Zed Head

My wiper motor needs the full 14.8 volts from a running engine and turning alternator to work correctly. The blades will stick like yours on just battery power. You might try starting the engine and revving it up a little to at least get the wipers back to their resting spot. In the long run, you'll probably need to do more but it might get you by for while.

If it eventually works after several tries then you probably have the wires connected correctly. It sounds like a bad battery or starter connection. Or, if the car was down for a while during the swap you might have a weak battery.

TIG, MIG, 6011, high-strength stainless-based rod, and/or splatter-guard? An opportunity to learn something new. Congratulations on fixing a major show-stopper.

A fuel pressure check would be cheap assurance that your fuel pressure is good and constant, before you start replacing parts. I have heard that you can borrow them from the local auto parts stores for free. You said it dies at idle so you should be able to watch the gauge as it dies. It's always good to know what you have before you start guessing at what you don't have. You can spend a lot of money replacing perfectly good parts, not to mention the time. An overheating fuel pump or fuel pump relay fits the symptoms, for example. Doesn't care what the engine is doing, just keeps pumping fuel, so would fit the 5 minute factor.

That's what my 76 did when I got it and the AFM was bad. Replacing it fixed it. But there is quite a bit of thought around about how to tell if your AFM is bad or not. If you give it full throttle will it go smoothly? At full throttle the ECU gives full enrichment and the AFM has less effect. Is your timing set correctly? You could also check the breaker plate in your distributor to make sure it's not bound up. Is the Z a manual transmission?

You might measure your fuel pressure while the engine is running. If it drops steadily before the engine dies you have a fuel supply problem. If it stays up, around 30 psi, but dies anyway, you probably have an electrical, ignition, or fuel enrichment problem.

Then check the splice where it joins up with the other headlight ground. Maybe you have resistance on your ground path. Did you check resistance on the ground wire from the plug? The fusebox is visible from driver's seat looking over at the passenger side kick panel. In front of the door. Check Post #2 here - http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=41621

I almost posted similar information but wasn't sure the 280Z plates would work on a 240. I put 1978 strut assemblies on my 1976 car and found that 1978 cylinders are in the $20 range, while 1976 cylinders are in the $60 range. The 78s are dual piston while the 76s are single piston with a sliding cylinder for adjustment. Less machining cost on the on the dual piston I assume. Those prices are Oreilly Auto. MSA is even higher. Looks like the 240 cylinders are up in the 80s at MSA.

If the dim light doesn't change when going from high to low then SteveJ's clue here looks promising. The headlights share a common ground. The bright light might be grounding through the dim light to a short on the other side of the dim light. You probably have a "partial" short (high resistance short circuit) in the area of the fuse box. I would crawl up under the dash by the fuse box with a volt/ohm meter and do some investigating at the headlight circuits.

Compare it to your 240's. The R200 is bigger and rounded on the bottom, vs. the squarish look of the R180. If you search this forum for "R200" and "R180" you'll probably find some pictures also. It's probably an R200 unless the car started life as an automatic.

That would be an odd coincidence. I would check to see if anything else doesn't work, radio, headlights, brake lights, etc. Or just go direct to your fusible links. You might have one blown. The Body Electrical chapter should have the wiring for the buzzer and warning light. Each chapter usually has a nice small wiring diagram for the topic, easier to use than trying to follow the big "whole car" diagram.

The 1978 FSM is well-copied, in to chapters, and easy to get through, if you want to dig a little deeper on your own - http://www.xenons30.com/reference.html

I agree, I mentioned it mainly for his own future reference so that when he goes to the parts store for an alternator he can ask for the right one. I was also going to mention that the external regulator can put out up to 15.6 volts, adjusted correctly, depending on the temperature according to the FSM. They are kind of an odd mechanical device. I was already over my word limit though. After looking at FW's diagram in her referenced rely thread, I also realized that he might have just blown the fuse, since the headlights are split and fused left and right. The first thing I would do is check the fuse for that headlight, then check the circuit and headlight. A new headlight shouldn't blow from high amps, before the fuse does.

