Pir0San

I read in another post about the PCV system, and I went outside today to see if there was any oil in the hose going between the crankcase breather valve and the pcv valve, and I did not see any oil built up around the pcv valve, but yet when I took the hose off of the crankcase breather valve, there was oil buildup and chunks of dried up oil. Is this exactly what you were saying about the pcv valve force feeding oil into the combustion chamber? If I put a seperate air filter on the breather valve, will this stop the feeding of the oil into the combustion chamber? Will I have to worry about the pcv valve being an open vacuum?

My block is in need of a rebuild. My piston rings are bad, which is burning oil inside of the combustion chamber, making the car like a rolling smoke bomb upon acceleration. I know it's nothing related to the valves, because the head is fully rebuilt with new seats, seals, everything. So, I figure that while I'm changing the piston rings, I might as well get new rod and main crankshaft bearings, get the crank micropolished if it needs it, and get a new rear crankshaft oil seal. I looked into Victoria British for my rebuild needs, and their prices are as follows: 1. Piston Ring Set: $39.95 2. Main Bearing Set: $49.95 3. Rod Bearing Set: $29.95 4. Rear Crankshaft Seal: $8.95 So, what kind of quality can I expect from the rings and bearings from VB? Are one type of ring better than the other for a mostly stock setup? Will I need to hone my cylinders, and how can I tell if I need to? How can I also tell if the crankshaft needs to be micropolished?

to double check to see if the tensioner popped out, pull the oil pump and look up at the tensioner, and if it's out of it's base, then you've got about another hour of work ahead of you. By the way, I'm 19 myself. I started working on my Z when she was first given to me, and the first major project I had to do was swapping out the engine crossmember from when my dad borrowed my Z and drove it into a curb while he was drunk. Mind you, at that time, I had no idea about engines and cars, but I'm damned good with my hands, so I figured out what I needed to do as time went on. I did my first engine teardown after I discovered that my engine was leaking water ever so slightly into the 4th cylinder, and I changed the head gasket. That's when my tensioner popped, and my father, my friends dad, and I were all trying to get the chain back onto the motor. We then decided to pull the front cover, and that's where I figured out what I needed to do to fix everything. It took me about 2 weeks to do a head gasket swap, because I had to learn as I went along. Needless to say, the motor froze three days after I got everything buttoned up, due to water leaking into the cylinder and getting into the oil. I had no idea what it was, but I tore the motor down a couple months after the incident, and it ended up being a spun crankshaft bearing. I've torn my head off of my car about seven times, and I've gotten to the point where I could change a head gasket in less than a day. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't feel attacked, we all make mistakes. I started out working on my Z motor at 18, and a year later, I feel like I'm almost an expert on Z engines now. Ask questions, and further your knowledge. At least if you do it, you get the satisfaction of knowing it's your hard work that caused the car to run again!

yeah, I thought about that right after I posted it, and I smelled bull all over

I found a way to wedge the tensioner and timing chain to prevent the tensioner from springing, and that was to find a screwdriver that had a hard plastic handle that was just the perfect dimensions to slide down into the front cover of the motor, and it would hold the tensioner in place. I had this work once for me, and I tried it again a week later, and it worked until I pulled on the chain to make sure the tensioner wasn't sprung. When I pulled on the chain, the screwdriver slid to the side, and my tensioner sprung from it's base. I felt like an idiot after that, but needless to say, I make sure I double check my work now. :laugh:

tdc means top dead center, where the #1 piston is at the top of its compression stroke. I usually find this by taking the valve cover off, and rocking the car in gear or using my hand held remote ignition to turn the motor over, until the valves for the 1st piston are fully closed (cam lobes will be at about the 10 and 2 position) and I also make sure that the bright link in the chain is on the #1 mark on the timing chain sprocket, and that the notch in the sprocket is just slightly to the right of the dash on the timing chain locating plate. This might not make sense now, but I'd honestly go down to your local auto parts store and purchase a Haynes manual. I went from having very little to no knowledge about the inner workings of an engine, but I am good with machinery, and after reading my haynes manual I found myself being able to tear my Z apart with little fuss. Good luck finding out what all you have to do, but you're going to have a hell of a time (no offense) getting the valve timing set right if you don't tear the front cover off and take the oil pan down. If you want to do it right, buy a haynes manual, and start from scratch. If you have any other questions, I'm watching this thread, so I'll help you out.

