Everything posted by Zed Head
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280Z Full Restore in 5 months, hopefully.
Watch your oil pressure with the low RPM. It sounds cool but these engines will eat a camshaft, especially the aftermarket ones.
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78/280 Mirrors
I like having a right side mirror. It helps. The mirrors that make objects "closer than they appear" are better for the passenger side. Wider angle.
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strange issue with 78 280z running - I'm at the end of my rope!
Your theory looks right. When disconnected, no idle enrichment and no full throttle enrichment. Mileage would only get better if you spent a lot of time at full throttle, I assume. When the TPS gets wet, the idle circuit shorts, apparently, then when RPM go above 3200, the ECU cuts fuel because it thinks you've just shut throttle. Obviously, the algorithm doesn't consider that 3200 RPM could be reached with the throttle closed.
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280Z aug 76 fuel pump - check valve ?
I thought that some of the carb guys would have responded to your post but maybe they were thrown by the title and its reference to 1976 and a check valve. That's EFI stuff. I don't think that you need a check valve with carbs. The float bowls hold enough fuel to get the engine started, then the pump refills them. I would start another thread, with a good title, about the fuel lines to and from the carbs. People open threads that look interesting to them and "280Z fuel pump check valve" is boring to carb guys. Put the word "carbs" in the title. I only opened your thread because I have a 1976 280Z. If it said carbs I probably would not have (no offense to the carb guys).
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strange issue with 78 280z running - I'm at the end of my rope!
I've never really understood why water in the TPS would cause the problem that it does but I think I have it figured out now, thanks to this thread. I attached the relevant passage from the FSM. Water in the TPS apparently makes the ECU think the throttle is closed. Details in attachment. One way to get a better idea of if it's the TPS is to watch the tachometer and note the RPM, when the cut out happens, and when it bucks. The tachometers aren't known to be super accurate so you may not see exactly 2800 and 3200 RPM, but if it happens consistently around those numbers, that would be a good indicator. If that's not it, then the old fuel pressure gauge poking out of the hood plan would let you know that you're maintaining fuel pressure. If you have proper pressure but it still cuts out, then electrical has more potential.
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Denatured Alcohol?
I've found that setting everything to stock specs., timing mostly, and running the idle air screw out as far as you can without inducing a miss, will get me through the Oregon DEQ tests. Timing advance and retard changes the ratio of combustion byproducts that they test for. It's probably why idle has a whole set of parameters tied to it, like initial timing, idle enrichment fuel, idle air bypass, etc. Air fuel ratio and timing both change immediately as soon as you open the throttle.
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Denatured Alcohol?
You might already be running 10% or more ethanol, from the pump. Denatured alcohol is just ethanol with impurities left in or added, so that you can't drink it. Benzene or some small amount of chemicals used during purification are typical.
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280zxt timing
Ignore everything that I wrote. You're working with a very different engine management system. I would go over to Hybridz and repost, with "Need help with Wolf ECU on modified turbo engine" in the title, and all of these specs. listed. Edit - I realized that there are two Wolf companies - Wolf engine management (the one Ron Tyler repped) and Jim Wolf modified stock systems. You have Jim wolf's modified stock system, so the FSM procedures are probably still important. BUT - I don't think that the Jim Wolf modified stock systems are designed for modified engines. They're designed to change the performance of stock engines. You might not be able to get that collection of parts to work with your engine management system. Saw your post on Hybrids - you should change the title to Jim Wolf modified stock ECU.
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strange issue with 78 280z running - I'm at the end of my rope!
If I had a stock system and was looking to buy new injectors, I would get Standard brand, either the FJ3 or FJ707T. (Rockauto has good deals. Data is sparse but they might be better for heat soak than others. Before you buy though, since you're going to take things apart, you might leave the injectors connected to the rail when you remove them (they'll come out as an assembly), reconnect or leave connected the fuel hose and electrical and squirt in to some containers for a short time ( use small coke bottles). You'll get an idea of how unbalanced the injectors are. Do it outside though, with a breeze and no open flames. You should notice if #5 is totally dead. The engine will run a little rough and the spark plug would be dry or oily, but different from the others.
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strange issue with 78 280z running - I'm at the end of my rope!
It's not how long the engine has run, but how much current is running through the module that heats it up. High RPM passes more current through the sensitive parts as it generates more sparks. High RPM, heat, weird behavior, turn off engine, cool down, back to normal.
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280zxt timing
You never said which turbo engine management system that you're using, but I assumed 1983 280ZX turbo since you said 24 degrees timing spec. Your sig says 1972 240Z, so you're probably working with a turbo swap in to an older car. Now you have a different TPS. What exactly are you working with? Did you test the TPS circuit at the ECCS plug, or at the TPS itself. It's always best to test at the plug first so that you know what the information the ECCS or ECU is getting.
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strange issue with 78 280z running - I'm at the end of my rope!
