testing in Oregon). It will have no noticeable effect on any driving conditions, only engine idle. The most common cause of running rich on these early EFI systems is extra resistance in the water temperature circuit (or CHTS for later models, but your 78 has a water temp. sensor), usually from dirty connections. You can check the whole circuit at the ECU plug - measure resistance there and compare the reading to the table in the FSM to see if you're getting the proper resistance at the ECU for the temperature. The simplest is to measure at ambient temperature to see if you're in the right range. Just trying to save you some time. Don't spend too much effort looking at the screw on the AFM. Congrats on getting back on the road...

You might try isolating the calipers from the lines to see if you can find where the problem lies. If you still have the wheel cylinders from the drum brakes, put them back on and clamp the piston in the bore (vise-grips, wire warp, zip-tie, etc.) so you can build pressure. Orient them so that they can be bled. If you can build pressure then the problem is in the calipers, if you can't it's in the lines or MC. It will take a little time, but certainly not another five hours. If you isolate it to the calipers, reconnect one at a time to see if it's one or both of them. You should be able to do this without removing the calipers, just the brake lines. There might still be air in the lines, you just need to find where it's hiding. Maybe there's a casting flaw in a caliper, holding an air pocket. I also know that the dust seal on the caliper piston is designed to push the brake pad off of the disc to keep it from rubbing. Maybe you have some other spring-loaded piece pushing the piston back. Can you eye-ball the piston as you let the brake pedal up, after pumping it up to pressure? If it moves back in the bore a lot, it will be pushing fluid back the the MC. It should barely move. Just a few thoughts to isolate the problem to a distinct component.

It's still odd that only three cylinders were affected by the breakthrough in to the EGR channel. All six intake runners are exposed to the channel so all six should have had excess exhaust gas coming in. The EGR ports in to the runners of your intake manifold might be messed up also. If your band-aid fix is to disable the EGR entirely, you'll probably get back to balanced running, but it might be worth checking the individual EGR ports, if you can get the plugs out. I've never seen one myself so don't really know how much gas they flow.

That's for sure a new one. Have to remember this for future people with "low intake vacuum" problems. I wonder how many other corroded EGRs are out there. I got curious and just went out to the garage to take apart a 1978 parts intake I have. The EGR channel was totally choked full of caked carbon residue. Interesting that your was the opposite and apparently still letting exhaust gas through, although in excess.

Have you confirmed that you have power at the coil + with a test light or voltmeter? If you have power, you can try tapping a wire from the negative side of the coil to ground which should give a spark if the coil is good.

Not really clear what you're doing. The "shocks" are actually inside the strut tubes. The spindle/wheel assembles are attached to the struts. The rotor is attached to the spindle via the nut that Coolv... refers to. The calipers are bolted on to the strut assembly. I might have my terminology off a little bit myself, but what is it you're trying to work on? Changing shocks, new bearings, etc...? Maybe you have the nut loose but the calipers are still bolted on?

Check voltage right at the alternator positive wire with your negative probe on the case, then check at the battery terminals, to see if it's the alternator, or the wires and connections. You might get over 14.5 volts at the alternator, since the regulator is regulating to what the S wire sees. The guy at the auto parts store should have done that - one, to determine where the real problem is, and two, to sell you an alternator if yours is bad. He might have been just following a standard procedure though. Edit - you should take measurements at idle and higher rpm also, about 2000 RPM should give full charging voltage. Edit 2 - Reading your first post, maybe the auto store guy was telling you that the alternator is bad, but your terminals are dirty also? Either way, confirming where the problem is won't hurt.

I realized after I posted that there is an issue for 1976 (and maybe 75 and 77) owners if they go the HEI module route. The stock Nissan ignition module has another circuit in it to use the second pickup coil in the distributor if the engine is cold. It advances the timing about 6 degrees, I assume to keep the idle up while cold. So you would lose that feature. It's described in the engine fuel section of the FSM. The GM module does require some extra wiring to install, it's not a drop-in replacement. 1977 Camaros used the 4 pin module. This writeup is pretty good, it's for a 510 but the idea is the same - http://dimequarterly.tierranet.com/articles/tech_hei.html Here's another - http://www.sonic.net/~kyle/hei.html The same referred to from this forum - http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?878-GM-HEI-Ignition&highlight=gm%20hei It's just an option for you if you're on a tight budget or just want something that's readily available. It helps to be comfortable with auto wiring.

Those are the exact symptoms my 1976 had when the ignition module went bad. If you don't want to pay the high cost of a new/rebuilt stock module, or can't find a used one, you can use a GM 4-pin HEI module in it's place.

Here's the link to that story about the vent line. It was just a couple of weeks ago, by Bruce Palmer - http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?42008-fuel-system-closed - Post #7. tlorber, 5th didn't actually say his tank would only take 7-8 gallons (unless I misunderstood his description). He said it only took 7 (6) after the gauge showed E. Any news?

There has to be a little voice in your head saying something's wrong with the sender, right? But subconsciously, you're thinking (hoping) it has to be okay because you just worked on it (and it was a pain to get to). If the tank is undamaged and the gauge reads E after 6 gallons, that's the only logical conclusion. You could drain the tank contents to confirm that E is or is not Empty. I would siphon first since there is most likely about 10 gallons in there when the gauge says E. Shake the car back and forth and see if it feels/sounds like 1 gallon or 10 when the gauge is on E just to get more information. Indications are that the gauge sender you just worked on last fall on isn't working correctly anymore.

I have read stories of tanks collapsing due to people inadvertently hooking their vent line up to intake vacuum. Any chance your tank could have something similar, or a had a blocked vent as things got cold over the winter and contracted, or somehow had the tank crushed over the winter? Have you examined the outside of the tank?

Drive farther before refilling?

What year? Some advice - a little punctuation and capitalization goes a long way. I know it's old school, but the old school guys have the answers...

A torch used to heat up the area around the fill plug makes a huge difference also. Might have saved you a crank...

Blocked tank vent? Engine used enough gas to pull a vacuum and the pump couldn't get fuel? Did you take the gas cap off while working on the highway? I can't determine for sure how that would apply in the closed loop of the "inlet line/pump/regulator/return line/tank" but maybe since the vacuum is pulling against the back of the regulator, the pressure imbalance shuts flow down.

I had a similar situation and found that my head gasket was leaking at the very back of the head. You could see the coolant residue right above the starter and a water trail down the block. No leakage in to or out of the cylinders though, just some steam and syrup smell from the back. I fixed it with some Barr's leak stopper (don't hate, my car is a rolling experiment in how things work, a reason to go to the auto parts store or roam the junk yard. Every "problem" is a new adventure). After about half of the bottle of sealant powder extruded itself out of the gap [a couple of months], leaving a pile sitting on the block at the back of the head, it sealed up.

I have a 76 and I believe that they're the same. I think that you need to remove the tachometer from the front of the dash, then reach in through the hole the tachometer left to unscrew the fitting. It is designed to screw on and off by hand but might be tight after many years, requiring some small pliers to get it loose.