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jas280z

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About jas280z

  • Birthday 02/28/1989

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    Buffalo

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  1. My 280z won't start when it is hot after a drive. I am very familiar with heat soak, having experienced it last summer. Then my car would not start when hot, after sitting for a few minutes. I installed a switch on the starter solenoid, to allow me to manually prime the pump/fuel rail, and voila I was able to start no matter how hot the engine got. My symptoms now do not seem to fit with heat soak, as the car does not need to sit at all for the problem to occur. I turn it off and try to start it 1 second later and it will not start. The only time when I was able to get it to restart was when I instantly restarted it before the engine had even stopped spinning. I am able to start the car if I spray some starter fluid into the intake manifold, and initially get it running on that. Then the car will start, but obviously stumble a bit at the beginning. This leads me to think that the fuel is fine, and not vaporizing. Just for further information, I also have constant 30+ psi at the rail while I am trying this. Due to the fact that the car can start on starter fluid and then run, I think that something electrical that is only engaged in the "start" circuit may be overheating and failing. One thing that comes to mind is that maybe the Fuel Pump Control Relay is not functioning correctly, as it receives its 12 volt signal through a different input on the start cycle (I believe this is to bypass the Oil Pressure Sending Unit kill switch when starting). The power then goes out to the fuel pump relay, and to the pump and the air regulator. I have tried testing the Fuel Pump Control Relay according to the FSM, and could not get it to test out right, but that was before this problem arose, so I attributed it to an error on my part, or an incorrect procedure being listed in the FSM, as I found the problem I was having at the time, and it was not related to the relay. One test I can attempt would be to hot wire the fuel pump to see if it will start when hot, but I am not sure if the injectors are firing correctly either. I still have to test them with a noid light. All that I am fairly sure of is that it is something screwed up/overheating in the start circuit. I am studying the FSM and wiring diagrams, and also getting what I can from Blue's Tech Tip EFI Bible, so I am sure that if it is something electrical I will find it sooner or later, but any suggestion that could expedite the process would be greatly appreciated. P.S. I did try starting it with the cold start valve disconnected, and still had the same problem. Unfortunately I don't think it is anything as simple as that.
  2. I figured out the problem. I decided to start running current directly to the headlights, starting at the steering column. I found out that the dead link was the white wire from the starter to the fusible links. I took off the electrical tape to find that all the splits were falling apart and corroded. I replaced that wire and everything worked. Lesson learned: try to hot-wire whatever is not working, multimeters may not put enough load on a circuit to show a corroded but still attached connection.
  3. Once I turned on the headlights, the engine was dead for good. I cannot get the headlights, fuel pump, or injectors to turn on. The sidelights, and everything else I have tried still works, just those 3 components are dead. I am will continue going through the connections, and cleaning everything. Z Man of Washington told me that just because I see 12 volts down the line, not to rule out connections right near the battery (i.e. battery cables or links) as the multimeter does not put a load on the circuit, so corrosion could be hampering the system still.
  4. I just rechecked the relay off of the battery, grounding prong 96 to the car. I found that the switches worked as they are supposed to, except for the 95-96 switch. When no current is being applied,there is no contintuity, which is correct. When a current is applied and not grounded, it also works as it is supposed to, having continuity. The problem seems to lie in it being grounded, and having current applied. When that happens there is no continuity, even though there is supposed to be. If you have the test all set up, but ungrounded, it appears fine, but as soon as I touch the ground wire to a known ground on the car, continuity disappears. I think that this has a lot to do with my fuel problems, but I don't know if it has any bearing on the headlight situation. Guess I'll have to order a new one and see what happens.
  5. So I went back and tried to check the fuel pump control relay again. I am still having trouble telling if it is properly grounded. I wrapped a wire around the ground prong on the relay (prong 96) and attached it to a bolt on my12 volt battery charger (what I am using as my 12 volt source). When I put my multimeter on prong 96 and a bare spot on the charger, I get continuity, so I believe that it would be grounded. I hear a click when I apply 12 volts to the relay, but the continuity does not change as it should. I think it is a bad relay, but I am still not sure if I have it properly grounded. Any suggestions? I might just try to use my car battery as the 12 volt source, and ground it somewhere on the car, at least then I will know it is grounded.
  6. It hasn't given me a problem before, unless my dad switched it with the one in his 280zx without telling me. Even if that was the problem, I would think that the headlights and fuel system would turn on when connected to a charger like they are now. Voltage in the car has always been at 12 or above.
