Connor280ZX

Ok, thanks for the tips guys. Forgot to mention it is a rebuilt dizzy that i installed 5,000 miles ago for the reason Zed stated above. I'll replace the filter, and look up the tests for the dizzy just incase.

I guess i could try replacing that. It's only 10,000 miles old, but i do run my tank down every now and then. Sometimes surges at that RPM when revving in neutral BTW. Yes, i am referring to the ignition module. I usually shift around 5.6-5.7K. It pulls, or pulled nicely untill it starts to choke around 5,800.

After i installed the new ICM on my car, it ran great... for about a week. Today, first off the car felt very sluggish to accelerate, and struggles to climb hills. In traffic i noticed the tach needle started jumping around a few times. Then, once i had to accelerate going on to a highway at WOT, above 5000 RPM the engine would hardly accelerate anymore, and start to surge like hitting a rev limiter. Once i got home, i checked all of my electrical connections. Checked the ignition timing which showed 10 BTDC. My guess is that this chinese ICM that i bought is bad, but let me know if you think otherwise.

This thread is a year old... Don't bump it with criticism.

After the coolant flush and t-stat replacement, i started the car up, left it idling for 10 min and temp rose to about 140ish on the gauge if i were to guess. Literally a few seconds after i started to drive the car, the gauge needle moved very quickly to the middle mark (Maybe within 20 seconds). I tested the coolant with the thermometer with the engine running at idle after a 3-5 minute drive around the block. No, i don't consider the middle mark to be operating temp. I base the operating temp on what the t-stat is rated at, in my case 160F. Yes, i do have a habit of just buying a bunch of parts more so than i test the current parts i may have. Well, i personally would wrather have my engine running a bit cool than a bit hot. If sluge build up is a price to pay, then so be it, and bring on the SeaFoam... I'll look into adjusting/re-calibrating the gauge once i read up on removing the dash.

Lol alright Tony, i'll admit it. It was dumb of me to not check the coolant temp with a different method at first. BUT, that was the correct way of taking the coolant temp, correct? I doubt the temp would drop 30-40 degrees before entering the radiator again. Personally, i don't like the idea of installing a new temp monitoring system yet. Taking the dash apart, routing wires, machining a new hole in the thermostat housing for the sending unit etc. I Just want to drive the car knowing that nothing will blow up on me. I'll replace the original 43 year old temp sender to see if that helps. If not, whatever. As long as my engine continues running at 140-150 i'm satisfied.

Here's the update: Did one more flush, this time from the rear heater line with the engine running. Result was OK, got some brown crap out and a bit of sand, but i would have liked to see more come out. Installed new plugs one heat range cooler (BPR-7ES). And i advanced timing all of the way forward (Maybe 10 - 15 TDC, still looking into making a new timing mark) Forgot to mention i'm using a 240Z points dizzy. Installed a new 160F thermostat. Took it for a spin and the gauge stayed at around 140 for a bit, but once i started going it instantly went up to 175-185 Deg. Fustrated, i drove home, shut the car off and just stared at it for a few minutes. Then i wondered "Well, what if my gauge isnt working right after all?" I popped the rad cap, turned the engine on and the gauge read 175-180ish. Stuck a thermometer in the radiator and got 140-145 degrees... Could this whole thing be because my gauge is off? Did i check the coolant temperature properly?

Oh damn. I didn't think that the timing being a few degrees retarded would make such a difference in engine temp. What i mean is basically that little white tally mark on the pulley that points to the degree on the timing scale isn't visible for some reason. Dizzy advance unplugged, or not i can't see the mark. The timing light is definately firing. I assume the paint is worn off, i tried cleaning the pulley with no luck. I guess i could take the plugs out, turn the engine to CYL 1 TDC and make a timing mark, but i will read up on that so i know exactly how to do it right the first time. I'm going to try to advance the timing all the way to see if that makes a difference first. It initially was all the way advanced before it started heating up.

Upon further inspection, it seems like the previous owner tried this method because part of the bolt has snapped off in the block. Jesus... I can't Believe this. On the bright side, I did a compression test and i think my results are alright. Dry: 175 - 174 - 174 - 178 - 177 - 176 Wet: 189 - 195 - 195 - 183 - 190 - 187

Ok. I just went to unscrew the bolt on the back of the engine under the exhaust manifold, and nothing... Not even a drip. I stuck my finger in the hole and it felt like i was touching a flat peice of metal, like the hole doesnt go all the way though the block... I don't get this.

Zipper, It has a brand new fan clutch that i installed to try and correct this issue. Zed, going to try what you are suggesting today, as well as another flush, this time from the bolt in the back of the block.

Yes, Tony, i have been trusting the gauge... I'm going to pick up one of those laser temp readers to point at the thermostat to see how accurate that gauge really is. Xnke, I have guessed on my IGN timing for this reason: The little white mark on the pulley that lights up with the timing gun is missing... No idea why but it's just not showing up. With and without vac advance hooked up. I think my timing is around 2BTDC. The thernostat is still in place, i just removed the valve assemble, so its basically just a disk with a small hole in it... I guess i could try putting in a new one to see if it makes a difference.

