venom42

I am starting this thread because I searched and searched for info on this topic, and had to use bits and pieces gathered from several sources to put it all together. I got an alternator from a 1995 240SX SE from a Junkyard for $40 shipped (www.car-part.com). I chose this one because it as close to "bolt on" as it gets for the power, cranks out 90A, is internally regulated, and has an internal fan. 1. You need to make a pigtail for the harness that your external voltage regulator plugs into. I happened to have an old one lying around, so I did not have to cut the wires from the "good" one on my car. Follow the directions on the ZCar Creations page located here. My car is a '75, so I did not have to worry about "run-on," but if you have a 240Z or 260Z you should also note what they say about splicing in the diode or whatever. 2. The plug on the 240SX alternator is very different than the "T" connector on our cars. The wire closest the the alternator output ("+") terminal needs voltage from the battery, which is the horizontal part of your "T" connector, if you look at it as a capital "T" (I hope that makes sense). The other wire goes to the vertical part of your "T" connector. The alternator that I got had the plug still on it, so I just soldered spade connectors onto the wires and plugged them into my "T" connector (I also put shrink wrap around them to make it look nice). If you do not have the plug, then you need to make some jumpers to connect to the plug terminals and your "T" connector. 3. You need to flip your adjusting arm around. Simply take it off, turn it over, and bolt it back on. I also had to use a shorter bolt for the adjusting ear, but I dont think the one that was there before is the original, so you may not have to worry about that. 4. You need a longer front mounting bolt. I happened to have one that was perfect. Otherwise, go to Home Depot with the one from your car (you could even pull one out in the parking lot :classic: ). You need one about 1/2" longer. 5. You need to get some spacers for the mounting ears. I dug through all of the metal and nylon spacers in the Hardware section at Home Depot and only found one that I thought would work. It turned out to be perfect. It is a nylon spacer that says: 27/64" long 29/64" OD X 324" ID on the bag. The sku# is 030699872787. It goes on the inside of the front mounting ear, which is thicker than the one on your stock alternator. Then you need to tap out the little metal spacers from your stock alternator. One goes in the outside of the front ear, and the other goes in the rear ear. 6. The 240SX alternator has a serpentine pulley on it. You need to swap it to a v-belt pulley. The one from your stock alternator will NOT work. Your local auto electric shop should be able to do it for you. I took mine to Georgia Auto Electric in Smyrna (for those of you that live around Atlanta). They swapped it for me for $10. If you have a pulley that will work, and the spacer to go underneath it, you can swap it yourself with an impact wrench. 7. The ring terminal that connects to the charge terminal on the stock alternator is too small to go over the terminal on the new alternator. You can cut yours off and splice on a new one (I would also add about 1" to the wire if I went this route). I did not want to cut my stock harness, so I cut the terminal in the middle with some wire snips, and spread it open enough to go over the new terminal. I also chose to run an additional 8ga wire directly from the charge ("+") terminal of the alternator to the positive terminal on my battery. It may not be necessary, I just wanted to take some of the load off my stock wiring, especially considering the output of the new alternator. Thats it. Bolt it up. Plug your new pigtail into the car side of the voltage regulator harness (I left my VR on the car and taped up the plug on case I ever decided to go back to stock). Plug your new spade terminals into the "T" connector. Bolt on your terminal connections and ground (and that little diode thingy that was bolted to your ground terminal on your stock alternator). Take it for a spin. My lights were brighter, and my idle was correct for the first time since I built the engine (it had been idling high most of the time). Best of all, I can finally put in my 16" fan to stop my overheating problem when the car sits at idle (there is a 14" on there now). It charged my battery from 11.5v to 12.4v in the time it took me to pull the car out of the garage.

Right now I have a 14" fan mounted, that pulls 15A, but it does not handle it when the car has to idle for a long time. Not as much of an issue now that it has cooled down though. I have a 16" fan for it, but it pulls 26A by itself. I have been waiting to put it in until I upgraded the alternator. Since its a 280 it does have an electric fuel pump. I have upgraded to H4s, but the bulbs are only 55/65. I want to upgrade the ignition as well, so I am thinking I may try the 240SX alt. to get 90A. According to the "Z Car Creations" page, it bolts right up. You only have to swap the pulley and figure out which of the 2 spade connectors go to which on the "T" connector. The only thing that has me concerned is that I have not seen that particular alternator discussed as a swap anywhere other than on that site.

