ll77

I've got bad news again, I've been noticing some hiccups, like as if the engine shuts off for a split second then comes back to life, kind of like how my heart skips a beat when it happens. Then last week it's started doing the "runs like crap for a few minutes on 2nd start-up" thing, then returns back to normal. Both symptoms lead me to think that the AFM is taking a dump on me. Couldn't be happening at a worse time, midterms are this week! My question is, what kind of problems could running a 78 AFM + ECU on a 76 cause, if any? The only explanation for why the 76 AFM I bought doesn't work with my car, is if the PO swapped the AFM and ECU for a 78 setup, which has the same ECU # of A11-600-000, but different AFM models. So now I'm thinking about getting a 76 ECU, considering they come pretty cheaply sometimes on hybridz. Good idea, you think?

Hello once again, I have been ill lately, turned out to be a case of acid reflux. It is also finally that time for me to fill college applications again, so it's going to be a busy month. So last week, I prepared for the rain by putting my cowl back on, throwing the new wipers on, giving her the whole Rain-x treatment. I took off my PCV, it was very schticky. I sprayed it off w/ CRC electrical contact cleaner for fear of there being plastic in there. It worked beautifully. No noticeable difference though. Then it was time for dinner. I've been turning the big issue over in my head lately, which is that she won't pass smog due to an incredible excess of CO emissions, HC and NOx are very well within limits. With that being said, I don't understand how I could be running lean, but making such amounts of CO. CO is produced in combustion situations deprived of oxygen. If I am running lean, that means my air>fuel, which should provide plenty O2 for for combustion. I have a theory that involves my VERY advanced valve timing: When the piston is at the end of the exhaust stroke, the exhaust valve closes, the intake valve opens and allows spent exhaust into the manifold (?), and the oxygen-poor exhaust gases recirculate into the cylinders at the intake stroke, resulting in a low-oxygen situation in compression and power strokes, resulting in excess CO. This could also cause my low-vacuum situation. A neighbor suggested I advance my ignition timing to compensate, but ignition timing is irrelevant to valve timing in this regard, because no matter how much I crank up my ignition advance, I will only be further from timing both according to "crank timing," because that is really the central timing event, valve and ignition timing should both be accommodating the piston cycles. I remember waaay back, I used to think it was because of my exhaust leak, but now knowing that I have no O2 sensor, no. But I really don't know. Gotta give me credit for trying. Still don't know why it's lean though. I'd appreciate some thoughts, thank you.

Oh :stupid: I was convinced it was supposed to screw into the block for some reason. Thanks. I might not be missing it after all then. :embarrass: Yeah definitely not. I can see how it really would be a massive vacuum leak if I were missing the valve. But I see it haha. I'm so embarrassed.

Hey guys, just got a PCV valve from autozone today, but the fitment doesn't make sense. I initially thought I could just stick it in the hose and that would be it, but I see there are threads on the valve, so that can't be right. But there are no threads on the blue plastic fitting sticking out of the block. I really don't know what's going on. How can the valve possibly seal up if it can't thread to the block? If I just stick it in there, the vacuum is still going to leak past the hex pattern on the valve, the fitting is circular. I'm stumped. And I hope it's ok that I just keep posting in this thread and not make new threads for every question I have. I think that's better, less clutter yeah?

Zed Head: Well, I popped off the hose coming from the intake to the block, and I understand the PCV is supposed to be plugged in at the block. What I felt was a plastic-feeling pipe coming off the side of the block, I didn't feel anything like a PCV valve in it. Now, if I was supposed to remove the pipe-fitting from the block to find the PCV, I didn't do that, but it really felt pretty damn stuck. I checked the hose, I pressed around on it, nothing. So I presumed the PO took it off for some reason. :stupid: FastWoman: They're not huge leaks, just one small rip that I found. I'll hope that the RTV sealed it, and I'll try the test again when I get new boots. And that cigarette smoke test, I'm hoping to try that soon. That should yield some good results, right? :paranoid:

No, it isn't oily. It's crusty, definitely splashed onto the backside of the cover a one point. Very strange. I'll clean it, probably spray it with some contact cleaner. Ehh, I'm hesitant on ordering the boot by itself. I'm a bit neurotic about saving money on shipping see, and I have a lot of things I want to order. I am neurotically frugal , my parents taught me well. I'm running a bit low on funds right now, but I'm waiting on news from my local Goodyear tire shop, my neighbor is in with the manager there, and he's waiting on some official business to happen before he hires me, then I'm officially a tire man! Oh yes, news worth mentioning: a HybridZ man told me my lack of a PCV valve could be causing my lean condition, as the intake would be constantly drawing in unmetered air from the crankcase via the vacuum it produces. Less fuel would be injected than required, leading in a lean condition. Makes sense to me. This could also be causing my low vacuum, yes? I'm off to Autozone to pick up a cheapy PCV soon then, hopefully that'll make a difference. Ok off to bed now, very tired. :sleepy: I wouldn't be getting anywhere without my forum peeps, thanks!

