new to the first gens

[280ZXtreme]

hey guys, i'm normally a S130 guy but we getting a 77 4 speed coupe to add to the garage and i need some help. its been sitting for exactly one year. its viper yellow, with black interior and a 2 seater with 157K on it. the guy said it ran good and he had trouble with the alternator he had put on it keeping the battery charged but no probs cranking it. well, when it's cranked up, it will usually die withing a few seconds, and sometimes it runs longer but its like its on maybe three cylinders, backfiring through the intake and exhaust. i've downloaded the injection manual by cardinal zen and verified that the fuel pump is working fine, the fuel injection relay is clicking twice when it should, the AFM resistance tests are good also. oh yeah, i also downloaded the 77 colorcoated wiring diagram, extremely helpful! ( much better than the haynes version) the injector circuits also test fine, there are only two things i'm having probs with...on some of the tests in the manual, it refers to an ignition lead wire and even using the pics i cannot seem to find a one wire connector in that spot, i do see a two wire connector that is green but it seems to be up higher in the dash, and the second prob is two of the tests are coming back bad but i don't know how to remedy them. they are tests #3-1 and #3-2. or one of them may have been #3-3, but i think it was the other two, at any rate they were both supposed to read battery voltage, and with one i got somewhat over 9 volts and with the other test i got a little over 11. i'm assuming that the solenoid lead wire on the started is the spade connector. anyway, we really want to get the car but not if we can't drive it because we honestly need to get rid of the fiero asap and get this z in the driveway. I talked the guy down to $1000 with very minimal rust and near perfect interior with new paint, i know it must be something simple such as corrosion in some a particular wire or something but some insight so as where to start would be greatly appreciated, thanks Stephen

[sblake01]

Welcome Stephen from another Stephen. When I first got mine (a 78 2 seater) it had been sitting for almost four years and exibited the symptoms you describe. My main problem turned out to be a bad gas tank. If yours has only been sitting for a year it may not be that but I would check the fuel pressure but I would start by changing the fuel filter and checking both the connection at the temperature sender and the sender itself. When I had the sputtering/dying problem on my 810 (similar setup) it turned out to be the temp sender. Hope that helps.

[280ZXtreme]

hey stephen, thanks for the suggestion, are you talking about the water temp sensor? or cylinder head temp sensor? i did change the fuel filter and put new gas in it, and a fuel system cleaner. my boss said to pour a bottle of rubbing alcohol in the tank to evaporate any water out but i'm not sure if its the best idea although i don't see why it would hurt. i had this same prob with an 81 that i never figured out and it had sat for about 4 or so years, but it wasn't needed any longer to be driven once we could not get a title for it,, but its just a parts car so disassembly started, at least i get a good 5 speed and 3.90 out of it with an F54 block and P79 head. anyway, any more suggestions are greatly appreciated, and thanks again stephen

[sblake01]

I'm talking about the one in the water neck with the fuel injector type connector. If it doesn't get a good signal from that sensor or if that sensor is bad, the car will either run badly or not at all.

[280ZXtreme]

sounds good stephen, i'll definitely give it a shot, especially because i think its only like $10 or somewhere close to that

stephen