I'm unsure if it did it with the other heads, I never got a chance to drive the car for more than a weekend with the older heads, and now that I recall, it was down on oil with the old head...hey, the block was free though...so it all balances itself out.

I think the engine may be leaking a bit of oil from the rear crankshaft seal, but I'm totally unsure if that is the only issue. The car smokes like crazy, especially when accelerating, or even when revving at idle. I decided to try a quart of Lucas oil additive today, and so far, I haven't noticed a difference in the level of oil inside of the engine. I figure the lower half needs a rebuild anyways, so I might as well save up the $500 or so it'll take to buy new rings, and maybe even buy new bearings all around and get the crank micropolished if it needs it. I figure I could rebuild the engine in less than a week....

the early '72 e88 heads, or the ones that came on the 240Z, have smaller exhaust valves as opposed to the '73 e88 head, which was on the 260Z, which has larger exhaust valves. Another difference is the quench chamber, the design of the 240Z e88 has a lip where the spark plug enters the cylinder, whereas on the 260Z, there is no lip. I have used both years of e88 heads, and so far, I have not noticed any real performance difference.

oh! I forgot to ask...when you took the head off, did you set the motor to #1 tdc? If not, you've got a whole mess of problems ahead of you.

did you wedge the tensioner in the front cover before you took the head off to change the head gasket? I consider myself a veteran when it comes to dismantling my Z motor (I tore my head off 7 times at least before I figured out why the car was leaking water into the 4th cylinder, Kragen now stocks felpro head gaskets for my Z now) and I've dropped the chain before, which sucks, because the front cover has to come off too. Not too bad, but more stuff you have to take off (front cover itself, fan, fan clutch, crankshaft pulley, then the oil pan needs to be dropped). You will also have to buy a timing cover set ($12.99 at Kragen's, comes with gaskets and front crankshaft oil seal), as well as a oil pan gasket ($8.99 at Kragen's). People make it out to be a horrible thing to drop the oil pan, it's not so bad, I'd recommend a drill and socket adaptor to take the bolts out and to put them back in. To get the oil pan off, loosen all bolts, then wedge a putty knife between the oil pan and the block (don't worry if you kill the gasket, you'll replace it anyway) and slide it all the way around the edge of the block until the oil pan drops. Don't use a thick screwdriver, it might warp the pan. Also, don't push the knife too far past the lip of the oil pan, you will run the risk of hitting your rod ends or even your crankshaft, which isn't a good thing. When the oil pan is loose, push it forward a little bit until it contacts the crossmember, then pull the rear down a little bit until it clears the dust shield between the block and the transmission, and slide the oil pan out backwards. Scrape all faces where gasket might go, and put everything back together. If you didn't drop the chain, then everything will be fine, you can tell if you sprung the tensioner by pulling the oil pump and looking up at the tensioner with a good flashlight. The sprocket should be put on the 1 hole, unless the chain has slack. If the chain doesn't reach all of the way up, or doesn't sit right, or it looks like it shrunk, you know you also sprung the tensioner. Good luck!

I haven't posted this here on this site, but the original Z head I had was had a very small crack around the 4th cylinder valves. It was so small that even when pressure tested at 35psi, it would not leak. After putting a junk head on the block that was given to me (it had bad valves) the car ran and didn't leak water whatsoever. The original head had been pressure tested as I stated above, shaved, everything to fix it, and it still leaked after the car had warmed up slightly, causing the crack to open. I now have a totally new, rebuilt head, and the new head hasn't had any of those problems, so I'm sure it's not leaking water and oil. When it comes to milkshake mix, I'm like a f-in expert The milk mix ended up being the white assembly grease/lube that most gauges come packed with. The oil I put into the cylinder had mixed with the lube (which is 2 very different weights), which created the milk mix that I had seen. No milk mix shot out of my cylinder, just out of the pressure test gauge. I checked the oil dipstick just a little while ago, no milkshake in this motor, . it's been about 330 miles so far with the new head and old block. Right now, the car is down by a quart or so after 5 days...so I'm imagining I've either got a leak or it's burning off in the cylinders. I talked to one of the guys at Kragen's today while I was getting some oil, and he said that the reason he thinks my motor is eating oil is because the new head is so "tight", that it is creating better compression, which is sucking oil past the rings. Does that should right?

