Zed Head

Double.

Actually it sounds like you might have a short circuit from the negative side of coil circuit to the running lights circuit. If that is the case, power would always flow through the coil to the running lights, the coil-charging circuit would never be broken and the spark would never happen. The short could be anywhere from the negative side of the coil to the ignition module over by the fuse box. It could also be the wire to the tachometer, and Pin 1 on the ECU, since they both have a branch off that line also. The wires from the negative side of the coil are blue. Wiring diagrams are in the FSM. That would be a new one. Good luck finding it. Edit - I was typing while Zs-ondabrain was posting...

I like this idea, if it's really stuck good. There's enough slack in the steering shaft linkage that the shot with the hammer will knock the steering shaft down away from the wheel, while you have the wheel pulled up with your knees. Once it breaks the bond from being on there so long it should come off pretty easily. A few hard taps would probably get it done. If you don't have a brass hammer, using a punch in the center of the shaft or an old bolt, to avoid damaging the threads,would probably work too. Even using a puller, this is still worth doing. The shock will get it started.

I don't want to ruin anyone's Thanksgiving. I agree, times are tough and I can see the need to sell some possessions while you can, before economic conditions gets worse. For future reference, and maybe it will help you in your sale, if you have already decided on a price, and you're actively trying to sell the car with a classified ad that has the price in it, don't post what looks like a sincere question about a car's value. Especially if you're going to link to the ad. The post looked like an attempt to get viewers to look at your classified ad, not a genuine question about what the car is worth. That was the initiative for my post. If you've taken the advice of the people here and lowered the price to $5 - 6000, then you got some value from your question, and will have a better chance of selling it quickly, before the foreclosure. Good luck. Happy Holidays everyone, sorry to expose my skeptical nature during the holiday season. I'll try to keep it under wraps until the new year.

Yes, apparently, you can get to the latch through the rear panel, with some contortions. I've read a few accounts. I see that you're in California. I hope that there aren't a bunch of fees to be paid to get the car licensed. Good luck, nice car, I like the white.

I used the cheaper, ~$20 Precision u-joints from O'Reilly auto a couple of years ago to replace all four of my half-shaft joints. I noticed that they seemed to have a lot of play in the bearing when I was installing them, and found that they were very "clunky" while driving, which is the main reason I was replacing the old ones. I ended up taking them all back for a refund and using two old half-shafts from a parts car instead, which still had the original Nissan u-joints in good shape. Nissan spec'ed out tight tolerances on their factory u-joints, using the retaining clips to get the perfect fit. The Precison joints might have been durable but they certainly left a lot of slack in the drive-train.

I've managed to pull and wiggle two steering wheels off, once I removed the horn button and nut. It did take some effort though.

It's a 280Z with EFI. Running rich is a typical problem, usually caused by corroded sensor connections, or bad fuel pressure regulators or AFM adjustments or leaking cold start valve. If you use the search box and look for "running rich" or "fouled plugs" or "bad gas mileage" or similar you'll find a bunch of threads dealing with tuning up the 280Z EFI system. It seems like any 280Z that sits for a year or more develops a "running rich" problem. Gas in the oil often comes from excess gas in the cylinders leaking past the rings. 125 psi is not that low. There's a lot of variability in the gauges that are out there. Consistency between cylinders is what's important, and your numbers look pretty good. You should spend some time fixing the small stuff to get it running right before diving in to head gaskets. The EFI systems seem to go downhill pretty fast if they're been sitting for a while. Tune it up and put some miles on it. If the gas in the oil is a small quantity, the PCV system will clear it out if it's working right (hopefully a PO hasn't disconnected it). A poorly working PCV system could actually be the source of the gas-in-oil smell.

It's a touch of cynicism on my part. The ad that snevil linked to made a point of mentioning the kindly old lady that he bought it from, apparently after working on her for years (see below). But then he held on to it for 12 years, doing nothing to it. To me, it looks like he bought it solely for investment purposes, and is using the image of kindly old Mrs. Chin to help him sell the car. She should get paid for the use of her image! I'm a cynic at heart. Notice that he's also selling a Firebird and an El Camino. Nothing wrong with keeping your eye out for classic cars as good investments. His ad just looks a little disingenuous to me. Why would anyone looking for a 240z care about a "gentle old Japanese lady named Mrs. Chin"? "IT WAS PURCHASED FROM THE ORIGINAL OWNER IN 1999 - A GENTLE OLD JAPANESE LADY NAMED MRS. CHIN WHO PURCHASED FROM CANOGA DATSUN IN 1972. I ORIGINALLY NOTICED THE CAR SITTING IN HER DRIVEWAY, AND AFTER A COUPLE OF YEARS, EVENTUALLY CONVINCED HER TO SELL IT TO ME"

I would check for power to the E12-80 module, check the ground from the distributor body to the block/negative post, and open up the distributor and make sure the stator magnet hasn't broken. If you have power where it should be, and ground, and the modules are good, then the main thing left is the signal from the VR coil. I haven't been in to a ZX distributor so don't know exactly how the six pointed wheel generates the pulse, but the module won't trigger unless it gets the voltage pulse from the magnetic coil. There is probably a test for the it in one of the ZX FSMs, Electrical section. I've seen several broken magnets on ZX distributors in the wrecking yards. Typically, there is also play in the rotor, allowing it to touch one of the "points", probably shocking the magnet assemblyand breaking it (my WA guess). Here is a link to a picture of what I'm talking about - http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/search/Ignition+Pickup!s!Stator/C0417/C0334.oap?year=1982&make=Nissan&model=280ZX&vi=1209350&keyword=ignition+pickup!s!stator If it doesn't work, just search ignition pickup stator on one of the auto parts store sites, for a 1982 280Zx.

