Hey guys I have been having issues with my 280zx, it has been having intermittent electrical issues. These issues I think were caused by one wire shorting to the body and the voltage regulator in the alternator, after I fixed those two it seemed to be functioning better. Then it wouldn't start one morning, I tried again in the afternoon and it started, the same pattern repeated the next day. The following day it didnt start at all, and hasn't since. I have the Datsun 1980 280zx service manual and have been going through trouble shooting the spark. The book says to disconnect the wire from the coil to the distributor cap and hold it near the engine and it should spark. When I do this it sparks once but then wont spark again. Does anyone have any ideas what could cause that? In the mean time I will go through the trouble shooting in the book. Thanks in advance

I have also replaced the coil and ignition module a few weeks ago.

A new cap and button wouldn't be wasted $$.

Could be the distributor also.

http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/distributorrebuild/index.html

Could be a burnt coil? Does it smell funky or leaking anything,

Edited May 18, 20195 yr by siteunseen

The distributor cap and button are fairly new, the coil might be bad but I tried it with a new one from napa and it didn't seem to work. The original, the autozone, and the napa all have the same resistance reading but are way lower than what the book says it should be.

2 hours ago, AndrewWake said:

. I have the Datsun 1980 280zx service manual and have been going through trouble shooting the spark. The book says to disconnect the wire from the coil to the distributor cap and hold it near the engine and it should spark. When I do this it sparks once but then wont spark again. Does anyone have any ideas what could cause that? 

Does it spark once while the engine is turning over but then not again, even while the engine is still turning?  Or does it spark once when you turn the key on and off?

The ZX distributors are known for breaking the magnet under the stator ring, and for bad bushings that allow too much play in the shaft.

I solved the problem, the ignition module that I bought from the rock auto went bad. I took an old one from a donor distributor and it started right up.