azuka

I'm also suspicious that when the mobile mechanic replaced my fuel line, it may have disturbed some debris in the fuel tank and is now partially blocking the fuel filter. I'm thinking that replacing the fuel filter and the starter MAY put things in good order.

Well.... I'm back but not sure what's going on. I checked fuses and found one that was bad. Replaced that. Checked all fuses all were good. Checked fusible links. All good. Checked fuses again. All good. Then I started it up. Still using the jury-rigged connection to the fuel pump. So anyway. The car starts runs for about 3 seconds then dies. I did that a number of times. I noticed though that there was smoke coming from the starter some of the times when I started it, especially at first. Then, I couldn't turn it over. So I get my van and jump the batteries. Able to turn it over and start it but only one time. After that, the car won't do a thing. The familiar hum as the fuel pump turns on when I turn the ignition key to ON wouldn't go. Something VERY weird here and I can't figure it out. I re-checked the fuses, all good. My only viable theory is that the starter is bad or almost dead and it is sucking up all the juice. So I think I'm going to replace the starter regardless, and go from there. I don't believe that replacing the starter will solve the running issue, but I think it needs to be done. I'll let things cool down for awhile and try to restart the car again and see if a cold starter will work differently. Also, during this time, I swapped out the ECU's. After I made the switch, the car fired up one time, but now nothing. Not too happy with things at the moment. Seems like I make progress, than go backwards.

Oh yeah.... while I'm at it. I'm going to check to see if any of my fusible links are bad. At least I can clean up the contact points to make sure I have good connectivity.

In a couple minutes I'm going back out to the car. First, I'm going to double check to see that all fuses are good. Then I'm going to fire it up. If that's no good (as I expect) I will swap out the ECU and see if that makes a difference. At least the leaky fuel line has been properly fixed. I found out why the welder had such a problem 'repairing' it. He used brake line tubing to do the repair. Or at least that's what my mobile mechanic says.

Here's an update. I got a mobile mechanic out today to help me. After looking at things he told me that it looked like the leaky fuel line was keeping the engine from getting fuel, and once that was replaced, we'd be able to get the car started and all would be well. He was pretty pumped up about being able to work on a Z car! Well, we replaced the fuel line. Something weird is going on with the power to the fuel pump. We were able to determine that 12V were present in the wires going to the pump. but the pump won't turn on. Finally, we connected the power directly to the fuse box so that when the key is in ON or START position, the fuel pump is running. Not quite the way things should be, but better than nothing I guess. So now, I am able to start the car, and it runs for a few seconds and dies. After fussing around a bit, it hit him that perhaps the problem is air in the gas line and that we need to wait a few hours for gravity to take care of that issue. So I'll wait a couple hours and try again. Does this make sense?

I ended up buying a new fuel relay and new ignition module. I already had a replacement ECU from a parts car, part number matched on both ECU's. I figured I may as well buy them, and if they didn't make a difference, I could always resell them and get my money back, or at least most of it. I replaced the fuel relay, and tried starting, then I replaced the ignition module.... no change still, then replaced the ECU.... still, no change. So I'm back to square one. I'm going to rethink this. I need to check again to see if starting fluid sprayed into the manifold will do anything. I need to double-check the spark to prove whether or not I really AM getting spark. Questions.... could the ballast resistor for the coil be bad? Could the distributor need replacement?

