Mikez31ss

Agreed pretty much but there are a lot of people who "shouldn't" be driving for one reason or another. I haven't been following the Prius thing much with all the other Toyota problems going on but as far as I know less than 150 Prius drivers have filed complaints with about 40 of those being in Japan. And their complaint is that the accelerator gets jumpy when they hit a bump or a pothole not some runaway out of control hellride. I just don't see what this guy is all worked up about. Seems like he has some self-righteous anger issues...I could see him filling in for Rush Limbaugh next time he goes in to detox I've watched Big Phil's vids. Seems too cool and laid back to go off on a rant like this. And besides...Phil's got a normal sized nose

Kinda high-strung ain't he...too much caffeine? Checked out a Prius board and Prius owners love their cars.

Okay...G and W just sort of relay signals between the coil and dizzy? Ok..power on B and C... so bring on test 2. I'll do that tomorrow. This is testing a different function of the module than putting a wire across G and W as we did on the first page of the thread? Ok...I downloaded a '79 FSM tonight so that should tell me how to measure and adjust the air gap. Looks like there is very little adjusting headroom there. I remember when I installed the pick-up coil I had to adjust the stator to keep it from snagging the reluctor. Or was it the other way round Well that sux. It wasn't really expensive but it came highly recommended. The brand name is Proform...part# 66944c I'm not partial to either the e1280 or the HEI but if it's a part that is prone to failure I'd rather replace a $20 part than a $150 part.

Ok I have power to B (and C) and coil positive in ignition on and when cranking. No power to G or W and no sparking between red and green. Bad module? I haven't checked the air gap yet but with no power going to the dizzy that isn't going to matter right now...right? BTW, the module is well grounded. I ran a ground wire to the module backing plate and I also tried grounding one of the mounting bolts.

Heard there's a new virus called Ovine L http://english.pravda.ru/science/mysteries/12-01-2010/111621-sheep_human_face-0 Time for an update on the original post isn't it???

I have 12 volts at B (and C) to ground in ignition on. I haven't tested it when cranking.

That's a lot of questions so for clarity I'm going to answer within your quote.

Ok now you're telling me to ignore the white/green and black/white? I'm more confused. The way you're telling me to wire the module is exactly how I had it wired originally. Here's the diagram from my first post:

Ok I've still got the HEI module wired in. I ran a ground wire for "G" and got 9v across the coil terminals. The car wouldn't start. The coil did get very hot to touch though. You mentioned the green/white wire again. There is no power running through my green/white wire or my short black/white wire. The writeups suggest that there is power to one of those wires. I assumed it was the short black/white wire. In any case neither have power in my car. I've tried bridging them and it makes no difference but since they aren't in my circuit I suppose that makes sense. Whichever one is supposed to have power, does it only have power when the starter is engaged? I'll hook up a test light to them tomorrow and see what happens when the starter is engaged. Since I'm not using a ballast resistor I'm not sure why a start circuit and a run circuit would be necessary. Anyway it would look like this:

I installed the HEI module again to try the suggestions in March 11 post. I thought I'd try it once more before reinstalling the points distributor. Two things though... 1. I didn't mean that the condenser wire was connected to the coil negative terminal in the original configuration. It wasn't. There was a wire for the condenser and a separate wire for the coil negative post. I'll post a diagram of how the original ignition was wired just to clarify. 2. In your suggestion to do a test run w/o the tach in line...it doesn't seem like there would be a point in connecting the green/white wire and the other black/white wire. The other black/white wire has no voltage. I want to be sure I've got this right: if there is no voltage between the coil "+" and coil "-"...the coil is not going to fire? Is that correct or did I misunderstand you?

I have a Stanza TB. Just like the 240sx TB except is had Nissan stamped on it rather than Hitachi. Got the TPS, gasket, and a 2.75" humphose connector also. 60mm TB

I tried wiring up a 12v light in place of the distributor. No light. With everything connected as in my diagram I can attach a test light between the coil + and body ground and get light. Same with coil - and body ground. If I try the test light between the coil + and - I get no light. If I attach the light between the original coil black/white wire and the original coil black wire I get no light.

Yes it's the wire to the points condensor and no it doesn't make sense but...I'm at the point of grasping for straws here. The John Hull diagram says to use that wire. But in his diagram it shows that wire as originating from the coil neg terminal. Mine isn't like that. The conversion is straightforward. But it isn't working. That's what makes it frustrating.

