SteveJ

Were you running an ethylene glycol antifreeze in the cooling system? If so, was the smoke sweet smelling? White smoke is frequently coolant related. A few of the causes include a block that wasn't decked properly, a warped head, an improperly torqued head, or a bad gasket. I'm not really an engine guy, so take it for what it's worth.

The passenger seat is done. I think it looks pretty good for a beginner using parts from different sources. The seat foam came from Banzai Motorworks. The seat covers came from Black Dragon Auto.

Fortunately, it's quite a bit warmer in Georgia, so a simple kerosene heater works for me.

Without kids, Christmas night is pretty quiet, especially since after dinner I was about as stuffed as the turkey when it came out of the oven. Vowing to end this year right as a prelude to next year, I went ahead and ventured into the garage. Several months ago I bought new foam & seat covers for the 260Z. They collected enough dust. I went after the passenger seat first. The PO installed a CD changer under the seat, making it a bear to get to the back bolts until I managed to wrestle the box out. I was amazed at how easy it was to remove the seat. I removed the back from the bottom and had my wife take a video of me removing the back, so that I could have a reference if need be. I just cut & tore off the back cover to reveal the nearly 40 year old foam and jute. I got the rings off the at the headrest and tossed the old cover and seat foam. The new seatback foam is resting on the frame now. Tomorrow, I will attack again in earnest. I hope to have at least one seat done tomorrow after the mandatory after Christmas retail trip. Fortunately, I think there is only one store on the agenda. It felt so good doing something meaningful to the car again. Merry Christmas, all.

Look on the top middle of the wheel cylinder.

Thanks, E.

Well, I can see how someone pretty much hacked away at the fusible links. That'll cause you some issues right there. It might be a good time to source a used engine wiring harness...

Hey, Mike does great work. I've seen some of it up close. I knew he'd be expensive. That's why I was hoping he'd refer you to someone else.

Okay, you're dropping details. Are you referring to the Fuel Injection Bible? What page? With more relevent information, you'll get better, faster answers.

File a dispute/claim with Paypal.

Well, the S30 factory service manuals are online. See the link in my signature.

I would start with Roger at Zbarn & Oliver at Z Specialties. Z Car Source is also a viable option, but expect to pay more. You have to be patient with Roger getting back to you. Oliver will probably get back to you quicker. Be sure to give them the month & year printed on the VIN plate on the door jamb to enable them to provide you with the correct harnesses. You'll probably want at least the engine & FI harnesses. The body harness might not be a bad thing to buy, too.

Before you throw in the towel, follow up on my suggestion of printing out the wiring diagram. Use that, the FSM & FI bible to assess what has been hacked, etc. You may be able to just buy used wiring harnesses and undo the IPO's (idiot previous owner) "repairs". It could be a lot cheaper than hiring a mechanic. It can be tricky to find a good mechanic with a solid understanding of electrical systems.

That's a familiar story. In my 260Z, I found a wire coming off the 12VDC+ side of the coil that ran through the engine bay, into the passenger area, and all of the way back to the fuel pump, where it was taped into the connector. Needless to say, I removed it.

The wiring diagram on Blue's page shows 5 fusible links. Two sets of two, and a single one coming off of the battery. Edit: While you may have multiple problems, you still have to eat the elephant one bite at a time. First, go through getting initial power to the fuel pump via the circuit as designed, etc. When you have all of the components fixed, it's a good chance your car will be running again. By the way, the 5th fusible link I mentioned goes to the fuel injection system.

So then check your fusible links. That means pulling the links and checking resistance. Also examine the boxes that hold the links. Look for corrosion or heat degradation (melting).

First, don't lump your problems together unless you KNOW they have a common source. The best way to track down these problems is to start at one end of the circuit and trace it all the way to the other end. The point at which you gain/lose signal (voltage) is your likely component failure. (By the way, I'm glad you found the bad ground.) The tricky part is when the problem is intermittent. With your EFI, that does not appear to be the case. Find a copy of the wiring diagram. Blue has one at his site. The best thing to do is download it and take it to Fed Ex/Kinkos to get it printed out large & in color. That will help you immensely with your diagnostics when matched with the FSM & FI bible.

Search on this site. Just type firing order into the search box and see how many times it appears.

Thanks. The extra details help. This is starting to sound like the contacts on the back of the ignition switch might be going bad. It fits both scenarios.

My line of thought was that if the o-ring has to stand up to gasoline, it probably was not very susceptible to deterioration by petroleum based products.

Okay, I looked it up myself and found it. It is called the Ignition Relay, and it is in the FSM. So you have not eliminated that as the source of your problem.

I used vaseline to hold the o-ring in place.

Accessory Relay - The contacts might have welded closed. Look for it in the BE section of the FSM. If you don't have the FSM for your 77, look at the links in my signature. You MIGHT be able to disassemble the relay and unstick the contacts or tap the relay with a hammer to get them to unstick.

Where have you been buying your bits? Also, where is the bolt you're trying to drill out? Is it some place on the car you could use a propane touch to heat cycle it? That can help break it loose. As for the best type of bit, I prefer the left-handed (reverse) bits myself. Remember to drill slowly and don't apply too much pressure. If you aren't using a variable speed drill buy/borrow one.

I was thinking about your previous post before I read this one. My line of thought was that if you believe that your colortune results were good, then too much unburned fuel out the exhaust at higher engine speed might be an indication of an ignition timing problem. (Mind you, I don't claim to be an engine expert.) How is your vacuum advance? As an aside, if you ever decide to go with the ZX distributor, vacuum advances are still available for those distributors.