Zed Head

The 77 came with an R200. If the 83 did also, they will look identical. The 83 might have CV shafts, which will pop out. The 77 R200 has stub axles, which will pop out and pop right into the 83 diff, if it's an R200. The back diff mount will need removing from the 83 so that the mustache bar can be bolted on. If the 83 has an R180, then more work will be involved. I would get the FSMs for 77 and 83 and look through the Prop and Diff sections to see what you have and how the parts fit. Edit - just noticed the T. If it's a turbo then it should be an R200, I believe. It should be an easy bolt-in swap. The 83 might be a Limited Slip Differential also, which would be nice (I don't know if all 83 turbos came with an LSD or not).

I think that there might be a window of time where the WTS gets extra hot while the heat is equilibrating. That might be why the problem only occurs at ~15 -20 minutes after shut-down. Before then, the hot spot hasn't reached the WTS, after then, the heat has spread. The water temperature gauge is right next to it and shows as very hot whenever the problem occurs. You're right, it could be that the entire engine has extra heat and it doesn't matter where the WTS is. But the exhaust manifold is right next to the housing and has lots of mass and no cooling. It's a theory, just needs more data. Wish I had more equipment. I did see in the FSM that Nissan explains the ZX cooling fans purpose as for cooling the fuel in the injectors and the fuel hoses. Which implies that they identified hot injectors and fuel as a problem. Maybe it would pay to put a timer on the fuel pump... Anything but the giant fan and air manifold hanging over the engine. You should have a small water line running from the thermostat housing through an aluminum block under the AAR and then back down to a T in the return line from the heater core, by the water pump. It gets the AAR up to water temperature sooner, I assume, since it sits on the intake manifold, which would be cooled by flowing air while the engine is running. Still haven't figured out how people live in Canada. Seems like one winter would be enough. No offense!

The CSV only gets power when the Start circuit is active. Measuring fuel pressure is not difficult and you'll save yourself a lot of time by just getting the gauge and doing it. But, on the other hand, looking at all of the stuff that's not the problem is pretty educational. If you had a CTS issue it would be manifested after starting also. Good luck.

I interpreted "sensor" as CSV, not thermotime switch. It's a thermal switch, not so much a sensor. Oops. I was just messing with a CVS last night, with an ohm-meter and a heat gun. It went from ~ 64 ohms cold, to open circuit hot. The resistance is from a heating element in the switch, like the same in the AAR. Most AARs measure ~ 60 ohms also. The switch is designed to get hot when the starter circuit is active so that you don't flood a cold engine. There's not much to it, the CSV solenoid does not need a lot of current to move. Testing requires a pressure gauge between the rail and the filter. Measure pressure, start the engine, then monitor pressure after shutting the engine off, and right before attempting to start. The regulators do get old and the seats don't seal. I have a few in my garage that regulate fine but don't hold pressure.

You might be losing fuel pressure when the pump is off. Could be the FPR or the check valve in the fuel pump. The cold start valve is probably fine. You can check it's operation by jumping the connector pins with a nine volt battery. That's a fine line between 55 and 58, and that spec is for the thermotime switch. Which could also be bad or have a bad connection. Current for the CSV runs through the thermotime switch. I would check fuel pressure first. At 55 degrees the engine should still stat pretty easily. Mine does, since I got an FPR that holds pressure, and I do not have a CSV.

Good luck! It's a tiny hole and getting the tiny screw in to it requires making your hands tiny to squeeze in to the tiny space available. But before you loosen anything up: if you can turn the reset knob around rapidly and get good movement from the numbers, its probably set correctly. If you give the knob a quick twist and the numbers don't keep up, it's probably out.

It's been proposed that having the intake side port slightly smaller than the head port provides some anti-reversion benefits. Keeps the charge from coming back out of the hole. From what I've read, the real restriction to flow is inside the head, so it might not offer any benefits. Lots of good reading over on Hybridz.org. Look for BRAAP's postings. It's not really clear what you're showing in your picture (to me anyway). How did you determine that there was a mismatch?

