ninjazombiemaster

Just got to work, and the air was blowing hot. Guess that the rest of the system is fine, though that valve is looking pretty tired. I'll try to secure a cable. For now I'll just leave it at "heat". Probably won't need anything else for a while...

So this winter my heat hadn't been working. Blower motor clearly worked, so I figured I might be having problems with the heater core. Tonight I got down and looked around to see if I could spot any obvious problems, here's what I found. You are looking at the passenger under dash, where the heater hoses pass into the firewall. Forgive the glare. The two smaller circles are the broken tips of the "Cool - Heat" lever. It is broken in half, so even though the console was set to "Heat" nothing was actually happening at the blower and core. The large circle is the mount for the wire itself. You can see that its bent pretty far out of line. My guess is whatever bent the lever is what broke the cable. Maybe a passenger who put their foot in the wrong spot, or perhaps some cargo. Anyway, I pulled the lever manually to heat and it seemed to do some good, but it only got a little warmer. Perhaps the heater core needs to be flushed too. Guess I may as well do that Civic blower upgrade while I'm at it! Anyway.. any of you folks know what I can use to substitute that cable for? I've heard of people using lawn mower cable for similar applications...

Already got it a new battery, alternator, electronic ignition, various other electricals to help it run this winter, and maybe a new amp if it behaves.

The keys are all the same on my 73, including the glove box. If that's not the case, you're going to need to find a locksmith. Which you'll need anyway for that broken key.

Yeah, the new alternator appears to be working good, and regulating correctly. The old alternator was of poor quality from a local parts store, came stripped, the wrong size and always performed poorly. And now its possibly ruined a $300 radio, so its retired.

Cant catch a break. My alternator shorted, temporarily bypassing my voltage regulator. Blew my fusible link, and radio fuse. Replaced them both, as well as the battery, installed an internally regulated alternator and still no audio from the Retrosound. I don't know if they'll replace it *again*, especially since it was my electrical system, not their unit itself. However, their fuse did fail to protect the unit.. Couldn't have blown the speakers, because they don't get battery voltage, plus they put out absolutely no sound at all. So it must be the amp again? I'm considering just installing an external power amp alongside the Retrosound to fix it, but if the preamp blew there may be no way?

I had the same thought after it happened. Turns out the rubber gasket that comes out of the dizzy by the condenser was preventing the back right side of the dizzy from sealing down well. Dunno how long this has been a problem, but I pulled the now retired condensor out of the way and it seems to be seating now.

Yeah, always. Shame I didn't take the two seconds to turn the key off. Doesn't look like I can get a dizzy cap locally so I've ordered it from MSA. Guess I'm parked until then. $18 for the both after shipping - what a waste. Fortunately MSA usually gets things to me really quick so with any luck I'll have it Friday morning. If I'm less lucky, perhaps Monday. With the temperatures at 10 degrees, and the buss not running late enough to take me home, I'm really regretting it. But live and learn, I guess. What are the odds taping the rotor together and putting it in that messed up cap is a bad idea? I'd pin it at 80% bad idea. Edit: My ring size is the same as the rotor shaft. I was able to use a ring of mine to secure the rotor on. I'm not sure if its a good idea to drive it that way, but it started and ran.

Got the new alternator in, the diode and jumper seem to work. One thing I noticed immediately is that the ammeter doesnt go all over now with high rpms, its smooth and consistent. Power at idle still isn't great, however. So there must be more going on. New alternator. Cleaned connectors. New Battery. New internal voltage regulator. New electronic ignition. I really don't know what to do anymore. During the repair, my temperature gauge stopped working for no apparent reason. I reached to push the connector in (with the car running like a moron) to see if it would help, and got my hand struck by the fan, I retracted and bumped the distributor cap, which gave way. The rotor struck the cap and broke the rotor, and gouged the cap. I guess I'm gonna have to take a bus to the parts store for a new rotor and cap, or take the bus to work for a few days while I wait for new ones from MSA. Fortunately it didn't damage the Pertronix Ignitor I installed just yesterday. I feel like such an idiot, but I'm glad I didnt get hurt worse, and I only broke inexpensive things. It let out the biggest backfire I've ever heard, though. Sounded like a gunshot, and all the neighborhood dogs went crazy.

That is a might fine engine bay.

While I'm going through all the trouble, I picked up a new Pertronix. I used to have it, but it met an unfortunate, early end at the hand of the rotor this past spring. I liked having it, and hope that the between it, the Alternator and battery my car will be staring well this winter. Last February we got temperatures of 0 degrees and below in the day pretty regularly. My car is having a hard time already on a cold start and the first few minutes of driving. The new alternator should be here Tuesday, and MSA says I should expect the Ignition between Monday and Wednesday. If all goes well and work doesn't call me in, they should all be installed Wednesday.

Went to Auto Zone and the battery tested bad. I replaced it with a Duralast gold, 700 cold crank amps and 130 reserve minutes. Seems like there has been a small improvement, but I don't think that was the problem. Doesn't really feel like my battery was bad enough to justify dropping $115 on a new one - but if it helps it crank this winter, I'm for it.

Yeah. I'm leaning towards replacing the alternator vs the regulator. The one I bought was from Checker's auto out of need, and their alternators are legendarily crappy. I had to grind it to fit and then the stock mounting bolt stripped the threading so I had to secure the adjustment with a nut. The Hitachi will almost certainly be better. Edit: Sucked it up and bought the '83 280zx Alternator. $60 after shipping from Rock Auto. I'll let you all know how it performs when the install is done.