thanks for all of your help guys. I don't believe that the head is bad, considering it's been gone through, and the guy I bought it from (I got it from ebay) has awesome feedback, and the head was in excellent condition when I got it (fresh rebuild), so I don't believe it to be the valves. I'm going to jack the car up and inspect the bottom of the engine for oil leaks to see if that is where the oil is going, then I will run the car and retorque the head to see if it helps out any. Thanks again!

I'm thinking that the oil is coming from the rings while the car is running. My mixture is right, because my plugs come out looking cleanly burned. The only plugs that look strange are the 1st and 4th ones, due to the buildup. I decided to switch the 1st and 4th plugs to see if by driving with them in other plug holes if they would clear up, and they are burning the way they are supposed to be. The other plugs I swapped into the 1st and 4th now come out looking black and sooty. Since this is a new head, with a 3 angle valve job, new guides, seals, etc., would it be plausible that it would be leaking? I just want my Z to run again, and to run well!

I just went outside and did a "dry" compression test. The car was only slightly warm (in the middle of the T in temp) and I held the throttle wide open. My numbers came out to be 140-140-145-140-135-140. I had read about doing a leakdown test, and I was unsure how to make a leakdown tester, but I had also read that a "wet" compression test would allow me to be able to tell somewhat if the rings are the culprit. I went down and bought a quart of oil, and poured what I thought to be about a teaspoon in the first cylinder, then attached the pressure gauge, and cranked the motor over. The gauge shot up to 250 psi, and this is where all hell broke loose. I released the pressure, thinking that was a huge amount, but didn't sweat it at that time. I went to crank it over again, same 250, but when I went to bleed the pressure, a milky white substance came out of the release valve. It was oily, so I started freaking out, thinking that I blew the crap out of the head gasket. I took the compression gauge out of the spark plug hole, and turned the motor over to see what came shooting out. A bunch of oily fluid came spraying out. I started freaking out, not knowing what was going on. I checked my oil, my water level, everything that would indicate a water leak into the cylinder, and thank god, no dice so far. I kept turning the motor over until most of the crap was out of the cylinder, then I decided to put the plugs back in and allow the cylinder to burn the oil out of the combustion chamber. The car started up, and immediately began to smoke. I let it run until it stopped smoking, and then checked the oil and water, and they looked ok. I then took the plugs out again, and turned the motor over again, a slight bit of smoke from the oil burning out came out of the 1st plug hole, and then stopped. I turned the motor over again, no oil shot out. After that, I gave up for now and came in. Can too much compression kill my rings?

the head is rebuilt everything (valve seals, guides, seats, valves, reground rocker arms, reground cam, the works). I was thinking maybe bad/poor piston rings, but is it plausible for 2 out of the 6 rings to be shot? The head has only 300 miles on it...could the seals not be totally sealed? I've read about people doing head gaskets and having problems like I described that eventually went away over a short amount of time...does this sound plausible at all? Oh, and the block seems to be in good condition, guy at the local machine shops that knows his Z stuff said it was in good condition, no cylinder ridges at all, so I'm assuming everything is okay on the bottom end...

