wal280z

Bill- no need to go through all the trouble you are describing. for testing purposes (I am assuming you won't be attempting to crank the engine during a dust storm), you can Just remove the boot between the air cleaner and AFM and insert a screwdriver into the AFM to hold the flap open to engage the fuel pump. When you are done troubleshooting, remove the screwdriver and replace the boot. Also, if you are attempting to troubleshoot the fuel pump, just remove the yellow/black wire from the starter solenoid to eliminate cranking the engine over and allowing the fuel pump to run. Word of advice and caution - 1) Install a filter between the tank and the pump to catch any debris from the tank. 2) Do not let the pump run dry, as the fuel cools the pump while running. You may want to check into acquiring an FSM if you already haven't, and be able to go through the EFI troubleshooting methods. Sounds like you have a good game plan. Good luck with it. Wayne

Hi Warren - I see from your previous posts you have a '78. If this is still the case, you can attempt to remove the speedo and tach from thier resting spots. This has it's own set of pros and cons associated with it. Removal of the steering wheel, finding and removing (and not loosing) the screws and disconnecting the electrical connections, as well as the speedo cable... It can be done. The other gauges come out like that as well. That said, the con about this procedure is if you have a dash cap, you are pretty much doomed into removing the dash entirely, unless you want to get finger reduction surgery or you can bribe one of your kids into working on dad's car...... Note: I do have a 1/2 dash cap on mine, and am able to add just a few correctly timed cuss words and mine comes out, not with ease, of course. Good luck. Wayne

Reminder - only a few slots remain. Wayne

Weekend at Z Beach Tidewater Z Car Club and Tidewater Sports Car Club are coordinating a weekend Z event in Virginia Beach, Virginia, September 16th and 17th. The festivities will include: Saturday Test & Tune - held at the Little Creek Amphibious Base, one of the best autocross sites on the east coast. This location hosted the SCCA 2005 Southeast Divisional Solo2 Championship Series, October 2005. From 10am until around 1pm you can bring your Z out and stretch its legs a bit. We'll have slalom, skidpad, braking zone and other testing mechanisms set up for you to try out. We'll have seasoned autocrossers on hand to help you out if you'd like. If you've ever thought about autocrossing your Z, but didn't want the pressure of debuting at a live event, here's your opportunity to see what it's like in a no-pressure atmosphere. If you're a seasoned autocrosser, and want some time to dial in your suspension or just want more seat time, this event is perfect for you too. Registration for the Test & Tune is open now at http://www.autocross.us/cgi-bin/TZCC/Register.cgi You must be registered by Tuesday, September 13th, and the event is limited to 25 cars. We'll have a waiting list if interest is strong. The price is only $20/driver for this event and the proceeds go to the Food Bank of Hampton Roads, so come out, have fun, and help out a worthy cause. Saturday Afternoon Cuise-In - Held at Jenro's Classic Pub in Virginia Beach (10 minutes from Little Creek.) Once the Test & Tune is wrapped up, we'll spend the afternoon hanging out, partaking of fine foods and beverages, and checking out cars of every vintage, make and model. This is a FREE event. Sunday TSCC Autocross - at Little Creek Amphibious Base, is the fastest growing autocross series in the area. The location is ideal, the concrete is prestine, and TSCC has first rate equipment, including FM transmitter so you can hear what the announcers are saying about you and your competitors. Registration for this event opens on Sunday, September 10th at http://www.tidewatersportscarclub.com. Price for this event is $20/driver, due the morning of the event at the registration trailer. Hotel Accomodations - A group rate has been established at The Comfort Inn, Little Creek, 5189 Shore Drive, Virginia Beach, (757) 460-5566 of $109/night. The group ID is Tidewater Sports Car Club. The cutoff date for that group rate is September 12th. Directions - From the Hampton Roads Beltway (I-64) take Northampton Blvd (US-13) North 1.6 Miles. Turn left (north) on Diamond Springs Rd (Rt-166) for 1.4 Miles. Turn right (east) onto Shore Drive for approx. 1 mile to Gate 3, Helicopter Road. Follow the signs into the visitor/commercial vehicle line where your name will be on the visitor list (if you've signed up, of course.) Once through gate 3, follow Helicopter Rd. north for about 1.5 miles where it will turn left and continue another .5 miles straight into the ACU-4 complex. If a guard is not at that gate to check you in, proceed to the quarterdeck (red awning, center of the building) and sign in there. Once checked in, drive around the right side of the building and onto the amphibious landing craft pad (you should see lots of cones!) park your car with the others and come sign in at the registration trailer. special thanks go to Jim Haltom at http://www.autocross.us for providing the registration page. Check out the site for tons of great videos, forums about autocross events, and lots of other cool stuff. **The Tidewater Z Car Club webpage is currently under construction and may not indicate this event on it**

