raelsmith21

the car is fuel injected. When the car doesnt turn over at all no sound can be heard from the car at all. Also I believe this problem started when i had to replace a quickly leaking heater hose. it dripped for a bit up at the end near the starter possibly getting it wet and the same at the end with the alternator.

my 77 280z has recently started running again and now i have some questions about how to make it run better. It usually starts up no problem, but sometimes it wont even turn over. just today i had it running and it stalled and when i tried to turn it back on it wouldn't even turn over. also, sometimes when i give it gas it dies instantly. both of these problems are just occasionally and not consistent. where should i start?

So i finally got the car running after much time of being too busy to work on it. it turns out that the ECU was the issue and that the positive and negative leads for the ecu were both connected to the positive terminal of the battery. it was a simple problem that was easily corrected. Thanks everyone for their help, especially BRAAP, you went into so much detail explaining something that you didnt have to at all. I have fixed the main problem and it is on to a whole new series of problems now!

Ok so i have been having trouble getting my 77 280z to start and I think I now know why. Time and time again I have been told that an ecu will hardly ever be the problem, but this time im pretty sure it is. In a quick and sloppy attempt to get the car running, the two leads for the ecu which connect to the positive and negative terminals of the battery were both connected to the positive side of the battery so the 4 spots on the ecu that should have been grounded, 35, 17, 16, and 5 have been receiving 12 direct volts. Will that direct current kill my ecu and require me to replace it? Thanks for any input.

I have varified that the spark plugs are sparking, but my tach does not work at all. when the car is started with starter fluid, the only inication of the car being on inside the cabin, both before and after cranking is the voltage meter. No other guage shows any indication of change.

ok so i have checked the injectors with a light and i am definately not getting a pulse. i am pretty sure that the ecu is properly powered and grounded, but still no pulse. Today i baught another ecu from a junkyard and it still doesnt work. I know the likely hood of 2 ecus being bad is almost impossible. what direction should i look in now?

ok lets focus for a minute on the injectors, i have checked them and they are recieving power, but when the engine turns over they are not recieving the negative pulse that they should. does this mean that my ecu needs to be replaced or could it mean that the ecu is not properly grounded or is there anything else that could be causing this problem?

my 77 280z has been having trouble starting and i am starting to wonder if the ECU is working or not. is there an easy way i can test the ecu? any aditional information will be gladly accepted. thanks.

the fusible links are the 4 wires under the caps on the passenger side of the engine bay...correct? and if so they are alright. there is also a fusible link for the fuel injection harness coming off the positive terminal of the battery...i think? anything else i should check?

as for the fuel lines i have checked and they are currently leak free, i had issues with that but i replaced the lines. also after the punp runs for a minute the noise it makes begins to change (possibly due to too much pressure in the lines). and i have checked the connection at the ecu and it is clear, and if the grounds were not correct would that mess up the reading from the voltage meter?

yes, ive recently replaced the fuel pump and all its lines and fuel is reaching the injectors, but i also have a problem with the fuel pump, it turns on and runs continuously whenever the battery is connected reguardless of the car being on or not.

my 77 280z is not starting and it is because no fuel is reaching the cylinders. The car can be started by using starter fluid in the air intake, but not any other way. when one of the injector connections is taken off and measured for voltage as the engine turns over, 0 volts are measured. Should I be reding voltage here? and if so what should i check first?

my 77 280 will not start and i believe it is because the engine is flooding. when the battery is connected the fuel pump runs and the car will not start when it is cranked. i disconnected the leads for the fuel pump and used starter fluid through the air intake to get the car to start and run for a short time. this leads me to believe that the fuel pressure regulator is faulty and is not limiting the fuel flow to the engine. what else might be stopping the car from starting normally, and is there any way i can test the pressure regulator to see if it is faulty?

ok so i used the screwdriver technique to check for the injectors firing and yes, they are firing. as far as compression i am in the process of inquiring a tester and i will post results soon.

ok so I have tried a little more stuff but nothing seems to work. I tried the gas soaked rag again and this time it wouldnt start. Since the last time i have changed the spark plugs, but the ones i put in are new. I tested the #1 spark plug cable on a ground for a spark and there was one. as far as testing the injectors all i have done is take one of the connectors off and test the voltage as i tried to crank it and the meter read 0. not sure where else to look and the means i have to test are limited due to lack of knoledge and proper equipment. any suggestions with this information?