RogerZ

How do you do it??? Manual I have says to adjust idle air screw but I can't find anything on the engine that looks like the picture. Saw a post about changing the AFM around but couldn't seem to relocate that.

only have the console itself. The only reason I have that is that I was going to put in a 125 mph speedo in my 81zxt

83zxt coolant temp was working fine and then just went black. No frame no bars. speedo and tach still operational. Anyone worked on one of these enough to know if this is fixable. I have an analog unit from a 79 would this be a direct swap or would I need to splice wires.

Sorry that is an analog unit would that be a direct swap

83 zxt coolant temp unit was working on the digital dash and then just went black. Speedo tach still in operation. Checked on my other one and not because the sensor is gone I unplugged it on the one that works and the frame work still show just no bars for temp. Anyone worked on one of these and might have an idea if this is fixable. Otherwise I have a complete unit from a 79 is that a direct swap or do wires need to be spliced. any hellp appreciated.

You could use whatever the dealer has available for 300zx. As long as you need both parts make no difference the year. Unless you doing a complete restore to original in which case might want to haunt some junk yards. Getting em to stick to the t tops is the trick.

Since you are in Redmond and I'm on Whidbey Island not much of a drive. It came out of a 81zxt and was working fine. I just like playing with the gears so I put in a 5 speed. let me know. krs@whidbey.com. Like to see somebody get some use out of it. Might have to adapt the driveshaft to your rear end

Just changed head gaskets on a 83 zxt. Naturally dropped the timing chain so had to pull the timing cover also. Got it all back together and she runs BUT i'm leaking coolant out of one of the timing cover bolts. It is on the passenger side up close to the head and holds the alternator tensioner arc arm as the stationary point. Anyone have an idea why this is happening and what to do about it. Tried putting some rtv on the bolt and retightening but didn't stop the leak. Don't know what the status was before the new head gasket as I bought the rascal cheap not running but supposedly running until the head gasket went at about 195k. any help appreciated.

anyone in seattle area interested in a working auto tranny out of a 81 turbo can have it for a nominal fee need to get it out of sight of momma. krs@whidbey.com

If you turn off the radio and you can still hear (which I can't) turn the key to run and listen. You will hear the fuel pump run for a few seconds and then stop (times out). this on 81 turbo, 83 turbo, 83 na, 85 z31. CAn't hear it on my z32 but might be my hearing deficit. Thirty years in the engine room of a large cargo ship does wonders for your hearing.

On my 83 na it would squeak a little on cold days. Finally got tired of that took up little more tension on belt problem go away. Also have heard that the viscous clutch on the cooling fan sounds like that also. Not sure which years had the viscous clutch. apparently you can take the thing apart once you get it off the vehicle and replace the fluid in there.

Check to see if the speaker in the middle of the dash is working i believe that is where she says hi. it was on some 280zx and early z31 stopped in 87 i believe. I like mine others say they hate it.

On my 81 turbo there is a spring loaded check valve which diverts coolant back to pump suction when the heater is not needed and no flow thru the core. Manual climate control. On my 83 N/A with the fancy digital control this check valve is not there and it appears that coolant always flows through the heater core and there is some sort of flap in the dash which diverts air flow cause I am either hot or cold no in between (separate issue of course) On my 83 turbo with manual climate control there is not this check valve seems like the same setup as my 83 na. This car has a digital dash but manual climate unit (did someone substitute). Reason I ask is that the 83 turbo blew the head gasket between 7 & 8 which is where the coolant comes out for the heater core and I was wondering if because there was no return of coolant at that point caused local over heating and gasket failure. Appreciate any enlightment from those with more Zxperience.

Anyone know the circuitry for the electric door locks. I can't find anything on the circuit diagrams I have been able to locate. This for 81-83 280zx. it appears that there is some kind of latchup relay in the dash someplace cause the switch on driver door pulses current out through two differrent wires depending on lock/unlock. passenger door seems to reverse current when it lock/unlock but only two wires going there. Trying to put electric lock on a 81 w/parts from 83 junker. got the door switches and they work as I hooked them up to my working 83 as a test but not sure of the connecting wiring needed.

