jmead

leave it on...but make it stand out if you shine is up, maybe highlight it from the rest of the intake it will only add to it

I don't think it is detonation, but then again, I've never really heard the "pinging" before, so this could be it. I'll try a higher octane fuel for the next fillup, but I've already got gas in the tank so it would take me a while to use up all the 87 first

I've got a 70 240z with the stock SUs. A week or two ago I noticed a problem developing. Under hard accelerations there is a rattling sound comming from the engine bay, it is a metalic rattle, almost like the muffled sound of some screws rattling around in a can...almost. It has been getting worse, and is no accompanied by a loss of power. It is much worse in the higher gears, with it almost never happening in 1st, and getting worse into 2nd, 3rd. It seems to be load dependant, only at say 50% throttle or higher, esepically when the revs and low and building. For some reason I think it is carb related, like something is loose in one of them. I'm really not too famaliar with the internal workings of the SUs, so is there anything that could be causing this? Remember it comes with a loss of power, so it must be something significant. Thanks for any help/ideas.

any idea which ones? I've shied away from Harbor Freight units because I suspected poor quality, but if I knew which ones where actually just rebadged, I might re-consider.

I've got the same problem, headlight is out and can't get the cruty screws out (last guy who tried stripped the crap out of them). I'd like to replace them with something that won't give me so many problems next time I want to change one. I don't have the screws out, so I'm not sure what to buy to replace them. Does anybody know what size and thread bolt I want to replace them with?

The engine and transmission both have about 160k, no rebuilds or replacements that I know of. So you think it could be pressure plates? I know for a fact that the lurching is related to the vacuum signal the tranny is getting. Are the pressure plates "activated" by this signal? (I'm sorry, I don't know very much about the internal workings of an auto tranny) How difficult is this replacement?

Alright...got my car running smoothly, now it turns out I've got a transmission problem. It turns out the vacuum line that connects to the manifold was loose, and leaking vacuum, causing the transmission to lurch at certain speeds depending on the throttle position. I re-attached the hose securely, and the car is much smoother, but it will still ocasionally lurch around during a shift. This is mainly at high speeds (45+). What more can be done to fix this? Is it possible the hose itself is leaking? What other parts could cause this to happen? I've read something about a "vacuum modulator" in the tranny. What does it do? I've got a 76 280z, auto tranny, stock. Thanks for any input

I found that the ground wire that connects to the throttle body was just hanging loose, that cleared up the majority of the problems. There is still a slight pop sometimes off of idle, but it just happens once, and isn't nearly as obvious as it was. I'm still having a problem with it stalling, with the flutter tach and everything, but it seems like that has gotten better too. I can make it happen now, just by putting it in neutral and reving to 6k it will happen every time, even with no load. More problems now, I found a small leak in the water pump. Now its running slightly hot(er). I guess I'll check the spark plugs, see what color they are. How long would a lean condition need to exist before it colored the spark plugs? It has only been doing this for a day or two, is that enough time? One other question, to anyone with a 280z and an auto. It seems like the low end torque is a little lacking (maybe related to a bad AFM or something). If you punch the throttle off idle, do the tires spin? It seems to me like the engine would have enough power to spin the tires from a stop, but mine can't. I know its not a very good way to measure the low-end, but its the only test I can come up with. Thanks for your help!

I've got a 1976 280z w/ auto transmission Since I installed my upgraded throttle body (60mm 240sx), I've been having a problem. Sometimes the car "pops" a little bit, you can feel it very clearly in the gas pedal, and my girlfriend said she could feel it from the passenger side, too. It used to just happen once when you pressed the pedal hard from a stop, but now it seems to do it all the time under 30mph, even with the slightest acceleration. When it happens, the car lurches a little bit, and acceleration isn't even close to what it normally is. In addition, since this started happening, the car has also been stalling. The tach jumps up to 3500-4000, flutters around a little bit, along with a loss of power, and once the car slows it just shuts down completely. Normally if you re-start the car its fine, but on my way home it happened several times, when it normally wouldn't. Does anyone have any ideas? It’s to the point where I can't even drive my car now, so I'd really like to get it back into tip-top shape. Thanks for any help.

