SteveJ

Register at ZDriver.com at look at this thread. I'm not sure where Skittle connected the G wire on the HEI to. It may be the positive terminal off of the distributor (reluctor). I sent him a PM over at Zdriver. The other thing I wonder about is whether or not the W terminal should be connected to a condensor. (See attached document for notes I found on the HEI.) Since I haven't ever played with the HEI, I do not claim any expertise or specific knowledge in its applications, wiring or behavior. (How's that for a disclaimer?) HEI Notes.doc

According to what I see from the wiring diagram, you are correct. The voltage gauge and the hazard lights are on the same fuse.

Good reference material.

Jenny, are you looking to do the rebuild yourself or farm it out? What state do you live in? Is there a Z Club nearby? If so, there's probably someone in the club who could recommend someone to do the work?

Leonard, I saw the eBay ad before. Mind you, it's from the same guy selling the "turbo" engine seen in another thread. It's just a way for him to get a few bucks from an uneducated shopper. The same parts could be bought from Amazon for $11.13, and that's including S&H charges. I guess he believes his instructions are worth $13. Heck, if someone wants to do that, I will draw up instructions for free. Just PM me. Anyway, the only explanation that comes to my mind is that it would reduce the voltage loss to the solenoid and prevent damage to the ignition switch from high current. I haven't seen any evidence of the latter happening in either of my Z cars, though I'll admit my sample size is extremely small. I have purchased some small items from the seller, but only if I can't find it elsewhere. He was good about shipping the I bought, too. However, IMHO this is just a PT Barnum product.

Good point. There's a search for that, too.

The typical relays you see for add on lights, etc., are rated for 30A. If I was doing it, I would buy a relay socket, remove the wires that came with it and use new connectors (such as those sold at Vintage Connections) to wire the coil to the ignition switch. Then I would wire the solenoid to the contacts, using a fresh 12 VDC source off the battery and the rest of the existing wiring.

Search for parking lights on here. You will find plenty of threads describing solutions.

Sorry, I don't have the answer immediately at hand. However, look at my links to find an online version of the parts fiche. From that you can get what years have compatible parts.

But...but...but...it's a GENUINE cheque drawn on monies from the United States Ministry of the Treasury and signed by President Barack Harry Pelosi himself. Don't I have an honest looking avatar?

I just thought of something based upon a question I was asked yesterday. Look at where the smaller wires go into the coil. One post should be marked positive and the other negative. Tell us what are the colors of the wires connected to those posts. If polarity is reversed, it could make the spark less reliable.

It looks like a parts car to me. I hope the owner is asking well under a grand. If you're hot for a 280ZX, contact Frank, aka Palladin, over at Zcar.com. He recently bought a California car and drove it back to Tennessee. You will probably get a lot more bang for the buck that way FWIW.

So should I cancel the truck?

You can just replace the solenoid when you replace the transmission.

Well, if the dirt on the tires are an indicator, it wasn't buried much in the mud. It doesn't even look close to the floorboards. If so, that was a nice acquisition, especially for the price.

Another alternative is to take a chance with another VR. Rockauto has some wholesaler closeout ones pretty cheap.

Bob, the strange thing is that Alex says that the black wire on the VR is going to pin #2. That should be the A wire to the battery. Even if the ground wire coming from the harness has been compromised (which there is always a possibility of that), it wouldn't account for the fact that the wires aren't lining up properly between the VR and engine bay harness.

At this point, I don't have a 280Z to verify wiring on the harness or VR. If you notice in your picture, the terminals for the other 5 wires are insulated from the case. The one that smoked was not. Combined with the wire color being black makes me pretty sure that it's a ground wire. I'm not sure how you could be charging your car without something connecting the VR to the white/red wire. This leaves you with three options. 1. Hope this never causes you problems. 2. Wait until someone with a 75-78 280Z can verify anything on this thread. 3. Swap to an internally regulated alternator following the guide on Blue's website.

Something isn't right. If you had it such that the black wire on the VR went to pin #2, I'm not surprised it burned to a crisp. In DC wiring, black is typically used on ground wires, hence the first posts from me and Stephen. If someone managed to install the VR without lining up the pins properly, and the black wire on the VR ended up on pin #2 of the engine bay connector, it would burn up quickly because it's a dead short. With the battery disconnected, try the plug such that the black wire on the VR lines up with pin #4 on the engine bay plug. See if it plugs in that way.

One common cause of dieseling in the 240Z is the electrical system backfeeding through the ignition. I had that happen when I converted the alternator to an internally regulated alternator. If that is the cause of your dieseling, a diode properly oriented in the alternator circuit will end that problem. Details can be found here. As for your idle issue, are you choking the car when you start it? Have you checked to see if the choke cables are moving the choke or if they are bound? Are you sure you have stock carburetors? If so, search online on tuning SU carburetors, or contact Bruce Palmer, a member here, about buying a copy of the Z Therapy video on working with your SU carbs.

Seven years in the mud without rust? Pics or it didn't happen.

Alex, I'm confused by your response. Pins #6 and #2 don't connect. They are separate wires. The attached picture shows the pin numbers on the VR connector, too. By the way, do you have a voltmeter (not the gauge in the car) to see how much voltage you read at the battery with the car running at 2500 RPM? Steve

As an engineer who designs control systems for emergency power switchgear, I would say I would want both voltage AND current. (Note: The following diatribe is for the amusement/information of those people who wonder why some people talk about using voltmeters as opposed to ammeters.) The downside to current measurement is that essentially all of the current is traveling through the meter. If the meter fails in a way that the wire loses continuity, most of the electrical systems in the car will fail. To keep the meter from blowing up, it has a pretty wide range and therefore little accuracy. Another member here asked me how to read the ammeter to know what's going on. The way I explained it was to picture the alternator and battery as two water towers that are connected with a pipe. The ammeter is the flow meter between the water towers. When the water is flowing toward the battery's tower, the ammeter reads positive (Battery is charging.). If the water is flowing toward the alternator's tower, the flow is negative (Battery is discharging.). If the ammeter is WAY positive, there is a hole in the battery's water tower (Battery is going bad and cannot maintain a charge.). Taking that analogy, the voltmeter shows the water level of whichever tower has more water. Again, the resolution on the voltmeters doesn't give a lot of information (It's better than the ammeter, though.), and if the meter hasn't been calibrated, it can be even less helpful.

Contact Roger at Zbarn.com. He can probably sell you a cover at a good price.

My guess is that it's the ground since it's the only black wire on the VR. I'm attaching a picture from the 76 FSM. The wiring should be the same on a 77. Match it up to the plug on the wiring harness side. The top of the VR plug lines up with the bottom of the wiring harness plug. The letters on the VR side will tell you the function. If you don't know what the function is, post the letter going to the VR.