280Z idiosyncrasies?

[ROOPZ]

Hello Everyone,

I am wondering if the other 280Z drivers out there have cars that seem to have gremlins that cant be fixed or found? My car is a great car except for its occasional bad temperament. It likes to stall, hick-up, jerk, start up easily at times and not want to start at all other times. I have replaced so damn many things on it I dont know where to start now. Everything is brand new. All Nissan when possible. I am ready to yank out the L6 and buy an LS-1 I cant bring myself to trust it for any kind of road trip which is sad because that is wehere these cars are so much fun. At least for me it is. I am just curios if other people have these problems or if I am the only one. If you do experience these things, how do you deal with them? Do you drive it anywhere or hesitate to take long trips? Thanks!

ROOPZ

[Gav240z]

could be the module on your distributor on the way out.

Mine was playing games on my carbed 240z similar to what yours is doing it gradually stopped all together.

Never really made it hard to start, the car always kicked into life easily until the module died.

[St.stephen]

All of my previous 280Z's have always had some sort of mysterious issues however once I started driving the car regularly things would smooth out.

Some of the biggest issue in owning these cars is that we have to constantly resurrect them from the dead. Most have been sitting idle in someones yard until a mechanically competant person either buys it, or the owner takes the car to a garage that can service the vehicle. Letting a car sit is probably the worst thing that you can do for it.

Secondly, many times you are trying to track down and correct a previous owners Bo-Zo No No repairs

It really surprises me also at how many people own classic cars that only know how to put the key in and start it. These things aren't Kia's folks :classic:

[nutxo]

all 30 year old cars have odd things goin on.

I one had a 55 chevy truck that blew up batteries, eplaced a whole harness, regulator, alternators. Didnt matter. It got to the point that I kept a battery and a box of baking soda with me for the inevitable explosion.

Had a 66 chevelle that smapped motor mounts, n olds 98 that when I made a right turn the horn honks and headlights flashed( its amazing how many people will wave at you even though thye dont know you :-) )

Its all old cars:stupid:

[mdbrandy]

I had a '75 280Z back in the early 80's that had similar problems. Worked fine most of the time, but then intermittantly wouldn't start, etc. Finally, it quit altogether. 10 days and $600 later (mostly labor for someone to track down the trouble), found out it was an intermittant short circuit in the dash wiring harness behind the glove box, where the @#$%#@$% PO had hacked up the wiring. Somehow finally blew the airflow meter and fuel injection relay. At least that's what I remember...

[SuDZ]

Originally posted by mdbrandy

where the @#$%#@$% PO had hacked up the wiring.

You ain't kidding. I have only had my car a few weeks and have already come across a few things that other owners goofed or "jimmy rigged" to get going again.

SuDZ

[Datzun76]

I guess I am lucky since my 280 does not seem to have many engine related problems. I did have my fuel injectors cleaned out and this did solve any hesitation problems.

Mine does hate cold weather and it will not move unless it is warmed up. Other than that I dont have any problems and have taken it to Atlanta and Tampa a few times- 6 hour drives.

for as old as my baby is she runs like a champ :classic:

[Gav240z]

I think we all agree nothing is ever gonna be trouble free and if your 280z is playing up it's most likely a jimmy rigging problem from a PO.

My 240z has been on the money since I got it over a year ago and daily driving, except for the dizzy module the only electronic upgrade on the car mind you.

My car has been well looked after that's why i bought it only a few repairs really annoy me, the centre console was repaired with a sheet of steel where it had cracked(not so bad but visible from the top).

The rear left hand 1/4 was replaced with a earlier 70-71 series I 1/4 panel so no hole behind the badge .

If that's all I really have to worry about then I guess I'm lucky,

Oh what i'm most happy about is the lack of butchering done to the wiring loom yippie.

[ROOPZ]

Thanks for the posts guys. I guess I am happy (?) that I am not the only one having these things happen. ( I dont want anyone to have problems) I realize it is an older car and I love it because of that. I suppose I am too much of a perfectionist. I want it to be new! I bought it from the owner of 20+ years and he did a wonderful job of maintaining it. I have not found one jerry rig on it. He always had it serviced with Nissan parts.

As for what could be my problem, I have not changed the module in the distributor nor have I flushed the fuel tank. I plan to do this (tank) when I pull it to convert the car to 240 bumpers. (Getting there...) As for the module, I was told it was not bad so dont mess with it. Is this the opinion of everyone here? Or do you think I should just replace it? I have read a few posts on the HEI upgrade. Is it worth it? I like my car looking stock so...

Anywho, thanks again for the advice!

RoopZ

[Gav240z]

The module is very expensive, best thing to do would be go to pick and pull yard and pull a few and ones bound to be ok. That will give you an idea if it improves your car.

Just be very careful when putting the wires on again or you could blow the module. I have no idea if this is causing some headaches or not it's just a guess. It could be any number of possibilities.

If it is the module it will eventually fail and the car won't work. I know mine was sensative to cold weather.