Tony D

I don't think those are knock-offs, just China - Sourced OEM parts... You don't even want to get into the horror stories. If you think sourcing parts in Big China is a hands-off proposition, drop costs and make huge margins...I suggest you read a book: "Poorly Made in China" Seriously, that's the name of the book. It deals with haircare products, but it's exemplary of any industry. I gave it to our China Liaison in his darkest hour, and he came back the next morning shaking my hand, ecstatic saying "YOU SAVED MY SANITY! NOBODY BELIEVED ME!" Just knowing your not alone in what you're seeing is enough for some people to keep carrying on... As for those back on the East Coast, coming on the two-week dog-and-pony shows...they're CLUELESS! Even in my case, I got a "yeah, it took us a while to see" from Mr. Stoic, P.E. -- no apology for the way I was treated, or excoriated for 'bashing' but a tacit acknowledgement that my words two years ago were prophetic "I'm telling you there is NOTHING WRONG with our product! It's the INSTALLATIONS and the SERVICE! They're INCOMPETENT, they're LYING TO YOU! Let me ask you this: When we design a bullet-proof machine, and they STILL BREAK IT, will you THEN ADMIT that it's the INSTALLATION, SERVICE, and WORKERS HERE IN CHINA that is the problem?" I was recently told to get a China Visa (after two years of refusing to get one, I didn't want to waste my time...) My assignment: "Go look at the Installations, and Audit the Service Work done on the sites for possible contributing causes to the failure of the new machine sent there earlier this year." I refer to it as "my gloating assignment"... Why do people halfway around the world with small minds refuse to listen to those who are THERE every day seeing firsthand what is going on? Why does a two week dog/pony/drinking junket trump hard facts and photographic evidence? Idiots.

I'm not up on my ASL....can anybody translate that exchange for me?

Lefty Loosey...

It causes the biggest adjustments of fuel delivery of almost any other single sensor, why wouldn't it cause a big difference in the way it ran. Did you do a loop check from the ECU to the sensor as called for in the FSM, or did you just shotgun parts on it...not really knowing what you solved? If it starts back into it in a few months, my suggestion is to check the connections, and do the loop check in the FSM so you understand where the problem actually resides. I hope you didn't throw those old sensors out...

"Take that, you bounder!" http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/84267617/

JCCS 10! That was my last 5 days in the USA until political correctness and corporate spinelessness resulted in my recall to PA for four of my remaining five days remaining in the US of A in 2014. Sound bitter? Yeap...you damn right!

Sadly, I said to test the "WIRES". That involves a multimeter on "Rx1,000" and knowing how long the wire is... This was read as "REPLACE"... After a purchased "tester" showed them "to be good"? Replacement/Substitution is a GREAT way for a dealership to push parts onto customers...but it is not troubleshooting. It's a rather expensive way to make your next best guess at what the problem might be.

Wrench and deadblow is the most I've ever resorted to... "Impact Gun"? Wow... Usually related to my first post "Rightey Tightey"

It checks the fuel flow...you got it installed with the correct orientation?

Remember the front cover has the bearing surface in it... The axial forces from the helical gear would press the gear into the front cover bearing...and there it stops. That was what I was trying to get at by "where would it go?"... Unless the distributor was preloading the shaft INTO the oil pump, I don't see any way any axial force could move the gear on the shaft in that axial direction? The whole assembly could move should the front cover bearing be damaged...but again, and axial displacement away from the oil pump would be seen in the distributor end being pinched. If you have nothing there, then nothing would show. Install the shaft in the front cover. Measure it's protrusion from the front cover. Measure relative position of the tang in the oil pump relative to front cover mounting surface....I strongly doubt there is an engagement mismatch unless the front cover is damaged. More likely there is a suction break letting the oil pump suck air on the suction side of the equation: oil pump to front cover gasket, front cover to block gasket, oil pickup to block... Blockage in that same circuit. Stuck relief valve In pump allowing 100% bypass. Pump failed... I mean, if it wasn't pumping oil, it's gotta be torn up inside. Started without prime? No grease preluding the gerotor to make suction? I seriously doubt the "engagement" is only 1mm, but that's the information we gets so that's the rabbit hole we run down.

