HEI Upgrade not working on '78 280Z

[Zed Head]

To be clear, are the distributor green and red wires (or blue) completely disconnected from the factory terminal block by the coil, or did you just attach the HEI module G and W wires there.  You said that you plugged the 78 module back in and it worked but you didn't mention disconnecting and reconnecting the distributor reluctor wires.  Without specific details or a picture or a drawing it's hard to tell what people really did.  Sometimes what you think doesn't matter, really matters.

Also, you mentioned using the coil bracket to mount the module.  So it's right next to the coil.  Not sure that's a good idea, you can pick up a stray spark there, plus it might be affected by the coil's magnetic field.  Might be screwing up the reluctor trigger.

Just wild guesses.  My module is on the fenderwell, pretty far from the coil, and the wires are run directly from the distributor to the module.  I used a stock 78 coil for a while, 1 ohm resistance.  And I also had a 78 ignition module also, in place of my 76 module, after it died.  Both from a 78 parts car.

[esh]

thanks

removed lx301 hei  module and had it tested at local AZ, tested satisfactory.

battery voltage at 12.6vdc, coil negative to ground lowered to 9.5vdc during starter drain while cranking with oem box.I charged the battery to 13 vdc and measured 10 vdc at negative coil terminal to ground during starter drain while cranking with oem box.

re installed lx301 module and ohmed the connections: no resistance between coil positive and negative, but i had 3 ohms in the wiring for the pickup coil( red and green) wires.I cleaned these connections to 0 ohm resistance and routed these wires away from the coil to their lugs on the lx301 hei module.I lifted the wires going into the car from the clamshell terminal block.So the distributor pickup coil is wired directly to the lx301 hei module. 

I did not move the lx301 mount away from the coil yet, but did move the radio resistor away from the lx301 hei module.

the car cranks and runs on the lx301  hei module.

Next step is to wire the lx301 hei module into a previously failed oem box and keep everything in the controlled environment of the passenger compartment.

thank you for the input.

[EuroDat]

Just seen and read your problem. Haven't been onljne much the last couple of days. Im now a little late, but good to see you found the problem.

The only problem I had was when I switched the green and red wires on the hei module. The engine wouldn't go past 2500rpm. Wasn't paying enough attention and didn't follow my own wiring diagram. .

I have been running mine for about gwo years and no sign of problems. The oem unit would fail when it was warm.

Succes with your modification.