Sticky EFI thread, please chip in FI guys!

[newguy22]

thanks stephen for the information i searched today and on MotorsportsAuto.com i found that i could order the exact one i need for around $200 but i would be interested in the one that you have, and if im not mistaken the 76 and 75 ECU are interchangable? i ask this because my car is an early 75 but i would still be happy to have any info about the ECU you have knowledge about

[sblake01]

I'll have to check the numbers on his and I won't be able to do that until tomorrow. I do believe that the 75-76 are interchangable. Remember, I have no way of testing them (but I'm working on something that might allow me to do that), but I assume it's good because the car was running when he got it but he took the engine out the put it in is 240Z. I'll get back to you on this as soon as I know something because I'm sure it will cost a lot less than $200.

[Fordlover]

Hi Zcar, I got my car running finally. ended up being a dirty connection on the temp sensor. I would like to point out that there are 4 temp probes under that top radiator hose located on the thermostat housing, I found 3 of them. thanks to this post I found the fourth one and it was the temp sensor. I was trying to match a temp sensor to my thermotime switch. till I looked at the link to the fuel injection bible. on page 28 is a picture of the thermostat housing with the 4 probes. now for that Road Test! Great site. thanks All

Edited January 31, 2009 by Fordlover

[Fordlover]

I got around the block with the car running fine,had to jump the starter relay as the key won't start it, almost had me thinking about keeping this japanese bucket of rust, then it started the lopeing trying to die crap. it did actually die when I got in the drive way.I need this car to run been 2 years now if it wern't for the rebuilt motor and the new tires on it I would have scraped this rice burner! Yea hows that for a RANT!

OK I will spend the 20$ for a temp sensor tomorrow. But I need to also know where the vaccum resivour gets its vaccum from. there is a hose or 2 missing.I downloaded and searched the fcm and didn't see a vaccum diagram. I did search the site and saw a vac diagram posted on a thread about A/C heater problems but it was for a 78 model.

heres what I am dealing with a 4/75 per data plate on the drivers door jam. So what year is it? it is fuel infected also. not a big fan of fuel injection. automatic transmission which seems to work fine. I have today took the longest ride it 4/10 of a mile. WOW! not quit a trip to FLA.I live an hour south of Atlanta. I need to figure where the vaccum relays get there vaccum from as that is one of the hoses missing. any help might just save old RUSTY>

[preith]

I need to also know where the vaccum resivour gets its vaccum from. there is a hose or 2 missing.I downloaded and searched the fcm and didn't see a vaccum diagram. I did search the site and saw a vac diagram posted on a thread about A/C heater problems but it was for a 78 model.

heres what I am dealing with a 4/75 per data plate on the drivers door jam.

It's been 10 years since I owned my '77, but IIRC there was a single vacuum line which ran from the vac diaphram under the dash to the manifold and the other nipple on the manifold was for a "idle helper" of sorts which bolted directly to the manifold. Regardless, if they're both plugged either should affect the drivability of the car.

[preith]

Good sticky BTW, I'd like to add my $.02. I see a lot of talk about the cold start system. When I owned my '77 back in the 90's I swapped out the fuel rail with one from a ZXturbo which had larger diameter tubing, but the catch was it did NOT have a provision for the cold start valve so it snowballed from there.

I discarded the air regulator, cold start valve, thermotime switch, and the coolant lines which ran to a base plate sandwiched under the air regulator. I pipe plugged cold start hole and the others. It certainly cleaned up the engine bay considerably and the car ran GREAT without all that garbage. This until the first snowfall in Wisconsin.

Also, I see no mention of the BCDD valve (hangs under throttle body). It's there to "hang" the rpm's during shifts and reduce hydrocarbons. The problem is quite often it "hangs" too much and becomes quite annoying. Fortunately the aftermarket throttle bodies, and perhaps the other OEM ones people retrofit. do not have a provision for this and it can be eliminated.

Edited February 6, 2009 by preith

[BackDoorz]

I'd like to add something here. I see where a lot of people are asking about fuel injectors. Which ones to use, new or remanufactured, and so forth. The following information maybe known, but here it is anyway. The link comes the Reuters website. It is a stock listing for Standard Motor Products. Under "Full Description", paragraph identified as "Engine Management Segment". As you can see Standard Motor Products makes several different brands. Are they all made to the same specs? That's a good question.

Standard Motor Products Inc (SMP) Company Profile | Reuters.com

[bhermes]

Ok, so I am a novice but learning quickly thanks to all of your posts. Would have never attempted to upgraded alternator or drop my gas tank and recoat without this forum among other things. So bare with me. But it would be nice to have a spreadsheet or something similar (not sure if everyone has excel) that list each part, a description/function for each part, location and photo of each part (earlier post would probably work fine,), a column of symptoms that part is bad or needs adjustment based on everyone's experience, add a column with tests etc that can be performed to check each part, and finally the location in the FSM that spells out some of this information. Maybe this is to much work for someone or several people to do but for someone like me diagnosis is the hardest part.

One last note, you guys read the FSM and it makes since. Sometimes when I read the thing it looks like Chinese. I know that some of this only comes with experience but every little bit of clarification helps.

Again, thanks to all. You guys are amazing. I hope to be able to help others soon.

[EuroDat]

One last note, you guys read the FSM and it makes since. Sometimes when I read the thing it looks like Chinese. I know that some of this only comes with experience but every little bit of clarification helps.

That is probably because most of it has been translated from a japanese manual and most probably by someone with english not being their native language.

Some sections have sentences that throw you of a bit. Takes a bit of getting use to, but you will get the hang of it.

Chas

Edited April 1, 2013 by EuroDat

[TomoHawk]

Yeah, it's kinda like the Chinese picture-instructions for assembling furniture. You can be sure if you're supposed to insert a screw into Hole A, or screw-up Hole A...

[ElkRidder280]

I have been working on my parents 1978 280Z and was wondering if any of you fine gents could point me in the direction of appropriate FSM for this year. On several of the forums so far I have seen a lot of confused folks making post about the location of the fuel injection relays on this year of car. It is different from earlier years along with the ECM pin mapping being different from what is show in the "EFI bible" for the 75 models. I am sure there are other differences for this year, and I would like to have the actual documentation to know what's up and what's not.

The car is in unbelievable shape for its age, but has been sitting for years. I just got it started yesterday, but it only runs for a few minutes before dying. I got this far using the older manuals and my 15 years of working on FI cars, but sure could use some help getting this old girl back on the road with the right documentation.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

PS Amazing site! This is my first time in the "Z" community and so far I've very impressed with the people here.

[EuroDat]

You can download it from this site. http://www.xenons30.com/reference.html

If you scroll further down to the "other" section you will also find the EFI bible. I have read that the EFI bible on the xenon130.com site is better, but I can't confirm it.

Goodluck

Chas