Afshin

2.4 ohms Normal range when checking on the injector is 2-3 ohm.

they are both low impedance (they all were until 1988 )

Hi Yasin, 32 at idle, 37 with vacuum line off (stock FPR), stock NGK plugs, 10 psi for a few years without running lean(stock rebuilt injectors). Now same fuel pressure and FPR, 370cc injectors, one step cooler NGK plugs, 14 psi and plugs still look great. If I had an adjustable FPR now (I had a bosch one that went bad real fast) I would try about 36 at idle (with vacuum line connected). I also agree that you do not need colder plugs at 7 psi or even up to 10-12 psi in an intercooled car.

I had a leak from the same location and even after careful inspection could not tell if it was the oil pan by the bell housing or tranny... I got a fluorescent oil dye leak detector kit real cheap from Kragen auto (they carry them now), poured it in the engine oil and found out that it was the oil pan gasget leaking at the bell housing(you can use it in any oil, tranny...). As already stated, the slight overfill of oil would not cause this. I also once had cheap brand new rear tranny seal leak 3 days after being installed (would pop off). So unfortunately cheap part may fail immediately and if the seal was not lubricated before putting in it may fail right away. Anyways get the leak kit and it should eliminate the guess work, hopefully the seals are fine.

All 88-89 (turbo and non-turbo) used high impedance injectors, meaning that if you are using low impedance injectors such as the stock or SVO's...and an 88-89 ecu, you will need six 6.8ohm/10watt resistor to be put in line with the injector signal/wire comming out of the ecu pins 101-106.Tthis is real easy to do, cut the wire and place resitor in line. (I believe bernard has been running his set up without the resistors and without burning out the injectors so far.) all other years are low impedance.

Are you runnning the factory catalytic by any chance? if so that is likely the reason, my boost went up when I switched to a high flow unit (without touching anything else). Also as you suggested, 14 psi and 2.8liter is a little much for the starion intercooler, so that is likely part of it. You can easilly have a 5psi loss thru a restrictive ICU, so your turbo may be building close to 20 psi for you to get 14 at the manifold. Definitely play with the timing as already suggested, I find these cars so sensitive to small timming changes once the boost is turned up over 10-12psi.

Hey Jersey Regarding the 370cc injectors, you will need to have the chip remapped or modify the MAF as sleeperZ did (I believe he took the internals of the MAF and put them in a 30% larger pipe to balance out the larger injectors) for either ECU. I first used an 84 turbo ecu, which showed great improvement from stock and then wanting more as usual, I got an 88 NA ecu which Bernard remapped for me for a turbo appropriate timing curve, t3/t4 flow and 370cc injectors. All I can say is that I was very happy with the initial 84 turbo ecu set up, worked well and was reliable. As for the 88 ecu as modified by Bernard, it clearly exceeded my expectations by further improving bottom end response which I was not expecting (16 bit vs 8 bit processor I guess),in addition to the obvious gain in top end from the 370cc injectors and higher boost Bernard and I are further fine tunning my set up and I plan on taking it to the dyno once done. I will post the updates in the swap guide after all is fully tested. Unfortunately I don't know about 02 narrow band and wideband 02 sensor cross-compatibility. Try contacting the company and ask if the wideband 02 sensor used for the LM-1 can used as a narrow band sensor for either a titania or zirconia type sensor/ecu. Let us know if you find out.

I agree with air flow being the most likely culprit. 2.5" exhaust is inadequate for higher boost and any T3/T4. Also, I'm assuming your K&N filter is a pod and not in the original air box which is too restrictive. Another thing is that many many many boost gauges are slightly inaccurate, so you may actually be running closer to 10psi and not know it. 2.25" IC pipe is easilly good for 350hp, so you are fine there. Lastly is the spearco intercooler sized for the 2.8l or is it from a 1.6 l civic...

I previously did a search on mufflers with the same requirements (except for the rotary heat issue). For a balance of high flow, low noise and good cost I came up with the same thing you did, Borla. I plan on replacing my flowmaster (too much drowning at steady highway speeds, otherwise does well) with the borla.

I think the t/c rod failure is much more common than may people realized. Once i brought up the topic after it happened to me I kept finding others whom this happened to (and I had never heard of it failing before it happened to me and started talking about it). It may be more common in 280zx than Z, but it certainly occurs in both. Obviously, most don't fail, but it does happen often enough to be considered a safety hazar (I almost hit the guard rail when it happened and some one else fliped their car. I was driving the car hard into a turn when it failed) The Gmachine set up with a soft stock bushing on the other end works better than two hard poly bushings from a performance stand point, and is safer.

