roger.svoboda

read the gage first that isn't 3 psi the gage is calibrated in mm of Hg. the gage says x100 on the face. So you are getting 300 mm of Hg boost which is about 5.5 psi not too bad for stock set up. check out the conversion factors on line. there are two things that work the shift point on the auto. There is a kickdown solenoid that triggers under full throttle. there is a vacuum modulator that has a hose running off the back of the engine down under to the tranny. There must be some sort of adjustment on that as the rod seems adjustable that goes into the tranny. I didn't want to play with it so I stuck in a 5 speed. Supposedly Nissan got the best numbers with the auto as the engine could stay at full boost right on up to the end of the power band. but me old fashioned like to diddle the stick. very easy to install boost controller on those guys. Cheap way is to put a tee in the line to the waste gate actuator and bleed off some pressure. I just put a brass slug in the hose I stubbed out of the tee and started drilling a hole larger and larger. When I got to a #35 drill I believe it was then I was getting around 10 psi boost with the hammer down. A kit with manual boost controller using a pressure relief valve to pop the waste gate is on line. Pull out the safety valve or whatever they call the thing that relieves excess boost pressure and replace it with a 1" pipe plug. Most folks say stay with 10 psi max boost unless you do some more things.

thermostat got nothing to do with how the engine runs simply controls the temp of the coolant. replace cyl head temp sensor often a culprit in weird running situatiions. probably get better info if you put in the car you are asking the question about. Lots of differences between 240z and 300zx

the ecu you are using could be bad. when I did an engine swap on a z31 (turbo for turbo) the original ecu that worked fine with the original engine went sour. Had to use the one out of the donor car.

junkyard one of those items if you see it take it. could probably build one I think it is resistors in a package but you need one to look at.

Harbor Freight sells the same gage for $20

they can be rebuilt. I was quoted $220 in seattle for the rebuild you take the rack to them and reinstall. Not much of a job to get off except you have to lift the engine an inch or two to snake the rack out. check around the net for rebuild kits.

your fuel pressure regulator is bad or the bozos you got to work on it don't what they are doing. What the hell did they use for a pressure gage? 0-10 psi. You only need a timing light to check timing you don't need to dissassemble the engine. I think they are just running the bill up on you. take a gun when you go back. you would run a compression check to check the valves pulling the valve cover doesn't tell you a whole lot but they can charge you extra and say hey look these are your valves.

depends on how good a rigger you are. unit has to come out at a slant when you pull them together so you need slings and some experience at rigging something out of a hole. Pretty easy if you have a lifting beam and two chainfalls but most folks don't have that to work with.

might be a good idea to get it balanced those babies turn up some rpms.

Oh yeah by the way since you have a digital dash you probably have the auto climate control which is another headache. Could be one of the vacuum lines going thru the dash to that monster.

It might be related to the fast idle circuit for the air conditioner. there is a solenoid that opens closes. if there is a blown air hose in there that would give you a vacuum leak. Anyway I would definitely check for a vacuum leak causing the problem. another quick and dirty test is to take off the oil filler cap when the car is idling (expecially when at the low idle) and see if the car runs the same or worse. if runs the same then indicate vacuum leak. if runs worse then maybe ok.

Look for rust in the back those triangle windows are notorious leakers. See if there is still any steel left in the bottom of the spare tire bucket. Test all your lighting circuits, window wipers, window washer, controls, turn signals, windows unlike the guy who asked for help after he bought the car and found out nothing worked when he got home. Rear window defrogger breathe on it and see if it works you'll need it. Look at the conditiion of the hydraulic fluid in the brake and clutch system. If jet black probably means the owner was hot on appearance and not to hot on maintenance. With the car idling pull the oil filler cap. If car runs worse good if nothing changes you got a vacuum leak to track down. Inspect battery cables for corrosion zx don't like low voltage. If it has the automatic climate control double check on that - they have a tendency to fail so that you either have all hot air or all a/c. Check it in all modes. If digital dash be sure everything lights up they sometimes go dark in spots. Depends also on what you are paying for the car. If she be cheap then you can afford to do some stuff but if paying top dollar everything should be top grade also. My experience is that often what is advertised as primo interior is to mask mechanical defects. If the owner spent a ton on the interior and neglected the parts that make it go you may not be happy with it. Look at all the vacuum hoses in the engine compartment bend em around and see if they are flexible or hard. Lots of problems on the zx are vacuum related. Five speed or auto makes a difference although I haven't heard anything too bad about the zx auto tranny. if manual see if the clutch slips in the higher gears when you punch it. They are pretty bulletproof if taken care of but remember it is old enough to drink so things will go awry but if you are a fair wrench usually easy to get it going again. make a check list for yourself and go down it and check things off that work. helps to have a buddy or wife unit along to either operate lights or verify that they work.

any good muffler shop can fix you up with something or just weld on a cherry bomb

searched but didn't find anything. Does anyone know how to disassemble the side mirrors on the z31. I've got two good shells with bad mirrors and two broken shells with good mirrors because jerks who own Dodge Ram pickups can't be bothered to not slam their doors into your mirrors in a parking lot.

just buy new ignition switch. any competent locksmith can rekey the ignition to your old key OR rekey the doors and hatch to the new ignition key OR live with two keys. not rocket science that. download the fsm from xenon. Do you know how to use google (or the search engine on this site) to search for stuff?

all the things one should check before buying an automobile. Could be as simple as a bad bulb or as bad as someone cut the wires. buy an ohmeter and a book on what makes electricity work. You better look for rust before you put your foot thru the flooboards or the spare falls out thru the bottom of the wheel well. see photos or post above. hope you got it cheap

Looks like they cut the battery ground strap off and ran it straight to the starter. This is not the best thing to do. It should go to a body bolt just below the battery box and thence to the starter. ZX are real finicky about voltage and bad grounds can give you some headaches. No rust you say but looks like the spare tire is about ready to hit the ground thru the wheel well bottom. I wouldn't give 2K for that one. No battery hold down clamp good way to spray acid around the engine room. What ever that cardboard stuff is behind the driver seat you will have a hard time finding a decent panel unless you don't much care what interior looks like.

unless you really really like it 3K is a bit much for zx. did you look for rust in the wheel well and under the rear carpet. those triangle windows like to leak. make sure all the electrical stuff works. parts getting hard to come by. how much mileage on it? If over 200k wheel bearings and steering components are suspect.

use one ohm scale if you use megohms you can measure your skin resistance and wonder what is going on.

misfire be likely in the ignition system not the fuel system. If the fuel pump no fuel and she just bogs down. FPR bad too much fuel and runs rich or if fail the other way no fuel and again bogs down. I'd look at coil, dizzy, dizzy cap, plug wires. Loose connections someplace.

the rack is held down by two clamps that go around the rack and the crossmember so if those are loose the rack can go back and forth. there aren't any pins or indents to hold it a fixed position. If it is wandering and you haven't done anything probably things are wore out. outer tie rod, ball joints and something else that I can't think of at the moment should probably be replaced. Don't do it piecemeal friend of mine tried that and altho things got better it wasn't right until everything was new.

tranny or something in the drive froze up if you let the clutch out and all that happens is the engine dies OR fuel pressure problem try a pressure gage.

need to know a little more. dies when you let the clutch out or dies when you shift into gear. anyhow sounds like a fuel pressure problem OR something electrical.

a lot of people see the nissan tranny as better than the T5. The t5 does have an input bearing weakness needs replacing more often

a digital camera during dissassembly saves you a world of wondering later on.