Wade Nelson

The needle can get twisted on the little "motor" that rotates it. If you're patient and good with tiny things you may be able to reset it on the shaft. Or send it to a speedo shop. Or find a used one on Ebay (fastest & cheapest of all). Either that or you've discovered an UNLIMITED source of FREE electricity, and you're GONNA BE RICH!!!

I used aluminum foil bubble wrap to insulate a Subaru hood. I was trying to keep heat IN, in the winter the thing took forever to warm up. I used hot melt glue to attach the bubble wrap, now and then I'd have to go touch up the glue. Cheap, worked well, and easy to remove if you decide you don't like it.

Confirm that you have B+, IGN, and ground at your ECM. If you have 12.8V across the battery terminals you should have at least 12.5 from IGN to GND and B+ to GND (voltage drop of .3V or less) I'm not aware if the Z ECM has multiple B+ and/or ground connections (to allow greater total amperage), if so, check 'em all. If you have a voltage drop of .3V or more you need to correct THAT before proceeding, by cleaning up grounds, etc. See if you get signal to cold start injector when cranking. Then confirm that the signal from the distributor is the same at the distributor as it is at the ECM pin. A scope is preferable but you may be able to do it with a DVOM. Most likely you're not getting rpm / tach signal to ECM and ECM simply doesn't think the motor is spinning. Borrowing an ECM or buying one is risky business, you need to determine WHAT if anything CAUSED yours to fail before frying a brand new one or a loaner. So the NEXT steps are to go down ALL your ECM pins, looking for B+ or Ground where IT SHOULD NOT BE. After that, I would crack the case on the ECM and give it the sniff and eyeball test, looking for burned components, and smelling for burn smell. Only after that would I even start LOOKING for a replacement ECM. I have diagnosed well over 200 vehicles with ECM problems of various sorts and only had a handful that were actually a failed ECM, TCM, PCM, etc. It's invariably a wiring or connector fault NOT getting a necessary signal to the ECM, or something sending 12V or ground up an ECM pin where it shouldn't be. GL

One of the Z-shops on the internet is selling replacement rails, that fit OVER the existing rails. They're for 240/60/80, don't know about the Interchange.

The only boob I ever seen in MY car is the guy who owns it.

Remove your battery terminals, clean, and re-install. Ditto for your main ground to the engine block. Do not just "inspect." Remove. Check to make sure your fusible links are all firmly plugged in. tighten them with needlenose (with battery disco) if necessary. Yo'uve got what's called an "alternator surge" going on. Something is breaking the circuit open, and the alternator responds by zooming the voltage up since the load has disappeared. It's like cresting a hill on a bicycle, all of a sudden you pedal a lot faster with less effort. Where were you measuring 0 volts? At the alternator output terminal itself? It sounds to me like the same "bad ground" was affecting your meter as the system itself.

Hey good reminder. I'd forgotten about silicone sealant contaminating 02 sensors. Several other threads here suggest 8mm is the "correct" fuel hose. The problem (I'm guessing) is that the new "green" fuel injection hose is so much stiffer than the old stuff you can't get it over the bulbouts, necessitating a larger size. Maybe the hair dryer trick would soften it up enough. I forgot to take my gas cap off while I was doing this work and just the pressure/expansion of the tank kept fuel dripping out of the lines while I was trying to work on them, washing away the lube, and making gripping stuff difficult. What can I say, I'm an idiot.

FWIW, 5/16" fuel injection line is approximately 8mm. It won't fit over the "bulbouts" in the Z's metal lines (without an Act of God or hands like Chuck Norris) That means the Z car originally used some bastard sized 8.5mm line, like Jaguar apparently does. Some Jag owner suggested using a hair dryer to heat /soften the line before trying to get it onto the barb. Personally I lube the barbs with Silglide -- pure silicone, knowing it will pass through the injectors without any problems Good article here for anyone replacing the short lines on the injectors themselves: http://bernardembden.com/xjs/fihoses/index.htm The closest I can find that EXISTS is an 11/32" line, widely available. That is 8.7mm Napa, Autozone, etc. What I"m using, since it's all the local store has is 3/8" line, which is 9.5mm Note the difference between FUEL LINE, and FUEL INJECTION LINE.

