Jon, the BIG boy

This is crazy. This morning about 5:30AM, I'm driving back from San Diego, doing about 80mph in my stock '72. Engine is purring, gauges all indicate normal. All of a sudden the engine just quits. I start to slow. I immediately press in the clutch to get max roll, the tach drops to zero, the lights are still on. I roll to the side and try to crank it. It cranks great but won't fire. After a few minutes, it fires right up. I rev it a little, it sounds fine, so I get back on the freeway. About a 1/2 hour, same thing happens--engine stops, in with the clutch, tach drops to zero, off to the side and it cranks right up. Fortune was smiled on me both times cuz I COULD have been stopped in the middle of a six lanes, but was lucky enough to find holes in traffic and could pull over. But now I'm afraid to take it out of the neighborhood. Ideas? Any and all are appreciated. Jon Has this ever happened to anyone?

Vehicle '72 240 Situation - leaking heater control valve. Has anyone seen a "Tips & Tricks" writeup on replacing this valve? It's kinda trick and I would like to have the experience of someone who has done it rather than relying on the service manual (it does not print the caveats.). Thx Jon

Hi Mike, Sorry for not acknowledging your reply any sooner. I took your advice and bought a rebuilt master vac from M/S--they had it to me with 24 hours. Their catalog part number was wrong--this may be why you received the wrong part. There was a mixup with 71s and 72s. Anyway, the part came and the operation was a success. Thx a bunch, Jon

Looks like I have a leaking master vac. Have lost all power boost to the brakes (brakes themselves are OK.) I hear a noticable hiss upon depressing brake pedal (and for some reason, engine speed increases about 500RPM). When I disconnected the vaccuum hose from manifold to the master vac, the sound disappeared. There's not much info in the Chilton manual I have about the master vac. Is is worthwhile rebuilding it? Are bebuilt ones available. How difficult is it to remove? I can see a real problem working in the tight space under the steering wheel. I'm wondering if it's best to hire this out. Any comments appreciated. Jon thebigboy@earthlink.net

Looks like I have a leaking master vac. Have lost all power boost to the brakes (brakes themselves are OK.) I hear a noticable hiss upon depressing brake pedal (and for some reason, engine RPM increases). When I disconnected the vaccuum hose from manifold to the master vac, the sound disappeared. There's not much info in the Chilton manual I have about the master vac. Is is worthwhile rebuilding it? Are bebuilt ones available. How difficult is it to remove? I can see a real problem working in the tight space under the steering wheel. I'm wondering if it's best to hire this out. Any comments appreciated. Jon thebigboy@earthlink.net

Got a brake problem, probably vaccuum. '72 240Z Brakes work OK--plenty of pedal. But all braking power assist is gone. When pressing brake pedal, I notice an low hiss (like a leaking air hose) under the dash and the RPM kicks up by 1000 RPM. Opened hood and noticed liquid (brake fluid?) just below the master vac brake cylinder. Has anyone had this problem? Trouble shooting section of manual says nothing about the increase in RPM. I'm guessing I'll have to replace the master vac, but will await any suggestions from this illustrious group. Thanks Jon thebigboy@earthlink.net

Hi Mike: Many thanks for you advice. Although you didn't state this outright, may I assume you ALSO agree that this sounds like a vacuum problem? Thx, Jon (and thanks for the username change.

1972 240Z. After the car warms--and is idling--the RPM will continually fall then rise, but get progressively lower. I have been told that this is caused by a vacuum leak. Would you guys agree? If so, is there any tried and true method of tracking down a vacuum leak? Thx, Jon thebigboy@earthlink.net

Keith: I did three things--all of which were suggested by the good guys in this conference. I'm not sure which one worked. But the bottom line is that the thing cranked right up after I did all three. 1. replaced the ballast (mine was broken--I may have done this in the removal process, but not sure; in any event, the cost was only $10.) 2. removed and reinstalled the ignition switch several times to try to clear any corrosion that may have built up on the pins and prevented clean connection (it turns out that there was NO corrosion.) 3. replaced the fuse controlling the ignition and other things (as I recall, it's on the left side, third one down--10A.) The link appeared to be intact, however, the glass easily twisted inside the metal cap and I *think* severe it. I dunno. In any event, after doing all three of the above, I disconnected the hotwire, inserted the key into the ignition, CROSSED MY FINDERS and said a silent prayer to the starter gods....and turned the key. VIOLA!! It cranked right up.....and I haven't had a problem since. Give these a try. As always, YMMV. :-) Good luck and keep ZZzz-z-z-z-ing. Jon, the BIG boy thebigboy@earthlink.net

I'm coming in late on this topic but I thought I would just post this as general info, since I just went thru this. I have a stock '72 240Z. It seemed that my starter was going bad. It would crank slower and slower, then finally would drain the battery....and I would hear that kiss-of-death sound "tick, tick, tick" indicating a dead battery. With the 240Z model, it's a piece of cake to pull the starter...which I did. Once disassembled, it was apparent that the problem was worn brushes and dirty contact surfaces. A new set of brushes costs about $5 from Kragan. With a small soldering iron and a piece of 0 gauge steel wool, I was able to replace the brushes, clean the contacts, and clean the core, etc. After reinstalling, the starter seemed to crank faster than it did when it was on the showroom floor--28 years ago. For $5 and about 2 hours of my time, I was able to solve the starting problem, keep my old reliable starter and increase my self-esteem immensely. :-) Replacing the brush holder is a little tricky, but if I can do it, ANYONE can do it!

No emergency, but a request for info.... Stock '72 engine w/ stock SUs. Engine warmed. At idle, the RPM has a tendency to waiver in cycles a few hundred RPM--say 900, down to 700, then back up to 900. I used a tee connector and checked the fuel flow from from the fuel pump, which seems to be adequate. It SOUNDS like a problem with a carb float but I'm not sure. (carbs were overhauled about 5 years ago.). So I thought I would post this here as I'm sure someone with more expertise than I has experienced this in the past. Any suggestions for a fix?

I have a stock 72 non-California 240Z. The manual calls for the timing to be set at 5 degrees BTDC. Since this car is now exempt from CA emissions tests, all the emission crapola has been stripped off the engine. Someone told me that, when this is done to this engine, that I need to change the timing setting to 17 degrees BTDC. Can anyone confirm (or poo-poo) this? thx, Jon W. thebigboy@earthlink.net

Here's yet another reply.... HTML>sounds like this may be it, the flasher relay unit under the dash on the drivers side, its a silver plug in if I remember correctly. I remember once having a z that acted wierd when the relay was bad, it didnt merely stop working, but started to protest much like your car. I would also recommeding checking this first because it is easy to get to an cheap to replace, $10 - $12 or so new. Good luck and keep using those hand signals for the time being.</HTML>

Carl, Here is another reply I found re: turn signals... <HTML> I have had problems with my turn signal switch and it exhibited similar problems to what you describe. Something to try is to remove the turn signal switch from the steering column, but leave the electrical connections connected. Then try positioning the switch and see if it works. In my case the lever would not move the switch far enough any more to activate the switch. There was considerable slop between the hole in the lever and the pin on the switch. What I did to fix it was to slip a piece of plastic tubing (of the correct size) over the pin on the switch which took up the slack. Actually, I think the "tubing" was a piece of stripped off wire insulation. It may not work, but it's cheap and worth a try.</HTML>

Hi Carl, I received this message in another forum. <HTML>early z cars are notorious for turn signal switches that collect dirt.if your signals work normally when you push and hold the turn signal stalk then your switch is probably just dirty. contact cleaner at radio shack will fix it right up</HTML>