2jztank

Happy new years everyone, and i am sorry for the super late response between getting married and holidays and my kids i kind of been busy. Now onto business, my Z is running great and the resolution at the very end of it was my spark plugs being improperly gapped. After returning the gap to proper measures my Z cranked up with no issues purrs steady and has plenty power. I have drove her quite a few times since the fix and she idles, drives, and feels great. Now i want to say something there is a sense of joy that i haven't felt in a long time with working on these machines and getting things fixed. My intentions are to stick with the l28e for another year or so and see which direction i might want to go IF i feel the need for more power. However for now brakes and suspension are whats next on my list and after that bodywork. Thanks for all the advice and even boots to my bottom a couple times in here it helped me out a bunch and i cant to gain even more knowledge in the near future.

As stated before i love this design i agree with the others on more presentation though, but this is a very welcomed breath of fresh air. I would like to see whole car pics also before i place my order if thats possible. Thanks in advance....

SWEET

Actually i have removed more parts on this engine then even i thought i had lol. In any event as i stated above i have looked into adjusting the lash and plan to attempt it this weekend. However i dont have the tools or time to pull the engine and break it down is what i meant by that. Sorry if that caused some confusion if it gets to a point where the engine needs to be removed for work i would rather swap the engine is what i meant by my previous statement. Again sorry if i didnt present that better. However theres no need to insult me by stating you feel i havent removed a spark plug when clearly i have logged and performed way more then that. I could also post pictures if it would help to convince you as well. Either way i am just looking for some friendly help on the matter. Because in my city/state i have not ran into anyone else who is knowledgable with the l28e and can personally help or any other Z owners also. Thanks and i hope this does not deter you from helping with my Z .

My apologies NewZed i didnt mention that, The popping noise occurs both at idle and while driving its coming from the exhaust though more of backfire/popping sound. the car feels like it doesnt have as much get up and go as i know it should have as well. * while at idle- the occasional low tone pop no smoke, revs freely * low rpm's- constant exhaust popping no loss of power but drives and does not stall no smoke * mid-high rpm's- i tested it once but from what i observed the cruising speeds and rpms' (when i wasnt pressing on the gas pedal) very few pops. One question can you explain the cross-fire between bad plugs, and another note i havent taken apart the actual engine (i.e valve cover or internals) is this something you think needs to happen. I kind of prefer not to if possible but if the engine is requiring this i think i would much rather swap the engine for a more modern engine. Not to say it will not have its trouble but its very frustrating owning a vehicle which has such a tempermental engine. I come from more a toyota background and have swapped and worked on many 2jz swaps with no issues, but it feels like the l28e just has problem after problem. But enough venting please tell me how i can further diagnose and again i really appreciate all your help in this.

Cant wait, cant wait, cant wait, cant wait but on a serious side any pics of the wing you can throw up?

First let me say thanks for the kind words RPMS, i am a IT guy by profesion and one of the main things i learned in this prefession is to be humble to those withteh knowledge and experience. Plus i really appreciate all the help i have had thus far it has brought my Z to a great point. Now onto the rest, Compression on the motor is great and after looking over the AFM "which has not been tampered with on the inside from what i can tell" the screw on the side was screwed all the way in. After adjusting the screw outwards some i was able to get the idle set to 800 rpms and even when warm no issues staying running. So she runs and will remain running. However there is another issue i have ran into and i think i might have the solution but i want to run it by you guys first. Once the my Z is running there is a small popping from the exhaust so i was thinking maybe she is running to rich but even the smallest adjustement to the idle screw on the side of the AFM and i would be greeted with intake pops. So i am kind of stumped. I will pull my plugs again today i believe i gapped them around .35 and information i found suggest they should be gapped from .43-.45. If this is true ill just replace my plugs with new ones gapped properly. I also cleaned all connections to sensors and made sure they was connected properly. If there is something im missing or should double check please let me know also, and again i really appreciate all the help big time it has gotten me this far and im sure that i am close to finally experiencing all this Z has to offer.

Wow those are nice i was considering IMSA fenders for my z but would definitly go for these instead.

