FastWoman

Captain, I might have an alternative idea. I've been doing some DIY HVAC work and have been using a product called Nylog. Nylog is a compressor oil GEL that's very sticky. But because it's an oil, you can clean it up the way you would clean up any oil. You could probably (I haven't tried it) stick a lock washer onto a screw, stick both onto the end of an allen wrench, and insert into the hole. Another approach might be to wrap an allen wrench with a collar of electrical tape about the dia of the lock washer and screw head. Insert screw head and lock washer onto wrench. Then over-wrap with another wrap of electrical tape. Start the screw, then pull the tool off the washer and head. Tighten with an identical allen wrench.

I love the plate frame: "Do it in a Datsun!" Sweet little ride!

Check your insulators for cracks. I don't think a crack would cause a leak, as it's the job of the O-ring to seal, but even so, it's nice not to have cracked parts. I think you have your answer for the O-rings, but I'll just confirm that I used OEM O-rings for my FJ3 injectors.

Two possibilities come to mind: (1) There's a lot of rust in your tank. When you drive, gasoline sloshes around, and the rust gets stirred up. It then gets sucked up against the pickup screen, clogging it. When your fuel pump stops, and there is no more suction, the debris falls back to the bottom of the tank, and you can start the car again. (2) You've got a vibration-related electrical fault somewhere. When you hit a bump or twist or sway just right, a contact is broken, causing the engine to falter or die.

IMO, if you're not talking about a concourse car, then invisible mods made for reliability sake are certainly acceptable -- things like electronic flashers, headlight relays, alternator upgrades, and the like. Visible mods made for reliability, like MaxiFuses, are less acceptable when preserving value, but they aren't intolerable. If you actually drive the car, you should do the mods necessary to make it a reliable machine. I feel mods that change the appearance of the car detract from the intrinsic value, but I also realize most people don't feel this way. I don't like the practice of changing the bumpers, putting air dams on the front, lowering the stance, or flaring the fenders. These are all period incorrect, and they change how the car fits in with automotive history. I personally draw a line at the raising of the hood. I'm willing to have mods under the hood (engine mods being a common practice throughout a broad chunk of automotive history), but I want the car to look the way it originally did when the hood is closed. Wheels of course are an accepted exception, including by me.

Shirley "collapsing" is watt they mint.

I still think you need to work through posts #5! I can't stress enough that my car was behaving exactly like yours, and the problem was a failing pump. Go to Home Depot and buy some clear vinyl tubing and some speaker wire. That's all you'll need to test your fuel pump right in your driveway. You'll have your answer within a half hour. I'll mention one other trouble spot, which is the wiring harness main connectors, right inside the passenger firewall. You should check those to see whether you have any black, melty, arcing connectors. Then again, if your pump relay is inside the cabin, the main current may not pass through those connectors as mine does. However, it's a very quick (5 min) thing to check. BTW, I did mention the coolant temp sensor... in post #5! This probably won't be important, but I'll mention it anyway, just in case: When you're replacing the thermo housing, be aware that one of the threaded holes runs through to the backside of the timing chain tensioner. You don't want to use too long a bolt there or chase the threads too far with a tap.

My guess is that a "rebuilt" ECU is simply an old ECU taken from a (presumed) working vehicle, cleaned up, and possibly repainted. I can't begin to imagine that Cardone would know anything more than we do about the circuit boards, which contain proprietary, "black box" ICs. If they want your old ECU in exchange (e.g. have a core charge), I would probably not trust their "rebuilt" ECUs any more than I would trust their ability to repair a problem such as you are having. (I wouldn't.) I would trust their "rebuilt" ECUs far more if they don't want your core. I think you would be just as well off to find a used ECU. I found one on ebay for $20 that ran the engine about the same as the one I was already using.

Could be! Once when I evacuated before a hurricane, I hauled my lawn tractor to high ground atop a flat-bed trailer. It sat out the hurricane in the rain. I didn't notice there was a crack in the gas cap, and water dribbled into the tank. I was cleaning chewing gum out of the tractor for over a year after that. I went through maybe four changes of filters and 3 carb clean-outs before the poor tractor forgave me and ran right again. There is nothing quite so evil as bad gas! Black, sooty plugs don't sound right, even after a cold start. I'd check the connection at the coolant temp sensor.

How far will AAA tow? Ask them! I don't know the answer, but I do know they towed me home when my fuel pump died, over halfway to Richmond from here. I guess that would have been about 50 miles. I believe they have different membership levels that might come with different towing distances. I think we would have the premium version, whatever it's called. I don't think there's much shame in a tow. It's better than spending hours on the side of the road trying to fix your car. People can throw stuff at you, shoot you, or hit you and/or your car.* A serial murderer might pull over to offer help. Weird stuff happens. I'd rather get a tow to my nice, safe driveway, where I can work out the problem in safety and with an abundance of useful tools and parts. * We had a flat left tire on a cargo trailer and no spare. This was at night, next to a state prison. We dropped the trailer on the side of the road, about 8 feet out of traffic, so that we could go into town, get a replacement, and return in daylight when it was safer. The trailer was still there, but someone had drifted 8 feet off of the road and clobbered it, ripping the left fender cleanly away, leaving tire marks up high on the side of the trailer, and driving the jack a foot into the asphalt shoulder (ran over the tongue???). I'm glad we weren't changing that tire in the dark!

