Captain Obvious

For resistance measurements of the temp sensors (both air and water), here's a thread I put together with some detailed info: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/56146-280z-efi-temperature-sensor-vs-resistance-chart/

I've not looked hard, but I'm not aware of anybody selling the air temp sensor separately from the AFM. And I've not heard a lot of people having failures with that component either. So with that in mind... Before you go chasing a replacement are you sure the ATS has a problem? Out in the garage on a cold December day in Harrisburg, your ATS resistance should be up around 5000 Ohms. That high resistance can appear to be open circuit (or "no continuity") to those not expecting it to be that high and not having the meter on a range capable of detecting it. In other words... When you say you have "no continuity", what range is your meter on to make that determination? All that said though, those other AFM measurements don't look so good. Especially the 255 between 7 and 8. Between that and the scraping inside, it makes me wonder if someone hasn't been in there mucking around in the past. If I were you, I would ask around a little on the forum if there is someone who has a spare you can use just to test the system. I'm sorry that I don't have a spare AFM, but I'm sure someone here does.

Yeah, that straightener caught my eye as well. I'm going to have to show that to my Z buddy who was with me at your place. He's approaching that stage on his Z right about now as well. He's got the flaring tool and the roll of tubing and is going to be making lines soon.

Your suppositions so far are correct. The device above the ECU is the fuel injection relay, the item below the brake booster is the dropping resistors, and as site already mentioned, the device with the naked nipple is the throttle let-off dashpot. It doesn't get a hose, but there should be a little filter under that white plastic cap. As for connector cleaning... I've found that the ECU and FI relay are usually OK, but anything in the engine compartment is suspect. However, it never hurts to take a look at any connector just to be sure. And about the vacuum lines, if they split or crack when you take them off, then it was time to replace them anyway.

I have the same problem... Websites are becoming so loaded with "features" to provide a better "user experience" or some bull like that. Problem is the websites that take advantage of those advanced features (like flash, etc) won't even load right without them. So the people who don't want to allow that kind of stuff are scrod. I just want websites to load fast and work. I don't need videos. I don't need hover over. I just want fast, secure, and simple.

"Put this thing together for the show" Duh! Well yeah! Do we need to have an emergency meeting of the ClassicZ club at your place during the show to put that thing back together?? I warn you though... The previous emergency meetings were at the bar.

Greg!!

Good catch!! Just another example of technology being too smart for it's own good. HAL 9000 needs to open the pod bay doors, and S30 needs to let you control your own temperature.

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that. I think the coolant supply is shut off for you when the A/C is enabled. I guess the designers decided that we all weren't smart enough to move the temp slider ourselves.

The ad has been deleted. Hope it was someone from the forum!

I decided on the Escort core because it was the thinnest, smallest, most generic, cheap core that I could find with tubes that stuck straight out on the same side. No long funky bent tubes. No weird mounting flanges. Generic, small, thin, and cheap because it's from a ubiquitous car and not from a low volume hard to find Ferrari. Now granted, some of this is a crapshoot due to the way they measure the cores... The manufacturers usually measure the "core" part of the core, and don't include things like the end caps and tubes in the dimensions. Or instead, they measure the whole thing tip-to-stern, tubes included. This makes real life comparisons and evaluations difficult, but that Escort core was simple so I was hoping I could make it work. Because of that way the dimensions are made, there's a real chance that there might be something better out there, but in order to know for sure, you would either have to buy a bunch of them and compare on the bench, or work for a company that makes heater cores and have access to better specs or real parts sitting on the shelf.

"I wonder if I should show this to mine" Uhhhh.... I'm thinking "no".

I'd be honored! Let's just hope I can pull this off.

Zed, I found the same thing. The heat output from the stock core at full flow is way more than I need as well. My "solution" was to put a second valve in the engine compartment in the line leading back to the water pump inlet. It's a small brass ball valve from the big home improvement store. I closed it about halfway and then took the handle off. The handle lives in my center console if I need to adjust it again. With that additional (fixed) restriction in series with the temp control valve, I now use about 3/4 of the adjustment range. In theory, the Escort core will impart a little less heat to the air stream because of the narrower thickness. If I get incredible lucky (doubtful), I might just end up exactly where I want to be! As for heated air out of the vents, I've given that considerable thought as well because I've got circulation issues in my hands and would love to have warm air to blow on them. I think the easiest way to achieve that would be to stuff a small heater core between the blower motor and the air distribution box. Essentially replace the plastic accordion duct with a heater core instead and then remove the original core completely. That way, the airstream would be hot by the time it got to the airbox, and the only thing the box would do would be distribute that already heated air. But... For now, I'd settle for a frikin' heater core, even in the stock location, that doesn't leak.

