240z issues...

[Busta Nut]

The other morning I drove my Z to work. It's usually early so I like to roll with the parking light on. When I got to work, I realized that the lights weren't actually on. After work, I checked my fuses and found this:

 

 

 

I put another fuse in and they didn't start working until I wiggled the wire a little. Not even 15 seconds went by the time I popped my head out to see if the lights were on and back in to check the fuse. Put my finger on it to check for a loose connection and it burned the tip of my finger. :w00t: Way too hot and really fast! Has anyone encountered this before? :confused: Haven't spent any time on it yet.

 

 

On another note...My rear window has ancient tint on it...

 

 

I removed it from the side windows with a razor blade....no problem :D . Problem is my rear defroster still works, so, no razor blade :hmm: . Any ideas?

[Syncro]

http://www.tintcenter.com/articles/bt_removal.html

As for the fuse, in my 280z, whenever I turn the lights on the fuse blows, so i have to turn the lights on then put the fuse in. not sure if its a short or what, I was just gonna put a bigger fuse in it and see what happens.

[Syncro]

Also, that tint isn't ancient, I'll get a pic of my passenger side window tomorrow, its not ancient if you can see through it.

[Npdavies.]

Gather the following supplies

Cheap clothing steamer (hey, it works on your clothes too!)

Long extension cord

Bottle or cup of water (so you don't have to go inside to refill the steamer every 10 min)

Some rags

Windex

6 pack of beer & a good CD (to keep you entertained while steaming the windows)

 

Clothing Steamer

This is the lynchpin of the entire operation.

 

A couple of weeks ago I bought a cheap clothes steamer on sale at walgreens for $12.99 to stay stylish, and I figured it just might do the trick on my tint too. Apparently, I got quite the deal, when looking for examples for this write up they were all about $25-$30. If you want to find a deal, you might try your local thrift shop, Ross, Tuesday Morning, yard sales, Kohls, TJ Max, etc.

 

Steps for removing tinting:

1) Run an extension cord out to your car with plenty left over to reach inside.

2) Fill the steamer up with water, plug it in, and start it steaming (it takes a few sec. to get hot)

3) Open the moon roof, and windows of the car (to let steam out)

4) Turn on your stereo & crack open a beer

 

Removing stickers and other things you don't want on your windows:

Follow the same steps as above and in the following steps. The key difference will be longer steaming and more scraping with your fingernail. I still do not recommend using a razorblade, but it is up to you.

 

Start on one of the small rear panels (who cares about them anyhow)

5) Pass the steamer into the car through an open window (you can open the door, but then the door ajar chime will go continuously while you listen to music

6) Look closely around the edge of the window you're working on. You should be able to see the edge of the tint on top of the glass. Once you've found a corner where you can see the tint that is the corner you should start on. (sometimes it will continue just under the trim on one side, start on a different side)

7) Steam away! (don't worry that the molding will get wet, just put down your beer and wipe it with your free hand, or just drink your beer)

Start steaming that area. Hold the steamer there for probably a minute or so, just on that corner. Hold the steamer anywhere from 1/2" to 2" away from the glass, and steam the corner and the 4" or so around the corner.

Once you've steamed the hell out of the window, Carefully pick at the corner with your fingernail. If it isn't easy to move the tint a little with your fingernail steam some more (do not use a razorblade!) you do not need it, if it doesn't come up, just steam some more.

9) Keep steaming and then picking at it a little bit, until you have enough tint pulled up that you can pull it with your fingers.

10) Gently keep pulling, or if it does not come up easily, fold the bit you've pulled up under, so it doesn't stick again and keep steaming. As I pulled I was worried that I was going to pull the frit (black border around glass) off, but if you look outside the frit continues much farther than you can see inside & it didn't come off at all.

11) Keep steaming. Do not pull hard! If you pull hard you'll either break the tint and have to start all over, or the whole sheet of tint will come off leaving all of the glue!!!! You don't want this, you want to bring the glue off with both layers of the tint, so go slowly.

12) steam back and forth along the edge you're pulling up. Slowly steam and pull (lightly, more steam = easier to pull) as you go along the window.