It's just my attempt to reason out where the extra heat comes from. When the engine is running and water is flowing, the heat is transferred to the water to the radiator to the air flowing by. When you turn off the engine, everything close to the water is at the temperature shown on the gauge. So where does the extra heat come from? It must be a large mass that is hotter than the water, since it is conducting in to everything around it. Anyway, that's my reasoning, plus the fact that Nissan put some effort in to moving the sensor. I wish one of the Nissan engineers would write his memoirs and expose the secrets from inside the company. My new goose chase is to T in an auxiliary electric water pump on the AAR pad heating line. This will move hot water from the T stat housing to the lower intake hose. Bimmers, Audis, VWs, even the odd Dodge Durango have them. But, similar to some Z things, no one is really sure why they are there. By the way, I had another hot start issue today, and twisting that potentiometer knob did the trick again. The reasoning may be off but the results are real. This should be a solvable problem...

Captain, I also pondered a switch, or moving the WTS (aka CTS), along with some other possibilities, but realized that I didn't know anything yet, hence the Radio Shack quick kludge. So for ~$4 and some time I learned something. Putting it out here so, maybe, someone else can generate some results or at least stop the aggravation for a while. The WTS theory could be rejected or supported by anyone with a P79 head, with a working CHTS instead of WTS. The CHTS shouldn't feel the residual heat of the exhaust manifold on the other side of the engine. I also have an F54/P79 engine in the garage that might get installed eventually. Good luck to all that suffer with it. I have an extra WTS that I might install somewhere else (maybe in a core plug to a water passage or that drain plug on the block) and switch in to the circuit. It's my rolling Nissan EFI theory laboratory.

The stock tach uses the blue wire from coil negative. Won't that one work? Not sure what you mean by "pulsed negative". Why do you think that pin 4 would work?

Almost as good - http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsunS30/DatsunZIndex/Body260Z280Z/2Seater/DoorMouldingFinisherArmRestMirror/tabid/1794/Default.aspx

Have you had the cable off of the back of the odometer before? It's possible to tighten the tiny screw down enough to make the odometer work sometimes, but without the screw actually being seated in the tiny hole. I had a similar problem,where I couldn't reset the odometer, it just slipped. Once I got the screw seated correctly, it worked fine.

My car's had the hot start stumbling problem more often recently so I decided to try something. In my case, the problem seems like a lean condition, based on the intake backfires and the lack of gasoline smell or smoke in the exhaust. I also noticed that if the temperature gauge went higher than usual, like up to the middle of the M, that the problem was likely to happen. So I bought a 5 kohm Audio Taper Potentiometer and spliced it in to the water temperature circuit as a rheostat (two wires connected, one left open). Mounted it by the hood release handle in the cabin so that I could tune it when needed. It's basically the part behind the volume knob on an amplifier. The linear taper potentiometer changed resistance too fast (I had my ohm-meter in the Radio Shack store). It can only be used to add resistance so will only add more fuel. When the engine is running normally, I can't turn the knob, increasing the resistance, at all without the RPM dropping as the injectors stay open longer. But today I had two "hot start" cases where turning it stopped the stumbling and smoothed the running. I still had to wait about 15 seconds before I could take off, but it seemed to clear up faster, probably because the water pump was pumping more water, cooling the WTS down to true engine temperature. Plus, at least it was running well, instead of jerking and popping. My current theory is that the WTS overheats due to residual heat from the exhaust manifold (the only engine part that doesn't really get cooled by the radiator coolant) indicating a hotter engine, needing less gas. This may be why Nissan moved the sensor to the other side of the head on the P79 head. It's just a guess. Maybe the injectors also get hot or maybe it's just hot injectors and adding fuel still helps. Who knows. It really seems to work though. It's worth a shot if anyone else wants to try it.

