NewZed

Do you live near a radio tower? I had a CD player that wouldn't work until I surrounded it with a Farady cage built from copper mesh. I took it back to the store twice and it played perfectly, intalled it at home and it wouldn't do anything. My apartment was about 100 feet from the antenna. Just another noise anecdote. Maybe your serial cable from the MS ECU to the computer needs shielding.

I looked in to using the Pathfinder axles to make a hybrid axle and found that the CV replacement axle manufacturers (CARDONE for example) are now making their own axles, with their own spline count and joint style. In other words, if you buy a "new" Pathfinder or any other axle from a parts store, it will most likely not be like a new or used factory axle, and will have a different spline count on the axle. It's described on the various manufacturer web sites. Wouldn't be surprising either if they all come from the same place. I also looked at a rebuilt axle in OReilly auto to take some measurements and found, like others have noted, that it seemed like a pretty poor job of rebuilding. The plunging joint was binding up as I tried to move it and it felt generally gritty. So anyone looking to do this will be somewhat limited in choices and should take care that they get what they think they're getting.

Doesn't it look like the second set of injector bungs is cast as part of the manifold? It doesn't look like a modified stock manifold with welded-on bungs, it looks like a factory casting. Seems like runner size would have been considered to take advantage of the extra fuel. What are the numbers/letters on the top of the manifold that you can almost see in the first picture?

If it's been sitting 20 years there could be rust on the gears, and/or the flywheel. The brass synchro rings ride on steel cones. You didn't mention reverse, which doesn't have a synchro. Try putting it in first gear, then start it with the clutch pedal pushed down. If it's still up in the air, engage the parking brake so the wheels don't spin. After it starts you'll be able to tell where the engagement point is with the clutch pedal. That will tell you if the clutch is fully disengaging or not. Working the clutch will wear any rust off of the flywheel also.

It's not a Z but there's probably more than a few here who can appreciate the shock value... http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=20f_1354282769

My 76 did the same thing after I got it road-worthy. The PO had installed the calipers on the wrong sides, with the bleed valves low instead of high. Poor brakes in general, the brake light would go on when the brakes were used due to the pressure imbalance from the big air bubble in the fronts, and the rears would lock if you pressed hard enough.

In Post #5 you said that you had left the S wire disconnected on the advice of the shop owner. Are you sure she didn't mean the L wire? With no (S)ense wire the alternator will put out maximum voltage. That might be what fried your battery.

I just got blocked again right after I posted the above, but now (obviously) I'm back in. I'll get a screen shot next time. Blocked in both Chrome and Firefox. In one browser a "Log in" link shows but clicking it just gets you back to the "You're not allowed to enter this community" message. Won't even go to the Log In screen.

I had it this morning about 2 hours ago. Got the message several times. Firefox 16.0.2, Windows XP with all of the Service Packs. Didn't try the other browsers.

Macpherson struts are 20% off at PicknPull until December 2. If you said what you'd pay you might give someone incenitve to go out and earn a few dollars.

http://forums.hybrid...__hl__spray bar Copy, from the location bar at the top of the browser, and paste seems to work for me. Here's the link.

Posted a new thread in Area 51 showing one way to get pictures in to a thread. There may be other ways but this seems to work. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/110184-addimg-images-to-a-thread-by-uploading-them-to-the-gallery/#entry1030029

This link should help you out - http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/distributor/index.html

Did the shop owner swap the pulleys? The internet says that the Premier/Monaco alternator is a six rib pulley, not v-belt. And, are you just using the S and L pins on the back of the alternator, connected to S and L at the car's T plug? Looks interesting. Thanks for posting an extra option. How is it under low idle speed brown-out conditions - wipers, headlights, and heater on? Here's a useful link for any future modifiers. Napaonline.com shows the pinout for the alt plug along with their product descriptions - http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?R=RAL134551F_0209469829

Fuel pressure regulators have been known to get stuck/clogged. High pressure = low mileage.

