Z Tyler Z

It's more than likely something small. Have you already checked the fuses? Saridout was nice enough to make us all a full-color wiring diagram for this year, it'll probably come in handy. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36494

I'd suggest going with a urethane dust boot cover for the ball joints if you have that problem. Energy suspension sells them in packs of 2 for about 5 bucks. They sell them as tie rod end dust boots but fit over ball joints without any problems. The melting point of urethane is 118F, so you shouldn't have a problem. I couldn't find the melting point of rubber just the boiling point (128F compared to urethane at 362F).

Haha you mean you don't have a Datsun dealership in Ohio? I meant Jehannum's three steps was just to much to do. Along the lines of "my house is too dirty time to get a new one." If I remember right that's from a old Simpsons episode, Krusty the clown says it. Guess my 90s pop cultures references don't work all the time. (Ok, most of the time )

Wouldn't just be easier to go and buy a new car instead of going through all that hassle?

Rock auto has them for 35 , that's where I bought mine when I did a full rear brake rebuild.(new drums and all) After seeing who much it was going to set me back I also looked into a rear disk conversion. If you do it yourself and source the parts needed from junkyard then it could possibly be down on the cheap. If you pay soemone else to do with labor alone will be a ton. (I was quoted 600+) It isn't completely bolt on, you'll need to course 85-87 (double check the years) Nissan maxima brake bracket from a junk yard. I think there's a few places online you can buy them but their pricey. Then 280zx calipers will cost you ~50 each if you buy them new or under 10 if you can find them in a junk yard. Use the search function here and at hybridz and I'm sure you'll find a ton of info and tuts on this. EDIT: Looks like Rock Auto has a close out deal on some Wheel cylinders for 6 bucks each. Might wanna hop on this. http://www.rockauto.com/RSS/vehiclefeeds.php?carcode=1209226&m=wc&l=en&html=true Scroll down a bit and you'll see them. It's the Rock Auto RSS feed for a 76 280z. Double Edit: Looks like that's for 8/76 or newer, I figure with your vin your must be a January of February build. (mines April) Did find a 5% off code for Rock Auto though, every bit helps. http://www.retailmenot.com/view/rockauto.com

Stupid question but did you make sure the battery is in the right way? When we get jazzed up about Zs we make dumb mistakes. What about the other two wires connected to the battery (not the ones that go to the starter but the other 2 little ones that go to the ground and positive on the battery). When I got my new battery I put it in quickly and forgot to plug in one of those little wires and it's crank forever and not get anywhere until I realized my mistake. Next check fusible links and make sure your getting spark to all the plugs and coil. Maybe pull a plug and see if your getting gas after cranking. Hopefully one of those things will fix your problem. I was in the same boat as you a few months ago, but I was trying to get mien to start for week until I discovered by accident my Ecu got unplugged. It's always the little things. Good luck.

Well if you used three different batteries and all the cables look good sounds like your starter could be at fault. Luckily a replacement is under $50 and readily available at a local parts store.

He said "My wife is from Finland". (Google Translator) Good luck with replacing the front clip.

I agree with these two, it's more than likely a bad battery. Just because it's new doesn't mean it's good. I personally just had a new one die on me yesterday, despite only having less than 100 miles on it and having a new alternator and voltage regulator. Take it back to the place you bought it at, they more than likely have a load testing system. When I brought mine in first they tested it with a amp meter and it read just under 12. Which seems like enough to start the car, or at least slowly turn the starter, but when they load tested it, the amps went below 2. Needless to say I got a new battery for free under their warranty.

Haha yep you seemed to draw a pretty decent crowd at that NWN (Northwest Nissans) meet last week. Even had more attention than that immaculate white Skyline. Seems like the S14 crowd is filled with people who at least know a little about the older Nissan/Datsuns compared to the people who just buy a new Nissan based on reviews. Personally I've yet to drive my Z enough to really think about throwing a peace sign up or wave at anther driver. Except of course when I'm driving my daily (Pos 92' Merc Cougar) and see a S30, than I think damn I should have drove my Z today.

If I remember right the fuel pressure should be around 26 PSI, I doubt excess pressure would cause the car not to start (in reason of course). If you used a fuel pump made for 280z you should be safe. So the cars turning over just not starting? Have you looked at the ignition system to make sure every cylinder is getting spark and the coil is working? Maybe let the car turn for a bit and check the plugs to see if there wet. If they are then the injectors are working and your just not igniting the fuel. If not we can go from there.

One of the many benefits of living in Washington. Hope your as excited about installing them as I am. =P It'll be nice having a Z that handling better then my moms minivan. I can't thank you enough.

Great thread, I enjoy these kind of build threads with tons of pictures. Glad you didn't scrap the car after the accident.

For 1.25 million I expect the car has some sort of James Bond like submarine feature to it. So this shouldn't be that big of a deal.

Thanks this will more than likely help me out down the road. The black and white ones get me confused pretty fast. Thanks again. =)

Welcome to the forum, lots of good information in on here. I personally haven't a clue why soemone would due that but I'm sure there was some kind of reasoning behind it (even if it's the finical aspect and not a performance) What head and block did he use? Post some pictures of your car and have fun in the "Z world".

I'm not an expert on Zs yet but here's some advice I've learned reading this forum. I think each cylinder should be reading in the 160 range. If I were you I'd do a round of basic maintenance before you start trying to trouble shoot the larger problems. Go and change all the spark plugs, cap/rotor (points if you have em), engine oil, and wires if they look old/worn. Also check the timing and make sure that's accurate. Are you using the choke when you try and start it? Btw it could easily be barely 166,000 miles on it and not 66k miles. Also to clarify dose it do the redline thing when your just idling in neutral before you use the clutch or just when you use the clutch? Welcome to the forum, there's tons of information to be had here. Have fun.

