UR2H

What is the correct voltage my gauge should be reading?

I downloaded the FSM. Thanks.

I replaced the external regulator with an old one that I never tossed away and now the voltage seems okay. Stays right around 15 at idle, closer to 14 with the lights on and closer to 16 with throttle. Kinda funny I never threw that old one away. I only replaced it with a new one cause my mechanic advised that I change it as it may have been the reason my alternator initially failed. Also funny that the older one is okay and the newer one that is maybe 3 years old failed already. I definitely upgrading to an internally regulated alternator.

I read up on Blue's Atlantic Z site about the external voltage regulator to an internal regulated alnernator conversion. I think I will do this regardless if my voltage regulator is bad or not. Such an easy upgrade. I like the distributor upgrade too, seems a bit tougher...for me anyways. Still seems managable though. Kind of a noob question here but do 77 280Z's have a in dash voltage regulator? Oh and BTW GREAT site Blue.

I checked my voltage using a multimeter at the battery and it reads the same as the voltmeter gauge. I also checked all my connections via Blue's advice and everything checks out okay, no corrosion or loose ends.

Yeah its sitting, I'm definitely not driving it until I figure this out. But the thing is I have been using the car as a daily driver for the past 2 to 3 years and I haven't had any issues...that I know of anyways. I'm sure had I been driving around with 17 to 18 volts even for the past month or so I would have seen something fail right, let alone the last 2 to 3 years? Maybe my install is wrong? So I feel my speedometer and tach is fine. Both seem to work and I hooked up these gauges to their respective harnesses. So that leaves my the oil pressure, water temp, fuel and voltmeter. Here's what I did... Each of these gauges has a post to wire up for a ground, ignition switch and to the sender. Each gauge also needs to be wired for power to the lights. I have each gauge individually grounded to the car. The oil pressure and water temp are hooked up directly wired to the oil pressure sender and water temp sender. I wired the fuel gauge from the sending unit wire in the harness. I'm confident I did these fine. The clock harness from the ladle didn't have an ignition switch, neither did the voltage harness. I only found an ignition switch on the oil/temp and fuel harness so I wired up two auto meters per one ignition switch. I'm wondering if this may be causing my high voltage. Thing is I didn't know where else I could've wired the ignition switches? I'll have to buy a multimeter and check the voltage at the battery to rule out a faulty gauge.

I just finished installing my new Auto Meter gauges (speedometer, tachometer, water temp, voltmeter, fuel and oil pressure). On my initial start up I noticed my voltage got really high, up around 17 volts. After it warmed up a bit it dropped down to 14/15 volts. I took my car for a spin and the volts got up to 18 volts maybe even over 18 as 18 volts is the max read. Even reads that high with the lights on. At idle it sits around 12/ 13 volts. I remember replacing the voltage regulator awhile back when I replaced the alternator. Maybe 3 or 4 years ago. Car is a completely stock 77 280z besides the upgraded exhaust system. No other electrical components upgrades are running through the system except for a alarm. Don't even have the radio hooked up, not even speakers. The previous voltmeter was faulty so I don't know if it was running this high prior to the install but the car was practically a daily driver for the past 2/3 years without problems...nothing electrical anyways. What gives? All my other gauges seem to be running fine. Can anyone point me in the correct direction in trying to figure this out?

<a href="http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc272/umdatz/?action=view&current=untitled.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc272/umdatz/untitled.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> The plastic piece is firmly attached to the backside of the handle and to the rod. No problems there. I've also cleared up some of my terminology from the last post. Okay so if you follow the rod down to the door lock lever (4 - on the picture), there is a small adjusting nut (3 - on the picture). This nut looks to be the root of my problem. Somehow it slid up the rod after dislodging itself from its original position from right atop the the door lock lever. So my question is how does one adjust or loosen this adjusting nut? The rod doesn't look threaded so I'm kinda lost why it's called a nut and on how I can position this nut back where it should be. Also number 5 on the picture is the retaining clip which is probably there to help prevent the nut from sliding up which in my case didn't do its job.

