Neumeier

I have had a company called Cruzin Performance clean fuel injectors for me in the past. They also provide the flow test data, so you know whether or not each injector delivers the same amount of fuel. Here is the web site. Their turn-around time was quick. http://www.cruzinperformance.com/

Anybody else have experience with this type of fuel pump? I believe it is the same one that Black Dragon sells.

I recently installed an electric fuel pump made by airtex in my '78 280Z. It was purchased at a local branch of an auto parts store (http://www.oreillyauto.com/EW3/HomePage.do) for about $120. It did require some minor changes to the wiring at the fuel pump to install. It works fine. The pump is even made in the USA (http://www.airtexproducts.com/). Imagine that!!

I have had the same problem with my '78 280Z. First of all, it is probably NOT the combo switch or the high low switch. Here is why. A careful look at the wiring diagram shows that the combo switch ONLY provides power to the lamps (BOTH the high and low beams). Also, the left and right lamps are powered separately, each with its own fuse. Here is how the system works. When you turn on the lights, power is supplied to the lamps. The high low switch grounds either the low beam or the high beam (in the steering column area), depending on which position the switch is set to. Also, there is NO relay in the circuit. It is all rather simple. The bottom line is - if either the high or low beams work, it is DEFINITELY NOT the combo switch that is at fault. Here is where the problem was in my car. Inside of the passenger compartment, on the passenger side just above the carpet on the firewall are two connectors. The black one is labeled C2 in the circuit diagram. In this connector is a red wire with a black stripe (R/B labeling in the diagram). It is the wire that returns to the high/low switch from the head lamps. This metal blade connectors in this plastic C2 housing are either dirty or the wires are loose on one of the ends. You will have to inspect it, clean the connectors, or (in the worst case scenario) clip the wires on both ends and crimp new connectors on them to establish the connection (i.e. eliminating the Black C2 connector entirely). There is only one other connector in this circuit - it is under the steering column on the right side. Remove the plastic cover under the steering column to access it. My guess is that the C2 connector is often pushed by the passenger with their feet and it affects the wiring. Also, the metal blades in this connector are rather narrow for the 5+ amps required for the headlights. Good luck!

Thanks for the links everyone!

Hi All, I'm looking for a wiring diagram for a 1978 280Z. Mine, in a Haynes manual, is not very easy to read. Does anyone have one in pdf format that they could email to me? Thanks! John

The same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. There is a thread posted on this by me that you can find. Of course, there are lots of possibilities, but in my case, the pump sounded fine it just did not provide adequate pressure. The impeller in the pump was worn out and had carved its way into the pump surface. Lots of metal filings inside. This made for large clearances and no pressure. The car had 112,000 miles on the original pump. You really need to check your fuel pump pressure. It should be around 35 psi. Mine was down at 15 with the bad pump. If it is your pump, be sure to use the correct high pressure fuel line anywhere between the motor and the pump. I'd replace the fuel line near the pump and near the filter. You will have to replace the filter since it will have lots of metal filings. I bought an airtex fuel pump from oreilley's auto parts (check on line if you don't have a store near you). It was about $120 and it works fine with minor modification. Be careful with the brass fitting which cannot be overtightened. Also, make sure that it has two copper gaskets on it. Good luck!

To remove the strainer, take a small screwdriver and gently pry it out. Don't try to do it all in one shot, gradually work your way around the inlet prying a little on each side till it frees up. Then you will have to gently pull it out with the screwdriver since prying on one side will press in the other side if you leverage on the pump inlet itself. To finish this thread, the original fuel pump on my '78 was shot (112,000 original miles on the car). It developed only 15 psi, which could not even get the car up the driveway. Originally, I thought something was plugged up since the problem started right after tanking up. I replaced the pump with an Airtex pump purchased at our local O'Reilley's auto parts store ($120). Needed to make up some jumpers for the wires, but otherwise it fit in very well and the car runs fine. Also took the opportunity to replace all of the old high pressure fuel hose with some new hose. I opened the old pump up and it was severely worn inside. There was lots of metal filings from the impeller working its way into the neighboring parts.

I suggest checking the fuel pressure with an appropriate gauge near the motor. They sell these at auto parts stores, or maybe you can borrow one. You should have over 30 psi of pressure (look in the shop manual for the correct value). The symptoms sound similar to my '78 280, which needed a fuel pump. Only had between 10 and 20 psi with the old one. Would run for a bit, but no power at all. Good luck!