I have tested my current one (even though it is only about a year old), and it seems to be working properly. I do have one of those solid state VRs that I put in when I replaced the alternator. My idle is set around 1100-1400 rpm (cam will not let it idle well below that), so I dont think it is RPM related. I guess I was just thinking that if the 60 amp one I have now doesn't handle it that the ZX one wouldn't either? Are your results typical? If so, then it might be worth considering. Does being internally regulated make that much of a difference? I have not purchased one yet, but was going to this weekend. I can get either the Maxima or 240SX alts for about $35 from a junkyard. If I go ZX, then I can get a reman. one for about $45 from Oreilly auto.

why create a new thread when the search function lead me here?

I have been searching (both here and at Hybrid Z) for a definitive answer on this. I am looking to do the Maxima swap, as the stocker just cant keep up since I put in the electric fan. It will actually drain my battery a little if I am running the lights, heater, and the electric fan at the same time. I want to use the Maxima Alt to get 90 amps, as opposed to the 60 amps for the ZX (the reman alt that is in the car now is 60 amps). Not interested in the fab work to use the GM one, and too broke for the $199 Z Specialties one. So here goes: What year Maxima Alt is a direct bolt in? I have read that the '95-up requires some fabricating, and I do not need 125amps. I would like to use the '86-'94 because it is 90 amps. Does anyone know if it will bolt directly in (assuming I change the pulley)? I have seen that SOME of the '85 ones were 90 amp. If I get it from a junk yard, is there a way to verify that it is 90amps? On a link from one of the other posts (the one with the wiring pics) they list the '95 240sx as being bolt-in as well. Anyone had any experience with that? Did you figure out which wires go where? From looking at the pics of the aftermarket ones, they use the same parallel spade connector you are talking about. I want to make sure my AMP gauge will still work. Otherwise, looks like I just jumper the wires on the car side of the VR harness, according to the diagram posted earlier?

It has been a few months since there were any posts to this thread... I was just wondering if anyone had found the connectors for the 280s? If not, then the only option is to get the required connectors from the j-yard and send them with payment?

Hi guys. I put an electric fan on my car a couple of days ago. However, it will not stay cool at idle. I installed a 2000 cfm 14" fan, but it is situated at the bottom of the radiator on the passenger side (just above the outlet). Is it because of where it is? Do I need a pusher on the front as well?

Thats what I was thinking. If it is nice out tomorrow I will check all my connections (cold and raining tonight). When you say upper right kick panel, you mean under the glove box, on the right, in front of the passenger door? Any good ideas on cleaning the inside of the female connectors? Needle file maybe? I did have everything disconnected during the rebuild, but I checked the other day again to make sure everything was plugged in tightly. One of my horns sounds bad. Could it be related to that possibly (they come from the same harness)?

It has about 4500 miles on it now. Everything is running great. Just switched it over to Mobil 1 a couple days ago. I have not pulled the plugs to check them recently, but everything seems to be in good working order. Ignition is still stock for now, but I was considering going to an upgraded box like the one that Motorsport sells. I am very pleased with the results of the build. I also switched to a later model ('81) 5-speed at the same time. It has good power, mileage, and top end. I imagine if I had kept the stock 4-speed it would be really fast off the line, but it does pretty well as is.

They were working as they are supposed to before the engine rebuild. I am fairly certain they worked a couple of times after as well, but maybe not. Anyhow.. the low beams work well. When I switch to high beams the indicator light comes on but the lights are completely dark. Switch back to low and they come back on. Any ideas?

I recently rebuilt my engine. I went with the stock N42 Head and block. .020" overbore with the flat top pistons for the 10:1 compression. I also went with a fairly agressive Schneider cam, springs, etc. I gapped the plugs to the stock gap for the 1975 model, but with all the changes would that be correct? What would the ideal gap be for this setup?

