I just brought home a 79 280zx today, nothing seems to be working in the inside electrics. I did notice the headlights work, blinkers and taillights though.

Not working:

Power windows

Power mirrors

Volt meter

analog clock **(Which probably doesn't work anyways, **

Fuel gauge reads right at half, even though I emptied the tank, then refilled.

Tach seems work, unsure if correct reading though

Speedo jumps around like crazy when driving.

Dome light not working.

I check ALL fuses and replace any that looked suspect, but still nothing. Any ideas of breakers, etc that I might check next? :knockedou

It drove great getting to the house, just a lil stuffy with 15yrs of barn storage smell inside and unable to roll a window down

i'd start checking all your ground wires. mine had a slightly corroded fuseable link that caused it to not get enough power to start. after i cleaned up all my ground wires, bam, it fired right up.

I'm not sure how the wiring looks on the 280zx's though, but maybe that's what's happening to you?

Well, this morning I will be pulling ALL connectors I can find and clean them all with electrical connection cleaner, I will post later on if I have solved the problem. Thanks.

Fuel gauge reads right at half, even though I emptied the tank, then refilled.

Your sending unit may be bad or you may have a lot of resistance through your wires.

Speedo jumps around like crazy when driving.

Remove the end of the cable from the transmission and add a little bit of oil (20 wt) to lubricate the cable.

It drove great getting to the house, just a lil stuffy with 15yrs of barn storage smell inside and unable to roll a window down

Open the doors in the meantime.

Thanks ktm, I just now did the 2nd suggestion, the speedo cable now works! As for the fuel, I think you are right. I hate to start poaching parts from my other car, but I might have to so I can get at least 1 of them complete and working correctly. I had the doors open most of today, but alas, the rain has started, so I will have to continue another day.

Jack, regarding the fuel gauge, it could also be that you have an accumulation of crud on the contact point, or the pivot points are clogged up. Attached are several photos so that you may see what I mean. When removing the sending unit, be careful. The two floats stick out at odd places, and you will have to finesse the thing out of there. Getting it back in is also a bit of a chore.

Looks like fun! Just kidding... I actually will be pulling that tomorrow or the next day. Removing the fuel rail tomorrow. Fun Fun, this WILL be a daily driver in a few weeks I hope!!