SteveJ

Well, quite a few people have been departing today. The only events for today are the autocross and the "To Go Cup" party at Hooters. I got to see some people I haven't seen in years, including Mad Mike and a few people from the Z Car Club of NOVA. I also got to meet some great people like Guy Miller and Bill Moreau. Considering the temperatures this week, it was fantastic to have an indoor car show. My primary goal for attending the convention has been accomplished. The boss is the closest she has ever been to catching Z fever. She was even eyeing a Z32 2+2 that someone was selling. The great thing is that she understands why I want to take those two old cars sitting out in the garage and try to turn back the clock a little bit. I don't know if the finances will allow us to visit Phoenix or San Diego in 2012 or 2013, but you never know. If you can swing it, I recommend going to a ZCON even if you can only make it once.

I was playing with the fuel gauge in my car recently. I determined it was time to replace it, though. Fortunately for me, Dave Irwin, aka Zs-ondabrain, was very generous and sent me his old gauge that functioned perfectly. Anyway, from my analysis during troubleshooting the old gauge, here is how I think it works: 1. Voltage comes in to the right side of the gauge (as you're facing it). It goes through the windings and splits in two. One path goes back to ground, and the other path goes through the windings on the left side of the gauge. Thus acting like a voltage divider. 2. From the left side of the gauge, the circuit goes out the yellow wire and back to the sender. The sender is just a resistor that affects the current flow through the gauge. 3. The electromagnets formed by the windings will pull the two parts of the gauge toward each other. Since the right side is fixed and the les, ft is not, the left windings move toward the right windings and allow the needle to move. (While you may know this already, I thought it might help others who have trouble with their fuel gauges.) You should have had good deflection on the gauge with the 9V battery provided the battery was at its full charge. While you might have issues with corrosion elsewhere in the circuit, my partially educated guess is that your fuel gauge is ready to be refurbished. Possible sources for gauges include 1. Asking here if someone has a spare gauge. The core membership here is made up of a great bunch of guys. 2. Contact Zspecialties. They are in Washington state and are very reputable.

I was wondering why the guy was trying to sell the car for $100.

I uploaded more pictures from today's car show. Enjoy!

Frankly I wasn't paying close attention to who owns which car. I'm just enjoying the show. I'll have more pictures up tonight. I did also manage to get my copy of a print of a 240Z in BSR livery signed by Bob Sharp.

Yeah, your father told me that you're at home playing with your BMW. I hope you got the numbers you were looking for on the dyno.

Okay, try this link for ZCON pictures and let me know if it works.

Are there one or two nuts on the rod? A single nut can work its way loose. Two nuts torqued against one another will tend to keep both in place.

Tommy, are you from Michigan, or did you mean 678? Anyway, try posting on the facebook page for ClassicZCars. I put out a bleg for a fuel gauge, and a generous member on here named Dave Irwin had one out in the mail to me on the same day. I don't think it gets better than that. Anyway, there is a swap meet at ZCON tomorrow morning, and I'll keep an eye open for one.

Care to elaborate? It sounds like there is more going on than the height of the clutch pedal.

You could try here for a manual: Dyment Distribution Services 20770 Westwood Road Strongsville, OH. 44136 (800) 247-5321

Check your fusible links. Make sure you download the FSM for your car and read through the EE and BE sections so you can diagnose and repair your electrical system.

The wife and I are taking a short break after the opening reception. Mr. K talked to the convention via Skype. He looks pretty darn good for 101. I won a NISMO license plate frame. I'm tempted to put it on my ugly 73 just for the comedic value.

Zforce gave you the correct answer. Just look in the FSM. It's there.

Download copies of the FSM and owners manual, then. Learn about maintaining your Z, and you will reap the benefits of classic car ownership.

The only yellow wire I could find was for the gas gauge. The only black/yellow wire I could find on the wiring diagram that I would suspect running through that area is for the windshield washer tank. I suggest downloading a copy of the FSM, going to the BE section, and printing out a copy of the wiring diagram. Since I'm at the convention, I'm trying to read the diagram on the screen of a netbook computer while turning my head sideways (Eventually, I just turned the computer on its side, but I didn't find any other potential candidates.). It's not the easiest thing to trace wires like that. Unfortunately, the FSM doesn't do the greatest job of identifying where single wire connections are.

There are a few S30s & S130s hiding in the parking garage. It's just too dark in there to take a decent picture. From my room, I can also see an S30 in the other parking area adjacent to the garage. I just don't feel like going out into the heat right now.

Sorry, I was running around with the wife today. I haven't seen many cars, yet, either. Hopefully that will be different tomorrow.

Well, we're at the hotel now. For some reason I was pretty thirsty on the drive down. The car ran like a champ. I'd never taken it on a 300 mile drive. We stopped a little after half way, and it only needed 6.3 gallons to fill it. And I thought the car was running rich.

88 MPH. That's when the flux capacitor kicks in.

Actually, I can't believe I overlooked suggesting the simple, such as looking at the fuses. Still, it's not a bad idea to look for exposed wires that could have shorted to ground. I've lost a few fuses that way.

D'oh! I missed that. I'm trying to remember if the fried ammeter allowed the starter to spin. Unfortunately I have to finish getting ready for my trip to the convention, so I can't dig into it now.

Bill, be sure to check the fusible link between the starter and the engine wiring harness. I think Arne is on to something as far as overloading when you crossed the streams. You created a dead short that wasn't protected by a fuse. Therefore, there's a good chance the fusible link took a good shot of current, too. Edit: Oh, and there is always the chance that you fried the ammeter in your dash, too. That could prevent starting. I've seen that before.

FYI, here is another post from the OP. Considering he didn't have the accessory fuse in, I would say the dead wires are most likely energized through the accessory fuse.

So what did you find wrong? Posting solutions help people when they search for answers.