mn91

Thanks for all of the help guys! I played with the car again on my free time and i started it with the distributor like how it was on m last pic and i hard a weird metal to metal clapping noise... I think my cam is so advanced that there is piston to valve interference. so i stopped it and turn my cylinder by hand and couldn't hear/feel anything.. maybe i wasn't turning it fast enough? I need to fix my cam timing and i hope i did not do to much damage to the valves.. can my valves be badly damage even if im just advanced a tooth? Crossing my finger it's just the timing chain tensioner making that noise! To jeff G: yes i did make sure that it was at TDC before i pulled the head. And no i did the head gasket and the timing chain so that's a brand new chain. I also got my head shaved and new valve seals since the head was already off.. and i'll pull the distributor and take a picture this weekend. With work and school, All i have is the weekend to play with her. :/ And I want to thank everybody for the help! I really appreciate it.

^^^^This is what my timing is at. Can anyone verify if it's correct? ^^^^ This is where my my distributor timing was at when it wouldn't start. ^^^^ This is what I had to turn my distributor to for my car to actually start! so how bad is my ignition timing? Am i off a teeth? and what do you guys think about my mechanical timing? thanks

Thank you for all the replies. I'll troubleshoot it some more this weekend and report back to this thread.

Also I got a new battery. What's the Recommended cranking amp? I Feel like she's a little slow on the cranking when I try to start her up

No loud clanking sound here. Just a car that will not start!

http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/timing/mechtime.html The cam marked was centered like in the pictures. Both lobes were facing like that in the pictures also. Timing mark was at zero and piston at TDC like the picture. The only thing that looked different was my distributor. I looked on my cap to see where my #1 spark plug was suppose to be at and that's how i set it. Before putting in the oil pump i made sure that the wedge shape mark was aligned with the dot. Putting it while trying to keep it align still without moving it was a bit difficult so i might have moved it in the process, but since the distributor was pointing at 1 where my #1 spark plug was on the cap i didn't think i made a mistake there. After doing all that i was wondering if i had to use a timing light to retime everything again, even though it was already time before i pulled the head. Also i forgot when installing the timing chain to make sure all of the light links were lined up with the mark on the cam sprocket and the crank. But i didn't think that was an issue because i assumed that was only there to help line up the timing mark on the sprocket and the plate easier. Is that going to be an issue?

No back fires. It will keep cranking but no start. sometimes it will barely want to start but that would only last for like a second. I'm getting spark at #1 spark plug. and I'm getting fuel from my cold start also.

Replaced my head gasket with a friend that has done it before on his 240z. I have a 76 280z. after everything was put back together it would not start. My question is do I have to redo the ignition timing? I already timed it with the oil pump and the rotor was facing the #1 on the cap. And my engine was also at tdc. Do I have to use a timing light and retime the distributor even though it was already timed before I pulled everything out? thank you

Thanks zed head, the antenna with the magnet at the end is an excellent idea and iill look for one. and i'll try again with the sprocket and get back with you guys. but i'm pretty sure i lost my tension so i guess i just have to take off the entire front cover..

I was doing the head gasket on my 76 280z. I had wedge the timing tensioner with a wooden block i made and when I popped off the cam sprocket i realized that my wedge was to long so the sprocket would just sit on the wedge I made and I could not take it off. so i decided to put the sprocket back on to trim the wedge some more and it wouldn't go back on. I used a screw driver to pry it up some but it just would not go up no matter how much force i put into it! so i thought damn i think I lost the tension.. I asked my cousin to help me put it back on and he dropped the washer down the timing area and into the block.. Now what? how can i get it out and what is my next step to tackle this headache of a head gasket job? is there a link to a similar problem because i've tried searching and came up with nothing! Any help is greatly appreciated. thank you

nice guide! i've been following it step by step but i'm stuck on what the head bolt sequence should be when i put the head back on?

Ok I checked the cold start valve for leakage and it doesn't seem to be leaking. I even squeezed the fuel line to it trying to force it to leak out gas but it did not. So i took off my afm boot connected to the throttle body and tried reaching under there to see if it's wet with fuel. It was wet but it was almost like a mixture of oil and fuel. My plugs were wet again after sitting for 20 hrs. I disconnected the pcv valve to see if i could find any form of fuel and it was the same substance that was in the throttle body.. Now i am really stumped because if my cold start valve isn't leaking then what is? Anybody had similar symptoms it would be much appreciated. thank you

Well I already checked all the sensors from the pin down by the ecu by the efi bible standards and it all checked out. I also cleaned all the sensors connection that affects the efi. that's why I want to blame the cold start or injectors since my plugs wreaked of them but only if I leave it sitting for some time. Thanks for the response grantf. I have family living in Seattle. It's a beautiful place to live even though it was raining half the time I was up there .

So I pulled my plugs today after my car has been sitting for about 4 days and my spark plugs were all wet and smelled like fuel. About a week ago, after a drive, I inspected all 6 injectors (even though I didn't know what I was looking for) and to me they all looked good and I couldn't tell if it was leaking or not. It did not seem like it was to me atleast, but what would I know. I understand that it's most likely the cold start valve then all 6 injectors are leaking, but when I unplugged the connection to the cold start valve it caused hard starting in the mornings.. If it's leaking shouldn't it be easy start anyway's? And spark plugs 3-6 are fouled out.. but if every single plug is wet with oil why wouldn't 1 and 2 get fouled..? I'm very confused on this, my car is a 1976 280z with efi and it has been getting about 10-13 mpg. I checked all the pins on the ecu with fsm and it all checked out good.

Thank you blue I checked by bringing up the atlanticz tech tips and it all looks good. So the high resistance is not a problem since the wiper is returning like it should? or is it still something abnormal...