Lazlo, the only smoke that comes out of the exhaust is a bit of blue smoke on decel, which this engine has always done. Probably needs valve seals. I haven't done a compression test yet, but its on my to do list. The previous engine and radiator had a quart of sand and rocks in it from sabotage, which caused it to blow. I have only reverse flushed the engine, havent used that plug behind the exhaust yet, but that's probably a good idea to do so. Water pump seems fine, no leaks or bearing noise. I cut the internals out of the thermostat just to see if it would run any cooler or not. Not sure if its just me, but it did seem to start to run hot right after i upgraded the ignition. NewZed, yes, when i popped the cap the car was running around 180-190F. Just a Pssshhh of air escaping, and a bit of gurgling. Of course i had to open it slowly though. The sender seemed to me to be reading accurately, but i guess i could try another method if measuring the temp just to make sure.

So. New engine, new radiator. After my old engine blew due to overheating i picked up an L28 (F54/N47) to put in my 240Z. First couple drives out, the car ran great. Temp stayed down around 140-150F and all. Recently though, my temp has been starting to hike. Installed a brand new radiator (Aluminum 2-row) due to a rock hitting the old one. Hollowed out thermostat, and 50/50 coolant mix. Also an MSD Blaster 2 coil with ACdelco wires, and BP6ES plugs. It's not running cool anymore. The temperature will hike to about 200-220F and stay around there, no matter if im stopped at a light, crusing at highway speeds, or going WOT. Popped my radiator cap to make sure i wasnt running low on coolant and noticed a very thin layer of white foam on top of the coolant... Don't know what thats all about. At this point, my only guess would be that the blaster coil is making my car run hotter some how... I have a set of colder plugs i'm going to try, and maybe ill revert back to my old coil to see if that helps. Any ideas?

Have had these two rust bubble/blister spots on my car that i noticed about eight months ago. The rust is spreading, and i want to get it taken care of before it continues to rot my car any further. Front left fender: Below right taillight: What do you think? How much did your rust spot repair cost? Did you repair it yourself, or could you have? Being that i live about 100 yards from the ocean, i would assume more spots would appear over the years. Any reccomendations on how i could prevent more spots like this?

It's a long story about how sand got into my engine in the first place, but i don't want to blow another engine up so i have to find some way to get this crap out. Check this out... Yeah. I already tried flushing the hell out of everything, which worked as far as the block went, but the radiator, not so much. Tried flushing, reverse flushing, and chemical flushing for about three hours. Nothing is working. I'm looking at two options: 1. Buy a new radiator, or 2. Remove the radiator, turn it upside down and try flushing it with a garden hose. Any other methods i could try that might be more effective?

Were you able to repair the booster? Or did you have to replace it entirely?

The pressure feels the same to me each time, even if i pump on the pedal. The depths look the same to me, however the port for the front brake reservoir is located maybe half of an inch further than the old MC. Uh oh, the booster, huh? Now that's an expensive part... I have noticed that where the booster linkage comes out of the firewall there is leakage of brake fluid from the previous cylinder... I assume that has probably screwed up the diaphram in there.

Recently installed a new master cylinder in my Z due to the fact that the old one wanst sending fluid to the rear brakes. I installed this new SANYCO aftermarket cylinder. Had to bend the front line slightly to get it to fit right. I think i made a mistake because when bleeding, i forgot about the bleeders on the cylinder themselves, and went straight to the ones on each brake... Once i realized my mistake, went to bleeding the cylinder since i wasnt getting much pedal pressure at all. Worked air out of it for a few days. After close to two bottles of bleeding, the pedal feels a bit stiffer, but still doesn't feel right at all. Here's whats happening: Basically i don't get any pedal pressure untill i push it down about half way, then i feel the brakes coming on, but weaker than i would think. Between half way down, and not at all there is this whoopie cushion sound coming from above the pedal. No idea what's going on here... I think either this master cyl is defective, or there's still a bunch of air in the cylinder thats not coming out. Let me know what you guys think.

Electric pump it is. Bought a P11K low PSI pump to fit to the car. Now, hooking it up properly is my concern. Most guys will probably tell me to do that oil pressure saftey switch thing, but for the time being, i just want it to turn on and off as i do with the key. I've heard some rumors about an additional accessory wire taped up in the rear passenger undercarrage that supplies positive voltage. This wire goes live once i tap into the "female T connector" in the radio compartment, and attach the wires together with a fuse in between... Not sure how much truth there is to this, my car is a '71 Series 1. Sounds ideal to me at the moment. I don't need to drop the tank to install this pump, correct?

Hi. Just bought my L28 to swap in to my 240Z which has a blown engine. Looking it over, everything seems like it will bolt right up to the S30 bay with no problem, however the fuel pump mounting area doesn't look right. I would think the hollowed out area between the mounting bolts would have been cut through to the inside of the head. Will i have to drill a hole here if i want to use the stock fuel pump?

Wow. That's interesting, and kind if scary too. I did peg the temp gauge once coming home. I started the cleaner process yesterday. However the head gasket blew today while driving around. #3 and #4 hydrolocked with water and oil. Oil is white now. So screw it! Time for an L28 swap. I'll make a post now that my engine Is for sale. Still runs, but only on 4 cyl.

With the distilled water in the system, of course im going to have to fill it up and run the engine to get it circulating since this stuff doesnt come out of a garden hose. But how long should i run the engine before i empty the system again? Untill it warms up?

Oh great, i had a feeling... I hope i haven't done too much damage to my new Rad, probably have less than 30 miles on it. I'm sending the car in tomorrow to get brake work done, could i trust the shop to perform this whole cooling system flush procedure while the car is there?

All i have done to clean the system is basically let the water drain out of everything. The heater lines are all disconnected/plugged, so i didnt bother with the heater core. I have no idea what form of water they used in the engine, but whatever they used caused this: