alexx933

Alright, so fuel pressure was 30ish at idle and 35psi with throttle. I didn't mess with the Air flow meter. The TPS seems to be working as it should. I unplugged the CHTS while it was running which killed it as it should. The two wires from the EFI harness that connect to the thermostat housing are both plugged in now. I took one off so I'd have a working guage. I also ran a vacuum line from the VCM to the EGR. After I did all that, I drove around for a bit. With the guage reading about 3/4 of a tank, I've only driven 45ish miles. That's still low mpg (45miles/3ish gallons). When I refill, the exact measurement will be posted.

Hmm... I wonder if they would be willing to ship. Thank you!

Did you end up buying this set? I'm also in the market for a lock set.

Which year FSM are you using? I've checked the 82 and 83 but can't find the "Poor gas mileage" you are referring to.

I just meant the link to be as a general background and this post for more specific information. I'm looking through the FSM now. Hopefully I can turn something up. Thanks!

Hey, so I finished my mostly stock swap a couple weeks ago and have driven it around 700 miles now. I changed the oil and water yesterday at just over 500 miles. Here is my page that I was asking questions with if you need any background information: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/112637-help-for-stock-l28et-swap-into-a-77-280z/ My problem is that I'm only getting 10 mpg. I'm pretty sure that something is off. This motor should be getting at least 18-20. I measured the mileage yesterday with some mixed driving and only got 10 mpg. Today, I changed the corroded O2 sensor (thinking that might help) before I drove 50 miles out and back on the highway. I was able to keep a fairly consistent speed and only passed a couple times because the trucks were going 10 under. I left from the pump 50 miles and came back the same route 50 miles to the pump. I filled the tank with 7.687 gallons for exactly 97.4 miles for 12.67 mpg. Not cool... As I took off from a rolling start in second, a bunch of black smoke went out the tail pipe when the boost hit. I repeated this later on to make sure it wasn't a fluke. There could be a couple things wrong that I haven't been able to pinpoint yet. Too much fuel pressure? I have the fuel pump hooked up from the on switch through an inertial switch. Could that be giving it too much voltage causing the pump to send too much fuel? When I hooked the pump up, I checked the fuel pressure to be about 35 psi. The EGR is also connected but has no vacuum at all to the valve because I plugged it. Would hooking the EGR back up to the VCM contribute to higher mileage? I've heard and read mixed reviews about the EGR system. Any other ideas??

Fixed the privacy of the video. Fortunately, I have fixed everything except one wire. The blue/red wire that runs to the fuel pump relay was never hooked up as I said before. I was losing fuel pressure and that was why it died. I ran some clips from the battery to where that blue/red wire is supposed to go in order to make sure I had the right idea, and viola! The motor ran perfect as soon as the fuel pump was receiving constant 12v. Walt (the hosting mechanic) had his volt meter hooked to the blue/red wire to make sure that it was doing as we needed it to and accidently pressed a button that sent 12v up the blue/red wire. Now nothing comes from that wire except a ground. We think it shorted out that pin/item on the ECCS. So that leaves me with how to wire up the fuel pump relay in a way so that it is only on with ignition and turns off when the motor stops such as in a crash. Walt had an idea to hook it up to the alternator because in a crash, the alternator will stop which would turn the fuel pump off. Are there any other options to do this? Thanks for all the help guys!

You were right, the vane doesn't move. It should be sucking in air but when I hold the vane open it runs for longer than normal. It still dies though. I'm currentlyputting the vvalve cover on.

Sorry for the bad quality. It's hard to tell that the engine even fires, but here it is.

