I finally gave up trying to fix my own car (reference: New alternator and new vorltage regulator and still won't charge thread). Now the dealer tells me they THINK it might be the ignition relay. They want over $250 to install a new one. I have looked at the wiring diagram in my Haynes book and the index and can't see that it has an ignition relay. A web search of Autozone also doesn't show one. I also checked two aftermarket catalogs and they don't show ingnition relays until 1980! Does my car have one (or should it have one)? TIA, Ken

Yep, there's an ignition relay. It's on the bracket under the dash on the passengers side, it should be just behind the bracket for the foot vent control.

Not sure exactly which one it is other than what is shown in a crappy pic in the Hayned manual.

I don't know if it would be the same as your 76 but I can attach a picture of the relay bracket from my 78 FSM. Does anyone know if there would be a difference?

I don't know if the relays themselves would be the same, but I'm pretty sure all the 280 (75-78) have nearly the same things on the relay bracket under the dash. I know it was a bit of a confusing mess under there on the 75 I had....:cross-eye

Ok, thanks, I feel a little more confident than I did earlier. :stupid:

Okay, here are the pictures. The frist one shows the location of the relay bracket which is above your fuse box on the passenger side. You'll have to remove the panel below the glove compartment.

The second picture show the relays and identifies them. Remember this is for a 78. I'm pretty sure that it's the same but compare the picture to your car to be sure.

sblake01, wow! Thanks, it is support like this that lets a marginally compentent person like me survive the trials of an older car. My dealer didn't even have manuals for a '76 and none of the mechanics had ever worked on one (actually, one guy had done struts on one). They had no more idea of what the problem was than I did:stupid: However, they have a dealer network and that is how they came up with the ignition relay idea. I had been through the wiring diagrams that I have and done continuity checks on all of the circuits that I could identify and they all checked out. I was oblivious to the fact that there was an ignition relay. Guess I really should break down and get a factory manual. Thanks again, Ken

If you're going to change the ignition relay, I would go to a self service junkyard and get a couple of them from there. I say a couple because that chances of them both being bad are slim. They'll be cheap because they have no clue what they are. Try them to make sure that is your problem. That will save you from paying Nissan's price if the problem turns out to be elsewhere.

If you haven't bought one yet, I looked through my stuff and found 4 of them. I've just finished testing them on my car and they all work. If you want one let me know. I'll let you have it for postage.