I put my motor back together with another head, and so far the car has been running fantastic. No water and oil mixing, but I am noticing that my 1st and 4th plugs have black crisp buildup on them, where the black buildup is all cracked, like the plug has leprocy. My oil level has also been slightly sporadic. I put in 4 1/2 quarts initally when I did the engine build, and the motor took a little while to prime before it was spraying oil out of the oil distrubution rail on the head. I then checked the oil a few days after that, and it looked 1/2 a quart low, so I added the rest of the 1/2 quart I had. A few days ago, I noticed the oil was down by a quart, or at least as far as I could read it was, so I added another quart of oil. I checked the oil again today, and it seemed a little low, but I was driving the car around before I had checked it, so I am assuming that the oil level is probably close to fine, and that it was stuck up in the head. I am also noticing white smoke on acceleration, and I know it not to be water leaking into the combustion chamber, because my coolant is at the same level it has been the whole time the car has been running, so I'm thinking it's either oil related, or the car is running too rich (which I doubt is the case, because all of my other plugs are burning just right). What could cause my problems?

How far out should my vacuum advance canister move? I was told by a mechanic that my distributor needed some work, such as a worn distributor shaft, and I'm curious what all I need to do to the distributor to make the car run in tip top shape. I've been told by other Z aficionados that the vaccum advance canister can be a huge cause of problems, because they will seize up after a while. I attached a length of tube to the advance canister, and I sucked on the end of the tube, and the vacuum advance moved about 1 mm. and no more. How much should it move for it to be good? Also, what other parts are common to go out in the Z distributor?

I can't remember the site, but there is a company that sells a kit that makes the blow off noise a turbo makes, without the turbo. It has a controller that you can push to make the blow off noise, and you can buy a clutch position switch to make the blow off noise. Pretty damned funny.

Alright, so I pulled my dash to replace some bulbs in my gauges, and to take out all of the wiring that the P.O. had put in for his amp install (which is no longer there), as well as to remove all of my aftermarket air conditioning wiring. When I went to disconnect the wires that go to the brake light switch (I'm not sure if this is the correct name, but I believe it works) one of the wires ripped off of the unit itself (I know, I probably pulled too hard). I pulled the unit out, and soldered it back onto the connector, then tested it with a multimeter, and it was working just fine. I put it back onto the car, and the drivers side brake light now does not work all of the time. I had messed with it for a few minutes to see what the issue was, I took the bulb out, cleaned it and the connector with electrical cleaner spray, and it would work half of the time. I finally got it to work, but I was informed today that the light was not working on the driver's side. I don't believe it to be the brake light switch, because it's just an intermediate, correct? If so, that means that both brake lights would not work if it were defective. This leads me into thinking that there is another wire that is disconnected/loose/my connector for the light itself is bad (upon visual inspection, there was no corrosion). I'm trying to read this wiring diagram, and I can't understand it for the life of me. What color wiring should I need to find/follow, and where are the wiring connectors located at? Could I have a loose connection going to the drivers side light that only works some of the time, or could it be another issue? I'm really at a loss for words on this one.

my car is a '72, according to the VIN search done by DMV and the registration. I'm just curious which wiring diagram to use, . Thanks for the replies though!

I was consulting a wiring diagram in my haynes manual this weekend, and it has 2 different diagrams for the 240Z, a basic model and a late model. My car was made 8/72, so I'm assuming it's a '72 (my registration and vin number search also agree), so would this be a basic model, or would this be a late model? I would assume '73 and up would be late. Which is it?

without that relay hooked up, would the horn work? If not, then I don't believe it to be for the horn, because the horn works just fine.

I pulled my dash today in order to fix my radiator drain ****, and when I pulled the dash, 3 wires came unplugged from a relay before I could do anything about it. I have no idea what order the three wires plug into, or what the relay is, but I believe it to be the turn signal relay, because the turn signals no longer work, but the emergency flashers do. The relay is right next to the wire that goes to the plunger for the drivers side door. What is it? also, behind the heater control panel, there is a couple harnesses with ends on them, any idea where these wires attach to? I have no idea myself, and they weren't hooked up before, and I'm shitty at reading wiring diagrams.

I was off by something, because when I went to set my adjustment, nothing happened. I was running extremely lean, causing a lean backfire out of the carburetors, and the car would only run right when the choke was all of the way out.