SteveJ

No, unless you or previous owner put in an electrical fan. That's more of a sign of a bad regulator and/or alternator (undervoltage condition). You can test the VR as I described above. The FSM tells you how to test the alternator in Section EE. By the way, do you have good tension on your alternator belt? Test the battery voltage with the car off. Test again with the car at idle, and test again with the car at about 2500 RPM. Tell us what the voltage is. I suggest fully charging the battery out of the car before running this test.

No, if you had an internally regulated alternator with an external voltage regulator, you would have already been experiencing an overvoltage condition. You should consider hooking up an ammeter at the battery and quantifying your battery drain. Common conditions for a slow drain include: 1. Replacing the alternator & regulator with an internally regulated alternator in a 73 or 74. Without adding a diode in the right place, you will likely energize the coil for the fuel pump relay & drain your battery. 2. A bad voltage regulator can cause a voltage drain. Unplugging the voltage regulator and measuring the current flow at the battery would tell you whether or not that was the cause. 3. A bad door switch or glove box switch would leave the dome light or glove box light (respectively) on. The glove box light could be tricky to detect. I have see this with a dash cap. The cap kept the door from closing fully, though it seemed to latch. Since the button on the switch was not fully depressed, the light stayed on and ran down the battery. 4. Circuits added to an unswitched source can run down the battery. This can include an amplifier, the memory function of an aftermarket stereo, a remote locking system, etc. 5. The cigarette lighter is constantly powered, so anything plugged into that could be draining power, too. A less likely culprit would be a malfunctioning horn circuit. If the horn button was stuck and someone just disconnected the horns, the relay would still be energized and could drain the battery. If you don't know how to use an ammeter, see this link: http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_6/chpt_2/4.html.

Yes, look at my previous posts.

I do believe you're talking about the voltage regulator. It's not a relay. You cannot bypass it unless you also install an internally regulated alternator. And since you have a 73, if you did get the internally regulated alternator, you would also need to disable the relay for the electric fuel pump. Just saying... It would probably be easier to replace the regulator. Hopefully, you don't have a problem with your alternator that caused problems for the regulator.

If your car doesn't have a voltage regulator, it has an internally regulated alternator. A voltage regulator is a small box with wires coming out of it mounted om the right side of the engine bay near the alternator. Google 260Z voltage regulator and look at the images. I even saw one picture of the VR mounted in the engine bay.

Does it have an internally regulated alternator? The 73 & 74 had the power for the fuel pump relay coming off the alternator but before the voltage regulator. Replacing this with an internally regulated alternator would keep the coil for the fuel pump relay energized all of the time. This will cause a slow drain on the battery.

Okay, I misunderstood your description of the noise. It sounds like it's a valvetrain issue. I don't claim much knowledge there, but I know there are several threads on here that go into issues related to that knind of noise. As for rustproofing, make sure you get rid of the existing rust first.

Amazon claims this one will work for a 240Z: http://www.amazon.com/ACI-177510-Windshield-Washer-Pump/dp/B000CEN2OK/ref=au_pf_ss_4?ie=UTF8&Make=Nissan%7C67&Model=240Z%7C2284&Year=1973%7C1973&carId=001&n=15684181&s=automotive Advance Auto Parts carries the same one for a few dollars more.

Okay, from that picture we can tell you have a "late" 260Z. The bumpers are a dead give-away. You'll find it has a lot of parts in common with the 75 280Z. You might find that there are components in the engine bay that are in different locations from the FSM, too. What is the build date on the door jamb plate? Edit: The clicking sounds at higher speeds could be u-joints or loose bolts in the driveline. It would be good to check that out sooner than later. Check the fuses for your headlights. See if the bad headlight lights up when you switch it to bright. Like I said before, you could write a novel on getting a 40 year old car of unknown pedigree up to being a reliable daily driver. I tried to do that with my 73 about 20 years ago. That did not go well. I tried to do it on the cheap, and I didn't have near enough knowledge to get it in good shape. I'd actually have a better chance of getting the car in shape now.

Thank you, Rob.

Check your u-joints for play, too, though Leon's answer covers the primary culprits.

Do you know Pete's user name at Hybridz?

When I ordered my cap about 16 years ago, Sal from MSA warned me there were two different dash caps for the 73. I had to return the first to get one that fit.

Mike is a great guy to work with, too.

Oh, and download a copy of the FSM from xenonS30.com. Take pictures, especially of the engine bay. It will help us help you to figure out modifications done to it. Also beware of the seatbelt interlock relay. Most likely it has been disabled, but you never know. This relay is a 260Z only issue (as well as any other 1974 model year car).

This could be a novel... Flush the cooling system and put in new coolant. Inspect the brakes and replace any worn components. Also replace the brake fluid. Flush the brake fluid in the clutch hydraulics (manual) or replace automatic transmission fluid (automatic). Inspect the tires to make sure they have adequate tread and are less than 6 years old. Inspect the u-joints and driveshaft bolts. Tighten, lube or replace as necessary. Inspect all suspension components and steering components. Be prepared to replace worn rubber bushings and boots. Replace the shocks if worn. Look into adding relays to power your headlights and possibly H4 lights. Replace running lights with LED bulbs. This reduces the chance of burning up wires. Clean and lubricate the wiper arm mechanism. Replace the old seatbelts or at least replace the webbing. Inspect/replace coolant hoses and water pump. Inspect the horn and replace the horn relay if the horn is weak or nonfunctional. Replace the fuel filter. Inspect/replace spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap, & rotor. Finally get a beater for the winter or your Z will rust to pieces.

The website address to find the link is http://www.zzxdatsun.com/catWiring.php

Banzai Motorworks carries them.

I would suggest cleaning it first. Then you might be able to trace the source of the oil that is covering it.

Check the weep holes on the water pump. (I can't remember whether or not the S30 water pumps have them.) I would not be surprised if your water pump was giving up the ghost.

George, the ground for the headlights goes from the switch for the turn signal over to the combo switch for the headlights and back into the wiring harness from that connector.

Dave told me it was a rebuilt alternator. Overheating in the bearings could break down the insulation in the windings, leading to grounding of the windings. In power generation, monitoring bearing and winding temperatures is a critical function.

If you had a properly sized fusible link, you probably had little other damage. Check the wire connectors for the fusible link. Check the connectors for the voltage regulator and alternator. Check the connectors for the white/red wire at the alternator and fusebox. Also check the white and white/red at the ammeter. Those are the most likely areas for other damage. If you replace the fusible link and alternator and the car still won't start, that would indicate you blew the ammeter.

Did you connect the positive for your fog lights to the battery? If so, my first guess would be catastrophic failure of your alternator or regulator. Look for my PM.