KFD

Okay, so I figured the sporadic running was a battery connector that came loose after making spirited right turns... Cleaned the bullet connectors from the coolant temp sensor, and wow! Never seen the car run to redline so fast! Still gets stupid (flat spot, loss of power after 2k- ~3500 RPM. I think the AFM is the culprit... New issue... At high RPMs, the underseat relay goes nuts! I have no indication that the car is starving for fuel, but the clicking it makes corresponds with the "brake" and "charge" light flickering, and the voltmeter is spiking like crazy. I'm on the hunt!

Okay, so this is what's driving me crazy right now... It's not a turbo. It's erratically having loss of power. 500 RPM if I am lucky at WOT, misfiring through the intake. I'll pull the car over, then a few seconds later, it runs fine. I have a lose connector or ground somewhere... Turns out it's a loose connection somewhere. I'll make a right turn, then about 50 yards down the road, the car has no power. Incidentally, the dash lights peter out if I push the clutch in. Snap the clutch back out, and the motion of the car driving the wheels, and ultimately, the engine turning the alternator turns the dash lights back on, (but the headlights stay on regardless). This car's electrics! It seems nothing works unless the engine is running. I don't know why the constant +12v is wired through the ignition. Is that normal?? This vacuum line tees off the vacuum advance. I am guessing this is going to the diaphragm just out of frame? As you can see, the vacuum connector is broken off. I am pointing to another connector next to the Cold Start valve. I just cleaned that connector, is that operate a sensor/switch that's part of the EGR? This frayed ground wire is a very likely culprit to my issues. I was going to splice a new ground this weekend. The TPS contacts weren't stuck, contacts cleaned... That's the ghetto-rigged kill switch I am pointing to... I have the EFI bible, but between working like a madman and forgetting to grab a multimeter from work, I will get this misfire tackled. It doesn't behave like a timing issue (the car runs normally intermittently, runs rich..). I am not asking for a handout, but any advice would help! Do these nutjob symptoms seem familiar? It seems this damn thing misfires at all temperatures, so I don't think it's a coolant/thermotine issue. In fact, disconnecting these components make no difference.. *AFM *TPS *Cold Start/Termotine/Cold Start Injector *That diaphragm EGR thingy that's next to the CSI. It runs a little better... Flat after 5k. *disconnecting any fuel injector... I think I read injectors are batch-fired, so injector connectors don't have a particular firing order. 1500-3500 misfires, runs rough, much like every other "help my Z runs rough" thread on every other Z forum. Groan. I got a few ideas before I throw a Holley four barrel on it...

Alright guys... Instead of polluting the forum with different threads, I'll just make one thread for my car. I found this thing for my buddy Bobby on Craigslist a month or so before our deployment was over last year. We got back stateside, and he bought it. I taught him how to drive stick in it. It started giving him issues. Then the car sat, and sat... He calls me up about a month ago with the words "Hey, do you want to buy this thing?" What would you guys do!? So, $1500 bought me a Z that misfires, has a radio that resets when the brake is applied, and creaks and groans when I turn, or go up driveways. Oh yeah, and it overheats... One of the first things I did was put a thermostat in the car. It didn't have one. It doesn't run as hot. Woo-hoo. Next was a coolant flush, then the weak fan clutch was replaced, and while I was at it, the waterpump, even though it looked fairly recent, was replaced. The overheating issue was tackled. Next up was the charging issue, that radio, and that damn lamp (as in house lamp you plug in the wall) switch. When I was chasing down short-cutted leads on that radio, I found a really nifty lamp switch. Combined with the funny relay-like clicking coming from under the passenger seat, and the car's battery being dead, I started reading on here and Hybrids to figure out what a common current draw issue could be, and why this short-cutted switch was here to begin with, (turn the switch, and the car stops) and my assumption was a fuel-pump cut-off. Made sense to me. I chased the wires down, and it's not even connected to the fuel pump! Turns out, this was a simple kill switch, rigged in series between the coil and ballast resistor. Slick. The relay rattle under the seat? That funny little relay was held on loosely by one screw. Took out the volt meter, and checked that I-just-put-in alternator. It was 15 or 17 volts, don't remember. The battery? 12.3 volts, when the car was running. Damn. Chased down some wires, cleaned connections, nothing. Fixed a ground wire connector at the alternator, still nothing. Ordered a voltage regulator (either doing a ZX Interal Reg or Monaco/Premier Delco conversion) for now, wifey is getting tired of a parepetual battery and battery charger on her porch. Fingers are crossed this will fix the charging issue... The last part, where we are today, is the Fuel Injection. I downloaded the FI Bible, and have been studying this thing like crazy, before you ask... A misfire. It's driving me bonkers! Warm, cold, doesn't matter. It's a pop out of the intake, loss of power, then over 2500 or so, it's back on like Donkey Kong! This thing is also running rich, and getting sub 14 MPG. Unplugged the Thermotine, Coolant Temp and the Cold Start Injector at various times, (you should've seen me go bonkers when I had the Thermotine and CT connectors crossed!) and not much change. Cleaned the AFM, but haven't adjusted it yet. I haven't started on checking ohms/resistance at ECU, but that's next on the list. I just noticed there is a plug on the side of the thermostat housing where the EGR coolant sensor goes, I don't see any electrical connectors to the EGR yet. I am thinking about replacing that coolant temp sensor, but I don't want to haphazardly start replacing parts, especially this L-Jet system. So, instead of asking idiot questions that I can find by searching (and making 23423 threads,) I'll just start this thread. I honestly want to find a pre-smog 240Z shell (I am guessing that pesky creaking is due to body flex, given the less-than stellar shape of the framerails), and ultimately do an LA-Mopar swap. I'm a paint splotch and fendertag numbers guy when it comes to Mopars, and being that Japanese cars are my newest interest, finding a period-correct 340 to throw in a 240 (and make it look like it belonged there originally) would satisfy the Sports Car/Japanese Car/Mopar Muscle love. I eyed a nice four barrel intake on Ebay, considering I don't have smog for another year or so. I think the guy at the smog shop passed me just because it was Z... Later KFD

