Weasel73240Z

So just to close this out, the fuel pump relay was definitely the problem. I charged the battery, drove around a bunch yesterday, parked it over night, and no battery drain at all. Obviously this is a much more difficult problem if you are still using the electric fuel pump, but thanks again for pointing me in the right direction guys!

Okay....I think I found it! I found one very warm relay on the passenger side. I disconnected it and it was getting 12 volts with the key off. The number on the wiring harness was 24034-N3300. Since I don;t use the electric fuel pump, I disconnected it. I'm now charging the battery and hope I found my problem. Thanks again to everyone for the wisdom.

I only run the mechanical fuel pump anyway, so it seems like eliminating the FP relay is a simple solution. The car had both when I bought it, but after some reading, I decided I didn't need the electric pump. I have never had any problems running the mechanical pump alone. I felt around for the fuel pump relay last night after work (looking for a "warm" one), but I had some things to do so I was never really able to locate it. I'll get back at it today. Thanks again everyone for the help.

LOLLOLLOLLOL I'd search all day, but for some reason my boss considers it a waste of my time! Thanks again...

Thanks Steve! You saved me several more hours of searching. I'll check out the FP relay when I get home.

And thanks Steve! I figured it had to be something to do with the upgrade, but again, electrical is not my bag. Maybe the best work around is just to install a battery cut-off switch, which I've been planning to do anyway?

I did search for a while before asking. But with any search, you need the right keywords to get the right answer. I got 7 pages of answers, and read for over an hour without finding the info I needed. I guess I'll just have to keep reading until I stumble upon it, unless someone can guide me to the correct post.

I recently installed my 60-amp, internally regulated alternator. After driving the car a few times, now my battery has died, and doesn't want to take a charge. I charge it, start the car a few times, then park it over night, dead. I have tried diagnosing, but I am pretty useless when it comes to electrical issues. I am wondering if there could be some type of drain on the battery, possibly related to the plug that I inserted when eliminating the voltage regulator? Or is it just a coincidence, and my battery just happened to be dying as I was making the upgrade. I have never had to charge the battery before, except after the Winter hibernation. The battery is about 4 years old. Thoughts? Thanks for all the wisdom......

My 73 came from the original owner, sat in a garage for about 12 years before I got it, and the current mileage is 29,355 (titled and documented - hasn't clocked over). I usually drive around 1,200 - 1,500 miles a year. It's gonna kill me this year when I turn over 30K.

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I am going to try a few different things, starting with ATF (thanks Bruce) and see what I feel. Ive always thought the fork oil just seemed too thick. Doing my internally regulated 60 amp alternator upgrade this weekend, I plan to get to the carbs too. Just to be clear, the Z Therapy carbs are great, and the car has run really excellent since I fine tuned them. I just cant resist constantly playing with fuel, timing.....really everything, in my quest for more power! Thats the fun, right? :laugh:

As I continue to learn the many joys of tuning and balancing SU's, I got the thinking about my dashpot oil. I have always used straight 20W motorcycle fork oil. It seems way too difficult to lift the dashpots (enough force that my wife couldn't lift them) when the engine is cold. My most recent tuning/tweaking attempts have me running very strong right through the powerband, up to about 5,500 rpm, but I have the slightest bit of hesitation when I back off the gas (for cornering, etc.), then get back on it. Could this relate to the viscosity of my dashpot oil? I have read recently about some people using a combination of 20W or 30W oil cut down 50% with light oil. Constantly tweaking is fun, but I am so close, I'm wondering if I should try a different oil mix before I try anything else. I plan to get the car on a dyno soon, and I'd like to make sure I am using the best possible dashpot oil viscosity for the cold MA climate before I do. Thoughts?

I'm putting urethane in the front end link bushings. All of the other mounts are stock rubber. My springs are all stock, 38 years old. Also, my Z only has 29,000 miles on it, 26,000 of them put on by one owner, a very nice old lady from Hopkinton, MA. The other 3,000 were me. Before I started changing things, everything was 100% stock, down to the radio. So it hasn't really been stressed at all, and I have a pretty good idea about how a "stock" Z rides. It certainly isn't a beatup old Z! If my Z had 129,000 miles I'd be concerned about over-stressing it, but this car is barely even broken in, so I think the unibody can handle it. And I don't drive it crazy, just like to push it occasionally. Once I replace the front end link bushings, I hope I'm done with the suspension changes. Thanks for the input.

Nothing is binding, I can move the rear end by hand, by pressing up and down on the bumper. But if you look at the end links, they are leaning, and as Gnose pointed out, that's not good. I suspect the leaning end links could be restricting the rear end from settling all the way down, which may be why it is 3/8" higher now. I bet when I put in the spacers, the 3/8" will be gone.

It only lifted it about 3/8" (from 24 5/8" to the wheel arch to 25" after the job), but it does make sense, I think. This is after a 2 mile drive, so everything was settled into place. I always thought my Z had a slight sag in the tail. Now it has to extra strength of the rear sway bar factored into the mix, so I expected the rear would lift up slightly. Just one more rigid member holding the arse end up, or so I assume. The clearance is spooky, but since everything moves in concert (the sway bar end links and half-shafts are both connected to the lower A-arm), I think the clearance is pretty much a constant.

