1970 240z USDM 432

[iwayman]

I have been working on this for the past two months, it would have been done sooner but I only have time to work on it after school. So recently, as in this week, I finally got to the point of starting my car for the first time. What I found out is that I get no spark to the distributor and thus to the plugs. I personally have not done very many ignition upgrades, but the previous owner of my wrecked non-op 1981 280zx turbo parts car had. I can include all my upgrades on my 240z further in the post. Here are the guides I have followed to the best of my ability:

l28et swap guide: http://forums.hybrid...rbo-swap-guide/
HEI Ignition module because ignitor was missing (B/W to switched 12V): http://www.zcar.com/...r_886132.0.html
Kept stock 240z tach wiring from post #4: http://forums.hybrid...ometer-hook-up/

Now with the FI wiring I had a few differences within my harness. In figure M and N of the swap guide he states that one needs to cut and splice a B/W wire to switched without cutting any to the relay. Well as it turns out my B/W wire from the same plug as the B/R fuel pump wire and the Y wire actually goes into my relay... I have two B/W wires going into my relay. Soo I'm not really sure what to do about that. I am also not running my fuel pump through the ecu, I chose to run it directly to switched power with a hidden cut off switch in the dash if that would effect the ecu. Also I chose to stick with the 5-speed transmission that I already had rather than swap in the automatic that came with, could the neutral/inhibitor switch or lack thereof be effecting anything in my swap?
Now my harness may be a little different because I have a JWT upgraded ecu with some mustang stuff and bigger injectors and on the ecu I get both a green AND a red LED when the ignition is on, I also know that when the ecu is on diagnose the lights are blinking very intermittently.

So for actual wires tested, I found that with the ignition on I get power on the + and - sides of the coil. I do not believe I am getting a signal from the ecu along the Y/W wire described in figure Q of the swap guide to the HEI module. On the harness side of the crank angle sensor coupler I noticed that I only get power from ONE of the four wires, if that means anything. I think that I also don't have the stock CAS because the actual CAS is inside of the distributor, making me assume I have an '82 or '83 dizzy. I took my distributor off and spun the rotor with the ignition on and I got three clicks in a 360 degree rotation from the injectors, but then sometimes it would only click twice. I pulled it all apart and cleaned it to no noticeable difference.
So if anyone has any ideas, please let me know, been wandering around the internet for two days looking for solid information to no avail.

Now here's a little about my car:
1970 240z had an l28 with triple SKs and headers w/ full exhaust

Began my swap in March after buying my first car ever, a wrecked non-op 1981 280zx turbo from sacramento.
now my list of mods is pretty long, starting in the engine bay:
Rebuilt, balanced L28ET w/ ARP headbolts
Jim Wolf Technology ECU
420cc Injectors
Cobra MAF and dropping resistors
.50 trim Garrett Turbo
External Wastegate and 3" downpipe that I built
BOV & Intercooler
Manual Boost control
Oil Cooler
Pertronix HEI ignition module
Universal fuel pressure regulator (my stock one was leaking out of the top...)
280zxt fuel pump
70mm throttlebody


drivetrain:
280z 5speed
stage 2 pressure plate w/ 6 puck clutch disc

suspension:
tokico illumina struts w/ tokico springs

brakes:
ZXt 15/16 master cylinder
drill & slotted rear disc conversion


Here are a couple pics, not sure if theyll work though...
 

[iwayman]

 

[jalen]

I love it!

[Skib]

lol so you finally talked your dad into letting you do it eh? :rofl:

[iwayman]

Yup :D he even paid for my engine rebuild! I'm dying to have this running again, it feels like ages since I've driven it lol

[ggzilla]

Great! looks good.

[fo0manchu]

I just trouble shot my buddy's z a bit ago. Went through all the wiring.

Here is the usual check list i run through:

1. Spark? - make sure the spark plugs are getting juice. I disconnect the fuel, and connect the plug wires to the spark plug externally so i can see spark.

2. Fuel? - check fuel pressure, even took injector rail out to see if all the injectors are firing. I just got a piece of cardboard and aimed the injectors at it and cranked the motor.

3. Air?- Check the air flow sensor to make sure the wires are connected properly and that the air flap thingy is not stuck.

 

What I found while trouble shooting. Fuel injectors were not firing, some of the harness wires were a little corroded and had a bad connection. i sanded it down a bit and put some electrical grease on it and then they all fired fine. Also, wiring to the air flow sensor was loose and also had a bit of corossion. Sanded and el grease, and bam! motor started.

 

Good luck. Also, i did this after checking the ecu and running down all the wiring and probing everything for voltages. Sometimes its just the annoying little things that are overlooked when wiring gets old.

[iwayman]

I'll check out the injectors and the air flow wires :) although i do know that I am not getting a spark already although the coil gets 12v power :( spark wise I believe it has something to do with the ignition module possibly not getting a signal.