Thanks man i really appreciate you chiming in and helping, i will get this information to you ASAP. I did notice that my plugs was not gapped properly "a very poor overlook on my part" however i have them gapped now. I will get teh battery recharged also. I left the engine bay worklight on by accident and it killed the battery. Again thanks i really appreciate the help and wisdom i have recieved in my time so far on this forum.

So after doing some searching and trial and error on my vehicle i think i have nailed the issue down to one problem. When the car warms up for some reason it will start idling very rough and around 500 rpm's and eventually stall's out. However when it is cold it runs like a champ idles perfect runs great no break ups in the rpm's and full of life. I read this could be tied to a number of things but i wanted to ask some of the season Z'ers what direction would you head first with troubleshooting this issue. Also wanted to ask if anyone on here was in the Augusta, GA area also would be great to know some other Z guys locally.

Hello again fellow Z'ers First sorry about the long response, just moevd into my new home and family came in from germany also, and my birthday so it has been pretty busy. Anyway again thanks for all the words of wisdom from before after replacing the fuel pump and refurbishing the fuel tank, i also replaced a couple lines. My Z ran well however another issue came up. I notice when my Z is cold she drives and idles perfectly fine but when i drove her to the gas station to fill up i could not get her to start without trying a couple times. Then she drove home and stalled out as i pulled into my neighborhood. I pulled over and didnt notice anything out the ordinary and after a copuple times attempting to crank she cranked up and drove home. Once i got her home i let her run for a bit and didnt notice anything out the ordinary when i went to rev the engine a couple times she died instead of going back to her normal idle and i had to wait to crank her up again. There are no vacuum leaks, car has fresh gas new pump and lines, and when she cranks and runs she runs great but if i fill her up with gas or she runs for a long period of time she will cut off. Is there anyone who has any idea where i should look next i really want to enjoy this Z on a daily basis and dont mind getting my hands dirty on her. Thanks in advance again

I am wondering what solutions are there for 280z trans mounts for this setup the kit says teh engine cradle portion will work but not the transmission mount.

yeah tonight I pulled the fuel pump and dropped the tank the way I see it might as well clean it to be extra safe in the long run an you know what emptied the tank and a first fuel looked normal, when it got to the last bits was like sludge so glad I did that. However working 9 hrs then pulling a tank at night alone was a little overwhelming those old clamps was no joke lol. tomorrow after work ill clean the tank and test the pump and pull the old lines so that I can replace them just to be safe. and ill report back with results.

Roger that i will test the fuel pump today and open the AFM to also i dont believe tested its points inside or inspected the gear in there "ill also take pics to have a another set of eyes verify". but im pretty sure there some nastiness in my fuel tank based on the small amount of fuel that dripped out the fuel filter was like a mudd color and you couldnt see through it and had small particles floating around also. For others reference i found this site which shows some good info/maintenance walk through's with pics... http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/

Ok will do that also one more thing when i had the fuel line off i also cranked the car as well and still no fuel came out. My Z is stock for the most part that i have seen and the fuel that drained "which was a very small amount" out fuel filter was very murky looking. When i put the car to the on position i do hear the fuel pump engaged "but no fuel flow" and when i tried to crank it with the fuel filter going to a bottle to see if flow was good still no fuel.

So just came back from testing fuel on the Z *sigh* pulled line from bottom of fuel filter and let drain then put the car to the on position and yeah soon as I did no fuel came out so no fuel is flowing through the car at all which would explain the no cranking or running. This is very discouraging and really hmm anyway stiff up the lip and drive on so yeah here are some pics of my bay please tell me if anything is out of order and how should I go about running this issue down, im thinking drop the tank and and all fuel lines im assuming or pump and first? Sorry in advance for the pic quality is is very late here and thanks to any help in the situation.

