chaseincats

I adjusted the valves about a year and a half ago, but that's a good point - I'll give it a look and report back. Regarding the spark plugs, I can't seem to find any bpr6es on amazon for the 78 head thread. Would bpr5es work or would that be too hot a plug? Interesting article - thanks! EDIT: I believe we ended up going with colder spark plugs since we're running the engine learner than usual (14.7 cruise) to guard against pinging. EDIT 2: I just confirmed all of the valves are still in-spec

UPDATE: after driving it for about 100 miles, here is what my plugs look like. The spark plug tips are quite white on some of these, but the ceramic in the middle isn't as charred. Besides burning some oil, what do you think? Looking at these, I'd say a good chunk of this engine is running lean, but my AFR numbers look great. Just as some extra info - before I started driving it heavily again (after we fixed it) I pulled the plugs and noticed cyl #5 was the only one with a dark plug, so I swapped it with cyl #6. The cyl 6 plug is now dark, but the cyl 5 plug did not clear up. The spark plugs are NGK BPR7ES (5534) Any ideas?

Thanks, I didn't know it took that many rotations. I held the key this time for about 10 seconds and got a pretty uniform flow so it looks like we're good there. It looks like the far right injector is low but that's just the light for some reason.

Hi all I unbolted my fuel rail and put each injector in its own individual cup so that when I turn the key I can see if they are all injecting identical amounts of fuel and for some reason am not getting pulse with the rail unbolted, but the car runs with it connected. I tried directly connecting the efi ground to the negative battery terminal but still not getting pulse. All 6 injector connectors are getting power (confirmed with a test light). Any idea what I'm missing here as the only parts that have been unbolted are the ones related to the fuel rail/its removal. I made a video which might help here Any ideas?

I'll take a pic of mine when I get home tonight - hold EDIT: I checked and apparently I re-used the rubber grommet I had on there when I swapped out the switches

the bezel is molded into the metal of the switch housing

The bezel is part of the switch now. This is what I got and removed the rubber grommet for the right switch but it looks like the left one with the 4 wires is NLA. That said, you could just get one for each side and ignore the buzzer wire.

Right - the passenger side is just for the light so it only has 2 wires, the drivers side has 4 (2 for the light and 2 for the buzzer)

Anyone tried both the KYB and Koni ones? I'm on KYB currently.

Hey Jim - my tires are from 2018 so they definitely aren't the newest, maybe that's part of it.

Hi gang, Question for you which I think I know the answer to (that's how it is). I refreshed my suspension with all new rubber bushings except for the strut bar end links which came in poly form when I got the beefier strut bar. I replaced the shocks with the only ones available (KYB) and you feel every bump. Granted, Dallas doesn't have the best roads, but it should be smoother than this I'd think. I have 205 width tires on 280zx wheels at 28 psi.

Update: I took the car out today with about 1/8 tank of gas and added the small lucas fuel additive bottle in full and the car ran great - definitely 100% of what it was before which is fantastic. I really wanted the lucas bottle liquid fairly undiluted which is why i didn't fill the tank first. After driving it for about an hour with no issues and awesome results, I filled the tank, took it around the block to make sure nothing changed and parked it in the garage - thanks for everyone's help! case closed

@Yarb They're about a year old remanufactured Bosch OEM units, so we should be good on that front @Zed Head Fair point about the the clean injectors contributing to how it starts, but it's just odd that it used to start without that stumble before all of this. @Captain Obvious Trying to get back to that and figure out what the issue is @siteunseen Mine is the standard '78 distributor but I confirmed everything is in spec using the FSM (including the air gap between the reluctor wheel and pickup coil)

The skip noise it makes is normal? I don't remember it doing that in the past when I didn't use the CSV. Does your 280 do that?

It's the opposite where if I manually trigger the CSV it starts right up, but if I don't use it, it stumbles like it's not getting enough fuel

In the past when not using the CSV it hasn't done that skip/stumble noise it does now in the video at 0:16

I made a video of the hard start here which should help. It did start quicker yesterday (this video) but usually the skip at 0:16 lasts a lot longer. This is without manually triggering the CSV.

gotcha, fair enough

Gotcha, I'll keep using the switch to trigger it then. We'll see in the spring when it warms up if it's still feisty haha.

Regarding residual fuel pressure, it takes all night to get down to 15 or 20 and another day(ish) to get down to full zero. I tested the empty rail possibility when I still had the pressure gauge still on. I pulled the oil pressure switch connector, put the car in on, and once the fuel pressure said ~40ish I tried to start the car and there was no change to how it starts if I wait for a few days then crank it. Regarding the cold start valve, I jury-rigged a switch in the car so I can manually trigger it during cranking - when I turn that switch on, the car starts immediately (like it used to). But if that isn't used, it's a real struggle. I'm not sure if that information helps, but I figured it couldn't hurt to pass it along.

Gotcha - in this case, I'm trying to make sure the injectors aren't gunked up from the old gas. The more I sleep on this whole story the more it makes me question it. Maybe I'm wrong? The short story is: I put gas in the car in late October Had the issue where the old fuel hose blew on the freeway Let the car sit until a couple weeks ago The car had no power and ran lean Fuel pressure was perfect and no vacuum leaks after checking both Took the car out (and was running poorly like it had been - very down on power) Immediately got a few gallons of gas since it was almost empty After a minute or so, the car came back to life and the power returned Does gas really become less combustible that quickly? -chase

I actually haven't driven it again yet. The next drive would be to fill the tank but was waiting on a thumbs up or down on if the lucas injector cleaner bottle is safe to put in our cars. Any idea?

Update: No more losing fuel pressure as all of the connectors leaking fuel vapor are now tight and no longer leaking - still a mystery how the hoses either got all squished or all of the clamps backed out, but I suppose that's a mystery for another day. Regarding the hard starting - that is still there but maybe that will go away once I fill the tank? Thinking about putting a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in the tank after all of this. Does anyone have any thoughts or recommendations on products? For example, something like this.

Update: Cranking down the final injector clamp (ended up using a 1/4 inch socket with a u-joint, and an extension. The car doesn't smell anymore and the sniffer isn't picking anything up. I tested the device just to be sure by opening the fuel door and it smelled fumes by the gas cap (I didn't remove the locking gas cap). Looks like case closed 🙂 - thanks all!

Gotcha - thanks for the picture, I will keep the clamps at the top. A friend is bringing over the socket I don't have to tighten these and then we should be good to go - I'll check the carbon canister after that for sure. Regarding the sniffer, I pull the oil pressure switch plug and set the key to 'on' to pressurize the system. I then turn on the sniffer and move its bendable head to each spot with a rubber hose and clamp. It beeps and shows the concentration on the screen when it notices fuel vapors. The device is pretty impressive.