The adjustments are to the clutch linkage. After it's adjusted correctly, the hydraulics are self-adjusting at the master cylinder and will take up disc wear, which is a tiny distance anyway.

You bought it from gentle old Mrs Chin in 1999, never drove it and now are selling it? How much did you pay for it in 1999? Tack on your expected investment gain and ask for that. Don't forget to share the proceeds with Mrs. Chin.

Isn't it likely that the scratches are from a broken ring or ring land? And how did the head crack? It might be warped also. It sounds like you're either planning ahead or trying to decide how much the whole thing is going to cost you. A replacement head, or welding and machining on the one you have to fix the crack, plus a new piston or two, and rings, and other rebuild parts could get expensive. Might be cheaper to find a used L28 without major problems and either rebuild it or just run it. They're out there. Just an alternative perspective.

Have you measured fuel pressure? The PO might have installed a low pressure system for the carbs. Check your TPS for the smoke, it might be mis-adjusted. Better yet, you should sit down at the ECU connector with an ohm-meter and the FSM, and check all of the circuits for proper resistance. That will tell you a lot about the state of your re-installation and whether all of the wires are still connected properly. It won't take that long and you'll know a lot more when you're done. The PO would not have needed to rewire the fuel pump circuit since 78 uses fuel pressure and alternator to check if the engine is running, but might have done it anyway. It's not supposed to run all the time when tyhe key is on, only when the engine is running.

The fins are great for transferring heat from hot to cold. In the engine bay, hot is the engine and cold is the fuel rail. The fins will result in hotter fuel not colder. Just something to think about.

What did you do with the original wire from that alternator post? It's still hot, the other end is just not connected to what it should be. If you've replaced it with the new wire, you might as well disconnect it before it shorts out.

I don't know the details of 1970 240Z wiring, but if you're reading 16 volts off of the alternator then it is working. I'm with EScanlon's last comment, the problem is with your regulator. You should change the regulator, not the alternator. If the wiring is stock, and it worked before, just leave the wiring alone and replace the regulator. The pictures in your first post are borrowed from a different post, right? That's not your wiring? Edit -totally missed all of the relevant facts in Post #3. Never mind.

I got new retainers with the one 76 wheel cylinder I bought a couple of years ago. Try the wrecking yards and the Craigslist parts cars. Most old wheel cylinders are shot anyway so someone would probably be glad to get a few dollars for a piece of scrap metal and old rubber. Try O'Reilly auto to see cross-compatibility. Pull up the part for 76 then click the Compatibility tab.

The clicking sound was probably a relay turning off as the oil pressure dropped when the engine RPM got too low. The "standard starter clicking" sounds a lot like the "standard dead battery". You should provide more information like - how far away is "just"? In other words, had you been driving it for weeks, days or hours before it died and won't restart? By won't turn over, you mean the engine does not rotate? (People get crank, turn over, start, etc. mixed up all the time). That would be a low battery, most likely, if it was running recently. Was the Charge light in the voltmeter on before it died? The first thing you might do is charge up the battery, make sure you have clean battery terminals, and see if it will turn over. It might start right up. Of course, make sure that you have gas in the tank also. It doesn't sound like a problem that needs a professional mechanic.

If it is a low pedal from too much travel on the rear shows, it might be fixed by setting and releasing the parking brake multiple times. Each pull ratchets the shoes a little wider, if it's working right. Worth a shot, if you don't want to take things apart again, plus it's a good test of the mechanism. And it will tell you how loose the back shoes are. If the shoes are loose, the lever will come way up. When they get close to proper tightness, it will only come up a couple of inches.

Interesting. I looked at the wring diagram in the Emissions section (EC-16) and it looks like the relay supplies power to the ignition module when the key is on. Maybe it's a dual function relay. I don't really understand Nissan's relay drawings though, it shows the ign. module circuit as closed and the EGR solenoid as open, but both are on the water temperature switch control circuit. Maybe it disables the advance circuit n the automatic transmission module when the engine gets hot, and they just forgot to describe it in the FSM. It looks redundant. Is there actually a wire there in a manual transmission model, or is it only shown in the FSM? Re your second paragraph - yes, that's what I meant. You can save a lot of money, but you lose the use of the second pickup coil.

Essentially, but you left out the dwell control function. I think that Nissan calls it "duty cycle". When they went to the computer controlled timing they also transferred dwell control to the computer. That's why you can replace the big bulky 260Z and 280Z Nissan ignition module with the small GM HEI module, which also does dwell control, as long as you don't need the pickup coil switching function. $25 instead of $300+ (for a 1976 module at O'Reilly Auto). The 75-77 (maybe the 74 260Z too) manual transmission cars also had a water temperature controlled second pickup coil in the distributor, usage controlled by the ignition module.

280 could include the 280ZX. They went to computer controlled timing with the 280ZXes that came with the Electronic Concentrated Engine Control System (ECCS ) (I think it was for turbos only but could be wrong) and the Crank Angle Sensor (CAS).

Good points about the master cylinder. Did the fluid level ever drop to the bottom of the reservoir during bleeding? That could have introduced a bubble in the master cylinder. You have to keep the fluid level off the bottom of the reservoir during the whole process, once you start. Also, apparently, the master cylinder seals can be damaged by the bleeding process if they run over crud at the bottom of the bore. But if they pump up, it's more likely air n the system. The brake light in the dash turns on because of the pressure imbalance between front and back. It's a warning light that something's wrong. Pumping the brakes balances the pressure. Good luck, brakes can be time-consuming to get right.

Are you sure the fronts are good? How can you tell that they're perfect if the pedal goes to the floor? Did you do any work on them while you were working on the backs? The rear brakes can be weak for a while until the shoes get seated in the drums. You might have weak back brakes because they're new, with air in the front calipers causing the pump-up problem.