Zed Head

I'm guessing that you're not very confident in how the fuel system is supposed to work on your car. There should be no gas leaks at all in the engine bay. If things are right, you won't even smell gas. The "intake bolts", whichever ones you are thinking of, wouldn't really having anything to do with "getting enough gas to the head". "Idle adjustment" is usually controlled by air flow and shouldn't cause leaking gasoline (although I don't know SUs so maybe they do). Like FastWoman says, I think that you are close to burning your car up. Once a gas fire starts, it's hard to put out, especially if the puddle of gas is under the car. How long have you had the car and how long have the SUs been on it. If someone put SUs on it and kept the original high pressure fuel pump, you could easily get a river of gas and other problems.

$150 is a good price. The Oregon junk yards are charging $160 and you have to pull it yourself. And 70k is very low miles. Maybe you should buy the engine too.

The swap itself should be easy. There is a lots of information spread around the internet, Google will find many, so will the search function on this site. If you have an early 260, then read the 240Z swaps, late, read the 280Z threads. Junkyards and Craigslist are your best options for finding one. Any 5 speed from 1978 to 1983 will bolt in easily. I believe that the 5 speed was also an option for 1977. If you get in to the clutch, getting a new pressure plate, you might have to spend a little time being sure that you have the right combination of pressure plate height and throwout collar. If you get a clutch kit you should be okay, since the clutch fork pivot ball is in the same relative position on the later transmissions. I don't know what 1974 had for transmission switches, but it's possible that you'll lose a top gear switch also. You might want to check your 4 speed transmission switches to see what you have and decide if you want to keep them. The FSM will describe what they do, probably in the Emissions section. The reverse switch should be there on all of them. These are just generalities. I've only done a 1978 5 speed in to a 1976 280Z myself.

Too bad we can't just open the horse's mouth... http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/horse.htm

You should find the yellow S wire as Blue suggested and see if it also reads battery voltage. If it doesn't see the loads on the system including the battery, the alternator will just crank out as much voltage as it can. If you still have the external regulator I think that you can just unplug it and measure from the yellow wire connection in the plug to ground. If you have an internally regulated, you'll need to measure at the "T" plug. And as FastWoman suggested, the over-voltage might damage some components. I am fairly certain that my alternator took out my ignition module when it went bad.

Everything that I've read implies that the number means very little. I've never seen a table or reference that you could use to find out if the number tells you anything about the transmission..

There's a diagram in the FSM that indicates you are right. The two nuts go between the fork and the slave cylinder, as a locked set.

Here is a link for the Factory Service Manuals, plus some useful tips - http://www.xenons30.com/reference.html Bear, maybe - bare?, not today. (Obscure Post #1 reference, couldn't resist).

I would check the Body Electrical section first - http://www.xenons30.com/reference.html Your year should be in here since your screen name has "240" in it.

It should be okay. Datsun went to one inlet to the FPR in 1978, and modified the fuel rail to fit. The fuel will flow through your rail, hit the FPR and flow through the FPR when the pressure builds up high enough to push the valve off of its seat. It would more likely be a flow imbalance. The FPR valve doesn't care where the flow comes from it just opens at a certain pressure. If you wanted one less fitting, you could get a 1978 FPR. It will bolt up in the same spot but only has two ports, instead of three.

You don't need the T before the fuel rail. If you're using the stock regulator, you could T after the rail, or block one port. If you T before the rail, you could get a pressure imbalance between the two lines. And fuel could sit in the rail, heating up, while the main flow went through the other side of the T. It might not be a huge deal but if you T after the rail you'll ensure that all fuel passes through the rail on it's way around and back to the gas tank. Doesn't the 78 FPR have just one inlet line anyway. Maybe you're using an aftermarket FPR?

Can't tell what you mean by "turn over." Do you mean the starter will not engage the flywheel and rotate the crankshaft? Or that the crankshaft turns but the engine does not start? Do you hear any clicking noises? And do you hear the fuel pump running when you turn the key to start? These would be clues to what things aren't happening that should be. Also, what is an Air Intake module?

Pretty sure it's 8 mm metric, but 5/16" works fine. 5"16" EFI hose, 5/16" barbs.

It's a tight fit but you can reach some pliers or your hand up there and turn the rod out by hand,without disassembling anyhting. I had forgotten but my lock nut and master cylinder rod did the same thing last year (similar to what FastWoman described). I thought my slave cylinder had gone bad (again). With 30+ years of wear on the linkage and the combination of aftermarket parts, my master cylinder rod is adjusted out as far as it will go before running out of threads in the clevis (the u-shaped thing). Edit - I should add though, that my clutch disengages with the pedal nice and high. I don't need more adjustment. For the record.

Loosen locknut, turn rod with pliers, make rod longer. Two inches is a lot of adjustment though, you might have something else wrong.

It would depend on how well you understand fuel injection. There are no bolt on and go systems available, as far as I have heard. They all take some planning before buying parts, and some expertise in engine tuning after everything's bolted together. On your car, assuming its the stock carbed engine, everything from fuel lines to the gas tank, fuel lines to the engine, fuel pump, cylinder head, and intake manifold would need some modification, or replacement. All to work with whatever engine management system you decide to use, to control the firing of the injectors. The more common way to get fuel injection in to a 240Z is to swap in a complete 280Z engine and wiring harness, with ECU.