Then, you use a torch...

Adjust your ride height up, the beauty of coil overs!

They have been known to spin, there are few axial forces and it's pinned on either end between oil pump and distributor drive. If the gear "moved" axial lay enough to disengage with the oil pump drive shaft---what did it do to the distributor drive end? It's virtually captive between those two points. If the gear slips, and was to be axially displaced (for the sake of argument, let's say the helical engagement moved the gear axially 5mm.... You would have a huge timing shift from that spinning. I can't imagine what forces would act on the shaft once installed to move the gear position axially on the shaft, save for gear drive helical angle ... And we know thy have spun countless times without ever changing that axial position--so why would yours? I'd check your measurements off the front cover again, and on the oil pump. At worst, assemble it all off car in an old front cover to see what is happening (is the thrust surface in the front cover eaten away letting it move? Again--it can only go so far with the distributor on the other end!) I think this will be found elsewhere. What does the oil pump look like internally? Signs of running dry?

Rightly tightey, lefty loosely...

You don't need a high speed run to check out a transmission. . . I think the hype of doom is simply overwhelming you. Most guys after a discussion will let you do things. But really exchanging $$$ and then taking a ride around the block should suffice. I took my F150 down the road from the dealer 1/2 mile, and back. I then drove it 7500 miles across the country. After doing an upper plenum kit on it...

You gotta watch out using "fluffer" as there was a time there were TWO shows in town that same week...

Have you adjusted your valves hot? It's not something that would do this unless something came loose on the way...but it will cause odd running. What are the Ohm Readings of your plug wires? You seem focused on fuel, but if the spark is weak, it will intermittently miss...and under some conditions the car will get worse as the wire degrades under heat of running or internal breakage raising resistance. I have checked wires (relatively new brand name stuff) and four out of six failed simple ohm testing! Put on a new set, and it was like a new car! Spark Plug Wires are CONSUMABLE ITEMS! Everybody seems to forget that. Check wires, report back!

Sludge is not good. You should probably rethink that philosophy. The L-Series (injected) will likely not get to 160 at idle. Mine doesn't either. It has to be moving and under load... The serviceable limit is about 160.... That will mean proper FI function, and most importantly have the oil at minimum proper temperature for proper lubrication and of gassing of contaminants. Seafoam does not help fight acid etched bearings from low operating temperatures. This is why taxis and police cars that idle a lot have more wear on their internals. There is a minimum operating temp, and it's warmer than 140/150! The lowest thermostat the factory supplied in tropical climates was 72C. That would control at max flow to 82C tops (180F). That gives everything you need in the engine. Below that, life will be shortened through various mechanisms.

It wasn't "would be" it WAS! Like I said, it got sent to me as "Checkout out the BS on this CL ad!" Dead owner, ad placed by friend of grieving mother, fully prepped track day car, blah blah blah... Soon as I saw the car, I knew whose it was. The car did not run. It wasn't a big deal with me. It was a documented, original-owner, highly modified 72 240Z, with EVERYTHING necessary to put it back to bone stock (clean original rear bumper and rear diff mount, guy bough replacements to drill holes/modify!) That it sits on CL for an "extended period" is solely a function of the audience, not the content of the offering. I don't know about you, but I am not too cool with "test drives"! The old line from "Clear and Present Danger" comes to mind as Harrison Ford asks how much the Huey Chopper costs: "$2 million" Rental? Yes, sure....$2 million. What about a test/checkout ride, to make sure it's in good order?: "Absolutely señor, you may leave a deposit and have your pilot check it out." How much of a deposit? "$2 million!" For a Craigslist Buyer, I'd be of that same mindset! I know I won't drive it without insurance, and I won't let anybody else do so... My insurance covers me while driving other people's vehicles and up to 10 days buying one from someone else... But that's having your insurance card and leaving the keys to whatever you drove up...and then it's iffy. Someone wrecks the car, decides to clutch-kick and do an ersatz drift competition... Unless it's at a dealer, I haven't seen many extensive test drives in a while. Those that are done, are done with the owner driving it at least half of the time... I don't know it's much of a "Red Flag" as it is an indication he's leery of typical CL people coming to kick tires and maybe go beat on an old Z over the weekend.