Thanks again guys! Calming down and figuring everything out after a short break helped immensely. As I said above, I have spark now! Yesterday, I was going to run the blue/red wire next to the FI relay to the fuel pump relay on the 77. Unfortunately, the relay was no where to be found for a good hour. I looked in the FSM from 78, and the book said there are two relay brackets: under the passenger side dash with five relays, and next to the battery underneath the bracket the fusible links are mounted to with three relays. All the relays under the passenger dash belonged to the body electrical. Under the bracket in the engine bay was a single box that didn't resemble a relay at all. I still am unsure as to what that even is. So after much looking, I remembered there were a couple relays in the 77 EFI harness. One of which ran across to the passenger side. I pulled the relay with the plug off the 77 harness and pretty much re-installed it with a new constant 12v and ground. The fuel pump runs now (fuel pressure was 35 psi), and I didn't even hook the blue/red wire from the guide up. I'm not sure as to why. So currently, the motor will turn, fire, and die. Every now and then, the engine with stay running for a couple full rotations but always dies. The turbo even spools when it decides to run longer than normal! I took a video of this, but you can't really tell that it fires at all. I may upload that after this. I'm truly stumped on why the motor will not run. I know that to get good reliable information from any generous people on hybridz, I need to tell everything that is happening. 1. Spark plugs are black 2. Dies under any throttle at all 3. The AAC valve is directly connected to a vacuum without the use of a VCM 4. Valve cover is off in order to adjust the valves 5. Bunch of plugs capping off manifold leaks due to missing lines 6. TPS plug was cut off the 81 harness so I spliced and soldered the 77 plug onto the new one. There were three wires leading to the plug on the 77 and two on the 81. The wires leading to the plug on the 81 are Blue with black stripe and a blue with green stripe. The green striped wire was a constant 12v which I connected to the middle pin on the plug. The blacked striped one I connected to the left pin if you are on the driver side fender looking at the TPS. Is this correct? If not, that could be a big issue. What would the correct positions be? I think that's all I have for now. Once more, Thanks!!

Getting spark! Put some starting fluid in and there was a big bang after a couple seconds. Figured the timing was off so I turned the distributor around. After that got nothing again but the blue / red wire isnt going to the fuel pump relay yet so that could be it.

I'm about to tear my hair out with this. I just don't get what I'm doing wrong. The hei is wired correctly, and I'm still not getting any spark at all. Any body willing to come help? The mechanic I'm with doesn't have experience converting a vehicle so he doesn't know what I should do either.

Bumblezee wrote the guide using an 81 though? Wouldn't that mean that I should just do as he did? And yes, that is exactly right about the CAS. mounts on the AC bracket and has a plug with 4 pins up by the distributor. My TPS plug was cut off when I picked the harness up. So I spliced the plug off my old harness to use on the new one. I'm going to end up cutting the plug in figure Q in order to extend the wires and ?sauder? them together. I don't think you spell it that way. So currently, my harness is pretty much back off while it is being modified. Any other suggestions as to what else should be done?

So after another review of the guide, I believe I wired the relay side incorrectly. The brown and green that ran to the fusible links are on the starter. The solid green is on a constant which leaves me with 2 wires no longer hooked up: The blue with red and the black and white. The black and white is cut off before the relay and runs into the relay. This seems to be the opposite of what the guide says to do.

So after another review of the guide, I believe I wired the relay side incorrectly. The brown and green that ran to the fusible links are on the starter. The solid green is on a constant which leaves me with 2 wires no longer hooked up: The blue with red and the black and white. The black and white is cut off before the relay and runs into the relay. This seems to be the opposite of what the guide says to do.

Pin 5! Thanks! One more question: on the female plug that connects to that figure Q, plugs 1 and 3 would be in the opposite positions correct? That was causing some confusion as to which wire shouldbe where. Plug one would now be in the bottom right hole and 3 should be in the top left?

So after hours of tinkering with the wiring, I still couldn't get spark. I used the black and white striped wire to the + terminal on the coil and the white and black striped to terminal B on the HEI module. Both of those wires came from the stock 77 harness (great idea cgsheen!). Hooked a wire from the negative on the coil to terminal C. Although the HEI module isn't mounted and ground through the bottom, I ground it from terminal W and used a couple clips to ground the bottom. As for the wire running to the ECCS, I ran it from terminal G to where pin 1 from figure Q on http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/34469-a-quick-fi-and-ignition-280zxt-to-s30-turbo-swap-guide/ would plug into. Then I tried to start it thinking everything was good. Starter cranked and that was it. Turns out that I was getting no spark out of the coil. We were thinking that the ECCS wasn't sending out the signal through the wire I hooked it up to. We also plugged a special injector light, which turns on as if it was an injector, into the harness at the injectors. That also didn't work. The mechanic whose shop I'm partially occupying thinks there might be something wrong with the CAS because of that. It seems I have an 81 motor or harness but an 83 ECCS. The CAS is mounted down by the crank instead of in the distributor. Not sure if that would be an issue. I can't seem to find the page with the wiring diagram including the specific ECCS pin that leads to the HEI module. The wiring seems to be the hardest part of this, and I know it shouldn't be this hard even for a newbie. Again, thank you very much!

