This is got me scratching my head.... Speedo Pinion?

[70z4fun]

Ok, so I thought this was going to be a easy repair, but now I think I am missing something.....

I have a Series 1 240z, with a ZX Five speed, and a L28.

The car had been leaving a huge oil stain on the middle right side where ever it was parked. So , I put some cardboard under it, and it looked like it was leaking from the tranny and the pinion, and dripping down the speedo cable..... I got a new pinion from Nissan, checked to make sure it had o rings, which it did, stuck it in, refilled the tranny oil with Redline, and went for a drive..... NO Speedometer? I took the cable off the speedometer, and went for a drive, it did not spin. Stuck the old pinion on the end of the cable at the tranny and spun it, and my girl friend watched it spin. Looks like the cable is good. What am I doing wrong? Could the gear inside the transmission break? I am able to turn the pinion when installed in transmission....

Did I over tighten the cable? Not get the cable installed correctly at the transmission? Any advice would be appreciated. 

Thanks

[zKars]

Assuming the old pinion worked before, you have the pinion housing in 180 degrees wrong. Typically there is one slot where that little hold down plate engages, but someone previous may have used the "other" pinion type and added his own slot to make it work. Have a look of there are two slots on yours

there are two types, the slot is 180 diff from the other. The pinion is offset in the body so you have to have it oriented correctly or it will not engage.

[70z4fun]

Cool, I will take a look. I thought the cutout was up where the lock plate engages.

That would make sense. Started to think I have the wrong pinion, but it looked identical to the one I took out....

Thanks

Bob

[70z4fun]

Bingo,

It is offset the wrong way to the "key"

Nissan part #32702-58S17

Drove myself crazy with this one..........

[zKars]

?

[cgsheen1]

Trying to put a Z pinion in a ZX transmission... You can swap the gear & shaft & seals to your original pinion body. When you have two cars in one, you have to remember which is which when buying parts. ?

[70z4fun]

I did get new seals and put it into my old pinion. My understanding is the same pinion works on all 240, 260. 280 and 280zx?

 

[cgsheen1]

They changed the pinion body clamp design in the ZX transmissions. The pinion is essentially the same but the mount is reversed 180 degrees. On the early transmissions, the key and bolt were on top. With the ZX, they moved the key and bolt to the bottom. It was actually a smart design change for ease of service but it has tricked many a Z owner. The change was only in the pinion body (carrier) - the gear & shaft remain the same and are interchangeable as are the seals. If you take one completely apart, you'll see what I mean.

To use an early Z transmission pinion assembly in a ZX transmission, you'd need to cut a new slot on the bottom of the pinion body. Easier to either get the right assembly or swap the new gear & shaft (which you can order separately) into the correct body for the ZX transmission. 

Edited November 21, 2019 by cgsheen1