Another update, I slapped on the AFM once again, and it worked. It stayed running. Maybe the connection was loose yesterday, despite the fact that I had unplugged and replugged numerous times. But now a new problem arises. She ran horribly with it on! Inconsistent power, bucking, missing real badly. I messed with the timing to no avail. Vacuum did not improve one bit. This is supposedly the correct AFM (#A31-000-050), matched up to ECU# A11-600-000. I put the mismatched one back on, she liked it a lot more. How freaking strange. What in the world is going on? In both cases, I am in fact lean, as you called it FastWoman. Oh yes, and on Tuesday my friend will bring a yogurt cup for me to class, so I'll be able to try the yogurt cup test (although it will be with the ripped-ish boots). And as far as I can tell with my timing light, my advance is working. I've gotta be honest with you guys, I'm getting really tired of my EFI.

Ok, all the multimeter tests as described in the FSM check out. As far as I can tell, the results are identical to my mismatched one. Hmmm.. Edit: Ahhh, I see what you're talking about now. The switch has 2 contacts located at the base of the connector. They are the 2 left most contacts, yes? So at the "on" position, these 2 contacts are closed, when there is no air passing through, the arm disconnects these 2 contacts; they are "open." Ok, I get it now. And yes, the contacts do close when the arm doesn't touch the contact. Also I checked resistance between all kinds of contacts under the cover, resistance is identical to my other one. Seems to be a good functioning air flow meter. Oh yes, another thing worth mentioning, the glue blobs are intact. So in the end, the only thing that don't sit right with the new AFM is the turquoise stuff. I can tell it was liquid at one point, it looks to have pooled up at the bottom of the cover. Now how the hell did liquid get in there?

Oh, yes the first thing I did was push the flap in, it opened an closed real smooth, but I'll run through the multimeter tests today. One difference I noted (probably not a big deal) is that the new, "correct" one has what I believe is a circular valve of some sort on the flap, to open up for frontfire perhaps. I'm sorry, I'm afraid I've never been too great at electricity. When you say the contact is closed, does that mean the contacts are not touching? I have cracked open the cover, and the switch is intact, and compared to the other AFM, nothing looks off about it. Also, Zed Head, are you saying that upon start up, the contacts touch but the switch is bypassed, then when the key is in "on" the contacts don't touch? If so, I have manually kept the contacts from touching because my reasoning was that once they touch, the fuel pump stops, but same deal. Oh yes, something possibly worth mentioning, there's all this turquoise-green crap under the cover where the connector is. Looks a bit like old battery acid, but turquoise. It's even on the cover, looks like it's splashed on, only in the general area of the connector. Strange. I'll update you guys w/ multimeter test results when I can, thanks.

Hello once again. The "correct" AFM came in today, but I fit it on, and now she won't run. Starts up fine, then sputters and dies in a few seconds. I've seen a thread that describes this exact problem after changing AFMs, but I've spent the past 4 hours looking, and I swear I couldn't find it if my life depended on it. I was thinking that other things had been used to compensate, so I messed around with the ignition timing, the idle speed screw and even manually pushed the AFM counterweight around, none of these helped. The guy I bought it off of said it ran real swell on his car (another 76 280z), and he seems like a legit kind of guy. What else should I try? Oh yes, and my car ran the same way it did this morning, it only acted this way after the switch. I didn't mess with anything else today other than the AFM. Please help, if there has ever been a time I've needed help, it is now! Thank you!

Yes, I am really looking forward to its arrival! And I got it at a great price off a HybridZ fellow. I have heard something of teflon tape, but since the old gauge didn't have any, I didn't think it was necessary. I thought perhaps it was mostly for water plumbing situations. Now that fitting is on so freaking tight, I'm probably going to have a hell of a time taking it off and putting some on. Sucks! And yeah I thought of taking it apart too, but it seems I'll have to figure out some way to pry the front plastic covering off. It's got a metal shroud around it and it seems to be pressed on. I'm afraid if I take it off, it'll never fit like it does now. This gauge stuff is getting on my nerves! Oh well, it'll be fun to find out how it works. Keep you posted!