The plan for the bend in the line is to leave the core as is and make the bend with the rubber coolant hose instead of the metal tube coming out of the core. That's the kind of detail that I won't really be able to finalize until I have the box in the car. I'm pretty sure I can come up with something, especially since I have already relocated my water kock to the engine compartment, but that's exactly why I'm jumping the gun a little with this post. I just figured with the talk about heater cores and someone was getting ready to do theirs, I wanted to get this out there with potentially a better alternative.

I believe that is a capacitor, not a coil .1 micro Farad 50 Volt Film dielectric - probably polyester. Maybe polypropylene depending on where it was in the circuit.

Welcome aboard!! Car looks great! I'm near Philly with my 77. Let me know if you're in the area!

You too, huh? That's why I'm going to have to double check that SWMBO actually get me a round trip ticket!!

Yup, true that. And because I have already removed that rats nest of short hoses under the dash, making the connections to the Escort core should be pretty easy. I'm not sure how easy it would be if you were trying to make connection to the original water kock valve.

Yeah, the prices on this thing were great. And the workmanship looks pretty good too. One thing to watch for though is there are some of these are brass and some are aluminum like I pictured. The first one I got was the slightly smaller brass version and I sent it back to Rock Auto. They sent a second one and it's the one I wanted. I never completely got to the bottom of what happened though. I'm still not positive it was simply misboxed, or a different manufacturer in the Spectra box. I know many of the manufacturers will second source eachother with the intention that the parts are form / fit / and function interchangeable. They accepted the brass one back without a fuss though, and I got the aluminum one as pictured. By your command. The length and width are very similar to the original. The biggest difference is the thickness. The Escort core is thinner: To be honest, with a layer of 1/2 inch thick foam along the perimeter of the Escort core, I think it fits the heater box better than the original. Of course, my "original" is an aftermarket core that came with the car, but I was not impressed with the fit.

Well as luck would have it, I just may be able to make it to Austin after all. No promises, but my Z buddy Gary (who went to Toronto with me) and I have been hatching a plan for us both to go... My wife (with the prospect of getting rid of me for almost a week), has offered to use her frequent flier miles to get me a plane ticket. And in an incredible stroke of good luck, Gary has a brother who lives in Austin who says he would put he and I up for the duration. So there is still plenty of time for this whole thing to fall apart, but I might just make it! Things to do before the trip: Make sure my wife gets me a round trip ticket. Practice my Y'alls. Figure out how to keep Cliff and Gary apart, because the two of them together is probably trouble. Listen to Degüello and Tres Hombres at full volume. At least twice. Pack my suit and sunscreen for Hippie Hollow.

Haha!! I see what you did there.

I want to be done with it too. In fact, I'm so sick of the heater core stuff that I've been working on an alternative for my 77. I didn't mention it before because the project isn't done yet, but I just jumper the gun and started a thread about it. http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/56726-heater-core-alternative-escort-core-into-260280/ Unfortunately, I have no 240 experience and no idea if something like this would work on your 240. Want to send me a 240 heater box for experimentation?

This past spring the heater core in my 77 was leaking, so I bought a NOS aftermarket heater core off ebay as a replacement. I pressure tested it on the bench before installation and everything looked fine, so I put it in. Unfortunately, joy was short lived and by the end of the summer, the new one that I just put in was leaking. Again. Direct drop in cores are getting hard to find, and are expensive, so I started messing around with alternatives. I've been reluctant to mention it because the project isn't done and until the T's are dotted and the I's are crossed, there's the chance that something will come up that kills the whole idea. However, I'm going to jump the gun a little and mention it here just in case other 260/280 owners are getting ready to drop cash on a new heater core. Heater core for a 91-02 Ford Escort SOHC (not the ZX2). The heater core is aluminum, and the one I got was Spectra Premium P/N 94741. So with the caveat that there is still the chance that I'll run into an insurmountable detail and this may not really work for some reason, here's a teaser of something I've been working on. The box is done and has been sitting on the bench for a couple of weeks. I'm going to pull my dash this off season to finish the work, but here is where I am right now. And I have no idea if this idea would even work for the 240's, but this is what I've got. Aluminum heater core for a Escort with a layer of foam around the outside for a snug fit: Build a little shelf for the Escort core to sit on. Since the Escort core is a little thinner, it allowed me to move the core up a little so it doesn't interfere with the floor duct control linkages at the bottom of the heater box (like the stock one does). Aluminum angle material screwed into place as a lower support shelf: Escort core in place before putting on the access panel cover. Can't see it in the pic, but it's resting on the new aluminum shelf on the far side: With access cover in place and tubes poking through new holes I cut in the cover. Tape over the original holes so air doesn't come out where it's not supposed to. There's also another support shelf on the inside of the cover as well and if you look carefully, you can see the heads of the screws that hold the shelf in place: I need to pull the dash to finish the project and figure out how to make the hoses work, but I'm confident I should be able to figure something out. I'll post more pics of that process when I get the dash pulled.

Well the project looks great, and I'm really looking forward to testing out those bottle openers.