Hello! Can anyone tell me where the fuel strainers are in a 280Z. Is there one in the fuel tank, the fuel pump inlet, or both. I'm not referring to a fuel filter, I mean the strainer between the tank and the pump. Thanks!

I recently purchased a '78 as well. The heater controls also did not work. Turned out that it was a split vacuum line that enters the passenger compartment near the battery. Once I fixed that, the controls worked fine. Having a hand held vacuum pump is really nice for such jobs. They are under $50 for a kit that can also be used for brake bleeding. Good luck! John

There is no webbing in the '78.

Hi Everyone, I just finished reupholstering my seats and door panels. The door panel skins came from Upgrade motoring and the seat upholstery kits from the Z-store. The color is off-white, which is a bit lighter than the original, but it looks very good anyway. From the attached pictures, you can see that the new door panel skins are quite different than the originals. I wanted to have some sort of pattern on the new skins. Although they do not match the old ones, the stitching is using real thread (rather than hot pressed), and I think the overall appearance is really nice. Along with the skins, a can of spray adhesive was included. The installation was not so simple. You need to be real careful that the skin is correctly placed on the masonite backing board. I sprayed the central region with adhesive, attached the skin so that it was smooth, and let it dry overnight. For the remainder, I used contact cement since the overspray got all over the new skins. I gradually worked my way around the door panel, gluing sections and holding them in place with clothespins for a few hours. I left the corners for last as the material need to be carefully folded. Also, the felt window wipers were a pain to install. You might want to buy new ones from upgrade motoring or elsewhere (about $40). Anyway, thought my upgrade would be nice to add to this thread. John

Thanks for posting the FI manual! I downloaded it for future reference.

Hi Charlie, I would recommend buying a pressure gauge to test the pressure in the fuel line. You can purchase one at an auto parts store, which probably has fittings and hoses. Or, you can buy one from a company like McMaster Carr. I have one from them. It is an Ashcroft gauge (0-60 psi). The number on the dial is 593-06 (maybe this is a part #). I believe that you should have between 30 and 36 psi (depending upon whether or not the pressure regulator is connected to vacuum). It is 30 with it connected. Checking the pressure (after the fuel filter) is a sure-fire way to know if it is a fuel delivery problem. Your problem might even be as simple as a fuel filter. I really doubt that it has anything to do with your oil pressure sensor. Its not part of the fuel injection circuit. Good luck! John

Hi All! Both doors on my 1978 280Z were impossible to unlock with the key. Locking worked fine. Upon removing the door lock cylinders, I found that there was excessive wear on both of the cylinders because the lever which actuates the unlocking mechanism rode up on the cylinder due to play between the lever and the cylinder. It turns out that the cylinders can be swapped between the left and right doors, if the levers are interchanged. This allows the unlocking mechanism to work and because of the torque on the levers, the locking mechanism works fine too. It helps to lube all moving parts and to install 0.010" shim washers under the spring clips which hold the levers on the lock cylinders. The shim keeps the lever from riding up and causing the wear to occur again. I've included some pictures to show the wear and the installation of the shim. The jpg file which is included with this post gives a bit more explanation. Since new lock cylinders are about $120 each, this is a cost-saving repair. John

Check out this website: http://www.zzxdatsun.com/ . They have a kit for sale.

Your car is nearly 30 years old, which plays a major role with a fuel injection and electronic ignition system. What I mean by this is that any one of many electrical connections could be at fault. These may lead to intermittent problems. You should begin with a general inspection of all components and connectors. Generally, it is not something like an ecu, but rather, might be as simple as a ground. To start with, check the main ground near the battery (clean it really well and reattach), find any grounds for the ignition system and clean them, check the contacts at your coil and clean them, etc. Also, carefully inspect the harness. If it has rubbed through somewhere, and is shorting to ground, that will cause a problem too. A good handheld voltmeter can be helpful. For example, you can check the voltage at the coil to see if you really are getting 12 V. Sorry its not the silver bullet you are looking for, but it can be a real hassle to track this stuff down. Good luck!

It is on the interior of the car, drivers side, under the dash, to the left of the pedals. Basically the same vertical wall as where the fuse box is, but on the drivers side.

I have a 78Z. My headlights did not work, but the high beams did. I jiggled the fusible links, and they started working. Perhaps it was just luck. You might turn the light switch on and jiggle each of the fusible links to see if the lights go on. If so, then you only need to clean the contacts. Good luck!

