Lazeum

On a side note regarding rebuild residues, I strongly advice you to drop the pan. I know it is a pain but I had many chips that remained in my pan after the first oil change. I only run the engine with fresh oil after rebuild for 10 minutes. I expected to do the same with the next oil change that should occur in 200-300 miles. Here's what remained after I wiped the pan once with a paper towel

I do see some smoke also coming from my engine. I'll be interested to hear some feedback from other members. Mine was smoking before & after full rebuild. I believe it is normal. Everything is new on my engine, block & head were milled, head is fully rebuilt, pistons & rings are new, all gasket are new and I'm running Castrol edge 10w60 oil so far in it. My cam is internally oiled + spray bar also. I've got a turbo oil pump & oil restrictor in block has been enlarged for more oil flow. Timing is ok, valve clearance has been checked & set.

Regarding DCOE differences: 18's have brass floats, 151 would have plastic float. It makes no significant difference (of course, I have only tried one version, the 18's which are on my Z) Progression ports are also a little bit difference. Reports from 151' owners were you need to drill one extra hole to make them work properly. with my 18's, they are good without doing anything. Pierce Manifold rebuilt mine, cost was $600 FYI 6 years ago. Don't forget you might also need to tune them to your engine, it's going to cost you some money as well. DCOE are addictive, don't do it just for cost reason IMHO. There're plenty of good reasons to switch SU for those.

I've taken care of the fluid level yesterday. I went for a 40mi test drive afterwards. No more leak under the car after one full night sitting in the garage I took many tools in my work garage, I will however disassemble the gearbox anyway to clean the mess and seal everything for good to avoid having an oily clutch in the future. Everything is good now. Car is awesome, I missed driving the Z. Thanks to all for your help!

I did not know about those points, that's good info as well. I've got special compound to seal threads against hydrocarbure since I've redone my fuel system with new pump. That's something I'll take into consideration if I take care of the seal (in a while, I hope!)

Thanks! that's exactly the kind of info I need

The solution you described is the way to go. Luckily fill plug & drain plug ae very easy to handle. I'll give a try and get the fluid back. Regarding the source, the tranny fluid is having a very different smell than motor oil. So by sticking my nose next to the fluid, I can easily tell where it comes from. The hole I'm talking about is cast into the clutch housing. It is actually a notch against the plate that cover the engine block. I think its purpose is exactly what I'm experiencing . I have no picture unfortunately.

Sounds like something easy to do, then. Wouldn't you be concerned knowing seals are not effective? I mean I see no reason why it should leak even if the trans is overfilled. Maybe, it is normal, I haven't spend too much time on the transmission during the rebuild (which is a shame, it was easy to do while the engine was next to the car )

Car just got back on the road after 2 years of maintenance (full suspension/steering & engine rebuild) I have change fluid in my transmission (280zx trans) in the process right before the first drive. Front of the car was lift off to get access to the filler hole during the process. I was able to pour nearly 2,5 liters of fluid before it started to get out from the hole (due to the fact that car was not sitting flat). Service manual is mentioning 1,5L, so I have over filled the trans by 1L (40% more, that a lot!) Right now, I can see the transmission leaking thru the hole near the clutch (by the smell of the oil, I know it is not coming from the engine - not yet broken in). It is also not coming from the exterior of the trans (speedo cable or reverse switch for instance). I have stuck pieces of paper towel everywhere around the potential leakage areas to make sure fluid was not coming from anywhere else..<BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"> It was not leaking a week before the change. Fluid volume that came out from the transmission was a little over 1L, not much more – closer to the spec but on the low side. Before I teardown everything to replace the front transmission seal (and the rear while I’m at it, which is not leaking), I was wondering if it isn’t normal to have fluid coming off my trans since it’s obviously overfilled? Should I just leave it the way it is until it stops leaking? Should I drain the excess of fluid? (I can open the plug & let the car sit for some time until level becomes good again) What would you advice?

I agree with you regarding the physics. His pump may have been shot for awhile.

