Captain Obvious

Yes, but I'm not sure it would work for what you want to use it for. The blue "L" wire off the internally regulated alternators does exactly what you want (goes hot after the alternator spins up through bootstrap), but I'm not sure how heavy of a load you can hang there before you start messing with the regulation. And if you hang too light of a load there, you'll get a voltage reading whether the engine is running or not because you'll pull current through the charge lamp. Interesting question... I'll give this a little more thought and see if I got an inclusive answer.

I'm guessing that since you're wondering where you can purchase the part in the middle, that's not a picture of your car, right? I'm still not sure what part you're looking for, and here's why... The parts in that pic are not connected properly. The part in the middle is supposed to be connected to the part in the lower right and between the two of them, they comprise the "throttle opener system" that reduces emissions under very high manifold conditions. You see the unused hose nipple in the lower right? That's supposed to be connected to the part in the center. I don't know where the black tube leading off the right side of the picture is going, but it's not where it's supposed to be going. None of the parts in that pic are supposed to have anything to do with air conditioning at all. But all that aside.... What you're looking for is the device that increases the idle speed a little when you turn the A/C on, right?

I think you might be mixing up terminology a little on this and I'm not sure what it is you're looking for. There are two devices that open the throttle on a 240Z: One they call the throttle opener, and it's part of the emissions control system designed to pull the throttle open a little when the manifold vacuum gets very high like coasting down a big hill. This device has absolutely nothing to do with the air conditioning. The other is what they call the FICD (Fast Idle Control Device) that pulls the throttle open a little when the A/C compressor is running to compensate for the additional load that compressor puts on the engine when it's engaged. Of those two, I suspect you're looking for the FICD? Can you take a pic of what you're looking for?

You might be able to unscrew the zerk fitting from your old tie rod end. I'd still pursue getting a new one that was supposed to be in the box, but reusing our old one might get you out of a jam temporarily.

I used to be able to get away with stuff like that. Now I get "the look". :ogre:

Well you have to plug that hole with something so you don't get road grit and water up in that hole messing with your grease. But if you really wanted to, after your done adding whatever grease you want, you could remove the zerk again and plug the hole with a regular bolt. But it does have to be plugged with something. And... What the heck? Is it time for everyone in Canada to replace their tie rod ends? :laugh:

To expand a little on the above... The fuel injection system does not act independently of the ignition system, and yes, it depends on an electrical trigger signal from the ignition system. However that electrical trigger does not come directly from the distributor, but in fact comes from the output side of the stock ignition module which (just like points would do) pulls one side of the coil primary to ground through an open collector transistor. The fuel injector controller squirts fuel on every third ignition pulse that it sees. So... Unless you're dramatically changing the dwell so much that it confuses the fuel injection controller, or doing something like multiple spark discharges that might be counted duplicate by the injection controller, then it probably wouldn't matter. I'm worried that I'm not explaining myself well here... Does any of that make sense? :bulb:

I found that the two ends were different sizes... The tank end is very close to 3/8, but the fuel pump inlet is larger than that. Maybe even 5/8 or so? I bought some 7/16 fuel line and some 3/8 and I made a couple adapters to change sizes, but in the end, I changed my mind and didn't do it that way. Just as was suggested earlier, I found some 3/8 hose that was large enough to stretch over the fuel pump inlet even though it's not the "right" size. Interestingly though, when I started messing with mine, my PO had done the same thing, but HIS 3/8 tubing was obviously overtaxed by the process and had started to lose integrity because it was stretched beyond it's limits. Point is... Not all 3/8 fuel tubing is the same and you may have to shop around a little to find a manufacturer that works on both ends of this application.

Yummy!! That's a great pic!

It is not meant to be no-maintenance. There should have been a zerk fitting in a little baggie in the box with the tie-rod end. The zerk fitting they supply has a taper start thread that cuts it's own threads as you twist it into the hole. I found they go in easier if you use a shallow socket on a nut-driver and apply some force to push the fitting towards the hole as you twist it. I had the same questions as you about adding additional grease, and I decided that I would add some. I put in a little bit until I just barely saw the boot move. Maybe two pumps per side? Maybe just one?

Awesome. Glad it's coming back together! I'm surprised you got a spray bar. Aren't you running an internally oiled cam?