lots of great info there thanks so much man I performed a couple more test tonight but still no answer, I bought some new plugs "NGK BPR5ES" and some starter fluid and a siphon to see if if the engine was maybe flooded with fuel. When I pulled the plugs though they was dry as a bone barely look used and since they was new some of them look like I just twisted them in. Either way I put the new ones in attempted to crank no dice. then I sprayed some starter fluid in the AFM area and boom she starts and a couple seconds die. So that leads me to fuel delivery so I will check the fuel system next again when I checked the injectors I plugs I was getting a reading from all of them so im a little lost on if there not firing but I would say maybe so tonight ill pull the fuel line on the fuel filter "brand new filter also" and see what comes out and all. to answer some of your questions that I can right now. 1.I believe I did from what I have seen yes I could be wrong I will take pics of my bay tonight after I check the fuel filter for flow so someone can verify 2. I bought a new fuel filter a while back when I first started working on my Z when I went to replace it fuel flow was fine and considering the car ran before I figure that's ok 3. No but I will do that here in a few minutes and report back If anyone knows anything or have no issues wth a quick phone or Skype call to help id greatly appreciate I know im asking a little but im really hitting a brick wall, also where is the Cold start injector located I heard you cant unplug it and maybe that will help "not sure just from reading forum threads" Ill be right back with more information...

ok i know the last plugs i took out was damp so if these new plugs i installed are wet then its flooded also i have been doing and i relaize swapping and tuning are two different things but im willing to try and willing to learn. thanks again for the info quick question if the plugs are wet and this leans towards the engine being flooded whats the best route to handle this situation on our Z's...

Ill buy some starter fluid this evening after work and try that if it doesnt start where should i look next, also side note sometimes when i dont attempt ot start it usually for a couple hours and come back the car will crank and start/die immediatly but soon as it does that back to crank crank crank. Also if it is a fuel supply or injection issue whats steps could/should i take next thanks again really appreciate the assistance...

yes it did as i mentioned but it would cut off and stall out at random times during driving. When it died everything in teh car would work except the engine cranking but if i jumped the engine it would crank. so after doing maintenace that ive done now it cranks fast adn strong electronics look great. but it just stays cranking and now starting so i thought vacuum leaks replaced all the hoses "some was cracked and some was frayed bad. still crank crank crank no start. Now i tried to do a starter test last night "negative jumped to battery from other vehicle and postive to starter" but still just cranked. i know my plugs are right but before and this is weird the plugs on my car was totally wrong. Is there any way to tell if maybe the distributor needle is off-set and maybe my plugs need to be done differently. "w/pics" Another thing i noticed is when i go to crank theres a small voltage dip "small" and if i have the lights on they do dim some, but not to a effect that there off. thanks for a speedy response really hope to enjoy my Z soon...

Good Morning fellow Z'ers, as you can see im having issues with my Z let me say i looooove this car so much but i haven't been able to enjoy it since I’ve owned it. The previous owners was a nice couple in Wisconsin and all they really asked was that i drove the car and enjoyed it "which i plan to do once its running good", anyway onto my issues let me list what i have done and i hope someone can point me in the right direction on what could be the issue. Oh and if anyone lives near or passes through Augusta, GA and wouldn’t mind putting an eye on it that be awesome also. 1978 Datsun 280z "stock" Maintenance done so far: Replaced Alternator, plugs, wires, fuel filter, and all vacuum lines. Sea foamed fuel tank and replaced fuel with fresh fuel. Cleaned all connections to the body of the car including scrubbing areas for all ground connections, replaced battery terminals and battery. My Z did run before but had the symptoms of dying out and hesitation and stalling out during driving which i thought was tied to some of these pieces. I have cleaned the AFM and throttle body. The fuel pump is working very well and the injectors are getting voltage from what i seen last night. I am kind of stumped at this point im not new to tuning cars, i did the swap on my 2jz FD on my own and before that I’ve swapped a 2jz into a sc400 "nightmare for wiring let me tell you" but on this im stumped. I do have both the FSM and Fi bible and have read them religiously if anyone could point me in the right direction: preferably with pics or video i learn easier that way that be great my plans for my Z is to run the l28 stock until 2015 and build up on body restoration and full aftermarket suspension until then. I would like to stick with the L28 maybe stroker motor maybe L28et swap im not sure yet but i am considering other engines. Anyway for now I’d just love to drive this Z around please help and thanks. Oh and yes i have searched and read and re-read maaaaaaaaaaany threads from different forums still no dice. Thanks in advance.... With warm regards Andrew

i definitely will be on the pre-order for this please keep us posted