Zed Head

What year is the car? They changed a few things over the years. The post on the door jam is adjustable. Maybe yours is loose and has moved inward, or somebody moved it in the past. I re-adjusted mine and found that you can get a variety of closing actions depending on where that post is set.

FastWoman described the pressure switch and alternator pump control. Those are both bypassed during starting though, powering the pump directly. On my 76 when the AFM contact stopped working, the engine would start, run for about three seconds, then die. It would do that over and over. With a low battery the alternator powered relay may not be getting enough juice to keep the fuel pump operating. And a dry engine may not be generating pressure right away even with the switch intact. Collecting all of the facts, if it were mine, I would get a good, charged battery in there, pull the small vacuum line that feeds the AC control bottle (the tiny nipple on top of the intake manifold), and squirt some starting fluid in to the manifold. Ideally, you would have a friend either running the can of fluid or the key, and just keep the engine running long enough to get things moving. If that didn't work, I would probably short the fuel pump relay to keep the fuel pump on. Actually I would probably do that first, just to take the fuel pump control out of the picture. That's a little more involved though. This leaving and coming back to the problem really kills the flow, just on the internet. Must be way worse trying to do it on the car.

I think that his muffler shop created the abomination in the first post. Some of his other posts imply that he doesn't have many good shops to go to. He's in a tough spot.

Actually, I've done a lot of driveshaft (propeller shaft) Googling and not seen that. There is an early short propeller shaft, used with the forward mounted diff. Then the longer 240Z shaft, same length as the 280Z shaft, with replaceable u-joints. Then the 280Z shaft with staked in, non-replaceable u-joints. There is a problem with the side "drive shafts" (not the center propeller shaft) being too long on one side, if you convert to an R200 diff. That problem is described here and there. And the diffs themselves have an annoying growling noise, independent of u-joints or wheel bearings. Could be the bearings though, but they can be checked. How long have you had the car and what have you done to it? BUT, back to your direct question - if you have the forward mounted rear diff, then you have to use the short propeller shaft or remount the diff to the later rearward position to use the 280Z length shaft. Do you have the early diff position? You did not give the year of your car.

I've never heard this at all. Can you give a source for that information? Wheel bearings and u-joints don't really make the same noise when they fail. U-joints get clunky during gear shifts, and can cause a vibration. Wheel bearings, at least the rear ones with big ball bearings, tend to get loose before making lots of noise, allowing the wheel to move side-to-side and up and down and clunk a little bit, I believe. You can jack the back up and lift and tug on the wheel to test the wheel bearings. Crawl underneath and visually examine and pry on the u-joints. There should be zero play.

Disconnect the muffler entirely and see what happens. It will be loud but you should be able to tell if it's down on power.

After seeing some pictures of filter insides, there is a lot of room to pack the same filter media are in to a smaller volume. You'd have to cut one open and look though, to know if that's what WIX did. Seems like a good idea if they did it right.

MythBusters: Duct Tape Hour : Videos : Discovery Channel Funny though that, apparently, the right name is "duck tape". Duct tape is actually thick metal foil with, usually, a high temperature adhesive. Duct tape - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Duct tape - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

At least there was a fuse.

Sounds like a banjo bolt. There should be a ring-shaped fitting on the end of the line. Fluid flows through the bolt, out of the hole, through the ring and in to the line. Study the fitting at the end of the line and it should make sense. Both sides of the ring fitting seal, one side on the bolt head and the other side on the transmission, or wherever the fluid is.

It has to sell to take the title.

Here's one that's cheaper - Relay Fuel Injection 75-77: Engine Z - Electrical & Tune Up - 15097-NEE - Z Specialties Online Store - If we don't have it in stock, we can get it! But they almost never go bad. It's usually something else. There's a procedure in the FSM, maybe the Fuel Injection Guide, for testing the relay with a meter. Much cheaper path to take.

Here's a good reference on the electrical switch - Ignition Switch 70-83 (Electrical): 280 ZX 79-83 #4 - Electrical 4 - Misc Electrical 4 - 20098-EPBE - Z Specialties Online Store - If we don't have it in stock, we can get it!