Fuel prssure reading is here! I put on a stock ignition coil today (replaced an MSD that came on the car, I heard it could cause misfires). I put on the gauge with an elbow fitting, and it leaked gas from the fitting. I did get a reading (maybe it was lowered because of the leak?), 30 psi at idle, ~36 revving. That's normal right? I then took the gauge off and tried to tighten it onto the fitting more, and the white gauge face on the inside bent. I've tightened to the point where I can't possibly tighten anymore without a vice. I even rounded the fitting a bit. But now it won't twist on because the gauge is in the way of me twisting it onto the T on the feed line, but I think this reading will suffice, right? I think I'll just take my time on the gauge for now, unless you guys need another reading. I've replaced the vacuum lines, and I soldered my injector pigtails on, but I haven't been very productive on my car lately. I'm still waiting on the AFM, which should arrive any day now. More updates soon.

My gauge finally came in today, and I bought the proper fittings for it (although it will be a bit awkward). I'm really swamped with homework right now, school started last week. But I'll probably have time to put it on over the weekend. Or I might wait until the AFM comes in, which should be really soon. We'll see. I'll definitely keep posting! I am still very determined!

Thank you! It is appreciated, I have the same problem. It kind of works in my favor though, since my gas gauge is off and it only happens when it's low on gas haha.

Hmm, I thought that was just because the rpms jump up with more fuel (to an extent) b/c the misfire is much less noticeable when I crank up the idle, I run at around 1000 rpms @ idle usually. You can tell I need a tachometer. Today, I decided (finally) that I wouldn't put up with the leaky valve cover anymore, I replaced the gasket which was ripped through in 4 different places, and I don't know if this means much, but when I started it, it seemed to idle a little higher, about 1400 instead of the usual 1200. Maybe I fixed a couple vacuum leaks at the VC and this was caused by my compensations. But sometimes, the idle will increase and decrease randomly, I may need a new BCCD. I didn't hook up the vac gauge because it was already a bit dark to read it. I check that soon, maybe when my FP gauge comes in. I refilled my leaky trans today, and I lost a pen-tip sized plastic cap from the oil bottle. I thought I may have dropped it in the trans filler hole, but I drove around up to reasonable rpms and I didn't hear any kind of odd noise from the trans, to I must have lost it on the ground. That gave me a good scare. I found out the function of the fuel damper, and I figure I must need a new one. I've noticed a waaaooowaaooooowaaooo noise, almost like muffled radio noises from the back of the car when still, at speed the exhaust drowns it out. I knew that if it happened at a standstill it couldn't be suspension or drivetrain, so I've been suspecting a fuel component for a while. It also only happens when I'm low on gas. The other day I browsed the FI sticky, and the damper is the fuel pump muffler! How interesting. What's kind of cool is that it functions as a kind of fuel level warning. And it's not a big problem, just kind of creepy sometimes haha. See, I'm learning!

Ok I went to the hardware store today and they gave me a plumbing thread lesson. BSP is based on the metric system, but most hardware stores and auto supply stores don't carry anything metric, only standard "SAE" sizes like National pipe thread (NPT, sometimes referred to as MPT, male pipe thread). So my best bet is to go with an NPT threaded gauge. I've ordered this: http://www.toolorbit.com/Interstate-Pneumatics/IP-G2022-060.html and once it comes in, I'll need to get a 1/4 to 1/8 elbow adapter, and it'll twist right on. Stay tuned for updates! Also, I changed a couple of vacuum lines today, and I hooked up a spark tester between each of the plugs and wires. I hear what sounds like a misfire, but the tester confirmed that all 6 plugs were firing normally. So that rules out ignition problems, except for advance. I found a couple connectors to clean, Then I had to go to some birthday thing. My new Bosch injector connectors just came in, the ones I have are all green. Too much to do, not enough time. Updates very soon, I promise!

I really like my fuel pressure reliever, it a very simple piece that is perfectly functional. I took an old 12 volt wall outlet plug-in with 2 wires bound together, for something like an old radio, speakers, etc. and I cut off the outlet part and the connector, and I separated the 2 wires at only the ends, then I stripped the insulation off the 4 ends. Twist up the metal wires at each of the 4 ends and presto, I had jumper cables with tiny leads for the battery to the cold start valve. Just remove the battery cables from the terminals and stick one end's wires between the cables and terminal posts (one wire, one terminal of course). Have the wire snug against the metal of the cable and terminal post, use the other end's leads to supply power to the cold start valve. Hold for about 15 secs, I do 20 for good measure, and you'll be able to feel that there is much more slack in the fuel lines. Pressure relieved. Then I open the gas tank cap to release the back pressure. Make sure you reconnect the cold start valve when youre done. Make sure you DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING METAL W/ THE WIRE TO THE + TERMINAL, scary sparks will fly (I have first-hand experience). Mine had a white strip along one wire, that is the one I use for the positive terminal. You could use paint or white out to mark one wire so that you can tell them apart by the ends. They're pretty long, so that you can take them anywhere in the engine bay and provide anything with 12V from the battery. I guess you can do this with any kind of old wire really, as long as you can make leads small enough to fit into places and not short the battery. I notice my car starts right up with a higher idle right after, I guess because there is excess fuel in the manifold. Better than using a towel. Less messy, more professional (although I am by no means a professional). Good luck!