You've got a leak! I know, this falls in the "Doh! obvious department but... I recently filled up, all the way, and got strong gasoline smells in the cockpit. I was sure the carbon cannister / vent system was misbehaving in some manner. (I always stop at the first click on the pump as not to INTENTIONALLY flood the vent lines / cannister...) But it all checked out. And I continued to have a smell of gas, most noticeable when I started the car up and for a minute or so afterward. Even as the level of gas in the tank went down. Smell of fuel on startup? Startup injector??? I decided I'd tighten up the clamps on ALL my fuel lines, including those to the startup injector. Guess what. The screw on the hose clamp on that one was stripped. Just touched the line and fuel wetted the injector body. I realize the startup injector is pressurized ALL the time, and the leak had nothign to do with the act of starting up, probably just that the fuel wasn't evaporating and blowing away as fast as when I'm driving. I'm glad the car didn't catch fire at some stop further down the road! I'm having to use 3/8" fuel injection line because the 5/16" won't fit over the "bulbouts" in the fuel lines. The parts store doesn't have the correct metric size line, whatever that is. At least I'm using correct fuel injection clamps, and not everyday screw clamps. A common cause of hard starting on fuel injection cars is when you have a leaky injector, or a bad check valve. So after shutdown, you lose all the fuel pressure in the lines. You have to crank and crank until youv'e rebuilt pressure to restart. I suspect I may have an intermittently leaking injector, because most of the time mine starts right up. But sometimes.... I had been blaming vapor lock, but now I'm wondering if it's a leaky injector. When I pulled a line off the bottom of the BCCD recently it was full of fuel. That's another pretty good indication of an injector draining the rail down after shutdown. Time to start shopping injectors, I guess.

Personally I don't want 500hp and 18" wide tires that cost $600 apiece. Or an 18 speaker stereo, with 1" of padding and carpet on every piece of sheet metal in the car. Give me a 240Z with upgraded suspension, 30 extra horsepower out of a 280ZX motor with FI and 5-speed, 4 wheel disc brakes, and I'm a happy man. I would, however, pop for airbags. They're lifesavers.

Looks like I'm gonna be replacing the floorboards. @#$!@~~~~!!!! Has anyone already made a template? Jeez, wouldn't THAT be a timesaver! I went out to the salvage yard, and dang it, the one there, otherwise unscathed, is rusted through in the exact same spot behind the passenger seat right next to where the rear crossmember support brace bolts thru the floorboard. I'm really not clear as to how water is collecting there on these cars.

Personally I would start by getting my hands on the relevant section of the Factory Service Manual and diagnosing the throttle position sensor using a voltmeter. Or just throw a new one at it to see what happens. Then I'd take it into a muffler shop and have them seal up whatever leak the morons who cut your cat off left behind. After that I'd determine if it was still running in open, not closed loop, and diagnose why. Are you planning to just rip other emissions parts off it without first diagnosing why they're not working properly? If so, I'll let someone else here pick up the ball of assisting you.

The throttle position sensor works in combination with the tach signal. For instance, if you are at 3000 rpm, engine braking down a hill, and let completely off the gas, the TPS senses "idle position) and the ECM will cut fuel until the engine gets back down to idle. Why waste fuel and backfire while you decel? Or if you are accelerating up a hill, pedal to the floor, the TPS reporting WOT - wide open throttle ) but your rpm's are only 2500, it will inject extra fuel in to help you accelerate. The TPS tells your ECM that your accelerator pedal is at an idle position. It will then try and regulate your idle speed. So if it's not getting one or the other, you're going to have idle issues, as you report. Usually if the ECM isn't getting a tach signal it won't fire the injectors. It sounds MORE LIKELY to me you have a TPS issue. You shouldn't be getting fumes in the cockpit. None. Have you checked for exhaust leaks? Furthermore, a fuel injected vehicle, does yours have a cat? With a cat it should be virtually impossible to smell ANYTHING. If yours is more than 125K miles old it's time to replace the 02 sensor anyway. YOu'll get better mileage AND performance with a fresh one. That may cut down on your smells too. HTH --- overall it sounds like your ECM is NOT getting all the correct information it needs.

Well I finally figured out why the rear end on this thing is loose as a goose. It wasn't the rear sway bar links or bushings, (which I replaced), the rear struts (replaced), or even the rear control arm bushings (which I hadn't gotten to yet) The rear crossmember itself is loose, because rust has eaten away much of where the supporting bracket bolts to the body, behind the seats. There's 1/4" of air visible in what should be Gudentite. Aw jeez, what do I do now? Sell it? Pull the entire rear end down and attempt to weld in some plates? It was one of those moments when you spot something you just hadn't noticed before, plainly visible if you had only looked in the right place, and your heart sinks

That's a good thread. FSM says the cap is designed to allow air in to prevent a vacuum from forming in the tank as fuel is pumped out. FSM calls for pressurizing against the check valve to test the system for leakdown, and sticking the gas cap in your mouth to see if it admits air against a vacuum. Mmmm, tasty! I filled up yesterday, very hot day today, and I'm smelling strong gas fumes. I've clearly got a venting problem, or else a leak.