The old one died after I replaced the alternator. My high beams quit working at the same time this started. Not sure if that is related, but thought I would mention it. It has also been idling at about 2000 rpm since the problems started.

I just rebuilt the engine a little over a month ago. Charging system was fine before the build. It ran fine for a few weeks, and then the alternator died. I replaced it with a crappy one from autozone (all I could get at 10pm). It did great for a week. The AMP gauge was showing about 50 amps, the car was running strong, etc. Then it would only read about 10-20 amps, and sometimes would not charge at all. I then replaced the voltage regulator. The car ran fine, but with the lights on, the alternator was only putting out about 13 volts, so I got another (better - BeckArnley) alternator and bolted it on. After I started the car, I noticed the AMP gauge only reading about 10-20 amps again, so I headed into the garage to get my meter to test it. When I leaned into the engine bay I smelled something burning (electrical smell) and the new (1 day old) regulator had a small amount of smoke coming off it. I immediately shut it down, put up my tools, and came inside for a beer. I need any help I can get. Did I get a crap regulator? I have checked, and re-checked all of my connections (battery, etc.).

I forgot to add that it does not knock every time I drive it. Would a failing injector cause this if it were occasionally sticking open or something? The knock is just below the head, not down in the engine. Plus, if it were a bearing it would knock all the time right? If you pull the plug wire the knock becomes constant. I dont see how it could be related, but it has also developed an exhaust leak about the same time the knock started. Figured I would mention it just in case.

I do drive her hard, but I used to get around 20 mpg when I first had the car. I am thinking that a major engine failure is on its way soon. I have been looking at some used or rebuilt engines, so I am prepared. This car is my daily driver, so I cant afford to have her down for long. I am hoping it is not as bad as it seems, but preparing in case it is.

Basically, when the car starts it sounds like it is only firing on a few cylinders. After a couple of seconds it smooths out and begins to idle. However, the idle is a little rough (slight misfire). The cylinder closest to the firewall has also been knocking intermittently, but only at idle. It seems to be more frequent when the engine is hot. The knock is high up in the engine. The valves were just adjusted. New plugs/wires/cap/rotor. From looking at the plugs it is running rich. My mechanic friend said it sounded like a wrist pin, and would likely be ok. I am less optomistic. I only get about 17 mpg. Could it be fuel related (bad injector)? Spun bearing? Any help is appreciated.

What kind of info are you looking for?

Crap. I was hoping I could just order a part and only have to take it apart once. Then again, if the rod just came loose, I guess I would only be taking it apart once. Guess I will try and tear into it tomorrow evening when I get home. I just hate working in the dark, dealing with a hot light, etc. Thats why I usually reserve working on the car for off days.

I have been noticing some play in the handle, and today it popped, then quit working. The inside one still works, I just have to lean through the passenger side to open my door. What parts do I need to replace? I am hoping to be able to fix it in one day, so knowing what is likely broken and needs replacing will be invaluable. My days off are kind of spaced out, and I do not want to have to lean through my passenger side for a week and a half.

Did you end up getting the car?

My '75 does the exact same thing. It only does it when it is lower on gas though. The crap in the tank sounds like a likely culprit. Did all of the Z's come with baffled tanks?

This is exactly what I needed to know. Thanks! Just an FYI - zyardauto sells the replacement bushing kit for $35.

I voted for the Z, and I am going to put up a post on DSMTalk to vote for it too.

Ok. Finally snapped a pic. Of course, the one time I go to take it, it had not been leaking. So, the top arrow is the one hose I did not replace (braided), and the bottom arrow is the bracket where coolant accumulates. It usually is puddled around the bolt closer to the front of the car, on that bracket. Sorry for the pic being so crappy. My camera has no screen, so I do not know how good/bad the pics are until I pull them onto the computer. I can post a bigger version if it is needed for reference to where this is in the engine bay (I trimmed the pic for smaller file size).

Would a compression test point this direction also? In any case, I do not believe this is the issue, as my leak is outside the block (it accumulates on a bracket under the engine compartment). Hopefully we will not have rain, and I can snap a pic tomorrow.