IdahoKidd

So I roll my donor zx turbo into the garage to see if I can hear it run before I pull the motor to put in my 77. I hook up my remote starter to make life easier and no power anywhere. Classic corroded battery cables. Clean them up, power now to the dash, wiggle a few wires and the motor turns right over. But, no spark. I fool and fool with it and nothing. Read ten thousand threads on a half dozen z sites and chase every single lead I can find. Finally give up and admit defeat. Low and behold, the entire ecu was missing. :stupid: Who steals an ecu? I bet I have 10 hours into the thing to figure that out. I found an ecu at a local bone yard that has 84zx turbo written on it in a marking pen. The guy let me take it and try it. It plugged right in and after priming the intake manifold, it started right up. The gas is so old it will barely burn when thrown into the fire in the stove so I don't know how well it runs, but it runs. But, isn't the 84 turbo z a v6 motor? At any rate, no where to go but up from here. I'll start the conversion in the evenings and weekends. Looking forward to the project........... Leonard

I'd go to the heat gun as a very last resort. Try something called "Goof Off". I've been impressed with it before. I've found it at the local ACE hardware, I'd guess Wally World and the like as well. Ain't it cool to have friends? That's why (at least one reason) I don't have any............

Ricey? It IS a japanese car afterall. I like them and am considering them for my 77 turbo car. Maybe they will match my ricey wheels.........

Even here in Idaho, at least in my city, every vehicle on the property must be licensed and insured if it is stored outside. I have 17 cars. Four of them are 1995 and newer. All of them run and are drivable but I only drive 5 on a regular basis (two are work trucks, one is my daughters car). I sent a letter back to the city telling them of their need to go have sex with themselves and haven't heard a word back in two years now. Only the 5 are insured, 8 are licensed. I am guessing that if they were to get a complaint from a neighbor it would be a different story. There is talk of a "clunker" law here to where it may become illegal to park a car over 20 years old on the street or leave in one spot more than 48 hours, even on your own property. This town, by the way, is the most "liberal" in all of Idaho and the county is only one of two counties to have voted Democrat last year. You decide if there is a correlation....... Ain't it great to live in a free country?

It sounds like a poor connection at the positive terminal. Be sure the inside of the cable clamp is clean and be sure the battery post is clean. Smoke from the terminal and the click are a dead give away to a bad connection. It is unlikely your cable is bad. Possible, but unlikely. Does it have a factory installed cable clamp on it or has it been replaced with one that has a couple of bolts that clamp to the battery wire? This type can get corrosion in that fitting as well and cause the exact same symptoms. A battery post cleaner (wire brush assembly) along with some baking soda and water can clean it up in short order. If truly in doubt, any parts house will have a cable. Measure the old one for length or take the old one with you. Leonard

Bumble Bee stripe? I believe that the Mopar in the picture is a Super Bee. And it is hardly a crappy design. There are very few Z's if any, in perfect condition that approach the value of a Super Bee in perfect condition. They are simply very different cars with very different followings. I have five Z's and would trade them in a heart beat all for a Super Bee in the same condition as my best Z. However, that is my personal opinion, (favortism to the Mopar, not maarket values on the cars). As for the stripes themselves, that stripe is iconic to that car. The ZAP stripes are iconic to the Z. While they say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, sometimes attempting immitation ends up embarassing (can you say New Coke?). Keep in mind what they say about opinions....... and every body has one. Leonard

The fusable link comes into play once the power leaves the starter at the terminal. It is the resistance, the sparks, that tells me the hot circuit is coming into a ground somewhere. Now it could be a primary wire after the starter, but I am betting worn bushings are allowing the dragging starter issue he mentioned and now they are shorting out the armature. 2 cents worth less some change......... Leonard