  7. I was driving my '78 the other day and went to turn on the headlights, as it was getting dark out. As soon as I switched them, the whole car died. My fuel pump is not turning on, and I am fairly certain that the injectors are not getting power (I have a pressure gauge on my rail, and it showed constant pressure when cranking even though the pump was not working). I would test the injectors with a noid light, but I have the relays out of the car to test them. The 4 fusible links under the covers check out (have continuity) as well as the two that clip onto the side of the relay housing. My main fuel injection relay, and fuel pump relay both check out. The fuel pump control relay I am not sure about. It does click, and has proper continuity when NOT grounded, but it does not show the continuity that it should when grounded. I am not sure if the proplem is the relay though, or my inability to find a suitable ground. I have also tested the wires that bring current to the relays. The main fuel relay has voltage running to and from the battery, as does the fuel pump control relay. I thought I had the problem solved when the car started working again after putting it all back together and checking the ground on the intake manifold, as well as the ground near the oil pressure sending unit. It turns out this must have been a fluke because the same problem occured the next day, and I have not been able to fix it. I decided to start tracing the voltage and continuity in the headlight system, to find if there is a break. I decided to follow the headlights, as they seem to be what causes the rest of the car to not want to function. The RB and RW wires from the headlights to the combination switch both have contuinity and carry 12 volts when applied. the WR wire from the fusible link has 12 volts at connection C-9, and just below 12 at the plug where it connects to the combination switch. Continuing on, I believe that the WR wire goes through the combo-switch, and powers the R wire when the headlights are turned on. The R wire shows the same voltage as WR when the combo-switch is in the on position, coming right out of the Combo-switch. Here is where I am dumbfounded. If I remove the right and left headlight fuses, I see the same nearly 12 volts (around 11.8) at the R wire where it goes into the fuse box. If I connect either of the two headlight fuses, it instantly drops to zero. I do have to add that the right headlight is currently disconnected, as my Dad thought that the po's wiring job on it might have been the culprit. Could that be causing the odd voltage drop at the fuse box? I doubt it as I think it would be similar to the headlight being blown, but I am no electrician so I could be (and probably am) wrong. I will continue trying to figure this out, but I was wondering if anybody might have any suggestions, or if there may be something I am missing. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks! Edit: I realize that I left the fuel pump control relay not completely tested. If I can figure out a good way to ground it I will test it, but I don't know what that could have to do with the headlights, which is why I switched my focus to what seemed to be the cause of the problem.
  8. Lonewolf Performance makes fuel rails. I have one, still need to install it though. Very good customer service so far!
  9. I don't think that black is the original color. The Black Pearl was a '78 option, and was the " first black Z Car Produced. It was actually a test market device to determin if the color black should be added to the Z Car model line colors. It was so successful that in 1979 with the introduction of the 280ZX Datsun featured their all Black 280ZX's in their 'Black Gold' ad.'s." http://zhome.com/History/BlackP.htm Good score though!
  10. JHM, he already has the car, he is just curious what he could get back from it. I concur with 240zip, you'll never get your money back as money, just as enjoyment. I know I'd never get close to what is in my car out of it, not for 40 years at least.
  11. How can you own a Z and not at least respect the name Datsun? I wear my Datsun hoodie with pride! I think the stripes look very good and wouldn't mind something similar on my 280z, especially since it is Monterey Blue. I think personally I'd just change the color of the "Datsun." Those responses on the 370 forum makes think people should have to take a "Z License" test in order to buy one, fail and they sell you some Enzyte instead.
  12. If it is as described, with NO body cancer, I would say 5-7 grand. How is the interior? My estimate is assuming that it is an 8-10 car all around. More pictures would be helpful. Others may disagree. Edit: Does it have glass?
  13. I agree with Tony, if possible let a professional do it. My dad and I had the unfortunate experience of having the windshield on my 280z crack while we were trying to remove it. It wasn't the original glass, so I didn't feel bad about breaking an OE windshield, but that didn't make it hurt any less when we had to get a new one. I am usually a proponent of doing what you can yourself, but this is one of the few areas where I am happy to sit back and watch a professional work, heck, even the guys on Musclecar usually hire a glass guy.
  14. I was just having the same conversation with my roommate, he thought I was just being gross.
  15. Most cars I have seen with the black side stripes don't have the flares or black wheels. I was actually a little worried that all the color changing on the lower portion of the car it would look a little too busy, what with the flares, wheels, side skirts, and stripes. If nothing else the stripes can be taken off very easily if you don't like them when you put them on. And they are only about $20 from MSA, so it is not a wallet killer if you want to experiment. Good luck, keep the pictures coming!
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