I though it seemed like the end link was leaning a bit forward, but I figured it was engineered that way. So you put spacers between the new suspension hangers and the sway bar brackets? I see how that would take the leak out of the end link. Did you have a problem with them, or did you just do it because the angle of the end link concerned you? I have some time, since I have to wait for my new front end link bushing kit to arrive. I guess I should mock up some spacers. Thanks for the input.

I finished the Suspension Techniques rear sway bar install this weekend. What a simple and clean install! Took me less than 3 1/2 hours total, and 2 of those hours my buddy was standing over me, talking. I only took the car for a very short ride, since I discovered a rotted out front sway bar end link bushings during the inspection, but it felt like there was less body lean. The car sits about 3/8" higher than before the install. And I went through my notes and discovered that I replaced the rear struts last year, and forgot about it. Good thing I write stuff down! :stupid: Gonna stick with the stock springs for this year. Also threw in a pic of my RT mount...anorther great upgrade...no more clunk! On a sad note, my Z is going to hit 30,000 miles early this year.....:disappoin

Thanks for all the input guys. I'm leaning towards just doing the SB for now, and then deciding. If I lived in LA with nice streets, I'd probably do it all at once. But I think I like the staged approach, and I'm always looking for a project anyway! BTW, we got a foot of wet, heavy snow this morning!! :mad: Awesome.....

Hey everybody! It's been a while. After just enjoying the Z for a couple of years, I'm finally ready to tear it apart again. At least the rear end. I just ordered a Suspension Techniques rear sway bar kit, and I'm thinking about strut/spring combos. I searched a bunch of posts, but couldn't really find anything for my specific situation. The existing setup is stock (original springs, no sway bar), but the struts aren't original (but not done by me either, so I don't know what they are, or how old). A lot of what I read said that the rear sway bar alone would make a huge difference, and doing stiffer springs and new struts may make the car too stiff. I drive it pretty hard on the street, but I don't race at all. Right now, there's just too much lean when I corner hard, and my tires are occasionally rubbing. Anyone who ever lived in New England knows that the winters are real bad on pavement, and most roads around here are pretty bad. If I do the springs, it would probably be Arizona Z, because I don't want the car any lower (Massachusetts streets). Seems I always get the right answer here, so what do you guys think? Should I do all it now, or do the sway bar now, drive it in 2011, and decide if I want it any stiffer? Keep in mind the New England streets. Also, if you think I should do it all now, any strut recommendations for my type of driving? Thanks!

I'm using a ZX dizzy with an MSB Blaster 2, but I didn't do anything to the advance curve. Mine is an 8.5, so I get 17 advance at the crank. Is "shortening the curve" just a matter of changing the dizzy weights, and what would the benefit be to shortening the curve? Thanks as usual for the help.

Bruce is dead on with this one, and I'm another example. I got my new ZTherapy carbs, bolted them on, and they ran really good. But I couldn't leave well enough alone. I adjusted them and adjusted them, until I had them so screwed up I almost had to send them back to Steve to reset. And I'm not a newbie, I've been around cars my whole life, but not SU's. I finally went back and very carefully set them to baseline, and they're running great. Today I passed a truck on the way to work, and they sung right up to 6,000 rpm's without a hint of hesitation. :laugh: If you're gonna tweak, make small tweaks, that's what I learned. These carbs really respond to very small adjustments in the A/F mixture if you have you floats heights right. It sounds to me like your floats are definitely off.

Fortunately, I was able to un-break it! :laugh: Thanks again Bruce

Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents, to toot ZTherapy's horn. I installed mine about 2 years ago and at one point, assuming I had a mixture problem due to a slight hesitation around 3,800, I messed with the float level last summer. Some of you probably saw the thread. Well as I found out this weekend, I had a timing/advance problem all along, and in "adjusting" my carbs, I did more harm than good. So, while still thinking I had a fuel issue, I send Bruce a direct email last week, hoping for some guidance. Bruce emailed me several times (during the weekend) to offer suggestions. After realizing I probably screwed the carbs up when I adjusted them, I went back, started over, took my time, and reset everything to baseline (float at .55" and screws at 2-1/2). I put the float level back to factory specs, set the mix to 2-1/2 turns, and the car started right up. A few tweaks (back carb is at 3-1/4 turns, front at 2-3/4) the cars runs beautifully. Rather than working methodically, I just started messing with stuff last year, and made a mess of my fuel mixture. Thanks to a lot of patience from Bruce, I worked it out over the weekend. Thanks Bruce and Steve for a great product, and for the help.

Well, we definitely got the rain we needed over the weekend, to clear away the road salt. The last total I heard was almost 4" in Boston, and it's still raining this morning. The Z returns to the road on Wednesday!!!!! New England Z owners rejoice!

Don't know what the asking price is, and there is clearly some rust on the car (see bubbling hatch paint, rust spot on the right rear fender tip), but it does look good. The sunroof sucks, they're not original and they tend to leak. Since you're in NJ, I assume its an East Cost car, and a pretty damn nice example at that. Based on the overspray on the weatherstripping, it looks like it was a "mid level" paint job. I wonder how the paint will look in a few years. But, assuming the price is right ($5,000+/-) I think you found a good one.

Don't say it Jeff! No more sn....... I'm aiming for Wednesday. What a way to celebrate St. Patty's Day! I love living here, but I am sooooo jealous of the people who get to drive 'em year round.