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HizAndHerz

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Posts posted by HizAndHerz

  1. Well, seven years after I wrote this I came back to look up the information for getting another alternator because the cheap AutoZone 10SI that I put on my wife's '76 280Z went out after probably 20K miles. The 12SI on my '78 280Z has worked great for the same amount of time and over 50K miles. I'll be replacing the bad 10SI with a non-remanufactured 12SI.

  2. HizAndHerz

     

    Below is the pin-out for the eight cyl EDIS. Can you tell me what pin is used for the signal return ground? I assume it is pin #7 (does not say it) but when you assume something it can bite you! Also, can I use Pin #2 for a tachometer even though it says diagnostic signal to ECU?

     

    Thanks

    Danno74Z

     

     

    8 Cylinder EDIS module pinout Signal EDIS Module Terminal

     

    PIP (EDIS output signal) 1

    IDM (diagnostic signal to ECU) 2

    SAW (ECU spark control signal) 3

    VRS - (crank sensor negative) 4

    VRS +(crank sensor positive) 5

    VPWR (ignition switched 12 volts) 6

    IGN GND 7

    COIL 1 (coil drive) 8

    COIL 2 (coil drive) 9

    PWR GND 10

    COIL 3 (coil drive) 11

    COIL 4 (coil drive) 12

     

    I'm coming back to this old post for an update. For 8-cyl, I believe pin 7 ground should be used for signal return to ECM/MS and would also serve as the shield for VR sensor. Then use the 1N4003 series diode between pin 10 and chassis/star ground.

  3. Be aware that the contacts on the Scosche fuse blocks can corrode over time. I did this upgrade on two of our 280z's a few years back and both cars have had trouble with headlights going dim and worst of all, leaving my wife and son stranded late at night in both of their Z's. The corrosion problem was not obvious and hard to diagnose because the fuses would check fine and just removing and replacing the fuses would make the problem go away... temporarily.

     

    I think the problem is that moisture can easily get to the fuse blocks when they are mounted on the outside of the relay box. The hood vents on 280's make the moisture problem worse. To keep their cars going, I've had to clean the contacts temporarily and use dielectric grease to help protect the contacts.

     

    On my 280Z, I replaced the relay box with its ancient relays and fuse links with a fuse/relay box from a Dodge Neon. It had just the right number of relays and Maxi-fuse holders for my setup. The box has seals so there's little chance of problems with moisture. No problems after 3 years. It was a major wiring project but I'm happy with the results.

  4. Only thing about a new piece is that this plate is threaded for 3 hinge bracket bolts and two fender bolts.

    Even worse to deal with is the crazy water channel that is spot welded on and gives the section its rigidity.

     

    I had this trouble on 2 of our 280Z's and hunted down a car being parted and found another at the junk yard that had decent metal there. I whacked out as much as I could so I'd have plenty to work with and welded the pieces in. Before this, I tried repairing and it was more trouble than it was worth.

     

    It may be tough to find a car without rust in that section since trash collects in the water channel keeping water from darining and the whole section rusts out.

     

    Another thing I thought about was cutting bad metal out which included the water channel, welding new metal in and reinforcing it with some square tubing.

     

    Good luck! It is one of the Z's "most likely to rust" areas.

  5. I just got a new motor together and am in a similar situation. I rebuilt the bottom end with flattops and used a Felpro gasket set. I was going to rebuild a Maxima head but got impatient and threw on a nice-n-pretty N42 that someone else had rebuilt having no idea how much it was shaved.

     

    Heaven knows what the compression ratio is.

     

    My new motor pings on 91 octane with 32deg full advance. It sounds fine with 93 octane and 28deg. I've got to experiment so I can drive the car until the MN-47 is done.

  6. I bought a USED (late 1980s)330 amp MILLER INDUSTRIAL TIG and Im still learning to use it correctly, It cost me approximately 1K but it works very well and a NEW similar capacity TIG would be over 6K.

    Wow, it's great to find deals like that! I bought a used Lincoln Synergic Pulse MIG from a metal furniture manufacturer for $250. Also have a Lincoln 135-amp MIG so I can weld where 220v is unavailable.

     

    Too bad I weld like crap! At this point, I think I need some personal instruction or a video. Having cool tools is great, but they're wothless and frustrating without skills!

  7. To follow up, I checked 3 factory manuals from different years and 5 aftermarket manuals. 6 of the 8 manuals show that when properly adjusted, the mark of the sprocket should be to the right of the oblong groove on the thrust plate. Just like everyone on the forums says it should be. Like this:

     

    ___

    ---V

     

    With the milled head and new chain, I ended putting the sprocket on position #2. The only thing to worry about is valve to piston clearance.