Hi! If your e-brake is not holding, your problem lies with the rear brake shoes. Maybe something is not correct with the hardware. Take of the drum and inspect the shoes. The rear shoe should have its lining up higher than the front shoe, closer to the top, I mean. Assuming that you have bled everything correctly, and are getting fluid to come out of the rear brake cylinders, its probably not a hydraulic problem. When adjusting the brakes, periodically push hard on the pedal to recenter the shoes. Also, back off on the e-brake adjustment prior to doing the adjustment using the star wheels. This alone could be the problem. What I mean is that through the years the e-brake was adjusted many times to make up for shoe wear. Upon installing new shoes, you could have more tension on the brake cable than you should. Another check. See if the shoes fit in the drums correctly. That is, does the shoe curvature match the drum curvature. Did you lubricate any pivot points? Star wheel threads, points where shoes touch backing plate, and points where shoes touch one ends (at brake cylinder and stationary point. With regard to the binding you note, and the problems with the self adjuster, they may be different for each side of the car. Look at how the action is to see if both sides could be tightened when the e-brake is actuated. Finally, there could be a problem with a valve that balances pressure from front to rear. There is one above the rear axle and another one under the master cylinder. I'm not to familiar with these though. Good luck! John

Here is another site that lists the z-car evolution, with some more detail: http://www.triadzclub.com/index.asp?inc=zhistory In the 70's, manufacturers had major problems meeting emission standards while maintaining horsepower. You can see this in the changes from 1972 onward. I had a 1973, as I mentioned before. They changed the carbs and some other things on that model. The carbs were really awful, and I finally swapped them out with those from an earlier z. The improvement was huge. Looks like your 1978 is a nice find!

Hello, Have a look at the following website http://www.zcca.org/pages/ZCarsZhistory.htm Apparently, the 1977 and 78 have 170 hp rather than 149 for the 76 and 75 model years. Also, a 5 speed overdrive was available as an option. I just bought a 1978 myself, a few weeks ago. Was not really aware of the differences, but apparently this is a good model year. Some say it is the best. Between 1979 and 1984 I had a 1973 240Z. My 280Z has much of the character of my old 240Z. John

I just purchased my 1978 280z a few weeks ago. On the drive home, I noticed that the headlights did not work but the high beams did. The next day I was looking over the engine compartment area, and noticed the fusible links. There are two of them on the 280z, bolted to the passenger side shock tower. Normally they have white plastic covers on them, to protect the links from corrosion (they are right underneath the hood vent). Mine had no covers. Anyway, I jiggled all of the fusible links, not thinking much of it at the time. Well, the next time I drove the car at night the headlights worked fine. You might disconnect the battery, clean all of the fusible link connectors, reconnect the batter, and give it a try. After 30 years, the connectors can get alot of oxidation on them. Can't say much about your other electrical problems. Sounds like you should carefully look over the whole car, inspect the wiring, and make any neccessary repairs. To give you an idea of what I mean, I had a problem with my '87 VW van where it would not start when it was cold. After trying many things, I measured the voltage at the coil which turned out to be about 8 volts instead of 12. It was a dirty connector. I sanded the hell out of that connector and it did not improve. Then I took the connector off of the coil, sandblasted it, reinstalled it, and it worked perfect (read 12 volts). In the same car the fuel injection harness wore through from rubbing against the firewall, shorting an important wire to the idle control circuit that, coincidentally, also ran to the coil. This caused the car to intermittently die. Cars can be lots of fun . . . Good Luck! John

I installed two cutoff switches in my 1967 MGB. One is near the battery, which is behind the passenger seat. It is a heavy-duty lever-type switch that disconnects the whole car from the battery. I did this because a short once nearly burned up the car! Lucas wiring - only about four fuses for the whole car! The other switch is for the fuel pump. It is a simple toggle switch that is in well hidden. I put a fuse on it, since the fuel pump circuit has none. For the battery cutoff switch, make sure you find one with the correct rating. Probably has to be near the 100 A level. You might consider such a switch on the firewall, passenger side, near the battery so that you can reach the toggle from inside the car (up under the dash). Be extra carefull to do a solid job hooking anything like this up so that no loose wires lead to a fire. Probably, the best thing would be to hook the switch to the negative battery terminal. The other switch terminal could then be hooked up to ground. You might even be able to find such a switch with a key. John