[ggzilla]

There is only 2 wires to the stock L28ET ignition module. Almost foolproof. 1 to coil + , the other to coil -.

[iwayman]

I am running the HEI ignition module due to the fact that the PO took the stock ignitor and a few other items, such as the actuator. I have the HEI module wired according to the guide linked in my original post.

[iwayman]

All injectors work, used fo0manchu's test method using cardboard. Does this rule out a faulty CAS? How can I test to make sure whether or not I am getting a signal to my ignition module?

[ggzilla]

Oh... I see your's is modified with aftermarket parts.

[ggzilla]

What I found out is that I get no spark to the distributor and thus to the plugs

 

I took my distributor off and spun the rotor with the ignition on and I got three clicks in a 360 degree rotation from the injectors

When you spin the distributor by hand, do you get spark? How are you determining whether it has spark or not? I would pull the coil wire out of the distributor and stick an old plug in it, and lay the plug on the bare metal of the cam cover or the strut bolt.

[ggzilla]

1982-1983 had one of those 360-degree wheels in the distributor, did it? The factory service manual should explain how to test it ... but I don't see any troubleshooting in the FSM, just a schematic digram and wiring diagram.

 

 

Put a test light on the coil- while you turn the rotor. It should blink on/off while you are rotating it.

 

Does the coil have on or nearby one of those big round transistors? You can put a Voltmeter on the input side. If it goess on/off there, but not at the output side, the transistor is probably shot.

[iwayman]

I stuck a bolt in the first spark plug wire so it had good connection and then turned the engine over while my dad held it to/around bare metal with the result of no sparking there. Ive also hooked up a light on the wire between the coil and the distributor on the distributor side and turned it over and there was no electricity there either. And from what I can tell, my distributor has both 6 marks and 360 marks at two different radii on the wheel.

[iwayman]

And i'm not sure about transistor you described, I dont think I have one. If thats the ignitor than I do not have it.

[fo0manchu]

at least you know its an ignition problem for sure now. Is the coil it self firing? Other things that you might have already checked: volt test the ground wires to your ignition module and coil to make sure you are getting the correct voltages and that the ground is good. If all the wiring is good, then there should only be a handful of things that can be wrong, like bad coil or distributor or just a simple overlooked thing.

 

Also check to see that the coil to distributor wire has a good connection inside the coil. Sometimes that copper connector inside the boot scoots back a bunch and never makes good contact with the coil or the distributor.

[ArchetypeDatsun]

Mine had the same problem when I put the engine back together I would check and make sure all the spark plug wires are in the right order and that the wire going on the coil is good. Clean all the connections real good usually that's the problem with these old cars even though it looks clean never hurts to clean them up.

[ggzilla]

Clean all the connections ... even though it looks clean never hurts to clean them up

 

+1. it often helps

 

Test your coil wire. It should have about 1000 ohms per foot. So a six-inch coil wire would be about 500 ohms. You may find it is far higher or 0 ohms, both of which indicate a bad wire.

[iwayman]

Thanks for the further suggestions. I cant work on it today cuz I've got finals tomorrow :( but i'll do work tomorrow... after I find my voltmeter, since all I could find was my test light lol And I do not believe the coil is firing, when you put 12v on + and then ground the - intermittently you should get a good arc from the coil every time it's ground, right?

[ggzilla]

when you put 12v on + and then ground the - intermittently you should get a good arc from the coil every time it's ground, right?

So I though until I tried it last month on my good running Datsun. No it didn't spark each time. Gets a little spark at the coil terminal, but a spark out the coil wire only sometimes (and not very often).

[iwayman]

Since this is my project thread I'll throw in some pics I found of my car over time... starting around november since that's about when I got a new phone.

sometime in november

rear disc conversion & tokico suspension

right as I began disassembling my engine. My old setup

I had my engine bay blasted and my dad painted it for me

building my downpipe

[ggzilla]

Here's what Nissan factory service manual says about checking the coil (matchbox coil):

1. Ignition key OFF

2. Coil wires removed from coil. Coil spark wire removed

3. Connect ohmmeter to center terminal metal and to Coil- terminal

OK - 8200 to 12400 ohms

Not OK - anything else. Coil is bad.

 

4. Connect ohmmeter to Coil+ and to Coil- terminals

OK - 0.84 to 1.02 ohms

Not OK - other reading. replace coil.

 

If you are using some other coil, check the factory service manual or coil manufacturers instructions.

[ggzilla]

That Z is sweet.

[iwayman]

So I though until I tried it last month on my good running Datsun. No it didn't spark each time. Gets a little spark at the coil terminal, but a spark out the coil wire only sometimes (and not very often).

 

Ok good cuz that's what I get.