13) As you get to the end slow down. If you pull hard at the end you will pull the tint sheet off without bringing the glue with it, then you will have to steam the glue left in the corner and rub it off with a towel (annoying).

14) After the whole sheet is off steam the whole untinted window to see if there is still any glue on the window (it will look like a thin film) If there is glue, wipe it off by taking a clean towel and pressing hard as you wipe. This way the glue will stick to the towel and come off. If you press too lightly the glue will ball up and fall inside your car, or smear across the window.

15) Wipe the window and molding dry.

16) Clean the window with Windex (why not, you're already right there).

 

 

(I took this from Instructables, but copied it here for easier reading and such.)

[ggzilla]

DON'T put a bigger fuse in. You don't want to start a fire.

 

That is a common problem, they heat up due to corrosion. Best to buy a new fuse box, Nissan still sell them. Or you can buy a used one and clean it up.

[Boaty]

The reason that fuse lead is getting hot is because of resistance. That box is toast, so I would start looking for a replacement fuse box.

 

Until then, I would give your fuse box a vinegar bath. Remove fuse box, submerge it in distilled white vinegar for about 10 minutes or so - this eats up the corrosion on the terminals and will reveal any wiring issues you might have. Chances are, the wire is fried beneath the box, so check the wiring as well.

 

This is pretty common with old-styled glass fuse boxes. You get resistance at either the fuse itself, or the connection between the fuse and the terminal - along with whatever other resistance is present in the wiring. Beings as how that's a head light fuse (I'm assuming - I'm not famiilar with Z-fuse layouts) then it looks like it's time to upgrade to relays for your headlamps. There used to be an eBay vendor that sold relay kits complete with harness and connectors - literally plug and play. It used Pilot relays (4-pin) unfortunately, so it's spendy to replace the relays themselves. I still have one of these kits in my 510 - because they did exactly what just happened to you. Never had a problem after I installed the kit and the H4 conversions.

 

It's 40 year old wiring - corrosion has limited it's efficiency. If you had a higher-end fuse, you're only compounding the problem by eliminating the only fail safe that circuit has. Instead of blowing a fuse, you'd simply fry your harness! Not only that, Datto's ran power through the entire harness, meaning the power not only runs through the original headlight relay, it also runs through the harness to the high beam switch, your light switch - and ultimately to the lights, then to ground. Effective 40 years ago, not so much any more.

 

Running relays off-loads all the headlight draw onto the brand new fresh, much shorter relay wiring. That equates to less voltage drop, brighter lights, longer bulb life, and a much happier wiring harness and light switch. Who doesn't want/need brighter lights and longer life?

[I'm BLUE]

Motorsportauto or MSA or "the z-store" about $150... cheap when it saves your electrical components

[Busta Nut]

Sweet info guys!

 

 

 

The reason that fuse lead is getting hot is because of resistance. That box is toast, so I would start looking for a replacement fuse box.

 

Until then, I would give your fuse box a vinegar bath. Remove fuse box, submerge it in distilled white vinegar for about 10 minutes or so - this eats up the corrosion on the terminals and will reveal any wiring issues you might have. Chances are, the wire is fried beneath the box, so check the wiring as well.

 

This is pretty common with old-styled glass fuse boxes. You get resistance at either the fuse itself, or the connection between the fuse and the terminal - along with whatever other resistance is present in the wiring. Beings as how that's a head light fuse (I'm assuming - I'm not famiilar with Z-fuse layouts) then it looks like it's time to upgrade to relays for your headlamps. There used to be an eBay vendor that sold relay kits complete with harness and connectors - literally plug and play. It used Pilot relays (4-pin) unfortunately, so it's spendy to replace the relays themselves. I still have one of these kits in my 510 - because they did exactly what just happened to you. Never had a problem after I installed the kit and the H4 conversions.

 

It's 40 year old wiring - corrosion has limited it's efficiency. If you had a higher-end fuse, you're only compounding the problem by eliminating the only fail safe that circuit has. Instead of blowing a fuse, you'd simply fry your harness! Not only that, Datto's ran power through the entire harness, meaning the power not only runs through the original headlight relay, it also runs through the harness to the high beam switch, your light switch - and ultimately to the lights, then to ground. Effective 40 years ago, not so much any more.