Posted this on the helpme but no answer. 81 Turbo with a transplant 5 speed. Car runs strong got the boost up to about 5psi. Leaves Civics with large tail pipes and wings behind handily BUT when I run the A/C for about 8-10 miles the engine starts surging. Slows down speeds back up fairly rapidly. Turn the temp control up to hot which disconnects the compressor and problem is still there. Put the climate control in any of the NOT a/c modes and the problem immediately clears up. Checked all the vacuum hoses I could find and they seem sound. Engine acts like losing spark momentarily or fuel is too lean/rich. Seems more like a fuel problem than spark however. Sure could use some advice on this one I'm baffled. Couple guys said compressor getting ready to seize but 5 HP compressor belt driven pulling down a 180 HP motor I don't think so. Also the belt would show some sort of distress by now. also as noted above when temp control in hot compressor clutch is de-energized and the engine shouldn't even see it.

Just make sure you check the spline sizes output from tranny and input to rear end. I swapped a standard 5 speed into a 81 turbo and put it all together and couldn't figure why nothing happened. Discoverd the drive shaft from the turbo automatic is larger than that from the five speed. and then the rear end wouldn't fit either. Wound up putting a R180 w/cv joints in place of the R200. Everything works fine now. My other option was to have the drive shaft modified to take the output of the manual tranny and the input to the rear end. Couldn't locate an adapter for te R200 that fit in the time alloted to me.

I converted a 81 turbo to 5 speed manual using a standard flywheel clutch and it works okay slips a little in first if you really drop the hammer so I'm thinking you could use either the 2+2 or standard. I'm going to put in a 2+2 flywheel and clutch when I get ambitious. I believe that clutch is big enough to handle the turbo HP.

I've got one on whidbey island that came out of a 81 turbo. Worked good when I pulled it to put in a 5 speed. I've got all the parts you'd probably need. Flywheel torque converter etc. drive shaft all the way back to and including an R200 rear end with cv joints. email me at krs@whidbey.com if interested. I've got three ZX, Z31 and Z32 if you have anything to swap.

After I run for 8-10 miles with the A/C on the vehicle starts to surge. Either losing ignition or fuel too lean/rich. Turn off A/C immediatley starts running fine. Turn a/c on vehicle surges. I can turn the thermostat up to high and the surging continues but that should eliminate anything electrical with the compressor and it isn't seizing up. Vehicle runs normally when first using a/c needs certain amount of run time for problem to arise. I looked at all the vacuum hoses I could find and they appear to be sound. Car is an 81 turbo with a 5speed conversion, 138K on the clock. Runs really nice other than the a/c problem. Believe injectors/fuel pump okay cause I can get it going pretty fast through the gears with no problem runs strong. I'm baffled as the only link I know of to a/c is the idle boost when you kick it in. Roger

9k way off. Got a 280zx turbo in darn good shape and most everything working for $900. Auto tranny thing might be what I found. On the 81 there is a thing called a vacuum modulator that controls the shift point from 1st to 2nd. Couldn't figure why she was such a dog off the line my 83 NA could lose it easy to about 4o mph. After about 10 days I figured maybe just try a lock in first take off. Whoa nelly big diff. It was shifting into 2nd immediately on take off so nothing much happened til you hit power band around 40 in second. Found a vacuum leak and that greatly improved the take off. Also the kickdown solenoid had been disconnected. When those two things got fixed if made the auto much more liveable. I'm still going manual however probably next week got the parts in the garage.

Anyone know of a speedo you can swap from another type vehicle to replace the 0-85 they put in the early 80 cars. I had one from a Nissan Maxima that went to 130 or so that looked like it would drop in a Z console but was unsure of what rpm needed to make it work. My 300 nicely tells you that 1100 rpm is 60 mph put a drill on it and sure was. I've got a 81 turbo stock. I'm thinking most Japan speedos come from the same guys since they only have about seven real companies over there. Anyone tried this??? Anyone know what seats you can swap into a 85 300 turbo the originals are that leather vinyl mix and gone.