The charger shouldn't cause any more leakage than the alternator in the car. The alternator can put out 60 amps if it needs to. Subtract out electrical load and you're still probably around 45-50 amps at normal driving speed, but only if the battery is discharged. Most chargers are in the 4 - 5 amp range I think. The voltages are about the same also, maybe higher for some alternator systems.

I think that it might just be the altitude switch circuit. It leans out the mixture when air pressure gets below a certain point. So they are interchangeable you just lose that function and run a little rich and dirty when you're in the mountains. I took a look around for the switch and came across an atlanticz page that I didn't even know existed. The switch and a blow-up view are shown. Not sure where is is in the FSM. http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/explodedviews/280z/

Just curious, but do you remember the brand of head gasket?

Saw this Cardone page from Rockauto and thought it was interesting. Resoldering and a test, and some identified common wear components replaced. Wonder what they are. Product Detail

That's a bummer. I can't remember if you said the engine had ever overheated but you might consider having another head ready to swap on. Depending on how many miles are on the current head and the odds of warpage. My leaking head didn't show any signs of combustion chamber leakage but is about .007" bent. Bowed up in the middle, but it leaked on the end. Retorquing won't crack the head, they're actually pretty flexible. The odds are probably against it fixing the leak though. I would just check the torque on each bolt to see if you had some loose ones that might explain the leak. Start with a low number and work up to spec. Good to know anyway, for future work. Maybe you had an older style gasket that was supposed to be retorqued after a few miles and wasn't, allowing a leak to develop.

I kind of remember reading some recent posts about new external regulators that had problems. Incorrect wiring, I believe. And you didn't confirm that you don't have an internally regulated alternator combined with the external regulator. I seem to recall that you get either no regulation or no charging when you do that. The fact that your lights blow if you give it gas can really only be too much voltage. Each light bulb is just a small resistor that can handle 12-14 volts all day long. But will overheat if the voltage gets too high. You need to have the VR checked, not the alternator, or both. Confirm that they're both good and that the alternator is for external regulator usage. Or just go ahead and convert to the internal regulator. Since the external VR's appear to be iffy, that would be the safest route. No use fixing the lights problem until you get voltage under control.

Might be worthwhile to disable your air bags. The bigger the company, the smaller the soul, it seems. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/business/air-bag-flaw-long-known-led-to-recalls.html http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchSafetyIssues

Kind of typical, except for the paint. 1976 280z

There's enough here to make a nice car - 2 z cars 1 running 1 not That's Milwaukie, Oregon, not Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Wish I had extra cash and extra space.

The ZX ignition module has current control technology to reduce current flow when the coil gets close to saturation. So it will probably be fine to use any coil except those that have very low primary resistance like the most modern coils used with ECU timing control. They have low low primary resistance and can burn things up, including the module itself. Ideally, especially if you want to take advantage of the technology and run the .040" spark plug gap that the ZX's and 1978 280Z use, you would use a coil that can take the higher current and generate the higher spark energy. I don't know if the low current 240Z coils can do that, someone who's comfortable looking at inductances and windngs ratios and calculating outputs could probably say. So if you stick with stock 240Z you should probably stick to the .034" plug gap to avoid misfires. I would just use a coil designed for electronic ignition that has a primary resistance in the ballpark. The Crane PS20 is there, and proven, and you can't go wrong using a coil designed for the system, the parts store stock unit. Basically build the system like Nissan intended, set the plug gaps to the ZX spec. and go. Note that I'm not an electronics expert. And that all of my musings led to "set it up like stock".

Sorry, I guess it is the guy. Here's a link to page 1. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/99357-my-dream-ls7gtzproject-underway/ Wrong (I don't think that's the same car. Mikelly is in Virgina and used to have a small block chevy in his car. It had problems with excessive crankcase pressure and he decided to go with the LS engine. ) The Hit the Wall guy is in Georiga and started with an LS. On chevy engines - kind of funny, but not unexpected, that the writer for Importtunner calls the LS engine a "big block". Looks like they know each other though - Post 989 - http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/63250-mike-kellys-zcar-project/page-50

Your dealer might be able to get the bolts. BOLT-FLYWH :: Nissan Parts, NISMO and Nissan Accessories - Courtesyparts.com I had some bolts and old lug nuts in the garage. The flywheel bolt is the same thread as a lug nut. 12mm x 1.25.