Them Hippie Scoops were not friendly to,the Air Cooled engines when Gene Berg Tested them... Perhaps like the race taxi, you could turn the last window on each side into a giant, yet subtle NACA duct for the radiators? Ever been next to a city bus when the fans kick on and you get blasted by a stream of hot engine bay air coming OUT of the side of the bus?

140-150 is too cold, even for me. 160-170 is hot enough to off gas contaminants. 140 is sludge factory territory, BTW.

You still haven't detailed how the specific numbers were arrived at. You are sayng your needle didn't budge frol the far left of the stock gauge... And then suddenly went to the rightmost leg of the "M" in "TEMP"? Dead center is NOT "operating temp" and the list goes on... Spanning to 120C on the gauge gives odd readings most people don't expect. The gauge is proportional, the key is to know what the temperature ACTUALLY is in relationship to gauge sweep. They ALWAYS read HIGH (safe) - that is not a problem as long as you know how much. With simple parallel resistors in the circuit (or a single half watt trim pot) you can dial the needle position to right where it needs to be. I wouldn't waste a cent until you TEST .... You seem big on replacing things blindly in a shotgun methodology before verifying what is actually going on. Take the time to TEST things so you know what is REALLY going on... Or, like so many others we will see another "I changed the XXX XXX and XXX sensors, and it still does the same thing!" Post.

The 72 I bought off Craigslist was there from February to the end of April. It was a COMPLETELY RUST FREE quasi original owner (sold by the mother of the owner....the owner suddenly died, and the car was in his name. She was actually the original owner in 1972... As evidenced by every single registration slip from 72-81 when she gave it to her son.) Yeah, tire kickers and lowball era who wanted to part it were offering half the $5,000 asking price. The reason it stayed up was because I told them "if you can sell it to someone else, do so...but I will take it at that price when I come back stateside." Rust Free Vortech Supercharged Blowthrough EFI setup on the car for over 20 years (since at least 94) sorted, and reliable. Beard super seats Full gauge package NOS Full suspension, shocks, and springs. Trailer hitch. Engine pedigree from Slovers, Isky, etc WITH receipts... The list went on... The car had a broken pulley from supercharger drive. Two NIB pulleys were included. Original long lock (matching numbers) included. Spare long lock included. Spare competition crank with huge SPS center bolt mod included. Any part that was modified, or altered in any way was done on EXTRA Parts, the ORIGINALS having been first removed, coated in oil or otherwise preserved, and put into storage, In other words, anything done to the car could be undone,and the car put back to 100% stock. Plus, I had passing knowledge of the owner to know everything in the Craigslist ad was 100% tuprue (even though it was sent to me as "check out the CL bs on this ad man! "Being sold for the mother of the owner who has died suddenly, who was also the original owner of the car..." Not a SINGLE swinging dick on Craigslist would touch it for $5,000 The Craigslist audience is not really representative of the best marketing segment to choose in regards to selling a decent Z-Car. Indeed, I thin a fair assessment would be "casting pearls before swine"! So why has it sat on Seattle CL for months? Because it's a bunch of Broke Curt Cobain wannabes with no money, a lot of attitude, and no ability to pay that much money CASH to buy a car. It's about that simple.

Craigslist local lets wanting it for $700 and the seller vowing this is the last time ever using that net cast over a lot of misfits, indigent, and reprobate tire kickers ever again? Just my thoughts on why... Unless Craigslist Seattle is different than Craigslist in every other major city on the planet...

If you have pegged the 11K tach you start asking "was it accurate?"