Pomorza

Hey guys This past weekend I had the Z in the air to check the brakes. While there I noticed that the right tire has a bit of play in it. When I pull it the tie rod seems to have play in it also. Have noticed when driving that the steering wheel will shake at speeds above 45 mph. I do need new tires as the ones I have are not really round anymore (I swear they look oval) but should there be any play in the front wheels? Where would one go about getting a new tie rod if it is necessary? Jan

I actually didn't do an oil change at the tune up. Just did plugs and air gap. The oil change was done well before. I'm thinking the thinner oil is getting past the oil pan gasket or something. The driver's side of the engine about a foot or two in has a fairly large amount of sludge sitting on it. I'm going to take a lot of a closer look at it this weekend. ajmcforester you are more than likely right that I'm burning some of it on heavy acceleration. I can see smoke coming out upon heavy acceleration in second. I thought due to its gray/black appearance that it was carbon build up. IT could possibly be oil burning. Guys the car has 240k+ on it from all the investigation I've done on it. So it doesn't really amaze me that there is some oil loss. Jan

Thanks guys for the idea. Idahokid. I did a tune up about three weeks ago. All plugs looked good and showed no sign of oil burning but I'll look at em again. DeesZ before this I used 10w-40 but as its been fairly cold here (30's in the morning) I switched to a lower weight. I'm really timid about using 20w50 oil. To me it seems to thick. Has anyone have any problems with using such a thick oil. Note there is a fairly descent amount of oil on the underside of the car. Thanks guys Jan

None. Radiator fluid looks, smells and tastes normal;). There's no oil in the radiator and no rad fluid in the oil. I checked this past weekend as its part of my inspection. I check all fluids every Saturday morning. Jan

Hey guys. About three months ago I did an oil change and poured in some 10w-30 VR1 into my 280z. Two weeks ago I noticed the oil pressure is a bit low for my liking. (it sat about halfway up at acceleration, usually it sits just under 3/4). Anyhow I pulled the dipstick and to my dismay it was VERY low. Went to the local NAPA and bought two quarts. Poured on in one and was on me way. (oil registered great). Today I checked the oil once again and it was again getting to the L on the dipstick. I've driven about 300-350 miles since the last fill up. I have don't have any white/blue or any other colored smoke coming from the exhaust. The exhaust doesn't smell like oil at all. What could be up? I know the oil pan is leaking moderately but 1 quart for 350 miles? Could the oil just be too thin and be getting through other areas. Thanks Jan

Hey guys Last night it rained out here in Tucson. I took the Z over to a friends house and while driving I noticed that there was a nice steady drip coming from the rear of the car. After some examination I'm pretty positive that the water is coming from the rear glass gasket on the rear right corner. Secondly this morning when I turned on the rear defogger only about two of the lines work. (its been like this since I bought the car). So what exactly should I do here? What are my options window wise and what should be done about the rear defogger? Jan

The headlights I got from autopartswarehouse. They're made by a company called RAMPAGE. They're basically plug and play H4 conversions. They work great I'm really happy with them. Jan

Those are actually aftermarket mirrors. I received them with the car when I bought them. They were bought at NAPA or another parts store, I'm not positive which one but I've seen them at checker's (O'Reily's) in the past. Jan

So this past weekend I finally got around to installing the mirrors that I bought for the Z. I must say the install was fairly straight forward and really didn't take more than half an hour. I spent more time taking the old mirror out then putting the two new mirrors on. I must say it is really strange to look over to the passenger's side and see a mirror there now. It helps to see if there's anyone thee but it is still strange. Here are some pics of the mirrors. Jan

Hello all About two weeks ago I upgraded my headlights to H4 replacement bulb type with a high end 55W bulb. Today I took my Z out for a nice long ride. About forty five minutes into the drive the driver's side headlight went out. About two or three minutes later it came back on. A couple minutes later it again went out and stayed off for about two minutes. Then came back on once again. Anyone know what this can be? I've read someplace that I should update the relay or something electrical as the old wiring can't take the load? Any help would be great. Jan

