28Zero

sblake01, where is the altitude switch and how did you adjust it? I have the same high idle problem when the engine gets warm on my 78 280z

I decided to replace the rear wheel bearings on my 78 280 in an attempt to solve a grinding noise - bingo, one of the bearings nearly locks up when I test it. I'm fairly certain that rust flakes caused the bearings to go bad as the cavity between the inner and outer bearings had a small pile of rust in it. So: how should I prevent rust from forming in there again before I reassemble everything? I have some POR but I can't find anything about high temp situations. I'm also thinking of just filling up the entire cavity with grease to match the new grease in the bearings. Any thoughts? Also, any thoughts about using the electrolitic rust removal process to clean up some of the pieces (axle stub, intermediate piece btwn half-shaft and stub nut)? Cheers!

I bought a 78 280z as my first car (beginning of the summer) but since I live in IL where they salt the heck out of the roads I bought another cheap car to drive around in the winter. It's a great car as people have said, for those who want to learn about tinkering with a cool car. That's why I bought mine. :-)

I bought a new EGR valve and took off the old one. :eek: Holy-moley! There was at least an inch of gunk in the return port and I'm still cleaning out the gunk from the intake port. Obviously this part of the engine has never been looked after by the PO. Once I get that cleaned out I'll see if it helps out on the idle problem. However, it seems that in order to really clean out the ports I need to take the manifold off, and I'm not ready to do that just yet. When I do, is there anything I should really watch out for? What's not adequately covered in the manuals? While it's off, what should I do also? Cheers!

Great! This helps out a bunch. I had put in an "add-on" blade fuse to replace what is the black one. Been using a 35amp fuse, the biggest one I could find and it blows out in a week or so if I leave the battery connected. Cheers!

Thanks... I'll have to look into getting the right tools for the job. It'll likely be a month before I get around to that fix though. Cheers!

anyone know of a write up of a T5 swap into a 280z 2+2? I plan on doing this when my current trans fails. Cheers!

My engine idles fine when started and for a short while after that, then after the engine warms up, it refuses to idle less than 2k. I think it's a bad EGR valve and so I'm going to replace that soon, but I heard from someone else that it could be a leak in the rubber tube from the filter to the AFM (which has a sensor, of course). This doesn't quite make sense to me, does it make sense to anyone else? The rubber thingy is old and almost definitely leaks - I would think the only bad thing is that portion of the air is not filtered. Are there any other effects? Cheers!

Still haven't found out what the ratings are for the fusible links on the '78 280z. Anyone know? I'll probably end up ordering a set from MSA.

Same here, my gauge reads 3/4 full when it's full, and on reaching E it still has at least 6 gallons left (as I found out when I dropped the gas tank to install my rear bumper this past summer - had a 5 gallon, and ran to get another 2 gallon. :-) In december I'll try seeing if there's an adjustment on the gauge itself, if not, I'll try taking apart the stuff in the tank (and replace those hoses while I'm at it). Hope you find something that works! -Cheers-

Howdy - still trying to track down what's faulty - the gauge or the sensor unit. Tried to measure resistance (ohms) across the two leads out of the oil pressure send unit and got nothing, not while the motor was running nor while it was off. Does anyone know offhand if there should be resistance and how much? Is there a site/post somewhere that I've missed that can tell me the various resistances, etc of the various parts of the electrical system? I've got three manuals that don't seem to go into detail on this (haynes, clymer & clifton (?)) I've a '78 280z 2+2 Any help would be great! Cheers!

I've got a grinding/washing machine noise from the rear that's been with my '78 ever since I bought it this past spring. I've replaced the differential fluid, and that didn't seem to do much, there were no particles in the old fluid either. The noise is commesurate with the speed of the car and the gear position doesn't seem to matter at all. I took off the wheels (but not the brake assembly) and it didn't seem to matter which side I rotated (holdin the opposite side still). Is it a bad diff, half shaft bearing, half shaft u-joints, or something in the brake assembly? When it comes time to store the car in the garage I'm going to take it apart and hopefully get it back together again. Any ideas? What should I check first? Cheers!

I'm 6'1, and slightly stocky (used to weightlift and was in crew for a bit) and I fit great, just the door is touching along my upper arm - not too shabby! I can even wear my fedora while I drive. I have the seat all the way back, and it's the first car that I never felt the desire to redo the seat mounts to make it further back. I drive a 12/77 280z 2+2. (I _can_ fit into the rear seat, but I ain't staying back there!) Cheers!

Other things that could have an influence? - windshield wiper motor kept blowing its fuse - taped up the holes in the protective bag (is that normal?) and now the motor doesn't short due to getting wet in the rain - the driver side signal light at the front doesn't work - temp/oil pressure gauge never worked (no resistance across the connectors from the oil pressure sensor?!) - Naturally, when the stand-in fusible link is blown, the clock doesn't run when the car is off (elapsed drivetime clock, hey!) - I still can't tell if I should use the '77 or '78 wiring schematic (I don't have the '78 one) - I can access the FSM online, so that's available for me, but hasn't helped so far Cheers!

Howdy all, I'm new to this (great site, btw), bought my first car ever this past spring, a refreshed 280Z, manufactured in 12/77 (so is it a '77 or '78?) and had great fun driving it around this summer. Silver gray with black racing stripes (some love it, some don't). Been doing maintenence stuff to it since. ANYWAYS, the dilemma: Had difficulty starting (would start great 1/2 the time, grind the other 1/2), so I took the starter solenoid apart, then took off the starter itself to look at the gear: normal condition. Put it back on, and wired it the same as before (or so I think) & started the car and then turned it off. 2 hours later, the car wouldn't start- thought perhaps I switched the pos. and neg. cables to the starter from the battery. switched it (yeah, I know! ) and bang, melted a fusible link, was likely faulty to begin with. Came here, found that no-one has a clue as to the rating (30 or 35)? Put in a 30 via a add-in, that blew two days later, put in a 35, that lasted a week. Coming home one day, my replacement fuse (for the fusible link) went out again (the one to the interior lights and all) and then I couldn't start up the car - not enough battery charge. Got it jump started and then: As I was driving up to my house the entire car died just before I got to the driveway! Been sitting in my driveway for weeks while I try to hunt down a short. Can't find it. Replaced the battery - still drains. Was at 12.78v, now at 12.48. So I've disconnected the neg cable. Current Wiring of the Starter: Negative cable from battery runs to the top bolt that holds the starter to the housing, the positive to the top bolt on the solenoid, on top of the wire that connects the solenoid to the starter. The smaller side wire on the solenoid goes to the fusible links. Anyone have clues or suggestions? Help! I've got the '77 color wiring schematic from this site, a multimeter, a Haynes manual & two others, basic tools. Planning on getting a FSM soon (want the CD version, but I refuse to use PayPal). 28Zero, currently stranded in a western suburb of Chicago (anyone close by who can help?)