chaseincats

Actually depending on the year, some of the blower motors connectors are already what we need. Some come with a "T" shaped connector and some look like a wall outlet plug ( I I )

Final update: the afm wasn't sticking per-say but there was a fair bit of play in the flap/wiper-arm, so I'm guessing one of the bushings inside the device has had it. It's possible that 'lean boot' was the car starting with the arm not in the right spot because of the flap/wiper-arm play (you could move it forward/back a good quarter inch). I completely made that up but sounds feasible to me. THAT SAID, I got a different afm without that issue and retuned it with the gauge and no lean-boot issues so far (knock on wood). This AFM was unmolested and even still had the cover factory-glued shut and the plug in the idle enrichment hole. Knowing that AFM was tuned to factory spec allows me to do this: Steps to tune a 280z without an air fuel gauge: - Be sure your AFM is sitting at factory configuration - if the cover is glued on that's a good indication its factory (if this isn't the case, get one that is or an air fuel gauge) - Be sure your engine does not have any vacuum leaks (smoke test it) - Disconnect your altitude sensor under the dash (if your car came with one) - Disconnect your EGR vacuum hose and cap it (the stock afm configuration is based on that being connected I think). Cap your carbon canister line too if you'd like although the amount of air coming in from that compared to EGR is trivial and barely changes the readings at all. - Be sure your coolant temp sensor's (efi one not the temp gauge one) resistance tests within factory spec in the FSM (the temp sensor changes mixture richness so that needs to be operating properly for this to work) - Check that your TPS is in spec by following this guide - Take the cap off your throttle position sensor (TPS) and GENTLY bend the WOT arm away from the middle arm by the base NOT THE TIP (like in the pictures in previous pages) BE CAREFUL. Datsun built the arms very close together so the car will default to running richer because they couldn't configure the engines like this at the time. In my case, anything over 1/4 pedal pressure had the TPS tell the car computer to use WOT enrichment. - With the engine running and using a multimeter (or good eyes), have someone hold the engine at highway speed rpm (4k?) and be sure that the TPS arm is not touching either of the other arm contacts (this is highway cruise mode) - Now, mark your AFM's black gear's current position then turn the black gear forward (clockwise) 4 teeth (the idle enrichment screw does not need to be touched) - If you did all of those (especially the TPS adjustment and have no vacuum leaks) then your car SHOULD idle between 13.8 and 14.2 and have a highway cruise of 14.7 (5th gear ~3800 rpm at 65mph) NOTE: this is with an engine with no vacuum leaks and tuned to factory spec (valves, timing, etc) according to the "ET" chapter of the FSM. All efi connectors have been cleaned according to this list. These are the steps I followed over the past year and should work on all 280z engines within factory spec but I am not responsible if it does not work for you and something negative happens. At the end of the day, these cars were tuned to run rich out of the factory because running too rich won't destroy the engine, running too lean will but getting it just right like this is a pleasure. Datsun didn't have the ability to test the engine running as a unit this precisely - they could only test each sensor before it went in and smell the tail pipe as there were no wideband o2 sensors in the 70s for this use if at all. Getting an o2 sensor to do this or even confirm your work is highly recommended, but if you don't want to, then follow these steps.

Good idea - just swapped the plugs, I'll let you know the findings next time I take it out

Interesting situation going on here today. I drove the car for the first time in about a month and a half and noticed some oil droplets on the subframe below cylinder 1 (closest to radiator). I looked up and saw a slight oil trail seeping out of the spark plug hole. I pulled the plug just now and the threads are pretty soaked with oil and confirmed there is a slight amount of oil in the cylinder using a borescope camera. The car runs great without any blue smoke - is my spark plug not in tight enough or does the plug need a new crush washer? If I take a brush and clean off the threads will it make a better seal? I know these engines are old and without being rebuilt will of course leak a bit but coming out of the spark plug hole is something excessive I feel. EDIT: the valve cover gasket is about a year old and not leaking - just checked.

so Aisin would be the way to go and shouldn't rust?

Looking at getting a new water pump but I've heard getting one with a cast aluminum impeller is the way to go as it does not erode in the coolant. I checked rock auto but none of them specify which material the impeller is made of. Any recommendations on a pump?

Sounds good - I'll grab them from rock then. Are they tough to replace?

Looking to replace the struts on my '78 and am a bit confused on what I'm finding. Some packs have 4 shocks (https://www.ebay.com/itm/353183501677?epid=1529958043&hash=item523b608d6d:g:LlcAAOSwv8ZfR-a3) and some have 2 struts and 2 shocks (https://www.ebay.com/itm/232991315727?epid=1540516460&hash=item363f5d570f:g:4lwAAOSwaPpb3Qib). Any idea which pack I need, how much of a pain it is to change these, and thoughts on the KYB ones?

Just for clarity on the battery wires, the wire connected to the positive post on the battery would terminate at the starter motor.

My theory is the fusible links blew as a result of the charge thrown through the harness from the coil when it exploded. Feasible?

well put it on already

why is there no afm to tb hose...

Yea - my alternator was overcharging the battery causing all sorts of weird electrical gremlins to pop up. After changing it out for a “new” (remanufactured ZX unit which is what was already in there), it was good.

Is the TVS another name for the TPS? Also, regarding the "sticking afm" would it be the resistance wiper that would be sticking or the air door inside the afm?

That's what we're trying to figure out. It happens every few weeks and is fixed by kicking the pedal a few times.

good god this again

"Lean boot" is a term coined by @Captain Obvious earlier in this thread to describe the car inexplicably running lean at startup.

I thought the ecu (fuel injection brain if you dont want to call it that) was a bunch of microswitches on the s30s, no? @madkawThat's an interesting idea with the afm sticking. I don't want to switch the car to megasquirt because it runs fantastically 95% of the time especially after this tuning thread.

Update again: I started the car today and got "lean boot" so I shut it off and restarted to another lean boot - I restarted it a good 4-5 times with no change so I took it out on the road anyway. It seems the only way to get the car back into regular mode is to leave it in a low gear and floor it/drop the pedal in quick succession - after that I didn't have a problem the rest of the day. My next guess is one of the microswitches in the ecu is getting tired. I'll try to give the computer a smack the next time it happens and will see if that does anything. Also for what its worth, I've noticed this never happens after the car has been sitting for days, it's only after its been parked and restarted after a few hours.

In order to get to that, I'd need to remove the fender, correct?

In the interest of guarding against potential rust, does anybody know the locations of the drains? If these are clogged, water backs up and rusts the metal out. For example, there are 3 drain holes on the bottom of both doors and one for the antenna Anybody know any others?

I noticed today that after taping up that burned wiring sleeve that the car starts up WAY faster. I don't think I'm nuts, it's pretty noticeable.

Update: Had lean boot happen today and noticed it while driving. I ended up kicking the pedal (flooring and dropping it) 4 or 5 times in quick succession and that seemed to fix it. So my guess is a periodically lazy TPS?

I just went to test it and got 740 ohms. The FSM says it's bad if it is "far less than, or more than, 720 ohm" so I guess that at least on paper isn't it.

Update: For a while (I don't remember how long) you could smell hot electricals on the drivers side of the engine bay when the car was running but without visible smoke or poor engine performance I ignored it (I know that was dumb). I noticed after the issue we've been talking about and taping up that burned pickup coil harness cover, that smell is now gone. Could a pickup coil wire build up resistance somehow and is there a way to check it? The car runs fantastically so I didn't think that could have been the case until I noticed the smell was gone last night for the first time in forever.