tymarbry

Havent messed with the fuses or the ohmeter yet, Im waiting for the weather to straigten up.

WTF!?!? I hate when they crush down cars that clearly are valuable. Ive seen a 2003 BMW sit in a yard for over 3 months but Ive seen salvagers crush down RX7's after they have been in the yard for like a week or less. Its a damn shame. If I witness something liek that I would be pretty cranky

Switching between high and low beam makes no difference in the right headlight. The working headlight does still have a high and low beam though.

I have searched endlessly for information on a headlight relay writeup for a 280z (my car) or even a 260z for that matter. Only the 240z. And from the responses I see on forums is that the 240 harness will not work for the 280z. So can I still use the guides online for making a relay upgrade for my 280z? There are like 3 different versions that I have seen, maybe more can anyone point to the most reliable or easiest version? Ive found write ups here: http://www.zhome.com/DaveRelay/DaveBuild/DaveInstruction.htm http://zhome.com/ZCMnL/HeadlightRelays/JudkinsRelay.htm I thought I knew more off the bat, some more easily understood than others.

I still want to try this out. Is there a certain model of Maxibox that I need? or is any standard 4 plug box going to work?

How much was this bad boy? I think this is great!

NOOOOOOOO WAY. If a Z has made its way by some chance to a yard here. It will be gone within the day at the most. Ive been scouring criagslist for zx's and everyone has whole working cars or wrecked ones with auto trans. I refuse to buy on ebay or from a company I dont trust the quality.

Here is the car with the right headlight in the picture dimmed horribly. It was originally the brighter of the 2. Im sure the fuse for both headlights are fine. Im going to check it tomorrow along with the volt/ohm test if my ohmeter is working.

I want a 5 speed but cant find any zx or z around that seems to have them. I want to know if there are other models of Nissan or any other car that share a similar trans. hopefully you can tell me also if the 280zx 5speed and the 240-280z splines will match when swapping in a 5 speed. thank you

Thank you guys I will run the Batt test tomorrow when im off and see what up. I know that the Voltmeter in the car reads like 16 I think when I drive which I think is broken but I dont know really until like you said, Test it out. thanks again

Im sorry to hear that esmit208 My 280z is a 77' and I dont know of the alternator type. I did buy some H4 housings as I am going the H4 or HID route now because I am tired of this problem already. I guess I have a new question: If I do upgrade my headlights to HID would I need to get the suggested harness to go with it, or will the lower power draw from the HIDs actually be better for a stock harness?

Ohh yeah Ive got a handfull of "freebies" from the old boneyard in relays and such. I did rebuild my healamp switch to get the corrosion off and they opperate as they should now. Really recomend rebuilding the switch also, very easy and fast, and fun. But I forgot to mention that the dust/mud cover that goes inside the wheel well/inside the fender is taken out and I didnt place it back in because I thought it was useless. could this be my problem? Could road dust and possibly rain watter have gotten into the headlight and fudged it up a bit?

Hello All. I am constantly worried that my car will catch on fire someday due to the harnesses Ive been hearing about, being old and overloaded. I plan on rebuilding the harness to include relays but Im afraid I will mess things up badly. My question though is, Are premature headlight(s) failure a sign of a bad headlight harness? I just bought New headlights (sylvania) for my 280z and I only got around to installing one so far. The one I installed though has burned out already after like a week of use. The headlight that I left in and didnt replace is now brighter and seems fine. So whats going on here? Thanks

Ive experienced Pacesetter with other models and Pacesetter by most peoples standards really suck. Alot.

This picture shows the pitting and a cleaned surface. Also installed my signature NERV parking permit. Yeah thats all I did really, the lights all work now and shes a real beauty! Hoping also to get my Kansas antique plate on soon.

So the rain and hail cleaned my car a bit and now it looks super gooder better. I tested all of the instruments the other day I posted and I saw that the Headlights/gauges/tail lights/side markers didnt come on when switched. So today I went about sorting through electric work and gremlins. Hate this kind of stuff. Started by tracking down a FSM online to get wiring diagrams so I could look on where to start. If anyone has an S30 here on the forums: http://www.xenons30.com/ Has a FSM for all years of early model Z car. Big Help After doing some simple light tests and bending my torso in strange angles to get my head under the dash to find any misplaced connections, I came to the conclusion that my problem all along was with the Headlight switch itself. I then went on to rebuild it. Took the switch off and grabbed some sand paper. This is the switch box It has 2 tabs that make contact to turn lights on from off - parking - headlamps. These tabs buildup carbon deposits over the years and makes them finicky. Using a small philips head I took off the 3 screws that hold this little box together. Make sure not to lose the little plastic washer on one of the screws in case your following these directions! Taking the box off now. There are 4 small tabs on the top of this brass case that keeps the dust and stuff out. Using a small flat head or something I pryed them up and took off the brass. With the brass off you can see the little tabs that make contact. These have already been cleaned by me and placed back in reverse. That way if any of these tabs have pitting then by reversing where you put them there will be fresh metal and a fresh connection!

Wow! thats the kinda thing I was looking for! this is going to help alot. Thanks everyone

I know, I said the same thing to myself aswell. I just jerked the wheel over so I could get an arm in. Datsuns are beautiful but "owner maintenance" was probably at the bottom of the designer's priority list when making this car. I did however install one of the headlamps after 2hours of neck bending and blind ratcheting. Im now working on to a major pain in the arse. Removing the dash.... god kill me.

Well if someone versed enough in electrics could give a small walkthrough and some pictures I could probably do this myself. I dont really want to spend nearly $125.

Where do you instal these relays though? And what amp and type of relay? like a 4 or 5pt? I have no knowledge of electronics really. I want someone to furnish photos if possible because I like most people are visual and helps alot. Im gonna save this wire print though in case I can figure it out. Thank you!

I know thats right. Well I was just checking to see what the consensus was and Im sure there is only one way and its the way described. Kind of off topic a bit, but does anyone know how to upgrade the wireing harness to include relays for the headlights to prevent shorting out and blowing a fusebox and all that good stuff? Thanks

So I feel dumb for asking such a simple question. But how and the hell do you change the headlights on any Datsun 240-280z? its very hard for such a simple thing! The way I tried to do it was: Removing dust/mud guard thing from inside the front fender wheel well. This allows me to get to the 4 Hex head Screws. After taking out all 4 screws I then push the headligh in towards the wheel so I can remove the 3 Bezel srews to the headlight. Then Taking that off and the the headlamp itself. But there must be an easier way. The FSM just outright baffled me. So please help for a new guy like me to the S30 chassis!

It could also be a leak from the seals in your calipers also. Seals need replaced if the calipers are leaking. Especially consider this if you live in an area with bad weather that will cause rust. Rust gets in the seals and they dont do their job. Fairly easy and cheap for a caliper rebuild. maybe like $9 for each side, just takes time.

I have a question. Are the dashes in these cars supposed to be padded foam coating a plastic core? or are they just plastic? Cause my 77' 280z has an all plastic dash, or to what it seems atleast. thanks

Cool stuffs! does anyone know how to rebuild a power antenna if its broken or stuck as is mine?