Krisndan

Hey there, I'm in Rockford - I have an engine and trans (auto) from a 76 base coupe on a dolly and ready to find a home. It's stripped down, no manifolds, and the head has round exhaust ports. I mention this because I also have what looks like a pacesetter header (got it used so I can't be sure, but it sure looks like it) that I can't use on my own z because it has square ports on the head. I did a part out on the car, so I have a lot of other bits you may want too. Let me know - I'm at eight159754925. I need this stuff gone so I'm ready to get it done.

Well, that seemed to do it! Armed with sandpaper and a small wire brush I hit just about anything that has contact with anything on the battery and starter, and a few ground points to boot. By the time I was done though, my toes were so cold that I tested little more than the blinkers. They didn't kill the power this time though, so I'm calling a win. Hopefully it holds true when it's not 20 degrees in the sun up here. Thanks for the input!

That makes total sense. The battery cables don't look dirty or corroded, but I'll hit them and the starter cables with a wire brush. Maybe that's what's causing the interlock unit to go berserk. Thanks for the starting point - I'll post results as soon!

Forgot to mention: Emergency switch was bypassed when I got it

Hey all. Ok, so I'm about 3 years into a restoration of a 75 coupe. The one consistent I've run into is a buggy electrical system, but each issue has been resolved until very recently. I was in the process of putting all the pieces back together on the interior and putting back all the lights from a paint job - and I got the whole thing looking great - then I go to turn the key and fire it up a few weeks ago, there's a few clicks and there is NO power whatsoever to anything. Oddly, after sitting for a day or so, I came back to it and found that I again had power for a few seconds, then bam! I've tried disconnecting and reconnecting the neg. battery cable to try to re-set whatever is causing the problem, but time seems to be the only thing that works. I chalked it up to the crazy cold temps we've gotten here in northern Illinois. Yesterday, I go back and try again - I turned the key to "on" and all seemed fine. While checking the turn signals, I found I needed new bulbs. Today I put them in, tested it out, click-click, and again no power. !!! Here's what I've ruled out: 1) Two years ago, I swapped the fusible links for breakers - they have been great, and are still doing what they are supposed to. 2) I swapped out the interlock unit from a 76 parts car I'm working off of thinking that was the issue. Apparently not. 3) I pulled and hooked up a (used) voltage regulator from the 76 to see if that would do anything - no response at lockout. 4) Fuses are all ok 5) Ignition switch seems to be ruled out - lockout seems to happen only when something else tries to draw power, such as the radio, blinkers, or whatever else it's been to blasted cold to test. 6) Starter cables are in the right place, same with the battery cables. what the heck is going on here? Any suggestions? I have had this problem only since putting the lights and interior back together - it never did this when I had it pulled apart, in fact, I was able to drive it around just fine. As I write all this out, it seems like an obvious bad ground, but what's the deal with the lock? Can a fault in wiring for lights cause that? I need a fresh perspective here.

I have had a hell of a time finding the heater control cable that goes to the fresh air vent. This would be the long one that goes to the fresh air door (about the middle of the passenger side, and all the way back to the firewall). Does anyone know how to run this thing to the heater control and secure it?? There is a place for the clip at the "door" lever and a hole for the z bend end on the hot/cold lever, but - and I can't be crazy here - shouldn't there be a place for a clip near the control lever? The FSM only shows the door lever connection... also there is quite a bit of tension on that cable that I'm afraid will bend the lever. I just don't know whether I'm rigging it up wrong or if it just needs a new, more flexible spring. Any advice will be appreciated - I'd like to get that console put back together already! Thanks everyone!

Found it - answer is no. Too bad for me...

Hey all, So I'm stuck on finding that blasted rear center sight shield filler on my 75 coupe project. I may have a lead on the early 74 center piece, and it looks like it would fit... here's my question: Does anybody know whether those center spacers are interchangable between early 74 and 74.5-76? Any help here? Thanks everyone

I've been on the hunt for a rear center sight shield for so long that I've resorted to begging. Anybody have one of these? I'm open to various conditions. Thanks all!

I have the same problem in my 75 280z, so I guess this is a question for Challenger: Is that grounding issue the same in reverse, start with the 6 pin and work backwards? I also seem to have an extra unit mounted under there... the FSM says two, one for turns and one for hazards, what the heck could the third one be for - a spare??