I typed that on my phone.. a few corrections. Red-lined, not reclined. became, not omg it.

Ok, here's something interesting. I cleaned the contacts, and during my drive, it did seem that it helped a little. Heading back home, I went WOT and reclined the car. My radio shut off, lights omg it extremely bright, and the ammeter was reading around 40. Got home, and the car wouldn't shut off. Pulled the spark plug lead and even still the brake light and radio were on. I looked In the bay and found a soft glow, which turned out to be a short at the alternator. I separated the wired and it was back to where i was. Mediocre charge, especially at idle. But - this means my alternator is capable of a good charge. Maybe it is the regulator after all? That brings up the next question.. there's a very small price difference between replacing the voltage regulator ($40) and putting in an internally regulated alternator ($50). Which is the better action. The alternator is a bit more work, but nothing challenging. Not really sure what I want to do...

I know. I don't believe so. It definitely doesn't have the pump, but if I find a relay I'll remove it. I just don't know if it a solid state regulator is worth replacing a brand new alternator. I also read in some other threads that cleaning the connectors may help, so I'll check that, and see how much that helps first

Hey Guys, Since my alternator died early this summer, I upgraded to a shelf brand alternator, which I'm pretty sure is 60 amps, but still externally regulated. I had not replaced my regulator. This of course fixed the whole not charging thing, but I really don't see the electric system performing any better than with my old alternator. Is it possible that the old regulator is negating the advantage of the larger alternator? How much of an improvement can typically be expected with a new internally regulated alternator of the same amperage? Rockauto's 280zx Reman Hitachis are running a fair $50, and I could probably redo the wiring myself and skip the $20 adapter. Edit: Also, as a side note, I do plan on running a larger amplifier eventually. Anyone have any idea if the 280zx alt would be sufficient? I'd only need something about 400-600 watts.

Ok, just to close this up - After sending it back and getting a new radio from Retro it works great. So good news for anyone hearing this problem is its probably not your wiring. Bad news is its probably your expensive radio. I have a theory that you can probably work around this by upgrading the amp to an external one, which would also likely allow for a more robust speaker system. Cost would be less than a new radio and you might get a better sound, too.

I did notice you were kind enough to leave the parts number intact (wish ebay folks would!). I checked the parts catalogs that day and I couldn't find anything from local suppliers. I really should get a set and load them up, but the existing bushings do seem to be doing okay so I'm not in

Man, that's the one thing about Cali. Here in Utah I just skip the Cat. Classic cars here are exempt from most safety and emissions tests.

I did realize. I got it off the 280z in about 20 minutes laying down, and only 'cause the bolts were stuck. Took like an hour with it in the air putting it back on. I knew it'd be that way, but had no idea how much grief it'd give me.

Yeah, thats how they were on the 280 I removed it from. I don't know any of its history, so I can't say why. One is clearly backwards, though. When I got around to the job, that brass piece had actually fallen off. It appeared to have been glued to the bushing evident by some residue, but I could be wrong. The bushings that were attached were single diameter with a small, off-center groove, as can be seen in the OP. I ended up reusing that busing, and the better of the 280z bushings was used on the back side of the rod, so it can easily be replaced when I get a new bushing. It seems to have done the trick, no tire rubbing on reverse, and much softer going into bumps with the front passenger corner. Whats interesting is the overall handling of the car really wasn't that effected by the whole deal. Thanks again for the help everyone.

Dropped by JDM Legends today, never seen so many Skylines in one place. That red 240 behind the yellow one is a series one that sold for 2k a while back. I wanted it for myself, but its in good hands. Here's my new donor car. I didn't want to take a chance on the 260 part. The folks at JDM were great, and I got it pulled off quick enough. When I got back to the shop, I was surprised to see this. Its for sale, by the way... The new 280 rod is in much better shape than the 260 piece. It had all the washers I needed, and at least one of the bushings was usable enough, and the other was still attached to the car. Unfortunately, none of my local parts shops carried the ACDelco kit in stock. Everything's back in one piece and it seems to be taken care of. The other side seems alright, so I left it be. I'm gonna try to go by the pick n' pull and swap the other rod for a spare valve cover, or something... with the broken rod off the car, it's easy to see the culprit.

Yeah, I'll be looking for a better candidate. But this one will do in the meantime. It was the only junkyard Z. My friend apparently only had rear suspension parts, unfortunately. I know of one other parts 280z owned by a local Japanese Car restoration company. They seemed willing to let the part go, but were closing up shop and I didn't have time to come see it. My next chance will be tomorrow - so I'll try them again, and see which is better. If so, I'll swap my pick and pull part for a valve cover to polish up. Haha Okay. Thats exactly what I needed. Thanks for the help everyone.

Forgive my crude diagram, but am I understanding this correctly? The 260 tension rod seems to have a retainer flange as part of the bar itself, or at least its corroded into one piece. But, the busing goes against it, into the cup on the chassis, and the other side gets a bushing, washer and then retaining and lock nut? Also, spied a pretty clean 280 at the Pick-n-pull. Probably there to pull apart the same 260 I was. Here's the donor. Yeesh. Here's what I managed to pull off. Don't have the nut, and the bushings were in even worse shape. But $10 was a fair price to pay. I don't think this ones gonna last. Guess I may need to start looking for a more permanent solution. It should do for now, though. I guess I have every bushing except the one I need..