NewZed

BWD from OReilly Auto Parts.

I check mine with the wheels on the ground. Grab the top of the wheel and shake back and forth. Clicking noises from the hub area are a sign. But you could get misled by other parts moving around, like brake parts. You could also go by the FSM procedure and retorque the nuts, then check rotational drag. Just retorquing the nuts might tighten things up to where you know it was an issue, or just checking tightness of the nuts. Loose is bad. If you have to ask though, you might want to get some help. I hadn't been working on cars for quite a few years when I got mine and it took me a while to get my mechanical "touch" back.

I burned through my first set of new tires way too fast trying to use toe to correct for worn wheel bearings. If you're on a well-travelled road it wil have ruts, and the wheels will try to follow the ruts. Worn bearings let the toe adjustment change as you're driving. Most shops check for looseness but some just know how to put the car on the rack and run the machine.

Two problems were described - one, it won't pull past 5500 RPM, and two, it suffers detonation if the timing is advanced toward a "normal" range. Those two things aren't necessarily related. The power peak below 5500 RPM is pretty typical for the stock 280Z L28. Usually the cam is pointed to as the cause. Maybe your Schneider cam just isn't designed to breathe at high RPM. I assume that the restrictions of the intake ports and manifold play a part also. Whatever it is, the behavior sounds about like my factory stock 280Z L28. On the detonation issue - cylinder pressure will give a good idea of how the compression ratio (CR) and the cam profile, and its timing, are working together. High CR will raise "static" cylinder pressure, and the valve timing of a performance cam grind is supposed to lower it. Cylinder pressure, not compression ratio. Measure cylinder pressure and see what you get. Over 200 psi seems to get people closer to detonation problems. 170-180 psi is common for a stock engine.

Go ahead. Describe what manual you were using also for anyone else that's using it.

Good luck. Looks like a wild goose chase though (they're faster than they look). You've switched directions entirely from fuel pump doesn't run to injectors don't inject. Did the mechanic turn the engine over and look for flashes or just plug his device in and wait for something to happen? Putting a bunch of new stuff on when you don't know what's bad is a great way to make the puzzle more complicated. At least the relay might be a good investment, for resale. New ones go for over a hundred dollars.

Will this item be worth more or less after doing the work to actually use it? Probably worth more with dream still attached.

Interesting writeup, and a good start to getting these old cars working right. You were a little bit too innovative in the hose removal though. Attached are a couple of pictures of the factory procedure. Most people simplify even more and are just very careful with a razor blade or Exacto knife, and clean up any nicks afterward. And, with the right hose (good quality 5/16" EFI-rated hose) and the socket (or ferrule, the ones that you ground off) no hose clamps are needed. The barbs will do the job. The pictures are from the Engine Fuel chapter. Worth reading end-to-end, even just for fun.

Is it connected to your throttle linkage? Might be cruise control.

Power to both sides is normal, it's one of the weird things about transistors. The ECCS from the turbo cars uses the CAS to determine when to spark and inject so you have a mystery since you have one but not the other (you are using the CAS right?). If I had your problem I would start reading from EF&EC - 64. The later FSM's aren't as instructive about the principles behind the engine management, they lean more toward testing and replacing parts. More dumbed down than the 280Z FSM's. They still have some good wiring harness diagrams in them though. There are some smart guys on the forum who've had lots of experience with the turbo EMS. You might have to put more effort in to puctuating and formatting your posts though to get a response from them. Good luck.

They're connected anyway. Moot.

If it was a short at/in the starter it would turn as long as the big cable from the battery positive was connected. Since yours only turns when the key is on you just have something providing power to the small wire (probably yellow) to the starter solenoid. It's a wiring problem. Wire colors are shown in the factory wiring diagrams. It's not as hard as it seems once you dig in. Start at the starter and work backward until you find out where the power is coming from.

I ran a 76 intake and exhaust on a 78 round port head for a couple of years. Shouldn't matter. The exhaust manifold can be an issue but only if you use the round port exhaust on a square port head. It blocks the edges of the ports. But you don't have that problem. If you go through my list you might find something. I've the same problem when I forgot to reconnect the AAR power. Without power to the internal heating element it takes a long time to heat up and close. And the connector is jammed up against the hose so it can look connected when it's really not. Actually, I've had high idle problems from five of the things on that list.

