EuroDat

You can test the rail by removing the FPR and doing a flow test. The pump should free flow at least 2litres per minute into a container. I did one last weekend, but I did it after the fuel filter. There is a photo in the thread http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/fuel-injection-s30/51923-weekend-drive-engine-hesitating-then-gave-up-altogether-water-fuel.html That would save you removing the fuel rail. Chas

The snorkel goes back to the engine bay. Could it be to prevent water satuating the filter when driving in a down pour or close behind another vehicle in rainy weather. The efficiency of a filter will reduce considerably when wet. That corner of the engine bay might be the dryest place they could find. Chas

I would go with the body colour. Thats the way it came from the factory and the way everyone expects it to be. I have the same problem as rcb280Z. My engine bay is 305 light metallic blue and the rest is some kind of red the PO painted. It a hassle to do the engine bay, but eventually I do it and the body the same colour. Welcome to the club. Chas

I understand the benifits of an accumulator, but I thought they are used on static pressure systems. Wont an accumulator mess up the effectivness of the FPR, making it less responsive because of the extra volume. The orifice in the FPR is rated to the capacity of the fuel pump.

I still have some in acontainer. If its ethanol it should burn. I could simply do a test with the wood burner in the backyard. Simply pure some on the wood and see if it will burn easily. Ill try that tomorrow evening. If it is ethanol. Im wondering if its from him or the fuel from last year? I tanked by him last week, could it separate in a week? 3 litres seems like a lot to separate in a week.

Zed, Fastwoman, Thanks for the good thoughts on the ethanol mixtures. He doesn't advertise it, but he could be buying it in because its cheaper. I tanked the unleaded 98 which is getting uncommon nowadays. Its a small road side business and I think he is just holding on a little longer before retiring. He is a "White pump" which means he is not lock to any brand and can buy fuel from anyone. Could be dropping his standards to earn a buck. I don't think Ill be buying from him again. There is a boat yard close by. Ill drop in after work and see if they have something to help absorb the water after refreshing the fuel in the tank. Oh Fastwomen. Its defenatly not my kids. My two tenagers, when they finally get out of bed, are only interested in the playstation and battlefield 4, assasians crede, call of duty and black ops bla bla. No wonder they haven't got any time to help me or get a weekend job at the local supermarket or a newspaper run is not on their list of prioities. I think I'm giving them too much pocket money.

I don't think he will give me a straight answer either due to liability issues. He might not even know he has a problem. The ground water here is very high since we are 1metre under sea level. He could have a leaking flange on the undergound tank causing intermittent problems. I doubt it condensation, because of the amount thats in the tank. Still wondering what the best approach is Thinking about draining all the fuel. Fill the tank with 4litres methanol to absorb any water laying on the bottom. Flushing the lines and replace the filter. Next winter stop, drop the tank and get it cleaned. Or drop the tank now and get it cleaned. I don't know of any local firms that can boil it and clean it out.

Hi Bart, You can try my wheels. I have no vibration issues up to 80 mph at least. Don't drive it harder than that. I would drive up next weekend so we can change them for a test run, but Im having a fuel issue problem. See thread http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/fuel-injection-s30/51923-weekend-drive-engine-hesitating-then-gave-up-altogether-water-fuel.html Maybe you could come to me? Chas

Yer, I have a new repro to replace it, but I kinda like it even though its a bit shabby around the edges. Little bit like meLOL

I have no explanation why so much water was in the tank. The fuel station is a probable cause. Ill ask him if he has had others with the same problem. The car still had 1/4 tank of fuel in it from last november when it was last driven and stored for the winter. I filled it last weekend at the fuel station. Im wondering if it could be condensation in the tank over the winter period, but 3litres is a lot. Ive never seen that before. The garage is not heated, but this winter has been very mild and the garage hasn't been lower than 10 degC. Didn't have this problem the winter before and that was a long cold winter here.

Hi all, The weather we have been having here in Europe has been excellent for driving the Zed. Yesterday we were driving around and the engine develop a hesitation. It lasted about 10 seconds at different rev ranges. On the way back home it started getting worse and a couple of km from home it stop all together. I managed to roll of the road to a sort of safe place and opened the hood to have a look. The engine would start or give any sign of life. My wife cranked the engine and I checked for spark. I did, so the problem was something other than ignition. We were not far from home, so I called a friend to tow us home:bulb:. No point trying to fix it there on the side of a buzy road. Today I started checking things in the fuel system. I couldn't smeel any fuel when it stopped, so I expected maybe something with the pump. The pump had good pressure at 3.8Barg (55psig) and flowed into a container at about 2 litres per minute. Dam that wasn't it. Now I was starting to worry about things like ECU and thinking, I hope superlen hurries up with the hellfire ECU. If its that Im stuffed.:paranoid: Just then I looked at the container, I noticed something in the bottom. Water. A bit less than a 1/2 litre in the 2 litres that I pumped out. I then turned my attention to the fuel tank. I drained about 3 litres of water out the drain plug before clean fuel started coming out. There was no gunk or particles in the water so I flushed the fuel lines through to the FPR using the pump. I am amazed the engine even ran with all that water in the system. It just died without warning, no back fire, nothing. Like someone turned the key off. I didn't think water would have that much effect on it and so suddenly. The engine now runs, but I am going to drop the tank and clean it before doing any more driving. Looks like Im up for a new fuel filter after changing the oil and filters last week. The thread title is; Water in fuel, maybe better; Fuel in the waterLOL Here are some photo's of the pressure test and water in the fuel. Chas