It sounds like a shorted starter. If it is worn enough, the thing will ground out on the inside and basically be a dead short to the positive side of the battery. Remove the main battery wire at the starter and temporarily connect all the wires that would have hooked to that terminal and then hook up known good battery. Everything should work but the starter. IF that works out, you'll need to replace the starter. Another way to get a general test to see if it is a short is to disconnect the wires from the starter, put a jump cable lead right on the terminal stud, put the other end on an engine ground hook up the positive end of the jumper cable to the positive cable to a good battery and then just bump the neg cable across the neg post of the battery. If sparks fly, it is a short in the battery. Of course both of these are "back yard" tests, the correct electrical testing tools should be used if they are availabe. I'd bet the only two nickles I have left that it is a shorted starter though. Post a note when you find the solution. Leonard

Yes that helps immensely. I either was misinformed or misunderstood about the engine ID number. I did know about the other numbers all matching. I do have one other question about ID numbers that perhaps is a different post. Is there documentation somewhere based on the VIN or other identifying number that tells paint color and interior color? That is to say, if I have VIN 123456 for example, can I determine the interior/exterior colors or did the records not come that complete then? Thanks Leonard

Cool, that helps. I will have to look at the 240 tag and see if I can find the engine number. "Knowing" and "proving" are very different when a guy is standing there with a check book open.

I am baffled as to what "matching numbers" actually means. I was told here that the engine will have the same serial number as the firewall/vin. I have 5 Z's and not one of them matches. Then I just read a post that the person claimed his car has matching numbers and the serial number and the engine number are different. I have a 280z L28 motor that has a 6 digit number 141278 in a shell that has a vin that starts 369xxx I have a second 280z, engine number 179686 and a vin that is 404xxx. I know for certain that this car still has the original engine as I purchased it from the original owner with 120K miles on it. Simple question I guess; Does the engine number ever match the vin number or is there separate documentation to establish the correct engine number? I am trying to get my orange/white 240 back to as near original as I can. The car is a 10/71 production and I have a different 10/71 engine for it. Does it make a difference? Thanks, Leonard

Hi Krista, Pull the coil wire out of the distributor cap and hold it near (1/8-1/4 inch) from a good ground and have someone crank the engine. It should fire a crisp blue spark. Leonard

Does it seem to do it more when the engine is hot? Check the timing, I am betting it is a tad fast. When it is hot and the timing is fast, the gas will detonate like diesel fuel but won't be able to sustain itself and die. If youi watch the motor, on its last surge of life, does it rotate backwards just a bit at the very end? If so, clear indication the timing is too far advanced. Another indicator might be that just before it starts, the starter will struggle, that is, just barely seem like it can turn the motor over, then it will pop and fire up. These symptoms point to timing. Other symptoms point different directions. I have had no experience with key switch issues so can't say. Let us know. Leonard

Congrats on the car! As for the ticking, look to see if it isn't an exhaust leak, either at the collector or at the manifold to the block (probably at the collector though). You might be able to see a black carbon trail near one of the three studs that hold the exhaust pipe to the collector. IF that is what it is, the gasket is about 6 bucks. Getting the nuts off the studs without twisting off the studs is the challenge. LOTS of PB Blaster. If you have a thread chaser (die), cleaning the threads could help. It is a major PITA to get out a broken stud. In fact, you may have a look and see if there is a broken one there now and it is indeed causing an exhaust leak. Leonard (just spent some 5 hours drilling out broken exhaust studs------Ugh!)

Is it possible/practical to retro fit the cruise stuff from a ZX (83 for example) to a 77? Seems that with a donor car it couldn't be that hard. I can't find any info on the search at all on the subject which leads me to believe it is either very easy and needs no explanation or very hard or not possible and nobody has tackled it. I have a donor car that I am going to be hauling away and I'd like to know if I should keep the cruise stuff. Thanks, Leonard

Hey guys, I just bought two 81 zx's with 5 speeds, one runs and drives but doesn't stop, the other doesn't start, and an 83 (may be an 84) zx turbo at a police impound auction. The turbo car was t-boned on the right side and someone has removed the transmission but the rest of the car is complete. Got all of these for $100.00. Now the hassle is getting them home (110 miles) and getting them dealt with. I am keeping the tranny's and the complete turbo motor, but will have a bunch of other stuff to get rid of and likely in a hurry as I already have 4 Z's in the yard. The neighbors are going to poop square turds when I come rolling in........... So, I know I should keep the engines (for now), probably the rear disc calipers and so on, but what else. I am planning to put the turbo motor and 5 speed into my 77 and a 5 speed into my 72 (it already has an R200 with a 4:56 posi). Any other things I should consider swapping into either car? What should I keep for trading stock? I will have to ferry these home one at a time and will have an evening or two to cabbage the goodies before I have to haul them off. There are no titles and the cars are coming out of state. I haven't actually seen them in person but no reason to believe any of them are fixers, nor do I have the time to do so. I am going after the first one on Friday night. If anyone has an interest in something from these, let me know and I'll see what is there. This will end up something like a pick and pull, only you'll pick and I'll pull. Leonard

