AnthonyG

oh, i had an issue that sounds similar. it ended up being the battery connectors. I cut the old ones off and got new ones from parts store. to test, with car power on, check voltage drop across battery first. shoudl be 12.5 or a little more. then see what the voltage drops across wires from battery are. they should be very very low. if you lose too much voltage right out of the gate, alot of things arent going to run well.

yay it started again. I took all fuses out except brake lights and dome light (dome light ran the volt meter in the dash) and in the garage at home it started again. I still have to track down a short. but its doable. it could still be the starter/solenoid as the tow truck driver moved the car while in gear a few inches. maybe the starter teeth werent lining up to the flywheel... but then it would have started when i tried right after arriving home... hmm... (whee troubleshooting) oh well at least its easy to swap and Ill add my extra starter to my spare parts bin in the car. I also have a new battery too, and have new fusible links on the way because one link is actually falling apart. may as well replace before it becomes an issue. thanks everyone. a supportive community makes owning this car all the more fun

update - it appears more that a battery. jumping it did nothing. changing it out did nothing. i ended up towing it home. Looks like I have a long sequence of troubleshooting. I know i shoudl be upset, but I'm looking forward to the challenge... more info - when attempting to jump start, it appeared that the air conditioner compressor was trying to kick in (clutch clicking). no belt to it anymore and shouldnt have been trying. may have been that system fouling up everything. it is an aftermarket system tha has never worked since i got the car, so it may be time to strip it out rather than try to fix it... either way the symptoms shout short at me, so I won't feel confident until i've checked every bit of wire. probably easier to just get new wire. thanks for everyones suggestions. Just because it isn't easy doesn't mean it's not fun.

terminals are clean. start of spring i cleaned them and the battery with a wire brush. tested continuity from terminal to further along the wire to check that. I'll try jumping the car before calling the tow truck. thankfully i invested in AAA+rv, and I live only 30 miles away.

would the relay click but not allow the engine to turn over with a weak battery? I have a voltage regulator that is about a year old, so it probably isn't that. if i have the lights on the dash voltmeter goes to 0. if the battery is dead then would it make sense that it would then read 0 at the battery terminals as well? (im thinking about tests i can do. and yes I do carry a multimeter with me. its in the box with the the FSM, and other spare parts) i could use the luck. what really sucks is a groundhog chewed through the fuel line on my daily driver. that part is coming today or tomorrow.

drove to work fine this morning. went out to start it to go to lunch and nothing. volt meter initially read fine. tried to start and it went straight to 0 i have checked battery and fuses. batt at terminal reads 12.5, fuses are all ok, fusible links are as well. now when i engage any light (turn on headlights, brake lights, interior dome light) the voltage halves on the dash voltmeter. removed all light related fuses. still not turning over. any suggestions what it could be? any suggestions as to what to try next? car is a 1976 280z, FI thanks

I agree throwing parts at it isn't a good way to troubleshoot. even if it suddenly works, you won't know why. I would start back to front... if you have a way to feed fuel in to the fuel pump, bypassing the tank, see if it still stalls. perhaps verify the fuel pump is even pumping fuel (sound can be decieving for that part). Be sure to take off any watches and such. I soaked my watch once in gasoline... not intentionally Ummm... the fuel filter is on the right way around, correct? (I hate to ask, but it's easy to check)

could be vacuum issues. also, did you check that the oil dipstick is seated and seals good? when the engine is running does the brake booster work? If you depress the pedal does it make the car die faster?

curious if this would work. It worked on my truck with a nut that was almost rounded (how the PO did that i don't know) http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SP100A2814S164743307P?keyword=lug+nut+remover

i found teh easiest way was to wait till the middle of winter. tappng it with a hammer or screwdriver and it would shatter. of course i dont think it will be -20 again anytime soon.

i looked in and my fan looks just like yours.

I have to agree on the improvement of a front spoiler. i got lucky and found a servicable one at a junkyard I cleand it up and bolted it on (involved drilling) and it no longer has front lifting issues past about 85mph. can go past 100 and steering is still responsive. downside is clearance. I've crunched the spoiler when parking 3 times already. at least it is fiberglass and thus repairable.