I don't know Yasin, those sound like fighting words. I may just have to dog your car and teach you a lesson boy 8) So getting back to the post topic, do I steal JeffP's l28et or Stony's RB26 (I wonder if any of them park on the street?). Oh I just got my Z sport mag, congratulations on getting your car immortalized buddy I guess you need to get your engine to 500RWP for a follow up article.

playing devil's advocate, I'm not even sure if that's correct. The l28et costs nothing if your car came with it or can be purchased for a few hundred dollars. COmpare that to $2500-3500 for an rb. then off course there is the cost of mounting it, either many many dollars to have it done or many many hours of costum fab, which if you were to pay yourself $2.00 an hour would amount to a whole lot. Would it cost more than $4000 to rebuild a l28 with forged pistons, LD 28 crank, cams and some porting?. Remember, all the other expensive stuff such as large turbo, intercooler, fuel pump, CV joints, LSD, brakes, fuel injectors, clutch, suspension... would have to be done with either engine, which either way, amounts to more money that I care to admit (at least to my wife). Again, I think the RB is a much better engine and would love to have one, but I agree with others in that many people make more out of it that there is and that on a practical level, the l28 can get you more performance than most of the Z chasis and more performance than the actuall driving skill that most have (despite everyone thinking that the limitation in performance they face is the car as opposed to themselves) . Yes, ithe RB can make 500-600hp reliably (the 700-1000hp ones blow all the time. They have to be amazingly well maintained and if as much as a vacuum hose comes off affecting timing or fuel, the engine blows, so I don't count those). I would say that for up to around 450 hp, the l28 is cheaper and much much more practical. If you need 600 hp, then put in a RB (and let me test drive it ). Come to think about it, Drax said for 500 RWHP, so then what am I babling about? Maybe I'm just trying to convicnce myself that I don't want a RB26 in my toy as opposed to not having the time or money to drop one in Oh well, time for lunch.

From my perpsective there is no question that the RB is a superior engine to the L series, by any measure. The difference in power output is also a fact. However, there is a point of diminishing returns with increased horsepower. In other words is a 800hp car really faster than a 500hp car on a track ? As John or many many enthusiates with 110hp miatas keep proving more horsepower does not always mean more real performance. Why doesn't Ferrari make a 900Hp production car, it's not that we can and they can't, it's that it does not improve performance outside of drag racing with realy fat sticky tires. So unless the sole purpose is for drag racing, one may be able to say that while the RB engine is clearly superior, in the end, it probably can't outperforme the L series on road performance. Since I already know I can get my butt whipped by some miatas with a third the HP I have I don't qualify to offer a L vs RB challenge, but until some Rb's can consitently beat John C on the track instead of the dyno, I will hold to my arguement

I would try a few things before taking the turbo out.... 1) disconect the vacuum line to the wastgate actuator and see if you can built boost quickly. Obviously you need to check the boost gauge so you don't get to 25psi and blow the engine. If the boost controler is OK, then you should still built boost slowly. IF boost builds up fast, you know where the problem is. 2) Next disconect the wastegate actuator rod from the turbo and check when putting it back on that there is tension to get it on and that the flap moves freely.... Specially when using a different turbo case such as the T3/T4, sometimes the wastgate actuator rod may be too "long" (based on where it's mounted) meaning that the flap is never fully closed and hence always leaking... Keep us posted.

Great posts by John and Jon. When I first got my 280zxt, even with the vented front and non vented rear disc, the brakes sucked. Then I did want John recommends, put good pads on , ATE super blue fluid, new stanless steel lines, brembo rotors.. and the brakes became adequate. Nothing to brag about, but they did manage to reliably stop the car. Wanting more than just OK (why else would I modify any part of the car), I got the JSK front brake set up with the wilwood 4 pot calipers, 12.19" rotor and portefield R4 S pads for both front and back. Now I have brakes worthy of pride. I recently took the car to thunderhill open track event; my cousin and I were sharing my car so it ran two back to back sessions (total of 40 minutes straight) five time in that day and they held up without the least bit of hiccup fade or anything whatsoever (many cars were experienced some fade with single 20 minute sessions). I also took the car to my first autocross at MSA last month (boy do I have a lot to learn about driving thru cones, John sat in my car as an instructor and can attest to that, BTW,thanks again for all the great tips, I'm officially hooked and have just joined the local SCCA chapter) and again the car was used by two drivers that day so it did a total of 30 runs and the brakes held up beautifully. Off course they feel fantastic and inspire confidence on the highway and every where else. So now I can use quality street pads and get 200 minutes of high speed track time in a day without any worries, fade, excessive wear... and drive home grinning. So as John pointed out, you can get much out a properly set up stock brake sytem , so do that first before eveluating any true need (as opposed to my "true" need for a larger turbo ) for a upgrade, but especially if you go to the track, Bigger Brakes are soooo much nicer

I would also say that something is definitely wrong. I hit 15psi at about 4000 rpm with a t3/t4b unit, but even a E trim should fully spool up way before 6000RPM. It still sounds like your wastegate is faulty, open too soon or is leaking (i.e. doesn't seal properly). When at highway speed and in 5th gear and applying full throttle you should be able to easilly built full boost at low RPM, will your car do that ? . Is the car running well otherwise (under boost) ? I assume you already have checked timing Also does it built less boost quickly and then slowly goes to 14 psi or is it also slow to built to 8-10 psi?