That would be pretty cool to see, just to gain a little more insight in to what works and why. Thanks for taking my post in a positive way, you could have told me to get stuffed and went away. Just to round out the picture a little bit, what type of coil were/are you using and what is its primary circuit resistance? I think that HEI module is designed for a sub-one ohm coil, about 0.4-0.5, from various internet sources. Could be a factor, maybe. The ZX coil is 0.84 - 1.02 according to the FSM. For the record, I'm using an HEI module with a Z31 coil (~one ohm primary, 10K secondary), with a 280Z style single position pickup coil (not the stator ring), and it works great. Another odd thing - the GM HEI stator looks like the ZX style stator, ring-shaped, just eight points instead of six. If you were just eye-balling parts, you'd probably pick the ZX style distributor instead of the 280Z style as the one that would work right. To the OP - if the ZX distributor is in good shape it would probably be the easiest to install. Fewer wires to mess with, just power and coil negative. Then you can measure your advance characteristics while the engine is running, and decide if you need to make any changes. That's another post though.

Here's a failry simple look at noise sources and how to work with them, from a company that's been in the data acquisition business for a while. Might help you figure out you if the noise is in the sensor, the wiring or the sensor location. http://www.omega.com/techref/das/noise.html

Which problem are you trying to fix? The LC-1 not giving the correct readings due to noise (you reprogrammed it for some reason)? Or are you trying to fix the "Settings Configuration Error..." which would be an MS thing. Or the bucking problem, which would be tuning. You've described a lot of simultaneous stuff happening.

From the linked article - "If a reluctor of different design is used, the dwell may end up longer or shorter than the ideal time. The HEI reluctor rotor is comprised of a wheel with short-duration spikes on it. If a rotor is used with long-duration ramps before thespikes, the bias voltage on W may increase too much, creating the aforementioned stumble at higher RPMs" I have a problem sometimes, similar to what you might have done in your post, in projecting what I think might be happening in to what I write. Quite often I have to go back and remove the stuff I don't really know or add a qualifying statement. I copied the the relevant passages from the articel and your post about the reasonthe ZX distributor won't work. A reference about the AC signal produced by the Zx type distributor would fill in a missing piece. I've seen that article before and noticed that the two motorcyle igntion systems described and their behavior using the HEI module don't seem to match anything I've seen described using the Z type distributor. Interesting conversation. A few words or references supporting the comments about the ZX style reluctor waveform behavior, and also the "unstable" behavior that you saw using it (what do you mean by "stable" and how does it relate to the article - coil stuck on, cross-talk, or whatever) would add a lot. I'd like to know, I have a spare ZX distributor in the garage. Edit - Ideally, we'd have something like the traces on this web page - http://jaguar.professional.org/ignition/ to work with to answer some questions. Wish i had an oscilloscope.

Be careful about making decsions based on just one comment. Read all that you can find and make up your own mind. Most of what Zark has written goes against what you'll find about how the GM HEI module works and how it performs. He's interpreting motorcycle "knowledge" from one internet thread and applying it to ZX distributors. Needing a hotter plug for electronic ignition, over points, doesn't really make sense. Plug temperature choice has more to do with the combustion process and carbon buildup over time, not spark initiation. In general, Post #6 makes little sense. He might have had a real problem with the ZX distributor and the HEI module, but the reasoning behind why doesn't fit generally accepted knowledge. Your biggest concern for engine performance should be the advance curves, vacuum and centrifugal. For durabilty, the condition of the distributors. Have you taken them apart yet? Tested the pickup coils' resistance? Odds are pretty good that one is broken and the choice will be made for you.

I looked but couldn't find a reference, in a drawing or in the list at the back of the chapter. I think that Nissan assumed that they would never be removed, indicated by their inspection recomendation that says if wear is found in the bearing surface, "replace cylinder head assembly".

Burned by the Page 94 typo? "How to Rebuild..."?

Your exhaust sounds very loud considering it's going through a turbine. Is there any exhaust pipe at all after the turbo? The backfiring reminds me of what a couple of V8s I've had in the past sounded like when they had a flattened cam lobe. You said that it ran for a month. Did it run well? And is the problem exactly the same as before? Has it always backfired like that? You should summarize the last month or two to give a better picture. It doesn't sound good right now, seems like bigger problems than just won't stay running.

Core.

Did you check the parting surface between the head and block? Look for coolant residue or surface rust. I had an N42/N42 engine that leaked at the spot right above the starter, between the head and block. I don't know if the head was warped or the head gasket just gave out after many miles. It only leaked during warmup and cool down, when the engine was at full operating temperature it sealed itself up.