Sounds like it's going to be a fun trip. The northwest is a great place, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Keep us posted along the way. Good luck!

Thank you, I guess I didn't search hard enough for a replacement switch. Already ordered it hopefully they get it shipped tomorrow and I can get it to the shop sometime late next week. Will do, at the time I originally wrote this I couldn't locate a new hazard switch. I had searched a bit online (clearly not hard enough) and went to the local Z car shop. +1 Luckily the first mechanic who gave up didn't charge me anything and this current mechanic shop should give me a fair deal. (there doing a few other small things, that I didn't want to mess with) I was hoping you'd chime in. I doubt you remember me but we met at the Colby car show earlier this year. I came with a friend early in the day (both of us our in our late teens, wearing sunglasses, I think I wore a black Guinness shirt) and we talked a bit about Z cars a bit, I mentioned how I remember your car from this forum & car domain. You showed us your car then pointed out the Z Hawk a few cars down and told us about the guy up in Arlington trying to sell one of them a while back for a ton despite it just being a painted up 280. Seeing your car in person was one of the reasons I bought a Z project car . Sadly I found a good deal on a 280z instead of holding out for a 240. We should meet up sometime when I get my car a little more presentable (aka get the previous owners ugly body kit off and get carpet). Hopefully this new hazard switch will fix all the problems and I would need to MacGyver temp fix. I forgot to mention that all these wires I'm dealing with are all loose and not connected to those plastic stock A/B connectors. Thanks for all the input on this thread. I'll rebump it with a follow up post as soon as I get the ball rolling with the new hazard switch.

Thanks for the reply FastWoman, Currently I'm trying to "refresh" my Z rather then using only OEM parts. I'm willing to risk the functionality of my hazards to get my turn signals working, I'm just clueless on how to go about that. As I said I'll probably have the mechanic do the work I just want be able to tell him what needs to be done to bypass the hazards or whatever.

Well after one mechanic shop telling me he wasn't conformable working on my 76' 280:ermm:. I bought it to anther to finally take care of my turn signal problem. Currently the hazards work fine but the turn signals don't work at all. I got a call from the new mechanic yesterday. He told me that I have a hazard switch from a 77' Z and that it'll be very hard to get the job done without the proper hazard switch. The one I have has only green wires with different stripes in them and one black wire. He told me the correct one has a blue wire, which is the power wire to the turn signals. I looked online and can't seem to find any hazard switches for 75-76 280z's. I did find one on Ebay but that looked like it was from a 77. My question is does anyone know how to wire around the hazard switch to get the turn signals working? Or have any ideas about getting it to work with a 77 hazard switch. I know that the hazard switch is suppose to override the turn signals and that's why they wired it the way they did. The mechanic shop is closed on weekends but I will take any suggestions straight to them Monday morning. Thanks for all your help so far guys, this forum has saved me from taking my Z to the shop many times. This is the first time I've given up and just rather have the problem taken care of instead of getting frustrated over it. If you guys need any more information just ask.

Guess I accidentally unplugged the ECU at one point of time and didn't realize it. Plugged it back it and she fired right up. Timings off by a bit but I'll get to that tomorrow. She idled for a while but slowly died. Thanks for all those who helped me. I'm so happy I might be able to finally drive it for the first time tomorrow =)

1976 280z Ok after some major testing/troubleshooting I'm still completely lost. I'm new to cars and in need of some ideas. Here's the story so far. Cars starts and runs great. I leave it sitting for about a week. When I get back it refuses to start. Sometimes it'll start for 2-3 seconds then immediately dies, even if I have the gas pedal floored. -The starter is fine and turns the engine like a champ. -I've used a light gun and every spark plus is getting a spark and so is the coil -The fuel pump is working -There are no worn pvc areas or leaking areas in the air intake. -The air intake thing is turning on the fuel pump like it should. -Changed the fuel filter, checked the returning line to make sure fuel is flowing good and it is. - I checked the plugs and they didn't seem that wet. Here is a list of dumb mistakes that I have done which could have lead to this problem -hooked the battery up backwards and tried to start the car. -While jumping the car I again hook the battery up backwards (to the other car) and caused soem big sparks before I unhooked them and corrected my mistake. - The magority of the wires leading to the hazard area are unplugged (a lot of blue and green wires)(I doubt this has to do with not starting but I thought I'd tell you guys everything) -When testing fuses I hit the tester against the bottom 3 fuses all at once and it seems to turn the engine. (bottom fuse on left with the 2 bottom ones on the right) This was after the car already wouldn't start. I have no clue why it turned the starter because according the the fuse box none of those fuses have anything to do with the starter. -Ran the car pretty low on gas before I filled up the tank. One guy I know says I could have fried the ECU unit by placing the battery backwards. Anther guy says I might have clogged up my PVC, despite the return fuel line working. Is the fuel pump suppose to turn on when the car is in the on position? Mine seems to only turn on after I try and start the car. Any ideas? I really need some advice I don't have much money to throw away just replacing random parts until the problem fixes itself. I have the next few days off of work, so I have plenty of time to try your guys suggestions. Thanks.

Back from vacation, retested the fuel pump and it doesn't turn on when in the ON position. I used a multimeter and it looks like it's not even getting power. What does the relay under the dash look like? I can't seem to find it. When I try and crank it over it squirts gas into the return hose, if that means anything. A former mechanic friend of mine told me to run a wire from the battery directly to the fuel pump to test if it's even working. Is that safe?