1978 280z Pinout

[l28buggy]

Anyone have this pinout on hand or know where i could get it? i have the FSM but i need to know what the #1 pin goes to. Thank you any help is much appriciated.

[WingZr0]

Any pics of the part?

[sblake01]

If you're talking about pin #1 at the ECU, it appears to go to the ignition coil according to the diagram on page EF-24 in the 1978 FSM. It provides the 'revolution trigger signal' according to the chart on page EF-25.

[l28buggy]

Hmm ok im lookin at the Fsm and it just looks like it goes to a box but im thinkin i dont realy need it to run the engine. The reason i ask is because the engine is going into a tube frame sand rail and i have a complete engine and wiring harness but its not totaly complete, it has 4 wires cut and is missing the fuel injection main relay i know i need that but im just wondering what exactly does the engine need to run? Its also missing the fuel pump relay so i guess i need to do a manual switch to the fuel pump. Im fairly new to datsuns so please excuse my ignorance if anything im saying sounds rediculous.

[l28buggy]

Also i am running a Msd 6a so i need to figure out the instalation of that but thats pretty straight forward. Basicaly im just haveing a hard time figuring out the bare minimum at which the engine will run. And if i can some how use generic relays to make up for the ones im missing. Thank you all very much for the info

[TomoHawk]

Someone else here has recently installed the MSD system on a 280Z, with success, I think. Try a search for the topic.

[l28buggy]

Excelent!! thank you! I still need to figure out the bare esentials of the l28 im not sure if thats gonna be as easy to figure out haha

[Z Tyler Z]

Excelent!! thank you! I still need to figure out the bare esentials of the l28 im not sure if thats gonna be as easy to figure out haha

When you say bare essentials are you referring to all the emission stuff? IF you want to remove that I'd suggest downloading the EFI bible and read up on what each thing does before removing it.

http://www.xenons30.com/reference.html

It's under other guides I think. Good luck and have fun.

[TomoHawk]

Thereis a document called the '280Z Fuel injection Bible' that covers the systems on the L28E engine. Download, print, and give it a read.

http://www.4moores.com/280z/files/280zfuelinjectionbook.pdf

[l28buggy]

Ok for sure i will definatly give those a good read. and by bare essentials i mean can i run the engine just with these parts?

-ECU

-Dropping resistor

-Fuel injector relay

-injectors

-thermotime

-water temp sensor

-air regulator

-cold start valve

-tps

-altitude sensor

basicaly everything on the engine harness but the fuel pump relay and whatever conects to the wires numbered (1,48,73,4)

Keep in mind the engine is going into a buggy so i have no chassis or body harness

Thank you

[FastWoman]

L28buggy, I presume you're running fuel injection and haven't converted to carbs, and I also presume you're talking about the #1 pin to the ECU.

If that's correct, the engine will not run without the #1 pin connected to the (-) on the coil. No revolutions will be detected by the ECU, so it will not send pulses to the injectors. I've been down that road myself.

Furthermore, if you're installing an MSD 6A or MSD 6AL, you're going to have to get a bit creative about how you trigger the ECU. The voltages the MSD creates are much higher than the OEM IM generates and MIGHT potentially fry the ECU. The MSD's tach output, on the other hand, doesn't generate sufficient voltages to trigger the ECU. You'll need to keep the OEM ignition module and feed it to one of two different designs of MSD tach/ignition adapter. (I don't know which one.) Presumably it will ring at higher voltages, triggering both the tach and the ECU. That output will then serve as the trigger to the small white wire of the MSD. I considered this entirely too much adapting, glomming together, and jerry-rigging, so I decided I didn't want the MSD that much after all. Instead, I wired in a GM HEI-type ignition module to a Blaster 2 coil, which has worked very well. You can google this retrofit pretty easily.

I'd say pretty much everything in the fuel injection system is required to make the engine run correctly. You might be able to omit some of the vacuum-operated emissions equipment, such as the EGR system and charcoal canister, but that might compromise operation somewhat. The system is designed to run within pretty tight parameters, and there is no closed loop compensation using info from any oxygen sensor.

[l28buggy]

Hmmm ok well i will definatly look into the HEI type ignition thank u for the information!! I guess i just have to wire it up and start messin with it then i will keep u guys and gals posted on my succes or lack of but thank you all for the great info. Id love to hear more if anyone else has more to add.