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16332&highlight=wiring+diagram+280z Wayne

Yeah, but it's more directed at myself for not getting on the bandwagon when you were making them! :stupid: Wayne

You mean like this? The price (excluding shipping) is $6.45 for a 2 pair of male and female connectors, with contacts. Buy multiple sets in order to reduce shipping cost per set. See the Eagleday Store Too bad they don't have the round ones (but then again, you aren't making the headlight harnesses anymore) for the 280 upgrade. Wayne

Home Depot sells some 12ga channel in the electrical department. I bought a 10' length of it, cut it in 1/2, and cut about 6-8 inches from each half to make a 'base'. I took the remaining of the two halfs and welded them together (you can use bolts w/o a welder), and draped some chain over them on each side of the engine and bolted it to the A/C bracket mounting holes and the alternator mounting holes. See the pic in my gallery.http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=14307&cat=500&ppuser=6279 Yes, the front fenders will need to be removed for this. Use the two scrap pieces to hold up the twin rails off the fender mounting points. Use jack stands at the very front of the frame rails. Wayne

for leading all to the link. Here's the thread (and printing options, etc) for reference: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13131 Wayne

Why not remove the sending unit from the tank to get a better look at the connection? Those style connectors IIRC, were ring terminals mounted on a stud w/ a nut. I haven't found them new, but Nissan did use them throughout this time period. I have found them inside, at the fuse box of the 240's, and in the engine bay (ballast resistor) of the 280's.Good luck.

My question to you is what diagram are you using? If this is for your '75, the green wire goes to the tach (and several other places), but not the ignition switch. Attached is a pdf of the with the green wire you are referring to highlighted (in green). EDIT: this file opens w/ Adobe Reader 7.0. Wayne 75-green.pdf

Nope, it's not. Agreed!With the key turned to on, grab the wire harness that is between the fusible links and the white wire tap off the starter. Wiggle that to see if you hear relays clicking on and off. If that's the case, you need to repair your harness before going further. Wayne

Don't worry about the gas gauge, most Z's are notorious for incorrect readings. Has the Z been a 'daily driver' or 'just gotten running after 6 years of sitting'? Install a clear plastic fuel filter inbetween the tank and the pump if it's the latter. My gauge was reading incorrectly for a while until I actually filled the tank to FULL for a few weeks and the problem is taking care of itself. But, if you feel industrious, open the hatch, open the spare tire cover, and to the right towards the tailgate you will find a round metal cover fastened with two large Phillips screws. Remove the screws and the cover, and now you are looking at the fuel sending unit. Disconnect the electrical connector. The fuel sending unit is held in place with a locking ring, use a screwdriver or punch and LIGHTLY tap CCW to remove the locking ring. Remove the sending unit, and replace if necessary. Wayne

The vacuum line will go into the firewall through the grommet shown in Pic #3, the 'nipple' as you refer to it. Inside, you should find another 'tee' vacuum fitting to connect to. Pic #3: That unconnected ground wire fastened to the firewall should connect to the negative battery cable. There also should be another wire with a similar connection as your EFI fusible link, as shown in pic #5. The short lead that connects to the smaller gauge red wire with the two nylon electrical connections is your EFI fusible link. Before trying to actually start the car, you should check a few things out prior to actually engaging the starter. Check for voltage and ground at the EFI control unit. Without it, your car will not start, and if it does (by the help of ether, it won't stay running) Disconnect the battery cables (as shown in pic 5), remove the EFI '36 pin' connector by pushing up on the steel clip, pulling the connector down, then up to remove. Reconnect the battery, including the EFI power and ground wires. A word regarding the EFI connector: The pins are numbered 1 - 35, #1 being the TOP RIGHT PIN. Numbers increase down that column, then continue on at the TOP LEFT down to pin 35 at the BOTTOM LEFT. With the key turned to "ON", you should have battery voltage at PIN 10 on the EFI connector. Download the electrical diagram that webdawg posted, or right-click and 'save-as' the following: 76 Wiring Diagram. The '77 and '78 wiring diagrams are too different to follow for your application. Also, fix the fusible link as suggested by Stephen (sblake01) before doing anything I have suggested. The vacuum line will not keep your car from starting, by the way (BTW) Also, when doing the checks (tests) that require you to turn the car to 'start', disconnect the yellow wire w/ black stripe on the starter solenoid to save your battery from actually cranking the engine over. BTW, where are you located? I dare to say that there are more than a few members here that could almost guarantee a running car by sundown on Sunday. Wayne

I like them. They came on the car as I bought it, I'm pretty sure I'll replace them with the same when needed. See attached pictures. Sorry I haven't cleaned them up, auto-crossing was yesterday and tonight is the club meeting. Maybe a quick bath at the corner car wash before the meeting. Don't worry about the speedo, it's off anyways. :nervous: Wayne