I'm having a similar problem. My door won't open from the outside but can be opened from the inside. So I took off the door panel and found when looking downwards through the window slot that there is a nub, which is connected to a rod that connects to the door handle, that seems to have dislodged itself from bracket/hinge looking assembly. Not sure if it broke off or just got loose or something because I can't see the side view of the assembly due to the angle I'm at. The very 1st diagram from this website provided above can clarify the rod and nub I'm talking about. http://www.blackdragonauto.com/icata...l.aspx?Page=16 It shows the handle, lock mechanism and retainer in bold. The rod and nub is drawn in a lighter shade. So that rod and nub when I lift the handle up will in effect push down but the nub itself somehow slid up the rod a bit when it initially "broke" and will now only barely touch the bracket/hinge when I lift the handle up all the way. I think this nub before it slid up sat firmly and attached on top the bracket/hinge so that when the handle is lifted the rod and nub pushes down onto the bracket/hinge and opens the door. I've also pushed down on the nub but it doesn't seem to want to move down. Not sure what I should do. Anyone ever have a similar type of problem that would like to share their experience on how they fixed this? I also noticed that all these Z sites that offer door handles don't include the rod so I don't think buying a handle itself will solve my problem. Anyways thanks for reading. Tommy

Production date is 4/77. I don't have the factory service manual. I have the Chilton's. Maybe I should opt for the factory....it only makes more sense that I should. But the heater valve is controlled by a cable. When I go from hot to cold on the controls I can see the valve tilt up and down but even though it tilts, it doesn't look like it's moving that much. I'm wondering if the valve might be frozen closed in which case I would need a new new one. Would you know a source where I can get one?

My car has 3 of those vacuum pots, one on the drivers side next to the box which indeed controls the floor and defroster vent. One on top of the blower which controls the vent to allow fresh air and one on the passenger side next to the box where the heater valve is. Do you know which function this pot serves? When I manually open either the fresh air door or defroster door using the latch for each respective pot, I can hear air leaking from that same pot that failed on yours. Also one thing I should add is that neither door opens when I use the control panel which is why I think I must have a vacuum leak somewhere. So does that leak sound mean that the pot is bad?

My 77 280z only blows cold air and only out the front vents. First of all I have my dash off so I have everything in clear view. Also my car is equipped with a/c (i think). Okay to start I think I have a leak somewhere with my vacuum lines since I only get air from the front vent no matter what I select on the control panel. I have replaced all the hoses with new ones so I'm guessing maybe one of the vacuum pods or even my canister is leaking. Is there a method for me to test for a leak? Or could my vent problem be something else? I do notice the vacuum pod on top of the heater control valve looks a little corroded. As for the heat problem it has to be either the heater control valve or the heater core or both right? When I move the lever from hot to cold on the control panel the heater control valve itself moves up and down but from what it looks like IMO it might not be opening up all the way. If the valve is frozen does that mean IT DOESN'T MOVE AT ALL or can mine be labeled frozen as well? Lastly how do I know if my heater core is clogged? Both the inlet and outlet hoses from the heater core get hot but I don't know what that means because if these hoses get hot, doesn't that mean the heater core should be hot in which case I should be getting at least some warm air? I'm lost. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I need warm air and a defroster. Thanks.

Ooops sorry...it's a 77 280z. The engine is completely stock. I checked for spark and fuel and both is ok.

I was driving around 60mph, dropped it into 4th to pass some traffic then soon after I noticed the gauges all stopped working and realized the engine was off. Once i got to a stop I tried to start it, it cranked but wouldn't turn. The lights for the gauges work fine but the needles on them are all pointing south now like the way they would be when the car gets shut off. My alarm and parking lights also all work fine. The car ran fine prior to this happening. I'm thinking there is a direct correlation to the gauges not working and the engine not turning over, something electrical, blown fuse or relay? Has anyone else had this type of problem or know what the problem may be? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks. edit: It's a 77 280z with a stock engine.