Hey, thanks for the info. I will check into these. Part of my problem is that some of the molded plastic pieces are so brittle they literally shatter when handled and I need the actual piece now. ConchZ, my pieces are faded out like the ones in your pics. Years ago there was interior paint available but it was just junk so I was skeptical. I like your confidence in the stuff to give it a shot. As for searching. I have searched a lot and found a lot of information. Nothing at all is available on the product recommendations page. Searches: Perhaps I am doing something wrong or there is a simpler way, but when searching for two words together, "white interior" for example, or "black dragon", I get every post that has each of the two words and the search becomes overwhelming. Is there a simple way to get a series of words to come up together? "Aluminum flywheel" comes to mind. Thanks, Leonard

I am looking to replace the complete interior of my Orange/white 240z. Black Dragon appears to have all of the pieces in kit form. Has anyone bought one of these kits and care to comment? Any other suggestions or sources to consider? Thanks, Leonard

What happens if you pump the pedal? Does it firm up and hold or does it always go right to the floor? If it pumps and holds, you have air in the lines and they need bled out at the wheel cylinders/calipers. If it pumps up solid for time and fades away as you hold pressure, check on the inside of the wheels and on the floor/driveway for brake fluid. A wheel cylinder or caliper is leaking. You will have a loss of fluid in the resevoir as well. If no fluid loss, the piston in the master cylinder is bad. Could be as simple as replacing the piston after a light honing of the cylinder. Likely a replacement master cylinder is faster and as cheap. It will need bled again after bench bleeding it, starting with the wheel furthest from the cylinder on each circut (front discs and rear drums). Let us know. Leonard

Hey Mike, thanks for the lead! I'll have to check out the details. I don't know about ac stuff am trying to figure out why I can't use the underhood parts I have and just get the dash parts I'd need. Probably a really good reason, I just don't know. It might be cleaner and simpler in the end to get the new system. It isn't that I am cheap, it is that I am poor. Big difference.......

Good to know the 280 stuff doesn't fit. I am assuming then that there was factory air available in the 240? I know I don't want to fit an underdash aftermarket unit in there (even if it would fit). Leonard

I am doing a complete make over (as opposed to a true restoration) of my 72 240. I have a complete AC system from a 77 280z in a parts car. While I want this car to look stock, I also want it to be a reliable and enjoyable daily driver. I am asking for the pro's and con's of installing the AC into this car. I am assuming it isn't that complicated to R&R the pieces, I don't know how practical it really is or if more modern parts (the whole refrigerant issues) are the best bet. Any thoughts from anyone that has done this? Thanks, Leonard

When Datsun went to the fuel injection, Volvo did too. I haven't ever figured out if Datsun calls there's "D-Jet" as does Volvo with the Bosch system, but each system has the same parts with largely the same names and almost all of the same systematic problems. Kind of fun finding a solution on this site to fix my other car with the same symptoms. 80% of the time it is a grounding issue of some sort, just a matter of locating it. The car in my avitar is my 57 Volvo 444 K. As soon as the Orange and white 240 is finished, I'll get a pic and change it for this site. Politically correct and all : )

Thanks for the followup. It really helps those of us following along with similar issues trying to find the solutions. It amazes me at times how much these cars and the early fuel injected volvo's have in common. Must be the technology of the times I guess. It also amazes me how frustrating it is to find the root cause and then how simple a lot of the fixes are.

Thanks guys. The shop will sell me the glass outright for $220 with no installation. I guess it is about right. Didn't want to get robbed.