Attached are the front, back and close up of the back of the passenger door panel, **edit* 76 *edit** 280Z Coupe If you don't see a similar view when looking at yours from the inside of the car, i.e. door latch still mounted then remove those items. Pic one is the front view. Also shown is an invaluable tool that I use for getting between the door panel and metal door frame, to assist in removing the plastic rivets that keep the panel from rattling. Pic two is the rear view, missing some plastic rivets. Pic three is a close up of the plastic rivets. Wayne

David- My '77 has the same problem. I traced it out, disconnecting connectors, checking continuity, etc, and plugged them back in and whala! they worked. Mine is caused from a short somewhere in the harness between the firewall and the fusible link branch. I wiggle the harness and the low beams will re-illuminate. One of the things on my 'to do list', but I don't drive the car in the rain or at night. Wayne

Can't believe no one has posted this one yet.... In "Every which way but loose", right before the truck chase scene w/ the cycles, there is a dark blue 240Z parked in the used car lot. Wayne

Bob- Pretty sure it is 510, it may be 515, (lt blue) although I can't exactly remember what the stamped code is, as was the donor car (originally). It does have those custom gray primer accents (rare optional item, so I hear) **edit Just looked at the color code and it is 305. I got the other (incorrect) codes from the online library at www.autocolorlibrary.com. end edit** Wayne

Vicky- Great Idea! Here's mine~ 1977 280Z production date 11/76 HLS30364180 1977 280Z production date 02/77 HLS30375132 sadly, I can't find any of the paperwork/dates from the donor car, also a '77, but the engine number is between the engine numbers listed for the above cars, comparing the VIN and engine numbers between the three, the production numbers and engine numbers match sequence, so the VIN should be HLS30371358, which has already seen the crusher. MikeW- zhome.com does have a register started, but only for the 'classic/collectable (early 240Z and special edition models on later vintage). I suppose that may be a starting point. I can also start taking the camera to the junkyard as well to snap pictures of the vin plates if you are going to pursue this. Wayne

Vicky- So your '77 had an access panel. I guess over time the PO's decided to remove the ones that were in both of my cars. I have seen so many of the '75-'76 had that panel (got 2 of them from the boneyard for that purpose, but never installed it since I'm still resolving the electrical issues). My guess was I thought Nissan attempted to omit that plastic piece in favor of the raised rear deck. Wayne

Nope, is was directed to all us CAD guys/gals. Thanks for sharing! ::edit:: maybe time to start a new thread in the off-topic so Mark may get a possible answer from the orig. post:: GunnerRob, ya wanna cut 'n paste? Wayne

Easy (for me, IMO).. when OEM exceeds the aftermarket in quality, OEM will be my choice for replacement parts. For example, suspension/steering parts (ball joints, tie rods) will be OEM until NLA, but I do not require bushings, hardware and the like to be OEM. Many orders from VB attest to that. They are new, look great, but I, myself, cannot vouch for the authenticity that they are from the same mfr. that supplied Nissan with those nearly identical parts, or better urethane bushings. Braided hoses? Well, I'm sure that they came as OEM in '77, but all the NOS parts (in Nissan and old Datsun bags) were not braided. I'd rather be able to inspect the condition of the hoses than look like it rolled off the showroom floor. Of course, neither of mine were ever intended to do that, and if they were, they would most certainly be garage queens, only to be on a trailer and looked at but never driven. Not my cup of tea, but it is for others. No offense intended, don't take it that way if you have or are rebuilding a GQ. For the other renewable parts, plugs, wires, hoses, it will be better than duct tape fixes, but generally off the shelf quality parts. There are things the dealer/MSA/VB/Zparts.com can't supply. For Lucy, my almost DD, she hopefully get the OEM parts she wants, as required. But I've also have to keep her on the road, so money does come into play. Luckily, I've got my second bedroom filled with lots of parts (thanks to Chloe) that she will get rather than my first project. Hey, plans change all the time. The other gal is going to get dressed up just enough for daily driving, then Lucy will undergo her surgery, the right way. Good to have some practice under the belt, eh? Guess I'll have to change that 8K down to 4K and get on with life. :classic: Wayne

I didn't find that drawing, but R2002 has a semi-truck 3d model in the sample directory. It appears most of the work (the blocks, ie headlights, tires) could be resized for the S30. Who's volunteering? I'm going to play around with it, but offer no hopeful solutions. Off-topic, but still related, what version did you like the best (and your specialty, i.e., civil, electrical, mechanical, etc..) My all time favorite has been R14 w/ Softdesk 8 working w/ Civil (surveying) Wayne