Sounds like fuel starvation. Are you running the original 260 carbs (often referred to as "Flat Tops" because of the shape)? Because if so, as Mark mentioned, they include a sight glass in the sides of the carb bodies that you can use to verify that the carbs are getting fuel.

black gold man, funny you posted that pic. I was watching a show last night called "Brew Dogs" and they were in vegas trying to brew the most expensive beer ever (with local help from Tenaya Creek Brewery). The show wasn't good enough to keep me coming back to watch other episodes, but there were some fun spots. Anyway, that place with the bronze butts was on that show as well. Also mentioned in that show was Joseph James Brewing Company in Henderson which sounds nice. hr369 , Thanks for the info on the yards. And I'll keep your advice about getting the parts home in mind!

Thanks again all. Keep the suggestions coming!

Awesome. Thanks for the input. We're staying at one of the big hotels on the strip. My wife is out there for business and I'm just tagging along to carry her bags. So during the days, she'll be tied up and I should have some time to explore the stuff that she wouldn't be interested in. Evenings will probably be work related social gatherings and I expect there will be some shows as part of that. The cubic dollars thing is typical. I'd love to do the heli-tour of the canyon, but I don't think I've got $400 to drop on that. If I did, I'd probably be taking some laps in a Ferrari.

I'm headed to Vegas next week for a couple days. Never been there before and I'm looking for suggestions. Anything Z related there that I have to do while I'm out there? I'm flying both ways, so it's not like I can carry a hood home with me, but are there good junkyards in the area that I could peruse while I'm there? I'm so used to seeing nothing but new cars in the yards around me because everything else rusts to death. Anyone here local to the Vegas area? I've started a list and here's some of things I'd like to try to find time to do: Grand Canyon Hoover Dam Banger Brewing (Found lots of "brewpubs", but this one seems like beer is primary and gambling is secondary) Tenaya Creek Brewery (same as above) Las Vegas' Block 16 Oldenburg Flashlight at University of Nevada UNLV Solar Site Yucca Mountain Science Center Las Vegas Natural History Museum The Auto Collections at the Quad Casino Springs Preserve Nevada Test Site History Center National Atomic Testing Museum Red Rock Canyon The neon museum Anyone want to help sponsor me at Dream Racing ?

Thanks all for the suggestions on alternative ideas to making my own captive washer systems. zKars, Those Phillips head bolts you linked to look great and I've got no problem with having a flat washer in addition to the lock. On the contrary, that would have been nice. Unfortunately, however, for the 300ZX I really wanted socket head because of Nissan's stupid design of the intake plenum partially eclipsing the injectors and their mounting screws. On the 300ZX it's impossible to get a straight on shot at some of the fuel injector screws and with a ball ended hex key driver you can deal with more misalignment with the socket head than you can with a Phillips screwdriver. However... Since I've traded my 300 for a 280, it's unlikely I'll have to do that again. And the screws you found look like they would work great for the 280Z because you could skip the screwdriver completely and just use a socket on it instead. You don't have that option on the 300ZX.

The ZX pics are 2 volts/div vertical and 5 ms/div horizontal. That means the ZX output is about 12v p-p with a period of about 15 ms. If I'm doing the math right, that's about 1300 RPM engine speed, so you're seeing an output just a little above idle? For the Z pic I didn't record any of the scales, but I used the same drill and I wanted to get enough cycles on the screen to get a full conveyance of what the output really looked like. Also, it's not a storage scope, so I cranked the intensity up and between that and the little persistence natural in the phosphor I was able to get the shots. In other words, a faster horizontal access is easier for me to get a good pic, and I probably had the drill nearly full bore in both shots. The point is... The horizontal axis is probably the same between both versions, but I really can't be sure about the vertical scale. Looking at the design however, I would expect the ZX pickup to give a higher output at the same RPM, and I also expect it to be more accurate because manufacturing tolerances between teeth would average out and there should be less jitter between cylinders.

I got some new pics. Here's the ZX distributor spinning the correct (as used) direction: And here's the ZX distributor spinning backwards(as used). You can clearly see the asymmetry caused by the shape of the reluctor. Someone way smarter than me would be able to explain why that difference is so much more pronounced in one direction that the other. Probably has to do with all that black magic like flux density and the hysteresis of the B-H curve. However, since it's spinning the wrong direction, it's purely academic. Here's the pic: Here's the wire polarity I used for the ZX dizzy. I didn't research how it's really used in the ignition system, but for these pics I used red a positive and green as negative: And I dug back through my pics and found this pic of when I did the Z distributor. For those pics I just arbitrarily connected wires and at that time I used green for positive and red for negative. That's why the polarities are different between my Z and ZX pics.