I may not have the exact specifics of the Jag wiring / fusing committed to memory, but as a degreed Electrical Engineer (Vanderbilt) I absolutely cringed when I saw what the idiots at Lucas had done. Not just on the XKE, but on my earlier TR-6 and TR-3. After you replace your first scorched 12-wire bundle of cloth-covered wiring, the one that ALMOST burned your car up, you will remember this conversation, and wonder why they chose a 35A fuse for a circuit that shouldn't, under normal circumstances, pull even a third of that . Get out your ammeter. Measure a few of 'em. (10A limit on most meters, internally fused)... decide for yourself if you want to stay with the stock fusing.

Plain and simple, your Jaguar was mis-wired at the factory. You do NOT install a 50A fuse to protect five 10 amp circuits all wired in parallel. What happens on the Jag is the 10A headlight circuit shorts out, pulls 30-40 amps, lights the cloth covered wiring loom on fire, melts a WHOLE BUNCH of other wires, and the Fuse sits there going "No big deal!" I speak as a former 67 XKE owner. Unless you PREFER for your wiring to protect your fuses, it's time to find a master electrician and start rewiring it with proper protection for individual circuits.

FWIW, I asked Glen Farrell, "Mister Air Conditioning" down in Cajun country what the absolute best solvent was to flush an older AC system with. He said "Nice fresh R12 or R134". You could hear the screaming from the EPA all the way from Washington, but there it is.

If the car starts when you give it carb cleaner, starting fluid, or other faux fuel, then you do NOT have an ignition problem. First, find out if you have fuel pressure. Open a rubber line / fitting and see if fuel is present, under pressure. As always keep a fire estinguisher (far stankwasher!) nearby anytime you open a fuel line. Next, use a stethoscope and listen to the injectors while someone cranks. Are they clicking? It's unmistakeable if they are. If not, you probably have a problem where the ECM is not seeing that the engine is running, and "refuses" to supply fuel. Most likely this an input from the distributor to the ECM that is not being received. You can confirm this with a noid light on one of the injector wires. I don't know if the ECM is supposed to fire the cold start injector when it cranks, EVEN IF it's not getting a timing signal. Maybe someone else can answer that. In that case it should catch, but die as soon as you quit cranking. From there it's a matter of confirming the ECM has power, ground, ignition, and the appropriate inputs to tell it the motor is spinning. Is there an aftermarket alarm or "kill" switch on this vehicle? Are you sure you put gas and not diesel in it. Smell it, light a match to some of it.

Hey, ZX owners, do you get a "whoosh" when you unscrew your gas cap? Mine is pretty substantial, I'd say a couple of psi. I haven't owned any other cars that kept the tank this strongly pressurized unless something was amiss. I'm wondering if I have a smashed / clogged vent line from the tank to the charcoal cannister. My car was obviously driven over something hard at some point in time. Frame rails are...ugly. Vent line might have gotten flattened. I also had trouble fueling at certain vapor-recovery pumps out in CA - but not all. Normal or not normal, in your opinion?

Tell me more about "complete kits" for only $1200.

Anybody done this swap? What's involved? there's another one up for sale on Ebay right now. http://www.ebay.com/itm/280ZX-DATSUN-NISSAN-130MPH-SPEEDOMETER-AND-TACH-WITH-FUEL-AND-TEMP-GAUGES-RARE-/180895953236?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a1e3d3154&vxp=mtr#ht_544wt_932

Did you get this problem solve? How about an update on what you found. If not I can probably lead you to a successful diagnosis,

Take it from an old fart. Keep a far stankwasher within 20 feet if you KNOW you're going to spray liquid fuel. I saw a guy drop a trouble light in the process of dropping a fuel tank once, vehicle on the rack, puddle of fuel on the floor. Bulb broke and ...ka-WHOOSH! Every fire extinguisher in the shop got completely drained and we BARELY kept the shop from burning down. Incandescent trouble lights were banned from the shop that day. LED only.

To clarify, the steering wheel moves EASIER, but the steering is tighter, more responsive to smaller inputs. I used to blame the steering rack for what felt like mild binding, but apparently it was the ball joints.