You can buy degrees of completion ranging from a bill of materials to be assembled yourself, up to essentially complete boards and wiring harnesses. I'm sure you've seen this company's site but I'll post it for the record - http://www.diyautotune.com/ They seem to be the most established for Megasquirt, although there are others out there.

Here is a recent post from zcar.com along those lines. Tony D has posted on this forum in the past. Most of the Megasquirt threads you see are for turbo or modified applications, so a straight AFM/ECU to MegaSquirt comparison is hard to find. Reply #4 has the relevant comments - http://www.zcar.com/70-83_tech_discussion_forum/micro_squirt_qestion_899882.0.html

I did miss the injector comment. I wonder where MSA gets their injectors. I bought my FPR from a local guy on Craigslist, brand new. An Aeromotive 13301 universal adjustable unit. As for the comment about why they leak down, I sent Aeromotive an e-mail about it and Brett Clow of Aeromotive replied back that they knew about it and it had been discussed. He said that they were planning to put a new FAQ on their web page with the following text (plus a little more) - "The stock EFI regulator was engineered with a mandate to hold fuel pressure for 30-minutes after engine shut-down. This is an government regulation with which new car manufacturers must comply. Unfortunately, the mechanism used to hold fuel pressure when the engine is off, has a derogatory affect on a high-flow, adjustable regulator’s ability to create and control fuel pressure when the engine is on. Aeromotive places fuel system performance when the engine is running, particularly running under high load, at the top of the priority board. Anything, such as a checking mechanism in the regulator valve, which compromises fuel flow and pressure control under high-load engine operation, is therefore eliminated. We believe this no-compromise approach to fuel system performance is one of the reasons Aeromotive fuel pressure regulators are universally preferred by enthusiasts and racing professionals alike, around the world." He said they would also add some text to the instructions about the pressure leak-down. I just checked their web page and don't see it yet, even though on the 24th of March, 2011 he said it would be up in a few days. It's one of those things that marketing people would hate so maybe it got quashed, or maybe they're just very busy.

When I got new injectors my hot start problem went away. But it came back months later a few times after some long drives in the summer. Then, after replacing my FPR with an Aeromotive unit (because my stock one went bad), it has gone away for good, I think because the Aeromotive FPRs leak down rapidly. The downside is that if I don't prime the fuel lines with a switch on my fuel pump circuit, it takes a lot longer to start, especially when cold. Aeromotive says that the leak-down is part of the high-flow design, but I think that it's a flaw. I bought the relatively inexpensive BWD injectors. I think that they sealed well when new but probably leak occasionally when hot, after they got some wear and heat. With the Aeromotive FPR that doesn't hold pressure without flow, no more leaking injectors, no more hot start problem. But every start requires a prime. I will probably go with more expensive injectors and a better FPR in the future now that I know what know. I'm not suggesting buying an FPR that doesn't hold pressure, just adding some perspective. I would guess that new factory injectors probably won't leak like the aftermarket ones do. Or maybe a better, modern injector design. My 95 Pathfinder doesn't leak down, even after weeks of sitting, and it has 200,000+ miles on original injectors. If you wanted to experiment, you might put some sort of manual bypass valve around the FPR to the return line and depressurize the lines immediately to see if leaky injectors is the source of the problem.

I've seen a similar tool but it doesn't plot the numbers. Is that one available on the web? There is something odd about your attached picture though. Maybe you didn't redraw after putting in new numbers. 3rd gear plots the same line but 4th gear doesn't even though the values are the same for 3rd and 4th, between the two transmissions. Anyway, I wouldn't mind a link to the site if you have it.

You can take an ohm-meter and see if the wire is a redundant ground (like some relays have extra grounds). Check continuity from the body of the switch to the wire stub. If the stub is not connected to the body then your fix won't work. Maybe you could lay a drop of solder from the ire stub to the body or stake a tiny screw in to the remaining copper wire of the stub to make contact. I had the same problem but had enough wire left to fix it. Eventually I stopped using the extra pickup coil though, that's how I know about the momentary low idle. The whole concept is kind of an engineering band-aid to keep the idle up while the engine gets warm. Kind of strange really.

Can't tell which of your cars you're talking about. But... Federal models 1976, and I believe 75 and 77, have another temperature switch that "tells" the ignition module to use the other pickup coil in the distributor when the engine is cold. The extra pickup is set with an extra 6 degrees of timing advance. The ignition modules have a separate circuit just for the extra pickup coil. It went away in 1978. Any ground from that wire should work as long as the switch closes when cold. It actually affects cold running, not just the start. Disconnected is like having a warm engine. If you leave it disconnected your idle will be a little low in the time between when the AAR closes after you start a cold engine and the engine gets fully warmed up. It's been proposed (can't remember who it was) that you could put your own hand-operated switch in the circuit to give a manual 6 degree timing control.

grantf, you've made some serious progress from your original "change spark plugs, get injectors cleaned" post, one month and a few days ago. Not bad, I don't think I moved that fast after I got mine. Congratulations. You'll be on to Megasquirt soon, I can tell.

I might go check it out just to see what a decent-shape old 240Z looks like. All I've really seen so far are worn-out 280Zs and ZXs. The seller hasn't done anything outrageous, except leaving himself out as the 2nd owner, now fixed. Maybe he's legit.