SteveJ

Honestly, it's mostly just reading what other people have done and doing a little reading and research. (It doesn't hurt that for the last 4 years, I've been doing a lot of debugging wiring in emergency generator controls.) Have your son start reading the FSM, especially before he tries to tackle a problem on the car. There is a ton of great information there. By the way, the red links on the Courtesy Nissan page replace the brown links.

Rob, Have you tried having your son hold the engine at about 2000 RPM and take a voltage measurement? That aside, this is my first thought. The 78 is the first Z with an internally regulated alternator. The first alternator could have been bad. It wouldn't surprise me if they gave you the wrong alternator at Autozone. For future reference, tell them an 81 280ZX for the alternator. That way you'll get an internally regulated alternator. Second thought. You might not have enough tension on the alternator. Read the FSM (Download it from the link in my signature.) and get a good idea of the tension needed. Another member here told me he needed to use a broom handle to get enough tension on the belt. I haven't changed out an alternator belt in about 9 years, so I have forgotten what I used for leverage to put enough tension on the belt. Of course, don't go overboard or else you could damage the alternator. Third thought. You might have received a bad alternator from Autozone. It happens. Last thought. Check your fusible links. There are two sets in the 280Z. In checking the link, it's important to remove it from the car to check continuity. Also look for damage in the box where the links reside. If you find that you have a bad fusible link, DO NOT replace it with regular wire. You can get replacement links from Courtesy Nissan Parts (link below). If you insist upon making your own, look at the FSM for the area of the wire and convert that to the proper AWG size. From there, you can buy fusible link wire and make your own links.

First off, please stop and organize your problem description. It sounds like you may have at least two separate issues. (By the way, thank you for posting the model year. It helps to be looking at the correct wiring diagram.) The hazard lights, steering lock switch, and voltage gauge are the ONLY components downstream of that fuse. Right now you have a dead short in that circuit. You have two choices. (1) Keep blowing up fuses until you find the short. (2) Use a continuity meter/ohmmeter to find the dead short. Having only two components off of this fuse will make it easier to find the short. You'll need to locate Connector C-6 and separate the two parts of the harness. One side has the Red/White (RW) wire from the fusebox. The other has the RW wire going to the voltage gauge. No, I'm not sure which side will be which. Touch one ohmmeter probe to the R/W wire and the other probe to the downstream (outer) side of the hazard fuseholder. If you get continuity, that is the connector side that is wired straight to that fuse. (Note, you may need to use male and female spade lugs to make contact with the wires in the connectors.) Now take the second probe and touch it to ground. Almost any exposed (unpainted) metal surface, such as a bolt will do. If you still have continuity, you have a dead short in the hazard light circuit or the steering wheel lock switch circuit. Disconnect the hazard flasher, and conduct the last test again. If there still is continuity, take off the steering column cover and look for the steering wheel lock switch. Also with the flasher disconnected, test from the Green/Blue (G/L) wire to ground, just in case the circuit is shorted downstream of the flasher. Do a continuity check to ground on the R/W wire on the other side of the C6 Connector. If you have continuity there, the real fun begins. You'll need to remove your voltage gauge to see if it is the culprit. As for your "alternator not charging", you'll need to provide a lot more detail on why you think you have a problem. What have you checked? How is the car/charging system behaving? Is your battery dying? Also, don't be afraid to download a copy of the FSM and read through some of the diagnostics written on the electrical and charging systems.

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