Yes, I agree. Everything was 'fine' mechanically before the welder got involved. But of course I know that old parts can go bad at any time. I went back to basics this afternoon, seeking confirmation that the pump was pumping out gasoline. Turned out that it was NOT! I detached the hose from the fuel filter and inserted a clear tube from there into a gas can. When I turned the engine over I got no gas. Right now the carpeting is out of the car and the passenger seat is out too, making things easier to see in some respects. I saw some spliced wires that I was able to confirm went to the fuel pump. The welder must have cut the wires to put in the new floor pans, and then added a length of wire to splice onto it. One end of the wires had the tube connections that you crush... no problem. THe other end of the splice he must have run out of those connectors, so he twisted the wires together and used something like scotch tape to insulate the connections. Kind of shabby in my opinion, but on the good side, once I removed the scotch tape the joins made for easy access for testing. Was unable to find any current to these wires while turning the engine over. But when I connected the 12V battery to the wires (black - negative, green - positive) the pump immediately got busy and started pushing gas into the gas can. So.... the pump is good, but needs to be properly stabilized rather than left banging around. I need to find out why I'm getting no power to the fuel pump. I figure that my spark testing method may have been faulty, so maybe I am getting spark, maybe not, not sure. At this point I'm thinking that the fuel relays may be faulty. Maybe the injector control module. Maybe both. Not sure how to test either one.

Just spent some time looking at things. Would you believe that someone put in a new fuel pump, but it is not attached to anything? Just resting on some bar? I can grab it with my hand and move it around and reposition the damn thing. I'm thinking the Fuel injection relay may be bad, but it is just this thing under the dash to the left of the driver's knee. How can I test the thing before laying out $80 or so to get a new one that I might not need. Some issue goes for the Ignition Control Module. I'm not sure how to test one of these before spitting out a couple hundred.

Me again. Well, I traded ignition coils between the 77 and the 79. The 79 fired right up and runs with no trouble, so I'm pretty sure that the coil that had formerly been in the 79 and is now in my non-starting 77 is good. I'd like to test the ignition module. Not sure yet where it is located or how to test. I figure it's time to look at the FSM again. In the meantime, I have to jump the car every time I try to test something. What a headache. I'm not ready to have it towed yet. I'm really hoping to solve this without engaging the services of the pros.

A new day here. Well, I bought a spark test tool today. I checked it on my unsexy Dodge minivan to see what is supposed to happen when things are working. Nice little spark showing up..... the closer the tester gets to the spark plug, the better the spark. So, my #1 son and I tested out the Datsun. The tool showed NO spark. So next, I pulled the wire from the coil and let the end sit close to the engine block. Still nothing! No spark! So, I definately have a problem, but I'm closer to the answer! I figure it is most likely a bad coil or a bad relay. I'd like to take the clearly working coil out of my '79 280ZX and put it in my '77 280Z as quick easy and cheap a diagnostic test. But I don't want to make something blow up. Can you swap out the coil between the 280Z and 280ZX?

Another update - I am very discouraged. I squirted some starter fluid into the boot that goes to the manifold. Turned on the starter expecting some measure of success. But I got nothing at all. Just the engine rolling over and no hint of catching. So it sounds like it's a spark issue I guess. I tried to get a look at the Fuel injection relay. It's located near my left knee as I'm sitting in the car. But damn, it is tucked in there and really hard to get at. How do you get that thing out so you can test it? Perhaps there is a better way to check for spark. I'll nose around a bit.

I bought a 79 280ZX with only ONE key that was badly worn. When I had them use that to make copies, the copies were nearly useless. I ended up eventually discovering that Datsun put a little whit label inside the glove box, on the inside of the door that will have the handwritten code in it. The code in my 79 was used to produce a 'new' key. Works great! My 77 had a frozen ignition switch cylinder, so just bought a new one which came with it's own key of course. Now I have one key for ignition and another key for the doors. The replacement cylinder costs about $25. But removing the old one is a little tricky because 2 of the 4 screws holding it together are designed to be 'funky.' The big problem is to find a way to remove the funky screws from the old cylinder. If there is any way to get a locksmith to make a working key, that would be the way to go. If the code is impossible to read on the sticker, dissassemble your passenger door so that you can look at the lock parts on the inside of the door. These parts should have the key code embossed in it. Best of luck.

