HELP! need to pass emissions by the 16th!

[az240z]

Not familiar with him. Go to DZA site and check the member discounts for shops that specialize in Z's.

Also I bought the $1200 car but the owner didn't have the title notarized so I gave him a $100 deposit and was to get the car the following morning. He called me at 7:30 in the morning telling me he sold the car for more than what I paid him. Said he was sending me a refund. I'm not holding my breath.

But it was a nice car for the money. Had a great interior and ran well. don't know if it would have passed emissions. As for your car I would check all the vacuum lines as they go bad here in the desert.

Enjoy today and the 115 degrees.

Edited July 14, 2010 by az240z

[Shade133]

ah i hate the title issues. why couldnt he get it notorized? was it not in his name?

when i get paid im going to replace every vacume line i see with new ones just because. whether they apear good or not. and go over my intake setup again.. as to i probably did it wrong the first time or there is a spot leaking after the mass air flow sensor..

the only reason i wanted to take it to the mechanic in the first place was because i was concerned about the timing issue.

how if i use a timing light and hook it to spark plug #1 i cant see anything unless i unscrew the dizzy and turn it clock wize at least 30 degrees. then the mark will show not yet reaching the 0 degree mark but the car will die if i go any further.

it seems to run good where the timing is at now even if i mess with it.. but if i advance the timing by turning it counter clock wise it runs like crapola. so i only got about 3 degrees of retardation to play with for it to work good..

i planned on replacing all the vac lines and sesnors anyways.. i like to do this on any car i get that i dont have complete history of whats been done. for all i know this isnt even the original engine, or maybe it was built with a cam hell if i know. all i know is when i get it to have good driving power its a tourqie bastard and halls arse.

[sblake01]

how if i use a timing light and hook it to spark plug #1 i cant see anything unless i unscrew the dizzy and turn it clock wize at least 30 degrees. then the mark will show not yet reaching the 0 degree mark but the car will die if i go any further.

Based on that description, your distributor drive is off at least one tooth. That may be your main problem since it prevents you from being able to accurately adjust the timing. Edited July 14, 2010 by sblake01

[Shade133]

ok see thats what i was wondering. if timing could make just the hydrocarbons sky rocket at idle. because the if its under a load. the vacume advance kicks in and it could correct the timing enough so it lowers the hydrocarbons?

so if i think about it right, if the timing is to retarded its firing to late and if the vacume advance isnt kicked in at idle it will leave un burned fuel in the engine right?

[sblake01]

That may be the logic behind it....it's been years since I studied automotive theory but I'd fix it just because it's wrong. Timing is an important part of emissions testing.

[doradox]

ok see thats what i was wondering. if timing could make just the hydrocarbons sky rocket at idle. because the if its under a load. the vacume advance kicks in and it could correct the timing enough so it lowers the hydrocarbons?

so if i think about it right, if the timing is to retarded its firing to late and if the vacume advance isnt kicked in at idle it will leave un burned fuel in the engine right?

Typically over advanced timing at idle increases idle HC. Get your timing right before you continue with anything else.

Steve

[Shade133]

ok but that to me doesnt make since why does the HC apear good when its under a load and driving when the vacume advance is wouldnt the HC be even worse if thats the case?

[sblake01]

No, because beyond idle, you're also not getting any alteration/adjustment to the fuel mix from the idle circuit. (Assuming that your TPS is properly adjusted) You seem to be somewhat familiar with how cars work but I think you need to study the operation of this particular EFI system. It's different from most.

Edited July 14, 2010 by sblake01

[Shade133]

ya i am pretty familiar with how cars work (no where near a good mechanic as im still learning a ton every day) but ive owned around 25+ cars since i was 17 (im 22 now) and ive had to work on every single one of them

i was a very big 4x4 guy so i know a ton about 4x4's and other trucks.

as for cars the datsun 280z first one i owned was the first car i started to tinker with and actually be interested with..

ive had 3 other vehicle with i6's in them. a 88 BMW 325 2.7ltr, a 88 jeep cheroke 4.0 ltr and a 97 jeep wrangler 4.0 ltr all fuel injected and they are alll way different plus ive never had to really work on the engine on them.

I do need to be familiar with this fuel injection system because i love the fact that its real fuel injection that isnt super computer controlled.

i really want to adjust my TPS correctly because on my jeep cherokee that thing made the WORLD of difference in how it ran..

but my problem on my 280z is i can mess with it and it hardly makes any noticable difference. plus with the TPS on my jeep i could adjust it with a volt metor.

i just with i could take the dizzy out and move it one tooth in the right dirrection like you can on other older vehicles.

[Shade133]

i was just reading the manual and noticed that it said the floor temp light is ONLY on california models.. could this mean my car is a california car and if so does that mean i have extra smog crap on it vs it being a arizona car?

like stuff i can cap off or remove and still pass emissions

IT also says that only california model cars came with a cat converter which mine has one..

this is in fact the 78 280z model manual

Edited July 14, 2010 by Shade133

[Z Tyler Z]

but my problem on my 280z is i can mess with it and it hardly makes any noticable difference. plus with the TPS on my jeep i could adjust it with a volt metor.

All you need is a volt meter to adjust the TPS your Z too (and screwdriver).. How were you adjusting it? Just had mine done by S30driver and it made my car much more responsive off idle.

i was just reading the manual and noticed that it said the floor temp light is ONLY on california models.. could this mean my car is a california car and if so does that mean i have extra smog crap on it vs it being a arizona car?

like stuff i can cap off or remove and still pass emissions

Pretty sure the only difference was a Cat. I worry about removing smog crap after passing emissions.

Edit: Have you tested your water temp sensor yet via FSM? IF I was you I'd just go and test every component via FSm and go and replace parts as needed. Might aswell just replace what needs to be replaced instead of just throwing money at different things until you pass.

Edited July 14, 2010 by Z Tyler Z

[TomoHawk]

You might also want to get a copy of the "280Z Fuel Injection Bible." It has a lot of explanations and plain-english trouble-shooting stuff. http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/efisystem/280zfuelinjectionbook.pdf

I printed mine and had it bound.

The AtlanticZ club website has lots of interesting tech stuff that also helps explain things, and hot to do things yourself.: http://www.atlanticz.ca/index.php/tech-tips.html

Edited July 14, 2010 by TomoHawk