Good luck. There are so many components that work together, that "close enough" just doesn't work very well. You'll end up adjusting something else instead of the actual problem. The best method is to make sure that everything is exactly as it should be. If you report numbers in your posts, instead of looks good and checks out, you'll probably realize that the numbers aren't quite right. An ohm here, a psi there, a small vacuum leak...the tiny things add up. If you find yourself deciding to adjust the AFM spring, make sure you mark your starting point. So you can go back. On the ignition module - often they don't fail completely. They show signs of failure, then come back to life when they cool down a little bit. So, spark testing won't tell the whole story. Watch the tachometer needle next time it cuts out and starts bucking. The tach sees what the module is doing.
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strange issue with 78 280z running - I'm at the end of my rope!
You said everything checked out but you're reporting fuel pressure that's 10% too high. The proper number is in the Fuel Injection Handbook and the FSM. High fuel pressure will cause things to be rich. With the potentiometer, you have rich on rich. The cutting out sounds like a problem with the TPS. Did you wash the engine recently? They get wet and do what you're describing.
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over night battery dies
short in alternator
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280zxt timing
The distributors are not the same, at all, between NA and turbo. My point was that the ECCS controls timing. And that it only advances timing, which is what you want, when the TPS indicates that the throttle is at idle or the engine is cold. I would get in to the FSM and check that the TPS works right.
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280zxt timing
Nissan really did assume the system was perfect and would never need adjustment, apparently. Maybe it has something to do with a switch the ECCS uses. Picture attached. Throttle valve switch not showing idle?
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Distributor Breaker Plate Parts Picture - In order
I stopped by Harbor Freight to see if they had any clamps that would fit the breaker plate and came away with one that worked out great, a 2 1/2" nylon spring clamp. Three required, $1.29 each. Just enough force to push the spring down and expose the slot for the circlip. Still takes a little adjustment since the bearing holder wants to get stuck in the slot too, but it's cake compared to trying without it. There may be other ways but this worked for me.
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Making Fusible Links
If you prowl the salvage yards you'll see many fusible links on pretty high-end luxury cars, like BMW's, up in to years in the (edit - not sure of year)s. And if you're familiar with home fuses, you'll know of "slow-blow" fuses, used to take a surge so that fuses don't blow unnecessarily. If they didn't look like scabbed-on backyard fixes even when brand-new, people would probably be fine with fusible links. And it they rated them by current flow, like a typical fuse, that would help too. But, instead, they're ugly looking, confusing scraps of wire. Unfortunately, even if you want to swap to fuses, yous still have to calculate the desired upper limit for current on the circuit. Just one of those primitive things that has stuck around, like the AAR valve.
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Swell!!....
My original tach would "hang high" when it got hot in the car. 1976 280Z. Mid-summer, after a long drive, it just wouldn't come back down, it hung at around 2500 RPM, I think. After everything cooled, it went back to to normal. I got tired of it and swapped a 1978 tach in. I don't really understand how these tachs work, so couldn't even guess on a cause.
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Distributor Breaker Plate Parts Picture - In order
No, the plastic bearing holder was intact. That's the only reason I took the time to take it apart and clean it up. I had to pick through some old ball bearings to get three that weren't rusted. I know what you mean though, I've had a broken plate. I guess I haven't seen a newer rebuilt distributor, I haven't seen that new piece. I haven't seen that many distributors though, just a few I've picked up here and there.
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Modern injectors, new fuel rail - no heat soak problem
We just finished a mini-heatwave here, broke some records, temps in the 90's and high 80's, and I've been driving all over the place, parking, shopping, doing stuff, and no sign of heat soak. Still unclear if it's the injector change (Bosch 280 150 901 or Standard FJ707T), the aluminum straight-shot rail, or a combination of both, but there is hope. Just a follow-up as summer arrives, for those heat-soak sufferers.
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Distributor Breaker Plate Parts Picture - In order
I just refurbished an old breaker plate and took a picture of all of the pieces laid out in the order I took them off, in proper orientation, except for the bottom spring plate bearing holder, which is upside down and opposite the way it would go back on. But it's obvious how it fits when re-assembling unlike some of the other parts. I spent more time trying to get the circlip back in place than anything else. I'll devise some sort of jig before I try to put another one back together. Just posting for the record for those who get disoriented while taking it apart. I always do.
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Intake / Exhaust Gasket which I can cut to match ports
I'm almost positive that the Fel-Pro gasket is all organic. People call them paper gaskets. You could probably go to your local parts store and eyeball one, they are the common gasket. They do seem to require freshly machined flat surfaces to seal well though, whereas the MSA and Victor Reinz gaskets are thicker. I've used a Dremel tool on both the Reinz and MSA to fit to a stock manifold and head. They didn't fit the ports quite right on even the stock parts.
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Making Fusible Links
Probably just the insulation.
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Swell!!....
Get a piece of stiff mylar film and make a cone around the face of the tach. It will act as a ramp to get over the edge of the dash cap. It will probably take some real pushing from behind. I had trouble just getting mine started moving when I recently removed it, the original dash had molded itself around it. Even though I had it out a couple of years ago. This is without a dash cap.