You might explain to him that he already has electronic ignition. Maybe he thinks that he has a 240Z, which came with points. The "lite" in Unilite mean optical I believe. Unilite - optical, Crane XR3000 - optical, Nissan 1975 280Z, variable reluctor. All three are electronic. They'll all do the job, but not together. You'll still have to disconnect the factory unit, since it will still be running current through the coil if you don't.

Your customer does not know what he's asking, I think. But, of course, he's right. If you don't unplug the factory module, the circuit doesn't break and you won't get spark. Just unplug it, it is a branch off of the blue wire. The ECU and the tach need the blue wire to be connected to the coil - terminal. No, the module is in the passenger kick panel area. You should download the FSM and read the Electrical section. The factory ballast has two resistive circuits, one low for starting and one high for running. If you just have two then you'll need to run the starting circuit and the running circuit both to one side and the output to the coil + from the other end. The smoke means that the resistor is getting hot because there's a short on the coil side, which might mean that the module wire is not corrected properly. The module is the "breaker" part of the spark circuit. Sounds like your circuit is always "made".

Stop using the Haynes manual and get the Factory Service Manual. It's free -http://xenons30.com/reference.html

The ballast resistor might have connection markings molded in to it. The factory unit does. I don't think that you will see the lower voltage unless current is flowing. You're probably right about the blue wire and the injector pulse. You might be losing spark because you haven't disconnected the factory ignition module. Which brings up the general point of why are you installing a new distributor, with its own ignition module (not sure if all Unilites come with their own module but I think that they do), when the 75 came with its own? Did the old module go bad? Did you unplug it?

Those are the same as my 76 bumpers. As jimbob said, it's the end rubber and rubber shelf in the middle that's hard to find, in good shape. The bumpers themselves are pretty durable. I notice in your pictures that the front bumper is dented and the rubber is gone. Did you toss the rubber or just not show it?

How did you solve the door problem? Don't know what year car you have but ZSpecialties is having a sale on some bits and they also carry others - http://www.datsunstore.com/product_info.php/pName/door-gasket-top-7678-right/osCsid/3e544089f9a7e83cea9e4b6ff4660701

The replies above are based on the engine work, but for an old 240Z, the body might be more important. Search "buying a 240Z" here or on Google and you'll find lots of tips to avoid buying a rusted out shell. The rusty areas tend to be hidden and hard to find, and can cost a lot of money to fix. Interior and wiring and glass, etc. can all add up. Just another perspective. Depends on how much hurry you're in to be driving and how fast you can learn, on which car you get. You didn't say if the one with an engine is running or not either. Plus, the fastest way to more power for a 240Z is to put a 280Z or ZX engine in. Search and read, there are a lot of good stories out there.

May be a sign of the times, but I'm sure that last summer I Googled around to see what a flywheel cost, to compare to having one resurfaced. I found several sources at about $55 refurbished, including a local shop, Mike's Auto Parts. But now nothing comes up. Maybe the common source for rebuilt Z flywheels has shut down. All that comes up now is expensive Fidanza flywheels, at ridiculous prices. Hoard those old flywheels, they might be getting melted down, as we read.

I may be wrong but I think that any L engine flywheel will bolt to the crankshaft of an L24. I've seen them for sale (can't remember where though), I'm surprised that your shop couldn't locate one. You might consider finding a donor car with a manual and all of the other parts that you'll need for the conversion.

Interesting, but the links don't work. "Server not found" message.

I'm not really sure, I never tested mine, it was actually a spare that I was checking out. I installed it, started it up cold, drove about a mile then it died and it wouldn't start and run without choking and dying again. I swapped the original back in and put the bad one on the shelf. Here is the thread by Z Train - http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?36903-280Z-ZX-ECM-tech&highlight=rich It looks like the pictures have expired though so a little tougher to see what he was talking about.

Probably still come out smaller and neater than an MSD box (no offense to MSD users).