chaseincats

Good point - is there a way to check/fix that without sending the head and block to a machine shop?

Oil looks good - it's always thrown a small puff of white coolant smoke on a hard acceleration gear change though

I have an air/fuel gauge on here and it sits at 13.8 at idle which is pretty standard. Cruise is 14.2-14.7 depending on speed and WOT is around 11ish.

This was an aftermarket thermostat with an off-set valve. I'd definitely agree that could be the case but the thermostat I had in there previously was only a couple years old and a genuine nissan part with a centralized valve but after changing to this thermostat the issue didn't change.

Unfortunately the problem with the old rad/thermostat/water pump/fan clutch persists with the new rad/thermostat/water pump/fan clutch even after burping it.

I'd give that a shot but I got a new radiator and took it for its maiden voyage last Thursday when I noticed the car still had the issue

Hey gang, got an odd one for you. My car used to sit rock solid at 170 (has a 170 degree thermostat) but within the past year that's become more variable depending on if I'm sitting idle or driving. If sitting idle in 95 degree weather, it will go a little past half which I know isn't bad but the fact that it used to sit rock-solid at 170 regardless of weather tells me there's something wrong and even though its not severe it's annoying lol. I've changed the fan clutch, thermostat, water pump, checked fanbelt tightness, changed coolant, used a flushing chemical, and even got a brand new radiator but while the temperature isn't moving as much, the needle still moves depending on if idling or driving. There is definitely rust in the system because the PO used tap water and ever since I got it years ago, its been a game of 'how much rust will come out with this flush' (its always less but there nevertheless). I've also cleaned the temp gauge harness connector/sensor outlet and nothing has changed. I'd have thought it was the temp gauge if the car didn't go back to 170 like it used to while driving - but since it does, it tells me the temp gauge hasn't lost calibration and the coolant temperature really is changing. Any ideas?

huge help as always captain, thanks!

I would need to use the zx relay in combination with the zx door buzzer im guessing?

be sure to only press in the area denoted to. pressing in the middle will probably break the lens at this point

yep

the dome light. the map light ive never changed but that requires you to take the hvac panel out (4 screws)

Read my 2nd post here: https://www.zcar.com/threads/get-your-z-clock-working-for-3-88.420916/

pull it out of the trim piece its sitting in - just kinda jiggle it down. the bulb can then be popped out from the other side of the housing. you are right to be concerned about shattering the lens, its fragile at this point but changing the bulb as long as you don't smack the lens somehow doesn't have anything to do with the lens.

Here's a potentially dumb question. Is it possible to swap in the open-door 280zx doorbell buzzer into a 280z?

Gotcha, we're in different baskets then

I had the same issue and discovered it was the wheels. Both sets I had, had their lug nut holes wallowed out a bit and were somewhat ovular. So even though the lug nuts were on there tight, the wheel could still move a millimeter or so in the lug nut hole creating the steering wheel vibration. I did the same as you in replacing basically the whole front of the car and having the tires balanced multiple times until I tried other wheels.

Does it have the mount holes for the original fan shroud?

It fit in without having to bend the mounting arms or anything?

Wow this really looks OEM. I'll give them a call - thanks!

That looks like a copper not aluminum radiator, correct? I just checked their site here and it seems they don't carry it anymore 😞

I took it to Bill's radiator in Plano a few years ago where they acid bathed it, rodded it, and welded all the cracks shut up because the metal was so thin at that point the welds didn't hold, and their work only lasted about 6 months. I've just been driving it as-is for a while but the radiator finally started saying enough a few months back.

Hi guys, My current copper/original radiator has had it, it's cracked at the top and full of sediment so it's not cooling well and needs to go. I've heard horror stories about the aluminum radiators on ebay with the tabs not matching up with the mounting ones on the car. Does anyone know a brand that is literally a drop-in fit without having to bend tabs/drill/mess with the car to get it to fit? I would also like to continue using the belt-driven fan and so the original fan shroud would need to be mountable on it too. I know everyone says the aluminum ones don't cool as well but that never made sense to me since modern car radiators are aluminum as I understand it.

Actually depending on the year, some of the blower motors connectors are already what we need. Some come with a "T" shaped connector and some look like a wall outlet plug ( I I )

Final update: the afm wasn't sticking per-say but there was a fair bit of play in the flap/wiper-arm, so I'm guessing one of the bushings inside the device has had it. It's possible that 'lean boot' was the car starting with the arm not in the right spot because of the flap/wiper-arm play (you could move it forward/back a good quarter inch). I completely made that up but sounds feasible to me. THAT SAID, I got a different afm without that issue and retuned it with the gauge and no lean-boot issues so far (knock on wood). This AFM was unmolested and even still had the cover factory-glued shut and the plug in the idle enrichment hole. Knowing that AFM was tuned to factory spec allows me to do this: Steps to tune a 280z without an air fuel gauge: - Be sure your AFM is sitting at factory configuration - if the cover is glued on that's a good indication its factory (if this isn't the case, get one that is or an air fuel gauge) - Be sure your engine does not have any vacuum leaks (smoke test it) - Disconnect your altitude sensor under the dash (if your car came with one) - Disconnect your EGR vacuum hose and cap it (the stock afm configuration is based on that being connected I think). Cap your carbon canister line too if you'd like although the amount of air coming in from that compared to EGR is trivial and barely changes the readings at all. - Be sure your coolant temp sensor's (efi one not the temp gauge one) resistance tests within factory spec in the FSM (the temp sensor changes mixture richness so that needs to be operating properly for this to work) - Check that your TPS is in spec by following this guide - Take the cap off your throttle position sensor (TPS) and GENTLY bend the WOT arm away from the middle arm by the base NOT THE TIP (like in the pictures in previous pages) BE CAREFUL. Datsun built the arms very close together so the car will default to running richer because they couldn't configure the engines like this at the time. In my case, anything over 1/4 pedal pressure had the TPS tell the car computer to use WOT enrichment. - With the engine running and using a multimeter (or good eyes), have someone hold the engine at highway speed rpm (4k?) and be sure that the TPS arm is not touching either of the other arm contacts (this is highway cruise mode) - Now, mark your AFM's black gear's current position then turn the black gear forward (clockwise) 4 teeth (the idle enrichment screw does not need to be touched) - If you did all of those (especially the TPS adjustment and have no vacuum leaks) then your car SHOULD idle between 13.8 and 14.2 and have a highway cruise of 14.7 (5th gear ~3800 rpm at 65mph) NOTE: this is with an engine with no vacuum leaks and tuned to factory spec (valves, timing, etc) according to the "ET" chapter of the FSM. All efi connectors have been cleaned according to this list. These are the steps I followed over the past year and should work on all 280z engines within factory spec but I am not responsible if it does not work for you and something negative happens. At the end of the day, these cars were tuned to run rich out of the factory because running too rich won't destroy the engine, running too lean will but getting it just right like this is a pleasure. Datsun didn't have the ability to test the engine running as a unit this precisely - they could only test each sensor before it went in and smell the tail pipe as there were no wideband o2 sensors in the 70s for this use if at all. Getting an o2 sensor to do this or even confirm your work is highly recommended, but if you don't want to, then follow these steps.