IdahoKidd

Welcome Jen! Perhaps an easier way on the ecu is to pull three screws out that physically hold the ecu to the side of the car. Everything becomes more flexible that way. Really quick and easy. Then you can just rotate the ecu instead of pulling against the wires to get room. The caps on the sensors have a small metal wire retainer on them. Look closely at the base of an injector and you can see it. It wraps around three sides and snaps into place. I just use a really small flat screw driver and loosen one side and then it simply comes out. What year is your Z by the way. Slight differences in the electronics.

Are you closing the bleeder valve on the cylinder with the pedal on the floor before letting the pedal come back up? If not, you are sucking air right back into the system. Sometimes leaving out these "little" details throw some of us off trying to figure out what has been and not been done. Obviously check fuses and links. With the exception of the hazards, it sure sounds like dirty combi switch. I cleaned and then replaced mine before I got it all working. Do the brake lights work? Wipers?

Much more help on the swap at hybridZ.org. Your swap has been done 10,000 times and is detailed there nearly down to how many turns each bolt takes. Be sure to "search" or they will flame you hard. Good luck!

His original post was for the street and highway. Somehow it got over to racing. I don't race, and I don't notice the big hole between 2nd and 3rd. Maybe the tranny I have isn't the tranny I think I have, but am still happy. In my world, highway is getting into 5th and staying there until I get there. That said, having read your posts for some time, I wouldn't even begin to challenge you. I am certain you have forgotten more about these cars than I'll ever know.

Check to see if there is power to the positive side of the coil when you turn the key switch on. You'll kind of have to figure it out as you go along. Besure to check all the fusible links (under hood just above right front tire.) Be sure there is power to both sides of each wire. Look at the fsm, I can't recall if one of them is for ignition but I think it is.

5 speed will lower engine rpm about 400 rpm. Later zx non turbo's had 3:90 gears to help move the heavier car. 280z's have 3:54 gears. 4:11's are a bit quicker off the line but you have to shift sooner. Early 5 speeds have taller 1st and 2nd gears. An early 5 speed with the 4:11's would make a good light to light car. In reality, you aren't going to notice a heck of a lot of seat of the pants difference. Neither are going to help mpg with "a wild cam", what ever that is.

We did mine in the yard in about 15 minutes with a gasket from Black Dragon. Had the gasket nice and warm, used windex to lube the gasket well, used a thin nylon rope pulling from center bottom each direction. One guy inside pulling rope, one guy outside appling pressure. Also put the metal trim in when all done with no special tools and no problems. Adjusted the corners of the gasket by pushing gently with a blunt tool. Didn't use a drop of urethane and not a leak to be had. Maybe I was lucky?

either and either

You need to find out if you have spark. Pull the coil wire from the distributor cap and place the end of it about a quarter inch from a good ground. Let it lay there on its own. Crank the engine and see if the spark jumps from the wire to the ground. Or, let the wife hold on to the end of the wire and ask her if she feels anything when you crank the motor. Be prepared to cook for yourself for a month if there is spark.............. If you have spark, pull a plug, hook the wire back to the plug, lay the plug on a good ground and crank. Should be spark. Trouble shooting the spark depends on where you have lost it at.

UK no. US, (Idaho) $165-225. Depends on shaded, installed, needs gasket, etc.

They are cool. I am with ezzzzzzzzz, too many cars. What would really be cool is to have all the cars have dedicated key rings to match the wheels on the cars. One of my Z's has slotted mags, one has the 30 fin wheels, one has the heavy finned ones, the mercedes has the classic chrome oems. I could decided what to drive in the morning by selecting the wheels I like and head out the door;)

My body shop guy has an artists approach. He works on the car when he is inspired. NEVER tell them "no hurry" or "get to it when you can" . If nothing else, they will take these to phrases to heart. I did tell my guy no hurry, and I sort of meant it. He isn't doing a rotisserie, but he is disassembling the car piece by piece and stripping. I am more than impressed with what I have seen so far and the price was very fair. We agreed on a fixed price prior to start based on known issues so I am not worried about the clock. "Clock" shops often put inexperienced kids doing the menial stuff but still charge the same hourly rate. Often someone with experience can do the same job in a fourth the time, especially when the experienced guy has to come back and fix issues created by the new guy. (however, everybody has to start somewhere). After all of that, I should be driving in a year from drop off.