*clarification* Just to put this to rest, I bungled the diagnosis here: The connector tab that went bad was to the A/C relay, which SEEMED to solve the problem at the time. That was indeed a problem, but ended up fixing the power problem to the fan (a silver lining). At the time, I was also tinkering with the dome light. I had reconnected the contacts and taped it up, thinking it was fine and that the A/C relay tab was tripping something and causing the buzzer to go off. The FSM notes that the buzzer is also tied to the ignition and charging system, so I was thinking that the short at the relay was causing it to go off. When the thing started going off again (with the key haning on the wall) AFTER fixing the broken tab, I was ready to rip out the wires and set them on fire. The other angle to this is that sometime before I picked the car up, the engine room harness had been replaced, so I really had no idea what kind of adjustments had been made to it or to the interior harness where there have been some creative splices done for speakers and for using the radio without the key. These were the obvious changes made to the wiring, but there are a handful of other splices to grounds and contacts that I noticed, as well as some re-wrapped harness sections. Basically, there could have been a problem anywhere along any of the harnesses (which was what made me want to torch them all and start over). Thankfully for my wallet and stress levels, I was able to locate the problem when I went back to the dome light. One of the connectors had suffered some burning, and must have fouled the contact points just enough to work SOMETIMES without burning up the fuse on the block and tripping the buzzer. I say sometimes, because sometimes it would blow the fuse too, explaining why when it didn't right away after taking care of the relay tab, I didn't ask any questions and called it solved. Obviously it was a short-lived solution, so back to the only other possibility: dome light again. Cleaning out the contacts, using some pliers to tighten them up, and re-taping the back for extra insulation seemed to have solved the problem nicely (I had already taken out, cleaned, and reassembled the door switches on both sides). Those of you who have read this far may want to keep that dome light in mind if the same problem arises. The contacts are VERY close to the roof when installed and could possibly ground out, especially if you use a little too much push when turning on the push switch light or if the dome light has a little bit of play in its housing... Anyway, problem solved (again), this time for real!

Well, I thought I had the dang thing fixed after taking apart the passenger door switch and replacing a broken spring. No luck there, so after some more picking, pulling, and circuit testing, the culprit turned out to be a broken (but still barely connected) connector tab at the relay under the dash. All this time I was looking for an exposed wire or faulty switch, and all along it was a simple tab, broken right at the contact point with the wire, that I almost missed and reconnected none the wiser! The demons have been purged!

Ok, so maybe somebody can help me out. I'm in the garage, the z (1975 base coupe, manual) is covered up. Suddenly I hear somebody's car alarm go off. This continues for several minutes, and after I laugh to myself about how somebody must be having trouble turning it off, it slowly dawns on me that its the buzzer in the z going off like an alarm clock. I uncovered it, started it up, and it got quiet so I turned it back off. Sure enough: it starts the intermittent buzzing again, only this time, when I started it again, the buzzer wouldn't turn off. This time, I just took off the battery cable. At some point, I remember hearing a click before it came on, but I can't pinpoint exactly when. Anyway, the back story is that I was having trouble with the dome light tripping its fuse. I got that reconnected and taped up without it blowing the fuse (it works fine too), and that was the last thing wiring wise that I was monkeying with. Anybody know what the heck is going on with this thing? All I can find in the FSM and online is references to the seat belt and the door switch, but there's nothing about it just suddenly kicking off out of nowhere while the key hangs on the wall. Does the buzzer also indicate low battery or a short - maybe something else I'm not aware of? Please help, or I may have to call an exorcist! Thanks everybody

Just thought I'd share a victory moment: For several months (not during the deep freeze of the midwest of course) I haven't been able to figure out why I was getting a temp reading but no oil pressure reading. I swapped out the sending unit early on - no luck, I took the whole gauge out, apart, and back together to see if there were any fried wires or damaged components - all checked out ok. Next to the harness: wow. So I discovered that the harness is from another z, an automatic I think (I've got the base manual), and likely from a different year. Next, much thought... After busting my head over this I finally ran a test wire directly from the sending unit to the gauge and bam - reading. Apparantly there was a bad connection in one of the two connectors between the dash and the sending unit. After a quick thread along the harness and tieing them up on both ends, it works perfectly. All worked out ok, and I can finally breathe easy knowing that I'm not about to blow something out from too much pressure that I don't even know about! So that's 6 months of confusion and about a 30 minute fix. ...I thought I was smarter than that!

Thanks for the advice! This thing has stumped me for the better part of the past month, and now that it's cold outside (I'm in Rockford, IL where the highs are in the 30s) it's probably going to be a while until I can get outside and tinker with it. Now though I at least have a direction to go in when it does warm up. Thanks for all of that! Come to think of it, things did seem a little dry the last time I took off the valve cover, but the car was sitting for a good while before I picked it up - the sludgy cam is beginning to make some more sense... I'll try that pressure reading too, it just seems like I'd get at least a twitch on that OP needle in the meantime. Maybe with a good cleaning I'll get some movement. You guys rock - have a great christmas!