Thought this was about the RB26DETT in your sig. If you're using the stock 280Z throttle body and intake, there are many possibilities, from sticking throttle blade to hanging throttle return dash pot to bad BCDD diaphragm to stuck AAR to no power to the AAR (although it would only hold the idle up until the coolant got warm) to cracked PCV hose (including the one from the valve cover) to no dip stick in the dip stick tube, and more. If you're using the stock 77 ECU, there are no sensors that control idle directly. Don't forget that advanced timing will speed idle. 77 had a solenoid valve, controlled by a switch on the transmission, that only let vacuum to the distributor advance when in top gear. If you connected the hoses wrong you might have more advance than planned and a faster idle.

Spooner...

If correct, the ending will be a disappointment...

Page 80. Last clue before 10!!!

Does the shift lever go side-to-side like it should but not back and forth or does it not move at all except to drop down in to 4th or reverse? Describe how it seemed to be functioning just fine when it seemed to. You can always pull the transmission from the bottom if you get the engine hooked up and can't fix the problem.

Kind of looks like this one but you'd have to trace back to the pins to be sure.

Is it a Pathfinder? Or a Maxima?

I have only worked with the FSM's like the one in the link below. Your picture looks like it came from an FSM for a more modern car, with a more modern font and more modern parts. Kind of weird. Good luck with it. Added a picture from EC-16 of the 1975 FSM. Maybe there's a separate FSM for California, although the 1976 Owners Manual (can't find a 75) also refers to a floor Temperature Sensor, not a converter temperature sensor. Edit - by the way, even if you do have an updated more modern, specialized FSM for your car, it should still have a full description of what the ECU uses to determine fuel enrichment, in the Engine Fuel chapter. It will tell you if the catalytic converter temperature sensor is involved. It shoudn't be though, unless it's using it's reading as a proxy for O2 sensor temperature, which I don't think you would have in 1975. http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/280z/1975/ http://www.xenons30.com/reference.html (page 3 of the 1976 Owners Manual)

To 280zex - You have the ZX fuel rail cooling setup, I see, pointed generally at the carburetor. Is it on a temperature switch or manual, and when does it come in to play? Just curious.

The price will depend on how accurate you want the work to be. Some machinists will look at it and say "that is a critical area for proper operation and durability and will take time to set up to provide the accuracy and precision to do it right - could be expensive". Others will look at it and say "two holes and some grinding, that's a piece of cake". Here's that Ermish guy's web site - http://www.ermish-racing.com/

You missed my point on the fuel mileage (but got it at the end of your post). You don't really know what it is, you're just assuming based on the gauge needle moving a small amount, and the odometer number changing. And who knows if the odometer reads right. Post a page number or a picture of the FSM's reference to a catalyzer temperature sensor (the Nissan Factory Service manual, not a Chilton or Haynes book). I've never seen the sensor so don't know what it looks like, but I've also never seen a reference to it for a 1975 USA market car. Sounds interesting. It would help you to know if your car is a Federal model, or California, or imported. They have differences. If you have an adjustable FPR you could drop a couple of PSI to change the rate of the Ford injectors. Also noticed your bungy cord battery hold down with the battery on its side. It doesn't even have to come completely free to short out, just slide forward a few inches. Your problems are set to grow dramatically with one hard braking situation. http://www.rceng.com/technical.aspx

Those injectors are in the ballpark. Stock is 188 cc/min (17.9 lb/hr). 6% too much fuel. 1975 doesn't have a "catalyzer temp sensor", but it does have a floor temperature sensor. It's only function is to tell the driver what is causing that smell,so that they can have their converter checked. 1975 didn't use an O2 sensor for engine management, so if you had an O2 sensor installed, it was added later. Finally, 75 miles on a half tank could just be a bad fuel level gauge. You might be worrying about nothing. Getting real numbers will make you feel more secure.