The white smoke could be condensation that was in the exhaust. I've personally had this happen to me and I'm positive its not coolant. But just in case keep a nice keen eye on the fluid level. As for the starting problem. Did your fuel pump turn on and pump fuel? Did you guys inspect the TPS or the CSV? I'm thinking there are two possibilities. One, your engine is getting flooded with fuel when you try to restart. It is possible that you have a broken CSV (cold start valve) or one(or more) of your injectors is not sealed properly and is leaking. Second, your car is leaned out too much to start. I have the same problem with my Z at the moment. It is possible your water temp sensor is bad. Testing them is fairly easy if you have a FSM. If your don't download one and get with the trouble shooting. That's an idea Jan

Zedyone_kenobi is right on the money on this one. As nice as a twin turbo setup sounds its way out of your league. I don't mean to sound rude or ruin your dreams, but as stated above a twin turbo set up is a purely custom job. Everything, and I do mean everything needs to be rebuilt on the engine so that it can handle the boost those turbos will provide. And "everything" on an engine is fairly expensive. I'm 22, and a junior in college. When I first bought my Z in August I too had huge inspirations to make it into an arse kicking, tire burning, muscle car killing, turboed machine. But then I started looking at what would be involved in such a build. After a good month of investigation I've reached the realization that I can't afford dropping that much money into the car at the moment. So I'm going to give you some advise. Slow down and take a nice deep breath. Start with the simple stuff on the car first. Make sure the electrical on the car is nice and working properly. Make sure the fuel lines, vacuum lines and any other rubber piece on the car are in good condition. Make sure there is no rust on the car. While all this sounds completely unattractive and not what your looking for, a well maintained 35+ year old Z is much better then a turboed Z that is falling apart and doesn't run. Jan

ehx37. First off where in Tucson do you live? Before you do what I did and buy the car without really inspecting it thoroughly take a nice slow walk around the car. Check for rust in the passenger's side wheel well. Check for rust under and around the battery tray. Check all the fluid levels and ensure they look the way they should. (don't want oil in the coolant or vise-versa). Take the car for a ride and see what it does. Note the oil pressure, water temp volt, anything and everything about the drive should be noted. Thirdly I would, like everyone says, take it someplace and have it inspected. Your favorite mechanic should work but if you don't feel confident in them you could take it to a specialist, there's a few in Tucson. (Primarily Japanese, or Micro Import Service are two I can think of at the moment) Jan

Gas gauges in Z's (or at least mine to particular) are never accurate. It isn't abnormal for mine to read F one second and then half a minute or two later. 6 gallons of gasoline is roughly 1/3 of a tank (I believe they have 17 gallon tanks) so it should read 1/3. Unless your car is running ridiculously rich burning six gallons of gas while idling is pretty impossible in my view unless your were running it for hours on end and even than that's a stretch. In my opinion your sender, the gauge or the wiring are the culprit here and the readings your getting are off. hope that helps Jan

Blake I would say your theory maybe right now that I think about it. If the injector is leaking being unplugged shouldn't change the numbers that drastically. For what I remember the easiest way to check if they function properly is to do a electrical test on them correct? My advise would still be to get the timing down and see where the a/f ratio is. It is possible that someone had "fun" with the AFM and changed the a/f ratio or the box is defective in some manner. You did also look at the water temp sensor and all the other electrical components that effect fuel injection correct? These things can affect your emissions just as much as a bad a/f ration. Jan

Yup if you unplugged the injector and the numbers grew worse that's a good sign that the injectors are leaking. As mentioned above send them to out and get them cleaned and rebuilt. You could take the more expensive road and opt to buy new ones but its more expensive. Jan

Hey mate. First off for my knowledge 76' 280z's did not come with O2 sensors that I know of. I own a 1/76 280z and it has no O2 sensors. I too have failed emissions and mine were 4 or 5 times the legal limit. First check things such as leaking injector(s), leaking cold start valve, bad thermotime switch, a malfunctioning or incorrect water temperature sensor, improperly adjusted or malfunctioning throttle position switch, a bad catalytic converter, improper fuel pressure Secondly do a tune up on the car. Replace all the plugs with NGK's (B6ES I believe is the OE plug) wires rotor and cap. Also replace the air filter with a new one. Then do an oil change with the proper grade oil. Lastly make sure the timing is on where it needs to be. I'm positive that the will at least decrease the amount of HC they your car releases. I would not unplug injectors to pass emissions. I've heard people have done it but it isn't really a good idea. Hope that hleps Jan