Congratulations on a mostly successful road adventure! How do you get your car reliable? I think Rossiz has your answer. However, I'll add that you go through and replace or service everything that rots, like hoses, engine electrical connectors, and so forth. Your throttle linkage mishap is an outlier. I've never heard of that happening. I cannot honestly say my 280Z is as reliable as my thoroughly modern 1992 Saturn (OK, or the 2009 Ram truck), but it's reliable. I think it's almost as reliable as it ever was. I can easily hit the road for a long trip and not be overly concerned I'll have a breakdown. That said, I do carry an AAA card, because you never know! Oh, and noise: I have a stock manifold and an MSA Premium Exhaust with a Magnaflow 4" dia midpipe muffler in the transmission tunnel. It's fairly civilized, although it does have a pretty deep, rumbly, almost drumming exhaust note at idle that you can barely hear from inside the house. My uncle stood at the back of my car, looking down at the tailpipe, and commented, "You need a new muffler on that thing." I like to think he just had his hearing aid turned up too high. The fact is that he could make his comment in a normal speaking tone and be perfectly well understood.

I don't know much about carbs, except that I hate them, and they hate me back. However, I'll just mention that the Z distributors are not terribly robust devices. Pull off your distributor cap, and give the breaker plate a twist. It should move smoothly, with no binding. This is a common problem area.

I don't know where the relays are in a '77, but the '77 is more like a '78 (my car) than a '76 (Zed's). Nissan located the relays in various positions throughout the years. However, on a '78 (and maybe also a '77?), the relays are hidden within a black, box-like housing screwed to the inside of the passenger inner fender (i.e. in the engine compartment). Rossiz is giving away his relay housing on the pay-it-forward thread, so you can see one pictured there. There's one EFI relay and two fuel pump relays. One fuel pump relay enables/disables the fuel pump based on whether there's alternator output and/or oil pressure, and the other relay simply feeds power to the pump.

I've met a few other gearhead women, so I know I'm not the only one! There were even a couple of others briefly on this list. Some gal with the screen name "Venus?" And I remember engaging some girl at a Radio Shack in discussion over an electronic project on my Z. She told me all about her 80's era Mustang that she had tricked out in every possible way. She enjoyed racing all the the boys and humiliating them. She was talking technologies from another world -- flux capacitor sort of stuff I had never heard of! I was stunned! Heck, if I could only remember where I met her, she might be able to sort out this hot restart issue for us!

^^^^ THAT!!!! ^^^^ That's probably the most awesome car I've ever seen! Even better than the Morgan!

Marty, I think they will. You can also spraypaint them with plastic paint if you need them black.

Wow, so THAT'S what happens! I think the very best stuff would probably be marine-grade, but I have no idea what it costs. I know that the fancy hose with the blue liner can become delaminated.

:tapemouth:facepalm::ogre::stupid::mad::sick:

This is nothing new, except for the texting. People have always been crappy: VW bug backed into the door of my '75 Z with new paint job, ca 1983. Drove off as I ran after it. Super-drunk guy rear-ended my Saturn hard in '97. We agreed to exchange info in parking lot. He drove off into the night on a flat tire, left rear rim sparking in the darkness the whole way. I reported the plate to the police, and they hauled him in. The idiot was wearing shirt with Michelangelo's "The Spark of Life," captioned "Pull my finger." He had no license, but he had insurance, which seemed fortunate, because I had an injured passenger. Insurance company wouldn't pay -- had to sue them. Still couldn't collect when judgment came down against them. I'm one of those weird people who will leave a note. My dad was another such weird person, and I guess I learned it from him. I think we both had occasion to leave a sheepish note during our lifetimes, to the astonishment of those around us who urged us not to. I've also helpfully left notes for other people with my contact info and plate numbers of the offending parties, and nobody could ever seem to understand why I would want to get involved. I've never been called for having done this. Nobody cares. I guess the insurance company pays anyway. Dunno. Joke I heard back in the 1980's: "Dear owner, NICE Cadillac! Kudos! I'm so sorry to have hit it. There's a crowd of people standing around, glaring at me, expecting me to leave a note for you, which I'm doing now. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck replacing your door and fender. It truly was an awesome looking car! Well, I'd better leave now, before any cops show up. I wouldn't want my insurance rates to go up." I wish you the best of luck with your ride. Anymore, it seems to be more of an exercise in dodging texting drivers who drift into my lane (sometimes head-on), and less of a pleasurable thing. THAT part has changed, and I wonder how much longer until my Z gets clobbered!

May the electromotive force be with you!

Rossiz, look for my PM!

John, nothing about the description "computes." They're describing something from a different era -- rev limiting, VVT, anything digital, anything programmed. About the only thing accurate about the ad is the disclaimer at the bottom saying the photograph might not resemble the product. In fact most of the stuff on the board wasn't around in 1981. This may be a digital replacement for the L-Jet ECU, but it's certainly not a revamped L-Jet. On a related note, I sometimes see ads relating to the rechipping or reprogramming of our ECUs. People will even take our money and sell us something. I don't know what they're selling, though, because rechipping or reprogramming an L-Jet ECU would be like adding a larger hard drive to a typewriter.

I'm really liking the shark gills on that last one.

Dan, it wouldn't surprise me if the lean drift is from loss of capacitance as caps dry out. If you think about it, that would result in a shorter time constant, faster ramp, shorter pulse, less fuel. I'll be interested to hear what results you achieve (if you attempt a fix).

Wowza! You've had more than your fill of problems with this car! Best of luck with the new head!