I would have agreed with you. I even advised him to go this route but facts have proven that EFI was running low on fuel with regulator. It has been observed on dyno with AFR reading. Car was running great on 1st, 2nd & 3rd gear but not anymore (= super lean) on 4th & 5th. So now, I don't advise it anymore. Luvemfast, Get a regulator, run the car with EFI pump & report on results. Worst case scenario you'll buy a low pressure pump later on

A friend of mine tried this solution when he switched his ZX with Carbs. He ended up being lean because of fuel delivery. It seems that pressure regulation is reducing flow rate as well making the pump running out of fuel. He ended up removing his EFI fuel pump for carb specific pump. For $100, I wouldn't skip this step. Carter 4070, Mallory 4070lp, Facet Red Top, etc. All would run 70gph at around 4 psi, good enough for 250whp.

good to hear! Have you planned to do something to prevent rust in the future? If not, you should consider it at least when the bad days will come back in November

For bolt torque, go on the web and look for charts with appropriate torque vs. bolt specs. That's what I'm doing while putting new bolts on my Z. I don't even rely on the service manual which contains some mistakes (front ball joint bolts or cam sproket bolt for instance)

It's weird since head should hold the front cover tight against the block, do you have the bolt tight between the front cover & the head? Depending on how much water went into your oil pan, I would at least fluch the oil as a safety measure. Not worse saving $50...

You're good for a good overhaul process of your tank. It's a bad news but on the other hand, you've most likely found the root cause of your problem which is a very good point Next move is radiator shop or diy restoration process with product such as por15 solution.

Check that first for sure Removing the gas tank is not such a pain though as long as there's no much gas in it- I've done it so many times....

it could be something in your tank blocking the lines and falling down back into the tank while pump is not active anymore. I agree with you however regarding the full line being really clogged, it would remain clogged as long as you don't fix it. so it migtht not be the case for you.

it could be also a clogged fuel line. I got some debries once in my tank clogging the fuel line just at the entrance of the pipe inside the tank. I had to blow air from outisde to get the stuffs out of the way. To fix it - I knew what was my issue - I removed the tank and clean it for good with water, detergent and a piece of chain inside the tank to "scrap" it inside... you should be able to see debris in your filter and tank would not be cleaned. If that's the case, once the tank would be almost empty, maybe you could try to remove the drain plug and and fluch your tank. Could it also be the ignition not working properly because of heat? unlikely but we never know...

I agree with Racer Z's comments. That's the way to go!

Sync for Weber are for idle & light cruising only. Synchronisation is about controlling throttle plate position while they're almost closed. If engine is quite responsive with no loss of power in 4th & 5th, I believe fuel supply is ok. Your issue is most likely on idle jets. It's confusing but idle jets control the progression from idle & main circuit, not idle. It could also be the progression ports on your carbs. If they are the new DCOE style (DCOE 151), other members have reported erratic results without drilling an extra hole. Main circuit can also be not very well tuned but it won't allow you to have a smooth operating engine but once you start to bring them back to where they should be, you'd clearly feel the difference. Go in the FAQ area, there's a thread about Weber, you'll learn a lot.

It could also be the carbs out of tune. How does it feel when you're gentle with the throttle, car reaction at WOT, off idle, during cruising, etc? The idle circuit, progression circuit, accelerator pump, needle valve & float not being ok in your carbs could be one of the reasons. If you can cruise in 4th or 5th gear & accelerate around 4000rpm on highway, your fuel supply is probably ok. In addition to that, if your issues exist in 2nd gear, fuel supply is most likely not your issue. However, if you just got the car, it is always a good idea to go over your fuel lines & fuel filters to replace them. It is a cheap insurance. I would also suggest to fluch your gas tank since it is very easy to do on s30, it would help to get rid of any crud you may have. I usually filter the gas and use it to fill the tank again to be sure I get rid of any foreign material in the tank.

Before when the car run OK? what about now? I'm asking because it happened to me

Have you checked your plugs? you have fouled them... It would be an easy fix, before you tune again your carb to avoid fooling them in the future.

Regarding reuse, you can reuse it as many times as you'd like as long as you're 200% sure they haven't been overtorqued, not corroded & very clean (= no dirt). Same goes for rod bolts or main bolt but for the cost of a set vs. cost of a rebuild, it is cheap insurance to replace them.