That's great news Ernie. Hopefully you will be able to get free runs on the racetrack as a bonus

This place does an absolutely fantastic job. they provide a full summary of each injectors performance, flow, leak down... before and after blueprinting it. They also charge only $11 per injector and use the same equipement than RC engineering (they charge close to $30 per injector). Also for my 370cc injectors he put on new spintle caps that fit the Z manifold. Only thing to keep in mind is that he is usually a little back logged and may take 1-2 weeks turnaround time. Take a look at his site, it explains the whole process. http://www.cruzinperformance.com

Thanks for adding the figures Dave, I'm sure it will help. One question, you have not connected the A pin on the MAF to the wire going to the 30 ecu position. I obviously did since it was is shown to be connected in my Z31 diagram (chilton manual section 6, page 75). Any reason for you not connecting it ? I figure it might be better to connect everything as was done on the Z31, specially since the wire from ecu pin 30 is already there (it was going to the old AFM). I love this set up

I had moog springs on another 280zxt 10 years ago, they absolutely sucked, and they raised the car. I had also tried the suspension techniques, they handled great, but they tend to rattle one's kidneys. Bigger rims will fill the gap, but not the ride height or handling and will make the car slower (assuming larger rolling diameter to fill in the gap). Do yourself a favor and get some eibach springs. they are the best springs for the 280zx short of coilovers such as on yasin's car. Get the Moogs out, your car will handle ten times better. You won't regret the $220 dollar and one saturday spent on putting in the new springs.

Read all the posts in the guide more carefully, it's already there.

Some more updates: I confirmed that the 84-87 injectors are low impedance similar to the 280ZXT, hence those computer don't require dropping resistors. All 88-89 (turbo and non-turbo) used high impedance injectors, meaning that if you are using low impedance injectors such as the stock or SVO's...and an 88-89 ecu, you will need six 6.8ohm/10watt resistor to be put in line with the injector signal/wire comming out of the ecu pins 101-106 (this is real easy to do, cut the wire and place resitor in line) Reguarding swapping injector 2 & 5: All turbo 84-87 and all 88-89 ecu's (turbo and non turbo) use a batch firing system when: -engine is warm -RPM is less than 3000 -injector pulse is short (defined as less than 6.5ms. e.g. part throttle, crusing on the highway...) During this time (batch mode) the injectors are divided into two banks consisting of injectors # 1,2,3 and 4,5,6. In order to keep this working best, one must switch the # 2 & 5 injector wires on the 280ZXT harness. This can be done from the wires/pins comming out of the ECU or at the injector level. So even though most people can't notice the difference, it is better to do this (it takes no time) so you get better/more accurate fuel delivery when the car is not under load. So when you floor the car or when the RPM's are up or the engine is cold both EFI system will fire all 6 injectors simulataneously and it does not matter if the injector wires are switched or not.

If the car goes from 6 psi boost to vacuum it sounds more like the wastegate actuator is getting stuck open. If a hose is leaking, you usually lose some of the boost, so you don't built max boost, but it does not go to vacuum. Also if you have a large leak after the compressor causing pressure drop, you should notice black smoke from the car running really rich during boost (because the air is metered and then leaking out, but the ecu does not know that since it's metered before the compressor, and hence give too much fuel). So check the wastgate system. Keep us posted

You already have a pretty decent bar and plate intercooler (more efficient)with 2.25 mandrel bent piping (good for 350 HP). I seriously doubt that you would notice any difference switching to a "better" intercooler. I can tell you that if you get a better turbo, you will certainly notice the difference. I went with the T3T4 B which is a little smaller the the E trim, does not need an adapter to bolt on and still flows much much better than stock (very noticeable on the top end) with no real difference in lag. I don't think I would change the intercooler unless you are going over 350 HP, until then there are better places to put your money. Now if you had a starion intercooler, it would be another story. So my vote is for more efficient boost (newer and bigger turbo) and more fuel (370cc injectors....). Oh and don't forget to start saving up another $1000

Mark, disconnect wire 108 and have it directly connected to the FPR, you have it connected, so it may have a weak ground thru the air regulator, keeping the relay on and buzzing because of low voltage. If that doesn't solve the problem, then try pin twenty, if that doesn't work I know what to do next, just send me a PM and we will work it thru. Also ECU pin 19 should be connected to the 108 original wire going to the air regulator, how did you do that without splicing the 108 wire ? In summary, ecu pin 108 should go directly and solely to the FPR and ecu pin 19 should be connected to the old 108 wire connecting it to the air regulator. Lastly double check all your ignition stuff, coil, condenser and make sure nothing got disconnected.