No hurt trying...like was mentioned, depth might be an issue on one side due to hoses, but I don't see any reason a 6 1/2+ would fit back there, its all in how its mounted. Personally, I'm still going to go with a few 6x9's or 4x6's mounted in the panels behind the seats. I should have the panels and speakers here within a week, I'll let everyone know how they fit

air flow meter huh? Do you think that could cause similar problems? And how would I go about "checking" it? Any simple test I can do to verify it is operating properly

I've got another problem with my Z (1976 280z). It only happens sometimes, I think the first time it happened was after hard acceleration, but that doesn't seem to be necessary to trigger it anymore. When it happens the tach will jump like crazy, from say 4k to 7k (into the red zone), at the same time the car is lurching back and forth (corresponds with the tach). If I get going too slow, it just plain stalls. If I put it in park and start it back up it wil run fine. I'm guessing this is a transmission problem, rather than electrical or fuel. Does anyone have any ideas on this? It makes sense, because it happens after the tranny has been stressed. It almost feels like it is trying to drop down a gear but misses, and keeps trying to shift. Anyone thing I need a new tranny? I've heard of similar problems (there is one thread open about a similar problem right now), but those all seems to be tach only, and not reflect the cars actual state. Thanks for any advice

Only one speaker? That is kinda...odd. Well, mine has two, I guess it must have been upgraded by the previous owner. I ordered a set of pioneer 2-ways, I'll see how those fit. If they don't work out I was planning on adding a set of 6x9s in the doors behind each seat anyway.

I've got an annoying problem with my new Z. It’s a very high-pitched squeak that only occurs at certain speeds. It doesn't start until like 30mph, and goes away at around 55-60 (or at least I can't hear it anymore, I can't be sure it is gone). When I apply a very slight pressure to the breaks (so little the car doesn't even begin to slow) it goes away, and if I press the brakes right it will go away on one side before the other (it happens on both sides). Any idea what this is? Is it something that needs to be replaced, or just something I can adjust? Sorry I don't have more specifics, it’s only been happening for about a week (but happens consistently). Thanks for any suggestions.

5.25", good to know. Have you upgraded you speakers? If so, what did you use? Any idea what kind of depth there is to work with? Thanks for the reply

I'm no car audio guy...so this is probably a stupid questions, but what size are the stock rear speakers? I just got done tearing my dash apart, removed the old stereo and prepped some of the connections for my CD player. The last guy did a terrible job, hacked the dash up, didn't mount it right, etc. In addition, he ran some tiny zip cord back to each of the speakers. I was planning on just going with a pair of 6x9's behind the seats, but figure I might as well upgrade the rears while I'm at it. Does anyone have any suggestions for some decent speakers that fit the stock locations? And also, is there a kit or something I can buy that will ease the mounting of the new stereo? Mainly I'm looking for some sort of place that extends say 3/4" of an inch around the face of the unit to cover up the whole in the dash. Thanks for any input

Well, my current plans include a K&N intake, some larger exhaust tubing w/ better flowing muffler, and an electric fan for my 76 280z. Browsing around ebay I came across a few cams designed for the l28, one for idle-5000, and one for 1800-55000rpm. I'd like to move the power down a little bit, with a little more torque off idle, even if it means sacrificing some high-end power. Will a new cam help accomplish this? And, more importantly, how involved would a cam swap be? I think I can handle the intake/exhaust/fan stuff ok, but that doesn't involve opening the engine up. Is it a simple drop-in basically? I'm really not much of an engine person (yet), and I don't want have my engine in a bunch of pieces only to realize I don't know what I'm doing. Thanks for any advice.

Everything was great, loving the new Z, but I ran into a little problem tonight. It seems my headlights have just stopped working. They were on one second and just turned off. Its both of them, not one. Everything else works, parking lights, blinkers, etc. I thought it could be the fuse, but each light is fused seperatly (I think), so that doesn't make sense...same with it being the bulbs, they wouldn't die at the same time. I guess the most likely thing would be the switch then? Anyone have any advice on how to fix this? Is there a simple way for me to test if it is actually the switch? Some contacts I could short to bypass it or something? Thanks for any advice...I'd like to get this fixed ASAP so I can get my car back on the road (after dark anyhow). Now that I've got my Z I don't think I could stand driving my topaz!