 

Running relays off-loads all the headlight draw onto the brand new fresh, much shorter relay wiring. That equates to less voltage drop, brighter lights, longer bulb life, and a much happier wiring harness and light switch. Who doesn't want/need brighter lights and longer life?

 

So the resistance is only at the fuse box/fuse? This fuse is for the parking lights. With the fuse out, the headlights still work. But still seems like a good idea to add relays. I'm going to check for excessive resistance in the sockets and wiring sometime this week. Are there any common spots that build up unusual amounts of corrosion??

[ggzilla]

The corrosion is at the fuse box connections, which is why it gets hot, and why it melts.

 

You don't need a relay, a new fuse box will last another 30 years.

[Boaty]

The fuse box has a couple different points to have corrosion & build up heat. One, is at the fuse contact surface. The other, is where the wire is crimped to the copper pinch connector for the glass fuse under the fusebox.

 

If it's for the parking lights, that's pretty uncommon. I've never actually seen a melted fuse terminal with anything other than headlights, or if people add aftermarket stuff. I wouldn't be adding a relay to that circuit, personally it would be over kill. A stock harness if it's in good shape should have no problem handilng parking lights, we're talking like 20-30W max on that circuit. A single low-beam is more than that.

 

If you can't afford a new fuse box, you can try a used one that looks in decent shape and just clean it up.

The vinegar bath thing does wonders, just make sure you rinse & dry the box really well. I usually do it once a year on my 510, it eliminated a lot of random intermittent problems over the years. The first time I did it, it was like night and day - everything seemed to suddenly work right. First thing was the dome light was twice as bright, and second - turn signals actually flashed at a decent rate. Alternatively, you can clean the terminals up with a wire brush or with a dremel tool, but the vinegar bath is a lot easier and does everything at once.

 

 

Here's a before-and-after photo of a 510 fuse box.

 

Before:

 

After:

[Busta Nut]

You guys are great! Thanx! :thumbup:

[Boaty]

Hope it gets you back on the road!

 

Double-triple check that you're using the correct fuses. Over-amped fuses cause problems. Always use the lowest amp rating you can get away with safely - which is usually what they tell you to use on the covers =D

 

I was just talking to a buddy of mine that was diagnosing a friend's car (Saturn). They removed the OEM electric fans, and put in new ones because they figured both were dead. Had they checked the stock relay, it would have been a quick fix. But, they insisted on running 18 gauge wire with a 30A fuse mounted to a toggle switch, to power 2 12" electric fans @ ~9A each. Needless to say, one electrical fire later, the $12 relay became a several hundred dollar fix including a junkyard parts car and a lot of beer. Wrong wire, wrong fuse, big problem.

 

PS, a blow dryer works wonders for quick-drying a fuse box, or set it out in the sun while you do something else. Just make sure you rinse all the vinegar off really well - I usually sock mine in soapy water for a couple minutes, give it a scrub with a tooth brush, triple rinse it... squeaky clean. You can also slighly pinch the tabs together so it has a stronger grip on the fuses as well, just don't over-do it or you'll end up with a glass fuse stuck in your finger next time you mess with it, which is not fun (ask me how I know).

 

Not sure how a Z-box hooks up, but on a 510 box there are two pigtail connectors that plug into the box on the front. I set a bowl with vinegar up, and soaked those as well to clean the terminals up a bit. A little dielectric grease (a LITTLE not a LOT) keeps moisture corrosion minimal, and makes disconnecting a lot easier.

[Busta Nut]

Great info Boaty!

 

Called the dealer today....No longer available. :no:

 

How long do you soak the fuse box for?

[I'm BLUE]

 

If it's for the parking lights, that's pretty uncommon. I've never actually seen a melted fuse terminal with anything other than headlights, or if people add aftermarket stuff. I wouldn't be adding a relay to that circuit, personally it would be over kill.

 

If you can't afford a new fuse box, you can try a used one that looks in decent shape and just clean it up.

 

 

Well.... actually its very common. Issue is well documented. Of all the zcars i have been through 75% of them have had this exact circuit melted. Driving @ 2am in the morning 1-mile from my place ... it melted fell through and started sparking ... i pulled over into an apartment complex asap and turned off the car pulling out a fire extinguisher ( did not need luckly)

 

The z-store sells these wiring relay harness to take the stress off the combination switch. Its def not overkill for these cars.

