HeatRaveR

Update: Thanks Randy for the info. Once I understood the switching of polarities, I was better able to interpret the readings I was getting. Sure enough, the voltage output when I pushed up was practically nil (when it was misbehaving). I discovered that, unlike most switches nowadays, the window switch could actually be opened up with a couple screws. Inside, I found a pair of levers that rock one way or the other to change the polarity. The contacts were a little blackened from years of use, so I cleaned them up. I did some testing with the switch open and with me pressing directly on the leavers with a probe. It was still acting a little inconsistent, so I thought maybe the contacts had worn away enough that I should bend one of the levers slightly closer to make better contact. I then tried just swapping the levers with each other. So far, so good. I'm still not 100% if the issue was dirty contacts, or not making full contact, but it seems to be working consistently now. (Of course, once it'll probably malfunction again as soon as I put the door panel back on, haha)

Am I understanding you correctly that there are 2 wires that go to the motor, and, for example, going up should see Wire 1 = Positive and Wire 2 = Negative, and going down should see Wire 1 = Negative and Wire 2 = Positive?

I have an '82 280ZX Turbo with a strange intermittent power window issue. The driver's side power window rolls down consistently and smoothly all the time. However, when I try to roll it up, it intermittently fails. I do not hear the motor even attempting to roll up (it will continue to roll down just fine). I see a couple wires (green and green w/black stripe) coming out of the switch, leading to the window motor. I tested voltage when I attempt to roll up and am indeed getting power through these wires that lead to the motor, so the issue doesn't seem to be the switch. But as I said, the fhis failure to roll up is intermittent. It'll just randomly be able to roll up again, as strong as the day it was made. So does anyone have any suggestions or ideas of what the issue might be, or how to further diagnose it? Are there other wires I'm missing? Thanks!

Thanks for all the responses everyone. Some additional maintenance info: the fuel filter (standard metal Datsun 280ZX filter that's the size of half a soda can) was replaced about 17k miles ago, and the distributor cap was replaced about 23k miles ago. I checked inside the cap and everything seemed normal as far as I could tell. This weekend I'll try and get some of that water-removal additive and see if that addresses the most obvious change from before (the E85). It was my understanding that modern hoses are more resistant/immune to E85's acidness; my fuel hoses were replaced with new hoses when I upgraded my fuel pump and rail.

I'm afraid to drive my beloved Z and I'm hoping you guys can help me. First, the basics, it's a '82 280ZX Turbo. While it has many aftermarket upgrades, I haven't done anything that majorly changes the functioning of the engine other than the JWT ECU conversion. It has run great for the past 6 years and traveled thousands of miles across the country without missing a beat. Forgive me if the description is a bit long but I'm hoping the details help diagnose it. This last winter, I had taken it in for a smog check, and following advice I gleaned from multiple sources, I added 2 gallons of E85 (in addition to the 91 octane that I usually fill the 21 gallon tank with) to help it pass. It passed (barely), and I parked it in the garage over the winter connected to battery charger. When I next drove it after a 3-month hiatus, it ran fine; I took it on the freeway, boosted it up, etc. I drove about 25 miles with no problem. Then when I got into town again and was pulling away from a stoplight, suddenly the car started sputtering and lurching as the engine seemed to want to die. I'd never experienced this in all my years with the car. I pulled over and quickly turned the engine off. I waited a moment and tried restarting the engine. The car shook a lot, and I could barely get it moving forward enough to get it safely into a parking lot. I checked under the hood to see if there was anything obviously wrong, but everything looked normal. My fuel pressure and voltage readings were nominal. After a few minutes I tried starting it again, and it was suddenly working fine again. I cautiously drove slowly around the parking lot and it seemed fine. I made my way back to the freeway without issue, but when I started to accelerate onto the freeway it suddenly started dying again. At that point, I called for a tow truck. When they unloaded my Z back at my house, I started the engine to pull the car into the garage, and once again, it ran fine (or at least long enough to get back in the garage). Recently, I've been test driving my Z around my neighborhod for a few miles and it seems to run alright. Though, I could swear it feels slightly shakier at idle, and a little down on the pickup when accelerating from a stop . I'm sure we can all agree that intermittent problems are just THE worst to try and figure out! So does anyone have any ideas of what the issue might be or what I could check that would cause such a problem? It sucks being too scare to take the poor Z out anymore! I considered that it might be the gas from having sat there, but 3 months doesn't seem long enough for it to have gone bad. And if it was the gas, I would imagine it would run badly all the time and not like this.