An impact wrench on the adjuster nut might also help knock the eccentric loose. Put the lock bolt back through and the adjuster plate that mates with the hex and then try an impact on the adjuster nut on the plate? Or maybe an impact wrench right on the hex portion of the eccentric? Just make sure you don't crack the eccentric (yet). You could also maybe try putting the lock bolt back through backwards and using an impact chisel on the head of the bolt to see if you can push the eccentric through. Lube everything first. Or weld a piece of thick rod or bar to the big washer end of the eccentric and use that as a handle to try to turn or knock the eccentric from the big end? Good luck with the inevitable battle!

Haha! That is is my friend! At least my 02 HL only has two of them in the rear. I'm not sure which is better... Having those, or having no camber adjustment at all. Well getting the centre lock bolt out is the first hurdle and getting one of the plates off the end is the next. Problem with heat is that the eccentric tube is all the way down in the middle and is surrounded by the rubber bushing. If you're going to use any heat, you need to get it on the eccentric and not simply heat the outside of the control arm. You can blast propane down the center hole left open after removal of the lock bolt, and your idea about water getting the temp down quickly is probably faster than Freon blast. You might follow the water up with some Freon to sub-cool the eccentric below the temp that the water would achieve? The slide hammer idea is a good one. If you can get that sleeve to move at all, I think you'll be able to get it out completely. I tried turning the hex part of the sleeve until there was no more hex part, and I tried pounding it through until there was nothing but a bloody mushroomed stump remaining. I finally ended up prying the ears on the undercarriage apart enough to get in there with a reciprocating saw and cut the control arm out (just like the Z spindle pins). I knew something wouldn't survive, so I had to concentrate the sawing on the control arm to salvage the undercarriage ears. Not knowing how it really went together was part of the challenge. That and frustration of course. Now knowing how it works, another suggestion is to drill out the eccentric. You need a drill bit with an OD the same or just slightly smaller than the OD of the eccentric. And you don't have to go all the way through, just deep enough to get beyond the holes in the receiving ear flanges of the undercarriage. That way you can pull the control arm off the car and deal with the rest of the eccentric still left in the hole on the bench instead of on the car. If you can get the arm off the car, you can use a hydraulic press to get any remaining stub of that eccentric out of the bushing. And failing that, you might be able to find a replacement bushing without having to replace the entire arm? If there isn't enough room to swing a drill, you might be able to use a dremel? Or a hacksaw down through the eccentric to collapse it on itself (just like some people do with the Z bushings). Another last ditch idea would be to first determine that you can get replacement bushings without (without having to buy an entire control arm) and if so, you can use hotter heat (oxy-acet) on the eccentric. The rubber of the bushing would be destroyed, but the additional heat may make it possible to get the eccentric to move. I feel for ya!!!

Woof. Highlander maybe? I ended up having to replace a control arm because of that. The usual... penetrating oil. judicious use of heat. Pound first on the cheap parts, etc. You got the lock bolt completely out of the center already right? Can you get the one side eccentric washer off (the one that fits over the hex part of the sleeve you posted)? If you give up and have to do the whole arm, one little piece of good news is that the new control arm comes with the bushing installed already. At least on the Highlander. I looked a lot for a decent Toyota forum and finaly ended up here > Toyota Nation Forum. I'm only there for the Highlander, but if that's what you're working on, I'll recognize you there (or maybe you'll figure me out over there first).

That's nice work. You'd have to know what you're looking for to catch that.

Haha! It's like bricking a camel.

Last time I messed with that I bought stainless socket head cap screws and modified them to include captive lock washers. Was not a fun project and I'm not sure I'd do it again. I went through that trouble because it was on my 300ZX and the screws go in almost vertical. The washers are almost guaranteed to fall off the screws if they aren't captive. So question is... Anyone have a source for SHCS like that which have captive lock washers so you don't run the risk of dropping washers down into the bowels of the intake/exhaust manifolds by accident? Stainless would be preferred, but a good chromate coat would be good enough.