sblake01

IMO a T-5 is really only good with a turbo motor. The gearing is different from the Nissan trannys but I guess that's up to personal preference. A 3.90 81-83 ZX R200 and the 5 speed from the same is a good combo for both off the line and freeway.

78 is a good year. The last refinment of the S30 chassis. (I also own one) Simple car to learn? Well...that depends on how quickly you pick up on things. There is much to learn. I think they're simple but I've been dealing with them for basically all of my adult life.

Vacuum leaks are easy enough to find w/o a guage. Especially extrenal ones. I'm considering average skills here. What the guage will show and what to do about it are different kettles of fish alltoghther. I know how to use a vacuum guage as I said in post 6. For someone who unfamiliar with it's use it will just cause more confusion.

Too bad you're not closer. I've got a box with a few known to be good ignition swithches I'd let you try.

You don't need to drain the oil to replace the sending unit. 30000 miles or 24 months is the factory recommendation for fuel filter replacement on a 280Z. I'm sure Nissanman is referring to the filter on a carbureated car. They're a solid metal cannister on the EFI cars.

Everything about eBay ticks me off! I've got a set of guidlines I follow on eBay for the rare times I'll use it. I never bid on anything from a seller with 0 feedback. I never bid on anything from a seller with a less that 99.5% feedback profile. I never bid on 'private' auctions. I never bid on items where the shipping cost is not stated. I never bid on anything from sellers that sell items you can get elsewhere for less. I don't bid on items with vague descriptions. I'm kind of skeptical of locations like 'Racerville' (sorry Wng!) or 'Nismo Heights' (sorry Blax240!) unless I have had experience with the seller. So as you can see, based on all of that, that I don't bid on eBay items much anymore. It's a hotbed for scammers and really one of the last places I think of when looking for something be it car related or otherwise. There's just nothing in this world that I would have to have so badly that I would take that kind of risk.

I have one and I know how it's used but a compression tester, a multimeter, and a fuel pressure tester would be more useful with the Datsun 75-84 EFI systems.

Others will tell you different but it's just part of the emission control system. If you want to remove it, I don't see what harm it would cause. If you have emissions testing in Va., I'm not sure the lack of the cooler would really make any difference. My friends fan on his 81 hasn't worked in years and it passes with no problem.

A vacuum gauge would be more useful on a carbureated car than it would on an EFI car. It would tell you if there are leaks, if you know what the test vacuum reading should be, but there isn't any thing that you'd adjust based on vacuum readings on an EFI car.

Exactly what is it that you're trying to test?

A rear sump L20/L24 takes 5 L or 5 1/4 quarts with filter. So it would seem that you're about a quart over.

Click on this link. It will take you directly to a pdf of the 82 factory service manual which should have the info you need.

Probably nowhere. Did that wire come from the ballast resistor? You've basically replaced that wire as diagrams for the E12-80 conversion have a switched 12v running to the distributor.

If the alternator matched up to a 77 280Z, did the car have the external regulator that goes with a 77 280Z alternator? Either your guy at Autozone was mistaken (that would come as no surprise!) or someone went to a lot of trouble to downgrade the charging system from the internally regulated alternator it should have. If that's true, you'll have to look at both the 77 280Z and the 82 280ZX wiring diagrams, compare them and see what's been changed. I hate PO hackjobs. There's no easy answer to this one. Got any pictures of how the wiring is hacked?

Er....what thread? Doesn't that auction violate eBay's rules in some (or several) ways? What exactly are you bidding on for $200? A 71 240Z? That's the title of the ad. But it says 'Denise' is gone. Then he goes on about some being $300 and the better ones being 'a little more' then he talks about selling parts.

3:36's were available in an R200 in the 1979 2+2. Here's a chart of the various S130 differentials:

Not a problem. I try to give info that is as accurate as possible based on my own experience and research. I use a lot of scans to verify what I say. I've been around these cars a long time especially the EFI cars and I feel like I know them pretty well. Have you ever seen me ask for mechanical advice? It kind of bothers me when I post a possible solution and someone follows it up with something the is either erroneous, unrelaed, or just plain wrong, which somewhat confuses the issue, and then won't come back and admit it. If it was the first time I wouldn't be so fired up. I've got nothing else to say about this or I'm sure I'll end up getting an email from Mike or one of the other administrators.

A slim jim will open an S30 door lock faster than the key.

As I recall, his VIN is somewhere in the 434XXX range which would put it well past the 'early 78' time frame.....I only mention it becasue he came on so strong about it and hasn't bothered to reply since......which seems to be his norm.

I don't recall where I got this from but it shows the differences a little more close up.

We don't see nearly as many of them out here in the junkyards and we did a few years ago.

I'd attrubute that to the fact that you live in sunny Anaheim, CA. I don't think it would fire right up in a colder climate w/o at least some residual fuel presure.

Here are the 280z fuel pump operation charts. The pumps are actuated differently depending on year but at no time should the pump run until the car has started. 75-77 78 (Note that there is no mention of AFM contact points or fuel pump relay) Either TomoHawk is mistaken or he has a quite special 78.

It's the nipple on the pump that screws into the outlet

The most common cause of this is a leaking check valve at the fuel pump outlet. It could be other components leaking such as injectors, cold start vavle, etc. but you don't seem to have any of the other symptoms, such as richness or black smoke, that go alon with that.