Just a quick update. Not much to tell. I put 5 gallons of gas in the tank thinking that would be enough to prime the pump. Before all my welding and fuel leak issues, the car had been running great. So it is suspicious to me that suddenly the relay or pump don't work, when they were working fine before. So anyway, I tried to start the car. It turns over just fine, but has not even come close to catching. I checked the fuel filter and it looks like nothing has been going through it. Tonight, I'm looking at my 280Z Fuel Injection Manual. On page 3 they make a big point that you should be careful to NEVER let the Datsun run out of gas, as priming the pump can be very difficult and may require that the tank be completely filled before the pump will begin to draw again. So now I'm thinking that I may need to fetch a few more loads of gasoline to 'fill' the fuel tank. And then give it a shot at starting. I'm fully cognizant of the fuel line leak and the dangers of a fire and will tread carefully.

I got my project car about a year ago. 1977 280Z with 39,000 miles on it. The original owner died in 2001 and her husband had no interest in his wife's car and stuck it in a pole barn until he had to move it. I ended up with it. Nice body needing modest help. But of course it hadn't been run in about 11 years. My backyard mechanic friends did lots of work and got it running. I did some more work and finally got it running very nicely, but when I had some exhaust work done, the guy pointed out that the body rails were looking kinda bad. I bought replacement floor pans and rails and hired a local welder with experience in this kind of thing to install. OK. When I picked up the car he told me that the fuel line had sprung a leak and he had repaired it, but then it sprang another leak and he decided that he probably should not be the one to fix it. So, I drive from his shop to my mechanic who is four blocks away and he tells me he will check out the fuel system. Well, a week later I drop by and the car is still sitting outside, but now with a flat tire. He tells me he is going to bring it in the bay that afternoon. I drive by the next day and it is still sitting outside with the flat. My mechanic has disappeared. Shop is closed and apparently abandoned. Nobody answers the phone. AFter another week of this I decide I can't leave my car appearing abandoned and unloved for local kids to start screwing with, so I drop by to start the car up and drive it home. By this time, the battery is dead. I had jury rigged a sensor bipass so the car wouldn't idle really high. Had worked like a charm, but unfortunately, I used a circuit that is always on, instead of one that is only on when the ignition key is in on position. So if the car isn't started regularly, the battery gets drained. Between my welder and my mechanic, the battery is so dead that it won't start even with a jump. I remove the battery and charge it up at home and bring it back the next day. This time I was able to start the car while jumping it and drove it 4 miles to my home so I can figure out what to do about the leaking gas line. I am now unable to start the car, even with jumping. Now, when I had dropped off the car at the welder's, it had almost no gas in it. He told me he had added some because he 'might have' run it dry. Well, with all this going on, I'm trying to figure out if I have a bad fuel pump, bad fuel pump relay, or whether the fuel pump is just empty and needs to crank for awhile to get gas in it so that I'll get gas delivered to the engine. How can I tell if the relay is good, or for that matter, if the fuel pump is working? Any other thoughts or advice? I'm not sure I want to tow the car to my mechanic, even though he has finally showed up at the shop again. He hasn't returned any of my polite calls yet. I also don't want to leave the car outside by the road all winter.

My 77 runs rough. The car had set for 10 years and the well-meaning hacks that did much of the work decided not to drain the old gas as I had requested since they took a 'whiff' and since it smelled like gas, decided it was still 'good.' So now it runs rough and idles poorly. They DID finally drain the old gas, replace the fuel filter and so on, but by then too much of the old stuff had gone through. Wanting to clean the injectors in the easiest way possible, I filled the car with fresh gas and added a can of seafoam to that tank. Shortly after that, the car developed clutch trouble, and so was taken out of commission for a few days. Shortly after that developed a couple different brake problems and the garage working on that had trouble getting the right parts..... delaying things another couple of weeks. Since then, the car runs pretty rough. The gas to which I added seafoam is still in the tank and in theory should be running through doing it's job cleaning the injectors. But i'm wondering if the seafoam is still doing anything or not, now that so much time has passed, 4 - 6 weeks since I added it to the gas. Should I run another can through the gas tank with a refill, or do something more labor intensive and/or exotic? Am also thinking perhaps I should replace the fuel filter again, just in case some of the old crap from the tank has fouled it somewhat. Thoughts?