Thanks Metro! that diagram definitely helps. I now have the engine entirely in and just need to begin wiring. Because I don't have the ignition harness, I was going to splice into the plug that the harness connects to. Figure Q on http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/34469-a-quick-fi-and-ignition-280zxt-to-s30-turbo-swap-guide/ is the ignition harness plug. If I splice into the wiring to extend the wires, on the EFI harness, do the same rules apply as if I cut the wires on the ignition side? I just want some confirmation before I hack my harness up.

Now that I have the GM HEI module, I can't seem to find a write up on how to wire it. The tabs for the connections are not labeled which leaves me without an idea of which wire needs to be connected where. I have found skittle's write up here: http://www.zcar.com/forum/10-70-83-tech-discussion-forum/285085-hei-ignition-control-module-swap-info-turbos-only.html. Sadly, the attachments are no longer working. Oh, and which pin number on the ECCS ends up going to the HEI? Thanks! Alex

So I've decided to forgo engaging the EGR. I will plug the EGR valve until I can make a plate. Tomorrow I will decide whether or not to trade intakes. I should rephrase the initial title for this thread by removing "stock." I'd like to run the stock ECCS with what is needed to make it run, nothing more. The reasoning for this is ease of install. I can chase gremlins later, but I want to get it out of the shop I'm using. Any links or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!

YES!! Thank you cgsheen. Now I finally have a working FSM for the engine. Let the reading commence!

Even the WINRAR can't unpack the file from xenons130. It is either corrupted or a wrong format. Thanks for the advise on the wiring. I definitely do NOT want to fry any of the wires or parts and have to replace either of those. I could probably use the 77 intake, but the 83 is already bolted on which is a pain the the ass. The TB was disconnected from the 83 intake and I compared it to the 77 to find out the 77 has a larger TB. I'm not sure why though.

Thanks for the responses guys! I have tried downloading the FSM's for both vehicles before; unfortunately, I get an error that says the file can not be opened. I don't know why. I do, however, have a paperback copy of the book for a 78 that is in rough shape. Is there any way you could email/message me a copy of the unzipped files? I've realized that yes the FSM is very much needed in order for me to complete the vacuum lines on the intake. The PO completely disassembled the entire intake except for the fuel rail... jerk. I might be able to run the AAC without the VCM by routing the vacuum in from a different source? Ben, will you let me know what your idle is like without the item in #2. If the AAC runs off of it, then the idle will be thrown into disarray according to some of the threads I've read. I'm just going to wire the ECCS system according to this thread http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/34469-a-quick-fi-and-ignition-280zxt-to-s30-turbo-swap-guide/. As for the ignitor and coil, I just ordered a turbo coil and the GM HEI module. Wiring sounds pretty easy, and $25 is better than $155 for a brand new L28et ignitor. Once again, thanks!

Hey, this is my first post. I've been reading up on the swap for months before now and have come across some things while performing my swap that I dont have an answer for. So for the background: Purchased 77 280zed in November 2012. ​Purchased a disassembled L28et from an 83 including the ECCS, harness and pretty much everything else was included in a few totes and boxes. Had the new motor reassembled and picked it up as just the engine (no manifolds, water pump, hosing, etc.) I pulled the N/A motor and am currently using it as a template for putting new parts onto the turbo'd motor. It currently has the water pump, both manifolds (no fuel rail), turbo, throttle body, mounts, and some sort of oil line ??adapter?? which sits underneath the oil filter and has a couple places for oil lines (forgot to get a picture). So I'm hitting a couple road blocks of things I'm uncertain of: 1. Among all of the parts included, the ignition harness, coil, and ignitor are missing. So can I run the NA coil/ ignitor to the turbo distributor? How would I go about that? This thread is similar but not quite enough to answer this. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/112234-no-ignition-harness/?hl=turbo+coil&do=findComment&comment=1050714 2. What is this? attaches to the harness right next to the air flow meter. Sorry for the crappy phone pictures, all I have. 3. Another what's this? Attached to the other end of the harness near the brown relay. I think it is unneeded except for the black cord going to the black box which contains a couple wires that need power. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I'd like to finish this ASAP because it's taking space up in a shop my mechanic owns, and because it'll be fun. I work pretty much until Sunday night which is when I plan on going back to do as much work as I can until 2 next Thursday. I will have more questions because everybody seems to modify the engine(fuel rail, emmissions, intake, etc) before putting it back in, and I want to know what I can take off while still leaving myself a running engine.