Well I am glad we got all of that settled! If nothing else, I got a great history lesson. And WingZr0, now that we have established the shift knob is worthless, I'll give you $20.00 for it:beer: (went back and read some old posts, some were misleading to say the least)

Not in old school American V8s and apparently not Korean cars. My teenage daughter, bless her non mechanically inclined heart, checked the oil in her Kia Sportage and then tossed the dipstick in the trash can at the gas station. Drove it for a month. I open the hood and there is oil residue everywhere. This car makes a tremendous amount of positive crank pressure. Still ran like it always did though. (aka, slow, no power, etc :sick:)

That's it. I have the same logo in a molded plastic on the console of my 240. Thought it might have had some significance. I'll settle for it just being cool. I'd love to have the shift knob to go with it. Maybe soon................

Thanks for the lead. I am guessing that it is just an honor badge of some sort then and has no particular direct association to the car? (240z). It isn't commerative or part of an option package or any such thing? (I watch too much Antique Road Show I guess). WingZr0 has the knob listed in the classifieds which brought it to my attention.

In the parts for sale a person has a Prince shift knob for sale. My 72 240 has that very same emblem in the middle of the console just ahead of the shift lever (between shift lever and radio). I never thought much of it until I see the shift knob. Is there any significance (history) to the emblem? A search here doesn't mention it. Mostly curious. Leonard

Just following up. Any new developments on the settlement?

Funny this is brought up. I just had lunch with an old datsun mechanic who was looking my Z over. He mentioned a couple of things to watch for when it runs rough. One is that the dipstick has to have a tight seal and the other is that the oil fill cap gasket can go bad and cause idle problems. He said the vacuum on these old cars was so sensitive that any loss would cause issues that seem nearly impossible to find. Just this weekend, I started my turbo motor in my 280Z and it wouldn't hardly run. I had taken the power steering pump bracket off, leaving the open fuel pump boss without a cover. Covered it up and it runs! Not particularly well just yet, but it runs.

Have you gone through all the obvious? New plugs, check air filter, check timing, etc?

You will need to be much more specific. What issues caused it to fail the smog test?

Sounds like it is working correctly. The fuel pump will come on for 5 seconds or so when you first turn the switch on and then stop. On your 78, you will see two wires on the oil pressure switch down near the oil filter. One of these interupts the fuel pump signal with loss of oil pressure (in case the motor dies in an accident or such the fuel pump doesn't keep pumping). Down on the starter motor is a light gauge wire with a spade clip on it. Unhook this off the starter. This keeps the engine from turning over but fools the pump into pumping during the crank cycle. Unhook the fuel line between the fuel filter and the engine and run a line from the filter into a container. Turn the key to the crank cycle and hold it on. Fuel should readily come out as long as the key is held in start position. It should be a considerable amount of fuel. If there isn't, then do the same before the fuel filter. If still no fuel, then you have a blockage somewhere. If you do get fuel (key back to off), hook the line back up to the engine and unhook the return line next to the filter and capture it into a container. Turn the key to crank and let it push the old gas out of that part of the system as well. Hook the lines back up and remember to hook the wire back to the starter. These cars can accumulate a lot of "crud" in the tank and you might plan on cleaning out the tank and be prepared to change out a filter or two until it gets stable again. Good luck!

A reputable local machine shop might actually save you some money. You may not need a turned crank, new pistons, new valve guides, etc. On the other hand, you may need them and not realize it, which will cost even more. Make a personal appearance a couple of times and get to know one of the guys at a machine shop. He might just take a personal interest in an old Z and take care of you. Time and again as a contractor I hear " I don't have enough money to do it right" but time and again they have enough money to do it again.

I am fooling with the wipers on my 77 this morning. Symptoms are: When turned on and right back off, it makes two swipes. Usually. When turned to slowest delay, it initially works just fine-perhaps 5 cycles; after that it often goes to a slow drag across the glass with no delay between cycles, just really slow. Doesn't always do this. Sometimes slow to park After being in on position for a while and then moved to delay, it doesn't wipe without resetting the switch. Everything works fine in on position and both speeds work fine. It is more annoying than anything. Is it likely the motor, the switch, the signal intensifier? Any thoughts? Thanks, Leonard

mlaw, absolutely laws differ. When I got rearend and it totalled my Subaru, I didn't settle with his insurance company and went to small claims court. The judge ruled he had to pay more, and his insurance company paid what was ordered. HOWEVER, because I had done much of the work on the car myself, the judge ruled I was NOT entitled to "the fruits of my labor" and he subtracted everything I had done to the car. I came away with more than I had been offered, but far short of what felt I was entitled to. I was pretty bummed.