Well I had some time last weekend to run through a few things. Instead of bumping this thread AND the hotwired pump thread, I'll give you guys the info here. This week, I replaced the waterpump and fan clutch (the shaft had a little wobble). Car runs cool. I got my hand on a mechanical regulator for now until I get a ZX or Monaco/Premeir alternator. I'll report back my findings on the brake pedal reset issue if the V/R did the trick, which to me would explain why there is no charge from the alternator to the battery. As far as the fuel pump, I chased the wires down from that sweet lamp switch. It's a kill switch wired to break the circuit from the ballast resistor to the coil. So my fuel pump is fine. Once the car can stay cool and charged, i have to figure out the misfire issue. I have the FI bible downloaded, but winzip doesn't want to play nice with the zip files for the other FSMs I got from Xenon S30. No big, I will break out the volt meter and start at the ECU. I should post some photos...

For now I have a regulator on order, but next go round, I will look into the Eagle Premier/Dodge Monaco alternator in addition to the ZX unit. You guys have been a big help, and I should just start a thread for the car. I cleaned the plug and opened the V/R up to see if the contacts were clean, and they are... I'll report back why my findings!

Hey banzai... The Alternator is fine. It's a few weeks old, and I checked it yesterday... It's an external regulator. For now, I am going to get a new regulator. I just need to make a thread for my car, but all these issues I have with it are getting fixed. Now on to that pesky misfire...

Hey fellas, I suspect my V/R in my '77 280z is going. The voltmeter will spike like crazy when I rev the engine, the alternator is putting out a charge, but the battery is only reading 12 or so volts, not 13/14 like it normally should. The "Charge" light is not illuminated, the voltmeter reads, but like I say, the battery isn't getting charged...

Thanks... I will check that out this weekend. I am chasing down the hot-wired fuel pump and other impressive shortcuts. I am leaning toward corroded connectors, myself. I think I might just run the +12v constant straight from the battery.

So I had a pesky voltage drain, which turned out to be a really sweet hardware store lamp switch that controlled the fuel pump. I read about the testing the relay by disconnecting the black spade connector at the starter. Pulled that connector, and surprise, car doesn't crank, but I can hear a relay clicking. Okay, relay sounds good. Where is the grommit running from the fuel pump through the body? I will check the chafed wires there, this weekend I will crawl under the car to see why the pump was hot-wired. I found out that if I turn that switch off when I turn the car off, the battery isn't dead the next day! ...And the radio still resets every time the brake pedal is depressed! Everywhere I tested the accessory circuit it does that. Okay, so I can run the +12v ignition source somewhere else, but for now, I care more about why that would cause the radio to trip... What else do I need to look for? This is a 10/76 car, I saw the big silver relay with two plugs running from it above the hood release, but I swear I saw a relay under the passrnger's seat...

It's a simple fix. You need to ground the red/black wire running to the connector directly behind the charcoal canister at the front of the engine compartment on the passenger's side... KFD

I will try bleeding this system this weekend. I plan on flushing the radiator. The thing that is making my scratch my head now is that the temp gauge won't register under 3500 RPM! If you have the cap off (when I found out there was no thermostat in it!) coolant can be seen circulating. My guess is the waterpump impeller could be going, but nothing is leaking... The Z had a radio originally. Like I say, this is an aftermarket unit... I'm chasing it down and the warm misfire (afm/ttime/coolant temp/fuel filter) issue as well. I'll keep you kids posted on my findings.

Thanks fellas. I will check that out after I get a few other issues sorted out. It's not a big concern of mine... I got an overheating issue taking up my time right now... I replaced the thermostat when Bcieplinsky had the car, I went to go meet one of my buddies yesterday at the top of the hill (Mulholland drive in Malibu), and the damn thing overheated on me... If you guys ever stop at the Trancas 76, they will charge you eighteen bucks to put half gallon of coolant in the radiator! Anyway, I will check grounds. It makes sense, considering the passenger's side headlight is dim (and now the main beams work after grounding the red/black wire). I got my work cut out for me. I just downloaded the EFI bible as well... Thanks, fellas!

That's the plan, but I am scratching my head as to WHY it's doing that. Next plan of attack is the turn signal switch that I just cleaned, and the headlight switch. The main beams currently don't work (even though the highs do, which prompted me to clean and rebuild the turn signal switch), and as I discovered this morning, flicking the headlight switch on causes the radio to reset. I will tear the headlight switch apart today and clean and rebuild it, and replace a check ball I lost the other day in the turn signal switch. I will report back with my findings. Anybody in need of a modern Kenwood head unit?

Quick recap... I got a '77 280z with a fairly modern head unit. I press the brake, and the radio totally resets. I know the radio needs a constant 12v feed, and a switched 12v feed. The 12V constant was wired through the cigarette lighter. I pulled the dash out yesterday as an assembly, drove the car today without a dash, but for kicks, I put the wire from the aftermarket unit into a hot side of the map light molex connector. Surprise surprise, step on the brake, radio resets! Now, the part that got me was that it doesn't reset every time I press the pedal. Brake and reverse lights work just fine, so that rules out the light switch being bad. The only thing I can think of is that the brake light is causing an excessive draw on the system. I'll report back with voltage at the battery when I get my hands on a multimeter to see if there are any shenanigans coming from the alternator... I'm stumped! You guys got any ideas?