Thanks SteveJ, Ill try Nissan first and see what turns up. A bit of topic ,but the second site has some nice Stainless steel straps for the rear axle boots. I think ill order them. Thanks again for the link. Cool repair to the fuse box. That would probably work, but the fusable link require a bit of force getting then in. I wonder if it will hold. Nether seen that stuff here. Im still looking at option here. The straps in the "Straps , wire harness" Straps, Wire Harness section look like the ones used along the front section, in front of the radiator. They are all worn and brittle from the radiator heat. Thanks

Thats a neat collection you have. The 240Z looks a clean and tidy addition. I don't think you could do much better buying one from Joop. Pitty about the hack job on the centre console. Do you know which version of the 5speed you have. The FS5W71B had three versions in the 280Z through to the end of the 280ZX. The most sought after is the one after1981 in the 280ZX. Chas

Thanks Zed, I might try order some different types (Pos 29 & 30) on the list and see what turns up. I have ordered a threw things like this before from Nissan and received a slighly different part from a later model vehicle with a sticker saying "replacing part nr......" If they look similar I can replace all of them with the new type. A bigger challenge will be repro the fusable link base. The back one is in excellent condition, but the front one is partial melted. So I want to replace it. Chas

I have been cleaning all the connections and replacing the rubber seals on the connectors in the engine bay harness. A couple of the ties supporting the harness are damaged and unusable. I have been searching the internet for the original 280Z reusable style cable ties, but they don't seem to be available anymore. They are the ones that secure the harness above the frame rails, both sides of the engine bay. The parts manual doesn't list any part number for them and they are probably NLA. Maybe they were used on later model Nissans. Anyone know if these are still available or maybe some good condition second hand examples? Thanks Chas

Hi Martin, Welcome to the club. If you are like me, you will find it very usefull. The fellow members are friendly and always willing to give advice. Not many of us in Europe with an original european Zed. A lot are imported like yours and mine included. There are a couple of Danish members on the site, but I haven't seen them posting lately. Chas

Nice work. Great research your doing. Both very good alternatives to a leaking check valve. I like the banjo version myself and Mercedes are easy to find here;) You should write this up in the Tech section once your done testing. A lot of people go for a new aftermarket pump, but I prefer trying to keep the original and the work you have done here will help a lot of people do just that. If your handy with silver solder, you could heat the banjo, remove the hose and solder your original piping in the banjo. You would need to re-bend it to match the new angle. Chas

Good to hear the tranny went back in so easy. With a bit of luck your problem will be fix and ready for summer:) Chas

Looking good Captain. How did you go with the o-rings or did a miss a post? Chas

Bart, I thought you had it beat with the wheel runout. It could be something like a blister in the tyre that start to play up at higher speeds. You can try my wheels. I don't have any vibrations up to 80mph. That way you can eliminate the wheels or identify it as a wheel problem. Let me know and we can arrange something. Chas

Its the rubber bump stop. I would assemble it like you have in the photo in post #1. Adjust the ball joint like Captain said and tighten the lock nut. Then you can turn the bump stop by hand until it reaches the lock nut. I don't think the rubber will take much tension, so hand tight will be enough. These bump stops look thicker than the ones I have and have seen. The ball joint section could be shorter to compensate for this. If not the bump stop could have an effect on the rack stroke 60.7mm which in turn will effect the turn radius a bit. Chas

Hi Jacco, If its Hofman you are refering to as the dealer than the blue 240Z or the blue 280Z look like the best options just going by the photo's. I can't believe the prices they are asking these days. He doesn't want to sell quickly. I know there are not many (make that one) private sales atm which is probably pushing the price up. Stay clear of the white one, even the bonus pair of vice grips for a window winder don't justify the $10k. I bought mine almost 3 years ago for almost about the same and it was roadworthy. I drove it 300km from Stadskanaal back to Tilburg. I would be a good idea to shop around a bit before making any decision. There are other importers to check like Joop Stolze and Moviecars in Goirle sometimes has one or two. As for parts. Nissan still can supply some parts. Auto service Rozendaal have the more common parts, most hard to get parts you will source from the states and the cheapest things can get expensive with shipping and import taxes. Almost forgot. The two 280z will have road tax which can be expensive if you keep them on the road in December until February. You can reduce the taxes to €120 per year if you take it of the road for those three months. Chas

Looks like the FPR is building up to much pressure. Seems to be about 15psi to high, although that might be to your advantage with the NA injectors on a turbo setup. The higher pressure wil compensate for the lower cc value of the na injectors. If I recall correctly, don't have my notes handy atm. I was getting 48psi when I clamped the return line shut, when the vacuum line is disconnected it went to 35psi and at idle with vacuum line connected it sat around 26psi. Chas

I would be tempted to remove and repair the dash. If it doesn't meet expextations, you can always go the cap route. My Zed has a cap and my clock don't work. I would like to fix the clock, but I can't get it out with the cap in place:( If you do go with the cap, make sure everthing is working perfectly before you fit is. Chas

Im not quiet sure what to think about it. At least these guys are not cursing, yelling at each other and throwing crap around the workshop all the time like so many others do to try and make their show watchable. Would have liked to hear the reactions from the hotrod guys. Chas