beermanpete

We had that happen to our Z as well. The wiring and battery survived ok but the oil dip-stick got melted into two separate pieces. The flasher for the turn signals is on the left side of the steering column. If the brake lights work then the problem is likley the flasher. They are powered from the same fuse. Another thing to check is the bulbs. Some flashers are load dependant and don't flash when a bulb burns out to alert you to the problem.

We used hot water trying to get our in. It helped some. We finally had to use longer bolts to get it started. After we got it tight with the long bolts we removed the long bolts and luckily the brackets stayed on so we could put the original bolts back in.

Solid black is typically ground.

Take the ammeter out of the car and test it separately. Open it if needed. It comes appart easily. The ammeter connects to the wires with 2 threaded studs and ring terminals. You could easily bypass the ammeter by shorting these together with a bolt and nut. As for the ZX alt. upgrade, the alt. has nothing to do with the meter. There may some wiring mods requried to make the 2 work together but they are not mutually exclussive.

We have the MSA short-throw kit on our 240Z. It works great. I don't think it added any sloppyness. It does make the shifting effort higher, but not to apoint of being an issue. The new shift knob that comes with the kit is about as heavy as the engine and looks too modern in the early Zs.

It sounds like the rear carb is not working properly. Check the float level, fuel supply to carb, etc. Not likley it is ignition related. How the plugs look?

I doubt the fans will run fast enough to keep up with a 70 MPH wind. Does the problem occur when the AC is on, off, or both? When the AC is off the fans should be off and therefore be able to freewheel. If the fans need to freewheel while the power is applied, a diode in series with each fan would do that (at the expense of a volt or so).

These are likely permanent magnet motors which means they act as generators when pushed. A short circuit or load across them will make them hard to turn. The battery and alternator become this load if the roadspeed is sufficient to push the fans faster than the supplied electric power. If the two motors are in parallel then one will shunt the other when there is no power applied. Your test of unplugging one seems to prove this out. This would be most probable if one fan is wired in reverse polarity compared to the other. Is it possible that one fan is running backwards (pushing air toward the front of the car)?

The wires for the brake lights / turn signal run through several connectors along the way between the combination switch and the back of the car. The left and right might be reversed in one of the connector shells. Get a copy of the factory service manual from http://www.xenons30.com/reference.html and try tracing wire path to see where the reversal occurs.

We removed the evap tank from our '73 without any problems. We had a radiator shop seal the unused fittings on the fuel tank, retaining only the one highest on the tank for a vent which we routed up to a tee at the filler neck port. The other leg runs up and over the filler neck and down through the floor out below the car near the fuel gauge sender. It works fine with only a little drip or smell when the tank is full. A metering orifice would reduce the drip/smell further I suppose.

The gauges have their own ground wire for the meter movement in addition to the ground path through the senders. Make sure there is a good ground to the meters via this wire. The lights get ground separately, either through the case mounting or via a separate wire I don't remember which.

From what I have read/heard, the 240Z earned a reputaion for gear whine during the first few model years. Some noise must therefore be normal I suppose. I don't know if it was massaged out over time or not. Our car had a lot of gear noise when we got it. Some went away with a transmission rebuild. We also have a solid mount on the nose of the diff. which can't possibly help. If the differntial looks good upon inspection you might try adding some sound insulation in the rear area of the car.

No, they store the fuel vapors in the cranckcase of all places.

You could use the Pertronix ingition module. It fits into the original distributor (replacing the points) and will work with the MSD system.

I have wondered about this as well. Our 240Z had a bit of gear whine with the original (high miles) 3.364 R180. We replaced it with a 3.54 R180 LSD from a Subaru and it got louder.

The design you describe is typical of all the 2-circuit master cylinders I have worked on. The "slug" of fluid is simply the hydraulic pressure that is generated by pressing the brake pedal. Based on your description your master is bad. The only other option is a leak somewhere else in the system, but this would be revealed by brake fluid running out onto your car and/or the ground.

The tach requires power and could be on the same circuit as the fuel/oil gauge. The fusible link and voltage regulator are common to the whole car. If these were malfunctioning there would be other issues far more severe than a few dead meters. Check the fuse that feeds the gauges. Measure it with an ohmmeter. Sometimes they look good but are open. Clean the fuse ends and contacts in the fuse holder. Using the factory service manual, look for common points in the circuit, both on the positive and ground connections. There could be a bad connection somewhere.

It is possible you need to adjust the free play in your brake system but this is not the root cause of the problem. The idle speed change when applying the brakes is caused by a overly rich idle mixture. When you apply the brakes the Master-Vac admits air into the intake system (normal) and leans the air/fuel ratio momentarily. If there is too much free play between the Master-Vac and the master cylinder there will be a larger stroke in the Master-Vac and therefore a large volume of air movement. Also, since you have a different Master-Vac it might have a larger diaphragm than the old one and need to move more air as a result.

The splines are on the studs. The bore in the hub is probably smooth when the hub is new and gets broached by the stud when it is installed. The lack of splines in the hub bore is not an issue per se, but it does indicate a lot of missing material which meas stock studs won't fit tightly enough. I used studs from ARP made for mid '90s Camaro/Firebird that are slightly larger in diameter on the spline. This might help. The pitfall here is these studs have a different thread pitch and are extra long. This solution would require new nuts as well. To get a used hub call Jack, he has lots of Z parts and is a good guy. Here is his ad on Craigslist: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/pts/2551332420.html

I suspect it could cause a low pedal engagement. It could also cause bolt failure, which you don't want.

Are you sure you don't have a vacuum leak or an incorrectly adjusted float? It sounds like it might be lean at idle and when you use the choke it enriches the mixture enough to correct/mask the problem. Have you tried to drive the car?

A welding shop might be able to remove the old one and weld in a new one. I replaced mine by eliminating the fuel gauge sender and making a plate to replace it that has a AN bulkhead fitting on it. On the inside I used an 3/8" aluminum tubing bent such that the free end is at the bottom of the tank near the baffle wall. The outside has the usual AN fitting for the flex line to attach. I sealed the original pickup tube with a rubber cap.

I do not use or care for oil additives. If the additives were essential to reliable engine operation the OEMs would require it. They do not.

The pick-up tube is the metal fuel line inside the fuel tank. One end is at the bottom of the tank. The other end comes out the side of the fuel tank near the fuel gauge sending unit. A rubber hose connects this tube to the steel fuel line that runs up to the engine. The pick-up tube is steel and can rust or crack causing a leak. When the fuel level gets below this leak air is allowed into the fuel line causing reduced fuel flow and poor performance or in severe cases a non-running condition.

I had to buy a longer wrench. Get the longest wrench you can find that will fit between the head and the fender. The crows foot is a good idea as well. Get the 1/2" drive model, it is stronger that the 3/8" drive.