There's nothing I can do conveniently to fit the gauge on. The problem is the gauge, it's some weird thread that isn't described anywhere on the box or instructions. I don't know my plumbing sizes very well, but I found a 1/8 something nut that would fit on to the gauge, but absolutely nothing else, no adapters, no couplers, nothing. Same deal at the hardware stores. It is an equus 7234 gauge that I bought at Oreilly. Every other oil/fuel pressure gauge they had were of the same size fitting. So I think I'll buy this off ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/50mm-0-60-PSI-Pressure-Gauge-Base-Entry-AIR-AND-OIL-/360386925415?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e8bc1367 edit: I'd get the one with the fitting at the rear, but pretty much the same gauge. @FastWoman, is this similar to your gauge? This one is from Hong Kong. The fitting is in British Standard Pipe, I'm wondering if this is the same as "metric" if so, I saw some metric adapters this morning that might work with it. or another option would be to order a fitting online that works for the gauge I have right now. I like the one on Ebay more since the scale is bigger and 0-60psi (mine is 0-100), so I can get more accurate readings from it. But I'm worried that it would be even harder to find fittings than the one I have now. Thoughts please?

Huh that's strange, I posted a couple hours ago.. Today, I exhausted my final hardware resource and I decided I'd build a fitting with a couple adapters and couplers at Oreilly's. It'll be a bit more pricey, but I don't want to wait for shipping, lest you guys think I'm flaky haha. They only had one 1/4 T and a limited selection of barbed 5/16 fittings, so I put a nipple on the T, then a coupler, then the barbed fitting. Still have to figure out the gauge fitting. They closed down before I could finish, I'll go back tomorrow and fit it on. I'll definitely have a fuel pressure for you guys tomorrow! Ok, that gives me another thing to do. Thanks, I'll try the advance when I get around to it. To do: get fuel pressure change all vacuum lines still waiting on AFM+boots try out my new in-line spark tester crack open dizzy yogurt cup test (after my parts deal is sorted out) Thanks for all the tips guys! Much appreciated!

Compression test was OK, IIRC ~160 psi on all cylinders. Valves were freshly adjusted myself, I did it cold w/ the cold specs off AtlanticZ. It is a 76, it does have a converter, and I guess it could be plugged, the PO gave it to me and I had the shop boys weld it on for me to try to pass smog (it failed anyways). I do have a new cat on my shopping list though. Today, my quest continues to try to fit my gauge on the line. After today, I'll have no choice but to order and wait for this http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EAR-961701ERL/ then I'll shop for barbs to fit in for the lines.

Problem is fitting the new gauge on. I have a test fuel gauge, but it only goes up to 10 psi. Ignition timing is to spec, 10 BTDC. Advance, I have not yet checked.. I've read I need a mityvac?

But wouldn't that mean no CSV? I would like to leave the gauge on the car, like how it is right now with the gauge between the filter and rail.

So here's how my day went- I went to 3 different auto supply stores and 2 hardware stores, no one had anything for me. It's crazy, it seems like such a simple piece, but I can't find anything around here. I asked them for a barbed T that would fit my gauge, nothing. I looked to see if I could make a piece with a T and some adapters, nothing. Most Ts were too big to fit my gauge. I tried to find an adapter to hook it up to my current T, nothing. So I tried to get a gauge with a larger threaded fitting, all were the same except an air tank press. gauge, which would have threaded on to my current fitting perfectly! This is so frustrating, I can't believe I just spent a whole day trying to get a gauge on! I think I'll just shop online for a solution tonight. This sucks! I have no PCV valve, so I must be passing lots of vacuum through the fitting when I pull the cap. I have heard of the yogurt cup test, I just didn't know exactly what it was, just that it involved a yogurt cup haha. So I blow like pshhh, wheeze, pshh, wheeze, pshh wheeze, etc? Thanks for writing it up for me. And lucky for me, I have plenty of auto tech friends that smoke, so I'll get one of them to do it for me. And I found my flasher units today! Thanks, I'll post when there's anything new!

Again, I come home for lunch empty handed. Local hardware stores couldn't help me with the fitting, nor kragen. I will continue my quest after I eat. On another note, I took off the oil cap while it was running and I immediately noticed the difference, and it was a big one. So no giant vacuum leaks then.

Great, thanks for the info! I get to work on her more before school starts next week then, great! Gauge and vac lines will definitely go in tomorrow!