 

A good used box ... with the vinegar soaking process would be a viable option if strapped for flow.

 

Great info Boaty!

 

Called the dealer today....No longer available. :no:

 

How long do you soak the fuse box for?

 

Errr k den ... Motorsport auto has a " plug and play "box for around 150 bones ( 1 wire ... 2 screws and 1 plug and your off !! ). I've had 2 of them and never a worry again! I soaked (1) of the original fuse boxes and solder a connection .... lasted for a few months .... then heated up and caused issues again.

 

I originally didnt want to spend $150 on one ... but VERY happy i did.

 

Best luck

[Boaty]

Depends. I soak mine until it's clean. It's kind of fun to watch the first time around, because you can see it bubbling as the vinegar eats away.

 

I would spend 10 minutes if you're just soaking, and at least 5 rinsing. Soapy water soak works great to kill the vinegar that will get in the wiring (Don't worry about that, sounds horrible but it's not really)

 

If you're using say a brass tooth brush, maybe a few minutes to loosen it up and the rest is a given.

 

I generally set mine in for 10-15 minutes, go do general maintenance stuff, come back and rinse. Good as new.

[darrel]

Well documented for s30 problem area at the parking light fuse. Ahd if you go a step further in seeing what other damage can be done on an s30, take off the clamshell of the steering column. You will see the white/red wire starting to deform and possibly the solder starting to melt from the heat that wire carries.

 

Getting the new blade fuse block from MSA will help out a lot, but mine still gets warm, but not as hot as with the original fuse block. To complete the electrical circuit refurbish, I recommend the Headlight and parking light harnesses fro datsundave/z'sondabrain. IMO the best investment/improvement you can make on the 240z's.

[Busta Nut]

Well documented for s30 problem area at the parking light fuse. Ahd if you go a step further in seeing what other damage can be done on an s30, take off the clamshell of the steering column. You will see the white/red wire starting to deform and possibly the solder starting to melt from the heat that wire carries.

 

Getting the new blade fuse block from MSA will help out a lot, but mine still gets warm, but not as hot as with the original fuse block. To complete the electrical circuit refurbish, I recommend the Headlight and parking light harnesses fro datsundave/z'sondabrain. IMO the best investment/improvement you can make on the 240z's.

 

I found the MSA fuse block. :thumbup: Pricy! Gonna have to save up for that. Can't find anything about datsundave/z'sondabrain, though. Where is that? :confused:

[darrel]

datsundave09 on ratsun, zs-ondabrain on classiczcars. MSA sells his plh and hlh, but I would rather go through the man since msa needs to mark up his price.

 

And this is what you will find on your combo switch from all the resistance.

 

[Busta Nut]

These aren't really issues, but I didn't want to start a new thread. Couple more things I'm curious about.

 

 

Does anyone know what these wires are for back by the gas tank? Heard that the later model Z's came with an electric fuel pump and this could be for that but I have a ground signal on both wires with the key off, key on, and engine running. :confused:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second...my side drafts have gathered an oily type fluid in a strange place...is this normal?? It's just a hole above the horns collecting oil.

 

[ggzilla]

Are you certain that is oil? And not a gasoline stain? My sidedrafts look like that from gas.

 

By sidedrafts and the photo, I take it you do not mean the stock 240Z sidedrafts (SU type) which actually do have oil in them.

[Busta Nut]

Are you certain that is oil? And not a gasoline stain? My sidedrafts look like that from gas.

 

By sidedrafts and the photo, I take it you do not mean the stock 240Z sidedrafts (SU type) which actually do have oil in them.

 

No. Not certain it's oil. Looks like some kind of residue from gasoline. Just don't understand how it gets there and if I can prevent it. Triple weber side drafts.

[ggzilla]

I have twin mikunis, but a little gas gets on them, even though the top cover gaskets are snug. I just spray it off every once in a while using ether spray.

[Busta Nut]

I do the same, but where does it come from? Do the carbs just naturally seep this fluid? :confused:

 

If I don't clean my carbs off, they get covered in it.