Hey Adrian ...wasn't sure you'd still be following this but I'm really glad you are. Ok first... I've removed the HEI module and wired the e1280 back in. Also I've reread a couple of those writeups and they say use the original distributor wire on the C terminal of the e1280. Think that's what I'm doing wrong? I understand what you're saying about the ballast. The PO didn't mention going through a lot of coils and points. The original coil and the points do look new though. The black/yellow wire is definitely black and yellow, no doubt about that. It's a bright yellow stripe, not faded white. There are two black/white wires though. One has 12 volts and was the original coil + and the other one has no voltage and wasn't connected to anything. There is a black wire coming out of the harness that was connected to the original coil negative terminal. And there is a black wire in the harness that was connected to the condenser on the old distributor. This may be odd but it's how the car was wired. I'll try using the condenser wire on C tomorrow. If that doesn't work I'll see if I can convert and use your HEI suggestions on the e1280. Here's another diagram:

Ok...I had my battery recharged and I think my meter is working now so I'm going to recap. I've got more than 1000 ohms at the pickup. The HEI module is good too. 12 volts between coil positive and ground. 12 volts between coil negative and ground. 0-1 volts between coil pos and coil neg. No spark. I found three wires in the harness cut and taped up near the coil. Green... for the noise suppression capacitor? Green & white...must have been for the ballast resistor. Black & yellow... Has 12 volts with the key in "run". With the key off it has continuity with the green & white wire. A shorter black & white wire w/ a female connector was hanging loose. No power. A longer black & wire wire was connected to the coil positive. 12 volts. A black wire was connected to the coil negative. One thing that I'm curious about is the way the coil was wired when I got the car. There was no ballast resistor so the resistor wasn't shorted obviously but the wires that should have been connected to the resistor weren't connected together. And the coil was a "use with ballast resistor" type.

You subject line says t3/t4. Your post says t3. Which one is it? A stock 85-87 z31 t3 is easy enough. IIRC the compressor outlets are different. The compressor to TB pipe is different.

You don't have to apologize for wondering if I'm doing the tests right. I'm obviously lost here and I appreciate your help. I don't think my meter is working. I'm getting OHM readings that are jumping around. I'm going to see if I can borrow a good meter and start over. I don't know if this has any significance but the alt light has stopped lighting up when I turn the key to start. The starter still cranks and the battery reads 11 volts.

Yep, rebuilt. I guess a new pickup coil wasn't in the rebuilder's budget. I think there must be a problem with my wiring. Surely I can't have two bad pickup coils and two bad ignition modules. I put a test light on the coil + and got light. I tried it on coil - and got light. I pulled the coil wire off the distributor and cranked the starter. No spark. I haven't tried the test for pulse. I'm working alone and I'll have to find a way to attach the light to check it while I crank the starter. One thing I don't understand is that there was only the black wire to the old distributor. It was attached to the condenser on the distributor. This wire isn't used in the new setup right? Only the black wire that was on the old coil's - terminal is used with the new setup? Here's a couple of pics of the bottom of the old pickup coil. I was in a hurry when I soldered those connecters back on. The new pickup has the same resistance. I may need a new meter...

Ok now I'm thinking about reinstalling the points distributor Just for grins here's a pic of the pick-up in my rebuilt dizzy...

Practical? I think you answered that I've seen this question asked before. Nobody has ever followed through on doing it.

The car is a 1987 300zx auto non turbo. I have a few problems that need fixing quick. That's problems number 1 and 2 The car is idling very rough (was told it was the tps?) I doubt it. Sounds more like you need a tune up or timing. The CHTS is a possible culprit also. Also. I was following my brother driving it down the road and looked like the cat killed itself and some little pieces out of the exhaust came out on fire. I told him to pull over, and the exhaust was RED HOT all the way out to the muffler. The exhaust is stock! Maybe the cat did die Does the car run better now? I really don't want to have to buy another car because I love my Z car. I think its over fueling or under fueling? That just about covers the possibilities. Have you checked your spark plugs? I know pulling the plugs on a z31 is a PITA but you need to see what's going on in the combustion chambers. The z31 also has an onboard diagnostics system. Download an FSM from Xenon to learn the procedure. BTW you need to be a little more descriptive in your titles or your post could be locked by the mods.

If I can install a new pickup and solve this I'll be jumping for joy I don't really know how to get to the pickup but I think there is a writeup here or somewhere on rebuilding a dizzy. Looking at mine it looks like there are just 4 screws and some kind of pin is what it takes to get to the pickup. I've got a new one coming this week.

Dang...I feel your pain. But it also makes me appreciate the small amount of rust my car had Like tightywhitey185 said...if you fix that it will be worth it in satisfaction and followthrough at least. Good luck!

Yes I disconnected the HEI and wired the e1280 back in Monday. All continuity tests were done without anything connected. The 1 volt reading was with the HEI connected and the key turned on. It was done with the meter in DC mode though. I think you said it should be done in AC. I'm pretty much stumped here. There's obviously something I'm overlooking but I haven't figured it out yet. But I'm not going back to the points based distributor.

I'm getting 0 resistance for the pickup, the e1280 terminals, and the HEI terminals. I dunno...