NewZed

It just gets better... You need to at least put some minutes in if you're going to ask someone else to do some work for you. A better description than the "little connector in the middle" would be a great place to start. Find the numbers on the circuit board or use Photoshop to draw a circle.

Astounding. Incredible. Amazing. Something new will always come along. Gobsmacked. This might help - http://www.megamanual.com/index.html

TimZ makes a good point about modified parts. I almost posted something about whether or not that cam is factory or a regrind, if it's a regrind the mark may be irrelevant. But if it's a stock cam the marks should still be aligned, even if they're not optimum. The mark tells you what position the valves are in (since they're at the ends of the lobes), in relation to the pistons. The before and after picture in the FSM is 4 degrees. You're cam is about 8 - 10 degrees advanced. Looking back to your Tuning with Vacuum Gauge post I wonder if you don't have some bent valves. It's like a super bad permanent miss. Or that's just how an engine runs when the cam is way off-time. Could also explain your high pressure numbers, although those measurements are gauge dependent (I get 185 with my gauge on a stock 78 engine) . I think Tony D was on the trail with his comment about adjusting the valves, and starting with a basic full tune-up. Pistons and valves opening and closing at the correct times and to the proper distances is the heart of the combustion cycle. You need to find square one and try to get there if you can. Checking the cam timing is a great starting point, but now you have to fix it.

I was referring to the picture in the book. As the chain wears the notch (in the sprocket) lags the oblong groove (bolted to the cam tower). The valves open later. In the picture, "before adjustment" shows a stretched chain (valves opening late), "after adjustment" shows it repositioned so that the valves open sooner. Your notch has the valves opening waaayyy sooner. IF the tight side of the chain is tight. You can also think of it as the straight side. It's the side of the chain that gets pulled when the crankshaft is turning. It needs to be tight to know what is actually happening when the engine is running. The distributor has nothing to do with what you're looking at. It and the oil pump are in a whole separate world.

A new player. Had not heard of them. Not much on the web site, not even the typical "About" page. it looks like a Hungarian guy (customer service in two languages) named Jason is selling kits. Looks like there's a guy named Rob in the UK also. Anyway, back to choosing, for the OP....

Before you go further, make sure the tight side of the chain (driver's side) is actually tight. If you're moving the crankshaft back and forth, you could have the tight side loose. Set the pulley mark at zero and use a wrench on the sprocket bolt to tighten it up, without moving the crankshaft. If it is tight, then it looks likes someone was anticipating a lot of chain wear. You're in the after-after adjustment zone. Pretty sure I've seen where guys have advanced the sprocket and cam to the 2 hole to move the power curve to the low end. Gives the feel of more power, but the top end is gone. If so, move it to hole 1 and see where things end up. Don't forget to wedge the chain. Nice pictures.

Assuming money is no object since you've left it open, this option looks pretty good. Take it to a shop and have it professionally installed. That would be close to the "best" you can do. http://www.electromotive-inc.com/product/total-engine-control/ http://www.electromotivestore.com/engine-management/electromotive-tecgt-ecu.php

Consider the HEI module replacement. At least it's a new part. Apparently it runs the coil just fine using the ECU square wave instead of the GM VR signal. Skittle wrote it up on zcar.com. Just a cheap option.

If the engine runs well, and it's the hoses that are cracking, you could replace hose alone for about $5. If you're going to run stock injectors, there's really no point in getting an aftermarket rail, except looks and maybe ease of installation.

A before-and-after cause-effect process might help you. You mentioned the ZX alternator swap but didn't say if that was the only thing you did, or if it worked just before the swap, but not after. You said the engine ran then died and hasn't started since, last year. What's happened in that year? You're getting voltage sometimes - voltage to where? You have a brand new coil - was it replaced to fix the problem, or replaced before the problem? Can't tell what happened when. Ballast resistors don't generally go bad when they're just sitting. As for measuring coil voltage, you can measure power to the ballast also, it's sitting right there with terminals exposed. And, the ballast and coil only get power when the key is on. In case you've been measuring with the key off. Here's the easy link to the FSM's. Try the Engine Electrical chapter for some diagrams. http://www.nicoclub.com/datsun-service-manuals

Did you add the part about pumping the brakes, in the first post? Didn't see it yesterday. That says air in the system. These types of swaps, in general, seem to be notorious for not having the bleed hole at the very top of the caliper's internal passages, when mounted. Even off just a little bit, the air will sit there while the fluid flows out the bleed hole. The external hole may not be a direct shot to the internal high point either. They all seem to take some finagling.

Actually it just monitors how fast things change. Dramatic changes in the slope of the speed-time curve, within one turn of the shaft (per the ad copy). It's tunable too, so in the long run, tooth number won't matter if you're in the ball-park. Just saying, it's not critical to know the number of teeth. On the other hand, more teeth might give higher resolution to the processor, and signal quality from the sensor would be important. Same as crank triggered ignition, probably more so. "The TMS-Drag-Sportsman is our entry level Traction Control system. This Non Self-Learning system monitors the drive shaft speed and reacts to any sudden increase in that speed. The user can adjust the threshold of over acceleration that will cause a correction (AFR)." Pretty cool technology. Here's more on the "How Does It Work" page - http://www.moretraction.com/howdoesitwork_drag.htm On the other hand, if it has a speedometer function included, then you might need the numbers. Unless that's tunable also. I'm done. Just wanted to make that point...