Hey guys I was up in Phoenix this weekend at a swap meet. On the way there and back I noticed that my 5th gear is fairly loud. What I mean is there is a like a "roar" almost but only in 5th gear. If I down shift to 4th and hit the same speed it does not make same noise. It also has a very loud vibration in the stick that can be heard. Secondly on the way back while passing someone on the freeway I reached about 105MPH, when I released the throttle the car popped out of fifth. It went back in with no trouble but it freaked me out a bit. So I'm wondering has anyone ever had these issue or no anything about them. I'm going to check the fluid level tomorrow but I wouldn't see it being low. The transmission is a 5 speed out of 78 280z (supposedly) but the car originally had 4 speed. Thanks Jan

That pretty much seems like the problem I'm having. On the second start up it idles like crap and misses occasionally. But after a minute or two it acts normal. Please let me know what you find. I'm having a look at it with a friend this up coming weekend so hopefully between the two of us we can figure things out. Jan

I'm new to Z's so I may not be correct on this one. For what I understand from your post you Z is running rough enough that it plain dies on you occasionally. Since you say it feels like (sounds) that your running on less cylinders than normal continue with the ignition system. Check the coil and the dizzy. Make sure you are getting nice clean readings (steady) and not ones that are all over the place. Also make sure that all the injectors are indeed firing and not just a few at a time or non at a time. If only a few pistons are firing at a time it has to either be fuel spark (or air in cases) but start from there mate. Secondly I would pull the valve cover and inspect under there. Possible something is loose in there or isn't where it should be. Just get a nice good long look and see if all is good. Thirdly. Vacuum leaks as you said. I've had one in my old Jeep that cause very similar dying issues. Took me weeks to finally figure out that it was a vac leak. (spend $$ in the process). Also check that the timing is steady. I've seen a car that had loose nut and the timing kept changing on him. My best advise to you though would be to get a FSM off the net and start trouble shooting. FI systems are fairly complicated when compared to carbs so a good understanding of how they work and a good manual goes a long way. I know that's not exactly "help" but its fairly hard to diagnose over the net. Jan

Ok a bit more info. Drove to the store earlier today. Car ran great going there. I was in the store for ten minutes and came out. Started the car and it died twice before it "ran" very rough. IT ran rough for about five minutes and then evened out. Any ideas guy? Any? Jan

Hello all I'm having an issue with my 1976 280z. Since about early November that car has a bit of an issue when idling once it warms. Best example would be I drove to the store earlier today. Parked outside went in for about twenty minutes. Came out and started the car. Car had a hard time idling and the tach jumped between 600-1000 RPM. I revved the motor and held it at 2k for about a minute or two and it evened out and drove fine the rest of the day. Any ideas as what this could be? I've replaced the temp sensor (for the ECU). Haven't done a tune up but the plugs look good (although they're champions). Ideas? Jan

Sorry Steve I don't know everyone here yet. :stupid:

Joe I agree with everything you said there. I was just talking through experience as the last time my Z ran rich I check all the above and found that someone had screwed with the air meter and basically made it useless. I must apologize on missing all the steps and misinforming but again it happened to me and that's what it was. Jan

When you fail smog (at least in Arizona) you get a paper that tell you what readings your car (Z in you case) is running and what it should be at. If you have said paper it would be nice to see the numbers. But in case you don't. The 280z fuel injection system is fairly easy to understand really. Nearly all the cases I've had of my car running rich was due to the air meter. Basically the air meter is a huge flap in the intake box. When air enters the box the flap moves sending an electrical signal to the computer telling it how much air enters the engine. This reading is used by the computer to adjust the fuel curve. The air meter can be adjusted to allow more or less air to enter the engine at a given time. Now I'm not saying this is your problem but it is a possibility. Here's the bad news though. Although one can adjust the air meter by ones' self the only way to properly do it is to have an exhaust analyzer. Without one your really kind of shooting in the dark. I personally would take it to a mechanic that knows something about Z's. It doesn't have to be a specialist but somoeone that knows what they are doing. Hope that helps Jan