     

    I've been messing with these engines for some time and thought I knew what I was doing, but that "How to Rebuild..." book by Monroe really confused me with its incorrect picture. Especially when the caption says "Courtesy of Nissan Motor Co".

  8. It makes perfect sense that they should line right up, thats what I did when I put mine togethor the first time, but the second time I consulted my '73 FSM and it said the slot should be to the right of the V. ...weird
    My 1978 FSM states:
    Set timing chain by aligning its mating marks with those of the crank shaft sprocket and camshaft sprocket at the right hand side.
    Confusing statement, but I'm pretty sure that they're only talking about matching up the timing chain marks, not the sprocket marks.
  9. If I remember correctly (it was only 3 days ago) the little line is supposed to be to the right side of the V, ie. the leftmost end of the line lines up with the right most side of the V.

    Hmm. In Tom Monroe's "How To Rebuild..." book, he says the marks should line up:

    Check the cam sprocket-to-thrust-plate timing marks. If they align, cam timing is OK. However, if the sprocket mark trails - is to the left of the thust-plate mark, the cam must be advanced to the next dowel hole... you must retard the cam if [the sprocket mark] is to the right of the thrust-plate mark.

    There's also a picture on page 131 that shows the V being slightly to the left of the groove before adjusting the sprocket (cam is retarded), and a picture that shows the V directly under the groove after adjusting the timing by moving to the next dowel hole.

     

    The 1978 FSM says the marks should line up as well.

     

    Hmmm.

  10. I recently had a machine shop check an N42 head that came off a a rebuilt engine I recently acquired. They ended up milling the head "slightly" to remove surface imperfections. The head was installed with a new timing set on a low milage F54 block. After I got the front cover and damper on, I noticed that the damper mark was 1/2" to the right of 0-degrees with the cam marks lined up. I figured I jumped the chain one notch so I moved the chain.

     

    Now, with the crank at TDC, the sprocket notch is not directly under the center of the groove on the thrust plate, but the notch is to the right (cam timing is advanced). The notch is still under the groove, but it looks like this:

     

    ___

    --V

     

    instead of this:

     

    ___

    -V-

     

    I am assuming all of these issues are from the head being milled too much. I asked the shop what the minimum head height should be, and they just said "it'll be fine", they didn't have any Z-engine specs.

     

    This engine is for a daily driver and has flat-top pistons (0.20 over) and a Felpro head gasket. With the cam timing advanced this much, what performance ramifications are there? Should I pull the head and check the valve to piston clearance?

     

    TIA!

  11. Two things that I like are:

    1) A removable piece that runs the length of the bench at the edge to keep stuff from rolling off. Most of the time I clamp a long 1" x 2" board to the bench with c-clamps.

     

    2) A 2" hole at one end that allows a transmission to be placed on the bench with the shaft down the hole.

  12. If you go to the trouble of replacing the oil pan gasket, you might as well check the pan for warpage. I'm in the process of building a couple of engines and found that on both of them, someone had cranked the pan bolts down so that the pans would never seal. I spent about an hour carefully hammering the flanges flat checking them with a straight edge. This process is definately worth the effort!

  13. I can't believe it. The pistons arrived today even though I never received a single email from the eBay seller. Just as Dan said, the pistons were drop shipped from ITM.

     

    ITM flattops 0.020" over with rings

    Total cost to me $204

    Total paid by eBay seller to ITM: $162

     

    I may see if I can use my DBA # to order directly from ITM next time.

     

    So, off we go to the machine shop tomorrow for engine build #3: second shot at a high compression engine for my wife's Z. We didn't expect a tired engine to hold up very long to the high compression of a fresh Maxima N47 head!

     

    EDIT: Dan, when I said "I should have known better", I meant that I should have read the feedback thoroughly so that I'd know what to expect from the seller. I didn't mean to slight you at all. Afterall, you never endorsed the seller, you just stated what you ordered and what you received. Sorry if what I wrote came out wrong.

  14. Yea, it would be a good idea to confirm with the seller what brand you will be getting. Mine were dropped ship right from ITM.

    Well, I needed a set of .020" over flattops and I tried contacting the eBAY seller twice with NO response. I went ahead and ordered from them to save $60 over Black Dragon. After not receiving any emails acknowledging my order, I went back and reviewed horsepower-wd's feedback ratings. The majority got what they ordered but the seller doesn't repond to emails and sometimes take weeks to ship. Who knows what will happen next. It may be a long wait before I can get my wife's Z motor back together.

     

    I should have known better and stayed away from this seller. I hope they come through.

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