Well guys, I put everything back together yesterday, and drove it about 70 miles today. So far, so good! Thanks for the help guys!

Today I finally did some further testing by temporarily replacing the S-wire with a jumper that led to the fuse box. Sure enough, the voltage stabilized to what it should be! So now I have to pull apart the loom wrap to find out where the original S-wire leads to, and why it suddenly stopped carrying voltage.

At this point, it's not an issue of a bad main connection, because that wire in the picture is no longer there; since it was so burned, I replaced it with brand new wire, with a gold-plated ring terminal that has been both crimped AND soldered on! Haha, I think that's about as good a connection as I can do! So it's overvolting even with that new, good connection. So yeah, that Sense wire seems to be the culprit since it's not getting any juice (I have yet to test jumper it). But that wire doesn't seem to go up to the fuse box/battery. Any idea where it's pulling its voltage signal from? (somewhere from the interior?)

So if I'm understanding correctly, the white "S" wire should be getting +12V constantly, right? I unplugged the connector and stuck a multimeter probe in the white wire's spade connector, and am only get a few millivolts, both with the key off, and in the On position..

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. I tested the voltage using both an onboard voltmeter (which takes its reading via a switched relay that eventually leads back to the battery) and with a multimeter probe at the battery itself. I pulled off that 2-wire plug, turned the key to the on position, and found that the thinner, blue, wire on that plug was giving a voltage reading about .3V less than reading at the battery itself. Could that slightly lower reading be enough to cause the alternators to charge so high? If so, where does that blue wire lead to/get its reading from? And what does the thicker, white, wire on that plug do?

After a day trip through the mountains, I noticed that the Charge warning light was lit on my '82 280ZX Turbo. I discovered the wire, where it connects to the alternator, was just fried. The ring terminal on the end of the wire was literally crisped and crumbled. Nothing else was singed or arced in the area, so I'm guessing too much power was sent through the wire and melted it down. Later (after getting towed home), I started the car on battery power alone, and tested the voltage at the alternator terminal and it read 17 volts (though someone told me it only reads that because it had no battery wire connected to it). The alternator was only 2years/14k miles old, and purchased from MSA. So, I replaced the alternator with an appropriate one from Napa and replaced the battery wire with 10ga cable. When I started the car, the voltage crept up to 15.1V. The alternator's instructions said that the voltage should read between 13.5-15.1V, so it was at the upper limit of the acceptable range.. However, I was noticing the wiring and fusible link were getting awfully warm... So I replaced the wiring with 8ga wiring and a high-amp circuit breaker. The good news is that the wires no longer heat up. The bad news is that the voltage is now reading even higher, at 15.6V! So my question to you all is, what could cause the alternator(s) to be "over-volting"? Could one of the wires in that little 2-wire plug that goes to the alternator cause this? Thanks guys!

I see that MSA has some rather nice key blanks for the S30's. Has anyone ever seen any interesting/attractive key blanks for the S130's out there?

Thanks! =) For the reverse lights, I used some clear sidemarkers and mounted them on either side of the license plate. They're pretty useless for seeing anything behind me at night, but at least it does the job of warning others that I'm moving back. The badge is a wing emblem with the "Nissan" logo in the middle; sorry, looking through my pics it seems I never bothered taking a close-up pic. ^^

Y'know what, here's an example of exactly what you're worried about. Some dumb woman driver (sorry if it's a stereotype, but it just been proven) rear-ended me while I was ALREADY STOPPED at a red light! It was a low-speed collision, but still expensive to have fixed because it's all "one piece" with the rest of the main body now.

Welp, looks like the adhesive remover worked! Just a few drops on and then just quickly "grabbed" repeatedly at the gum till it came out. ^__^ Thanks for the feedback guys.