Sketch_hs

New trans and diff fluids Jesus christ monkey balls! The diff fluid was disgusting! It was like dark muddy water lol... trans fluid was pretty bad too, but not like the diff. That diff fluid was probably factory 1975 oil The right front brake caliper was sticking a little bit. got it mostly unstuck today but went ahead and ordered some rebuilt calipers. Don't wanna mess around when it comes to the brakes... Also the tie rods ends are amazingly loose. Doing an alignment would be pointless. New tie rod ends on the way. Discovered some rust issues, will need to replace part of the right side frame rail, shouldn't be too hard for me

Got new plates for the car and took care of the registration. Total cost $114. no smog test required Ran into my first fellow Z owner at the DMV parking lot. He had a very clean 81 280zx... it was funny cause we were both putting on new plates and staring at each others cars

And, I can get another 1jz swap (trans ecu complete engine etc) for about 2100 to my door

I thought about that, but I put so much work into the FC that i'd like it to stay that why. Besides, I have a buyer.

Yeah. The car was running very rich due to vacuum lines being mixed up, leaks in intake system, and possibly the water temp sensor (which I changed) Previous owner must have adjusted the AFM to compensate (lol) rather than fixing the issues. So when I fixed the issues it became super lean. Going to register this bad body today. I drove it about 2 miles last night. Needs new diff bushings, suspension and suspension bushings, steering rack and alignment, new brakes etc. Once I fix those things and replace some more old hoses etc I'm confident she'll be pretty reliable. Today i'm going to get some new transmission fluid and diff fluid. Not sure what to use, but it will be cheap for the trans cause I might be swapping engine/transmissions and even if i dont, i'll be going 5 speed for sure.

WOOT! I hooked up my wideband and realized that it was running super lean! hence the popping bad fires and general bs. I took a very close look at the air flow meter and it seems that someone adjusted it some time in the past.... So, using my wideband I dialed it in at idle. Needed almost a full quarter turn spring tension adjustment to settle out. Took it for a spin and it runs smooth from idle to redline! AFR is a little rich but what do you expect with a 75 FI engine with no O2 sensors! Time to move on to other stuff. So many things to fix!

already figured this one out, it's the resistor for the coil

okay replacing the temp sender and cleaning it's connector + fixing an air leak + putting all the vacuum lines back to stock = no more overfueling. No more black smoke or eye tearing clouds. Car runs and idles better, HOWEVER Looks like this issue was a two parter! Spark is strong but inconsistent. part throttle and low rpm is very choppy. If you floor it, it picks up better. part throttle acceleration and cruising is full of popping (through the intake manifold. it actually slams the afm door shut!) and misfires. with the engine idling I was checking the timing. I notice that randomly at idle and especially when you stab the throttle, it looses spark and pops at the same time. I can see this because the strobe from the timing gun cuts out. it gets more interesting. It doesn't seem to do it on all cylinders! Its most visible on cylinder 1. Its not the wires. I swapped them around and the problem stays with #1 mostly. The wires, cap, and rotor all look very new and clean. I've tried 3 coils and the effect is the same. My ceramic resistor/isolator deal is cracked into two parts, but the problem exists even bypassing it and giving power to the coil directly. I would jump right on changing the wires cap and rotor but they already look very good, like less than 5k good! Distributor?

not a bad idea. i'll do that. right now i'm thinking its the water temp sensor, stuck injectors or even that thermotime switch thing? time to start probing with the multimeter i guess.

k well it still runs rich as fawk and bogs/misfires when you get on the throttle. Was able to make it to the gas station and fill the tank completely. Barely. It's definatlely just rich. With the AFM sensor cover open (comes off easy) I can manually move the sensor, while the car is running, and hear the idle become perfectly smooth and the black smoke stops. Once I figure the richness issue out, should be okay.

turns out the pump is hardly working. time for a new fuel pump!

this should help me

well i tried another coil and bypassed the resistor just to see how it would run. seemed to run better for a while, but it's still running super rich, like clouds of black smoke! Then it starts to misfire, back fire and eventually die out. Spark is strong and timing is correct, advance is working. all the injectors seem to be working. they are clicking normally anyways. so what should i check next? whats making it run so poorly it seems to cut in and out when you drive it, gets a lot worse with more throttle. there are some vacuum lines and devices disconnected, not sure where they go. i'll post pictures of them in a minute.

Not yet. Do you have an extra Ballast Resistor? Mine is cracked completely through. I'm not sure if it's causing my issues but I know it's not good. Would that cause misfiring, backfiring, rich condition etc?

anyone know what that ceramic thing under the coil is?

Well i took it around the block today, runs like ♥♥♥♥. suspecting spark problem or maybe weak fuel pump. maybe both. it runs crazy rich at idle, hesitates when you give it more then a tiny bit of gas, sometimes back fires etc. Hard to start sometimes, others it starts right back up. The coil looks good but there is this ceramic isolator thing under it that is cracked. The power wires for the coil go through it, might be the issue or at least a issue.

took apart the fuel pump and cleaned it, got it working Fired right up! but had a massive fuel leak, spraying fuel 6 feet in the air LOL Fixed the leak, tried filling the cooling system with just water... water everywhere! Block was missing a freeze plug for whatever reason. Put a new one in and am currently waiting for the silicone to cure a little before trying again. looks like i might be able to take it around the block today! engine sounds awesome at idle, very smooth... not even any smoke from the exhaust (yet, lol)

Yeah you got an extra electric fuel pump? lol Your pops hiring? I need a full time job.... hey you asked if i needed help lol

it's a 75 according to the title etc so the 75 280z had the 170hp engine? i thought it was 149 or something.

BTW i have this perfect ct26 turbo charger laying around. wonder how that would match with the l28? hehe GUYS, i just found out this might be a 280zx not sure how to tell, but the vin/engine plate under the hood says 170hp, which I think was zx only?

for how much? lol just put in a new starter and it fires up with starter fluid. fuel pump might be dead, nothing from it even with direct 12v...

just get it cleaned up first

Moar pics! Little wash and wax is helping a lot lol