Seems like Megasquirt should be able to control a relay using an ignition signal. Just a thought. Here's a link that might offer something. http://www.diyautotune.com/tech_articles/common_megasquirt_modifications.htm

My impression has been that they're the same for all of the S30's. This reference shows one part for the all years (scroll down to the part description to see the year range) - http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsunS30/DatsunZIndex/Axle/FrontSuspension/tabid/1729/Default.aspx If it's a later, big-bumper 260Z then the odds are close to 100%.

Just post the story, if the moderators feel it's out of line they'll let you know, and delete it. But, did you let the guy know what you got? He may have just passed on what he thought he was getting. Give him a chance to make it right first.

Unless you're injecting in sequential mode, back-of-the-valve targeting isn't really significant, from my learnings. Only one intake valve will actually be open per injection event in batch mode, two in semi-batch. Apparently, even good vaporization out of the injector isn't that significant either, except for emissions purposes. That's why the primitive Nissan injectors (from Denso or Nippon-Denso?) shoot a narrow stream even though the Bosch design of the time, that they're based on, sprayed a cloud. Just some thoughts. It looks great in the minds eye to see a cloud of fuel vapor thrusting past the intake valve to do its work. But it doesn't seem to add up to much, in reality. I learned most of this from a French model on the internet, Beware. Forgot to say that I've had a set of Bosch injectors (028 150 116), that sprayed a nice big beautiful cloud of vapor, on my stock 1978 L28 and EFI system, and a set of original 1978 Nissan injectors, that sprayed a tiny jet stream of fuel, and they ran and idled essentially identically. That's why it's in mind. I built a flow tester to test flow rates, leakage, and see injection form. Results were kind of disappointing, but kind of comforting also. One less thing to be concerned about.

The number of teeth doesn't really matter for traction control, does it? It's the rate of change in rotational speed that the unit monitors. As long as the unit gets a good signal from the sensor teeth it should do what it's designed to do.

The rear crankshaft seal is the wearing part. You can replace it from underneath the car with the transmission out and dust cover removed. I don't think that those "stop-leak"s for oil work for long. They have swelling agents that soften the seals, I believe, but the material also weakens and wears faster. The leaks come back.

If the switch is stuck closed when it's in the transmission, then opens when you remove it, the next place to look would be in the transmission, or at how the switch is seated. Could be that the switch you installed sits too deep and closes the circuit. But first you need to know if the switch itself opens and closes like it should, then go from there.

Sounds like the harness shorts out when it's connected to the switch. Make it stop doing that. Either add some insulation or bend the two tabs on the switch farther apart. IF the switch is correct AND disconnecting the harness turns the lights off, that's the only possible cause. By "switch is correct" I mean that it's open circuit when the trans is not in reverse and closed when it is. Use a meter or test light to be sure.

Which gears? All of them? 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5? And are you really banging gears like you're trying to break something, or just shifting fast? The synchro gears just match gear speeds, there's not really much to get stuck there. Sounds more like you've damaged the shift rods, balls and adapter plate with the gear-banging. The balls aren't dropping back to their neutral locations. If you take it apart to look at the synchros, you'll see those parts anyway. But I'm just guessing. duragg knows these transmission details by heart. Give better details and someone might know for sure.

Did the car have the vibration before you installed all of the new stuff? If yes, then it's probably stuff that was already on the car. If no, then it's probably the new stuff.

My thought, more fully-formed, is that tuning the MS side for problems picking up the teeth is pointless (pun!) if you're getting a square wave from the sensor and MS uses it correctly. As you said, you're getting a solid zero or twelve volt square signal at MS, so MS has what it needs. Noise at the sensor would just add more zeros and twelves, noise on the wire to the sensor would add some intermediate voltages that the VR circuit would use to trigger. Shielding on the wire from MS to the sensor might help. In other words, if you're getting a clean sensor square wave, just too many of them, then the problem is on the wheel side of the sensor. If you're getting too many voltage spikes that the VR circuit sees as a trigger, then the problem is noise in between the sensor and the MS board. I don't know if MS datalogs will pick that up. An oscilloscope probably would. Just trying to break it in to logical pieces. Don't try to work on all of it once. Seems like you're trying changes on both sides of the sensor, and at the sensor.

With a Hall sensor don't you just increase the voltage to get better S/N? Maybe your input voltage is low. Seems like you're missing the benefit of going to Hall sensor over VR. I think the main purpose of developing the Hall effect sensors was to get a consistent square wave signal of pre-determined voltage, or strength, much greater than any noise on the line. Isn't there something in the data logs that shows output voltage from the sensor? Seems like you should be able to better quantify and optimize the signal you're using, than just spinning the trigger wheel and hoping the pulse count is right. The problem seems to be more difficult than it should be.

The 280Z and 280ZX used the same transmissions. Problems in the 280Z will probably be the same in a 280ZX. You might have less space in the transmission tunnel with a 280ZX though, so the two inch move might be take some hammer work. ZX's seem generally more cramped for space than the Z's, by eye, although I've never had a ZX so don't know for sure. You will probably be the first to do this swap. Good luck. Read these: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/111158-my-cheap-z32rb26-tranny-shifter-bracket/ http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/47599-z32-tranny-install-writeup/ http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/101735-z32-transmission-adapter-kits-for-l28/