The 1977 came stock with the external regulator. You could look at the spot where the external regulator should be to see if it's still there and plugged in, if you want to be sure of what charging system you have. The voltmeter in the car is probably not correct. Mine was off by a couple of volts, read 16 instead of 14, until I adjusted it via the screws on the back of the meter. Are you sure that the headlight actually burned out? Maybe you have a poor connection somewhere in the circuit (common problem). You can check the headlight with an ohm-meter to see if the filament is intact, or check the headlight circuit at the plug with a volt-meter (probably easier considering how hard it is to get the headlights out).

You can run the pump on 12 volts from your battery with some spare wire to see if the motor turns freely. Some people run water through them to see if they pump. They will run backward so make sure you get the connections right. Watch out for sparks and gasoline. Does gas pour out of the inlet hose to the fuel pump, the one from the tank? I assume that you have it clamped but that would give an indication of whether or not you have a plugged inlet screen. The screen is inside the tank. Take your clamp off and see how much gas comes out. It should flow freely. If not, the problem might be inside the tank. I have used the pump to drain a gas tank, it doesn't gush out but you should get a steady flow. If gas comes out of the tank, and the pump pumps, then you can move up to the fuel filter in the engine bay to see if it flows. The fuel filter is that really big can in the engine bay that has a fuel line running in to the bottom and one out the top to the fuel rail. Break the problem in to pieces and something will pop out, before you pay for parts. Most pumps for fuel-injection are over $100, although there are some junkyard pumps that work, but would be of unknown quality of course.

The relay just directs electrical power to the pump so if you have power at the pump then the relay appears to be working correctly. Are you sure that the engine dies because the fuel pump has stopped turning? You might have a plugged fuel line or filter or inlet screen. You might also have a problem that is not fuel-related. If you could measure the fuel pressure while it was running, that would tell you if you actually had a fuel problem.

This is what I did when my cutoff switch was "on the edge" with the same thought in mind. It worked until I went to get emissions checked. Then I failed, the idle mixture was too rich. I turned the screw back out and passed, and the idle was okay then because I had done some other tuning and it was more stable. The problem started when I advanced my timing. The engine needed less air to maintain RPM at idle. The first thing I did was to adjust the stop for the contact switch in the AFM. It's a very simple mechanism and you can bend the wire with a pair of pliers or a crescent wrench. I could have just set the timing back but I wanted bend the motor to my will...:mad:

So the dieing problem seems to be related to the poor idle. Fix the idle, you'll probably fix the dieing. Your picture shows the side of your throttle body. If you mean the small hose connected to the port in the center of the picture, that would be a ported vacuum source, maybe to your charcoal canister, or the distributor vacuum advance. What is the open end sitting close to? There is another bigger hose that goes to the charcoal canister. If that is open, you might have a vacuum leak. The fuel relay is clicking because the fuel pump contact switch is opening when the vane in the AFM closes as the rpm drop. Mine has done that in the past before I got things tuned up (1976 model with the same AFM switch). That will go away too if you get the engine to idle right. I think the RPM goes up to 1200 when the fuel pump turns off because the mixture leans out, then the RPM surge, the AFM opens, the switch is made and the pump turns on again. Is it running rich or lean at idle? The thermotime switch only comes in to play during starting. Sorry esmit, maybe you're thinking of the water temperature sensor. I would double-check all of your vacuum hoses kjp.

Can't really see a disconnected vacuum hose in your picture. A description of how the engine stalls might give some clues. Does it chug along then die, does it die as soon as you hit the brakes, does it die as soon as press the clutch in, etc.

Points or electronic ignition? Sounds like the car has a different engine in it than stock (electric fuel pump, etc).

Here is one - http://www.zspecialties.com/

Just saw this in the FSM by coincidence.

What happened to the ball? I think that is your pressure relief valve, it comes in to play if your filter gets plugged up and won't flow enough oil. I got curious and looked in the FSM. It says to pry it out with a screwdriver and install the new one by tapping it in. If you had the new one in hand, things might make sense. Page EL-4.

If you had enough backfire pressure in to the intake to blow the hose off of the AFM you might have bent the AFM vane. Datsun put a backfire relief valve in the vane to prevent damage but I would imagine that a big enough backfire might still bend something. See if the vane moves freely, closes all the way, and/or is warped/bent. If you find that the AFM is the problem, doublecheck your firing order and timing before you start it to try to avoid another backfire.

Check your auxiliary air regulator (AAR) for power and operation. It's described in the Engine Fuel section of the FSM. Search the terms on this site and you'll find some recent discussions.