Not sure on when the valve is shut. of course mine is stuck open so I havent thought about it. I ahve to get at my fan in the next 2 weeks. sounds like something is rattling around in there. When I do i'll tell you if I have metal or plastic. (though who knows what the PO did to it) your circle pic of what attaches to what looks like its right. i'm assuming you took the valve off of the bracket.

sure. To put it in words - lets follow the flow of the coolant the long hose in the engine bay goes to the lower of the two connections on the firewall then inside that connection goes straight to the heater core (this you can't see in the pic because it is behind everything else, and is easier to attach first.) then the output from the heater core goes to the valve, the nearest connection to the firewall. then the connections remaining get connected together - the remaining valve connection furthest from the firewall connects to the return to the engine bay. which then connects to the engine the weird part was how the hoses cross over so often. .... but it's above 0, so how can it be cold... (i had to say this, being in wisconsin and all... ) edit note: i think the coolant direction is right, but maybe not. oh well, the connections will be right either way.

i had this problem too. oddly enough the place i got replacement parts for this from had the best diagram to put it back together http://www.blackdragonauto.com/icatalog/z/full.aspx?page=76 hah, couldnt find a pic so i ran out to the garage and took one

have you looked here? http://www.zparts.com/ads/wheels/wheels_fs.html I'm not knowledgeable on wheels, but I like the pictures here and make it easy to compare. (hope it helps, but have no info on how good the prices or the store... ) hopefully someone will chime in what the numbers mean. I've wanted to ask this before ....

While keeping it or selling it is your choice, I have to say I'm glad you're trying so hard to keep it. If you have a pic of the parts you need, i could check the junkyard near my place for you. they have a 72 or 73 at the local pic-a-part. And i know the doors and hinges are ok... (I love excuses to go mess with the junkyard cars.) hmm... Are 2+2 hinges different from the regular 2 seaters?

get ready for hours of fun. I got my baby for 800. i've put in about $4000 to date but it was runnig after putting in another 800 in parts. mostly brake parts. remember, the most useful tool when working on a car is another car.

one reason i did a brake swap to rear disc was because i saw the prices of new drums skyrocketing. and adjusting drum brakes is in the top ten annoyances when working on a car. . if they were cheaper, i would have kept them.

working from the back to front - Is the fuel tank ok? are there particulates in the tank that could sometimes block the intake? is the fuel pump making noise? is it delivering fuel? is the fuel filter starting to clog? are the injectors getting their signals to fire? is there spark? I had an intermittent issue that i had to wait for it to recur and finally tracked it down to a bad fuel injector electrical connection. if it is a sensor, check measurements from manual, but some sensors can fail intermittently too. given the cost of the sensors, may want to replace them just to eliminate them as a possibility. Divide and conquer troubleshooting worked well for me on my fuel injection system. divide into fuel delivery, electrical - power, and electrical- computer (sensors, etc). and always subdivide based on cost - replace cheap parts first. (there will be others that know more about this system. so hopefully they will chime in soon)

Could be worse. Could be snowing...

I have a 76 280z and i got a booster from rock auto. works great. http://www.rockauto.com/ worst case is $160 from them. I couldnt send mine back for the core charge cause it was not in remotely good shape.

i use my 4 speed knob on mine because the green color matches the car. i keep the 5 speed knob in the car. I wait for the day to tell someone, "its a 4 speed. here let me switch to the five speed" then just change the knob. see how long they take to think about it...

the PO for my Z left me a can of beer in a hidey hole. good thing a cop didn't find it first.

i was troubleshooting a similar issue where the gauge didn't work but everything else was fine and getting 20+mpg. there is another temp sensor that feeds the computer, if i remember correctly. i tested it by detaching the battery, unplugging the main big plug on the computer and checking across 2 leads (according to the FSM, id have to look that up again to be sure what pins and what values it should be between) did that for cold, then repeated for operating temp. read fine which was why it was running ok. fixed the gauge by replacing the sensor associated with it. long answer short, there are 3 or temp related sensors. thermotine - cold start temp "switch" - for guage temp sensor - for computer ....