NewZed

This web site is pretty handy - http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsuns30/DatsunZIndex/PowerTrain/TransmissionControl/5Speed/tabid/1718/Default.aspx Shows late 4 speed and 5 speed forks as the same. Also 3-4 fork is the same as 1-2. Edit - seems like you'd have a 2nd gear problem too, if it was the fork. Maybe the shift rod or the ball bearing detent in the adapter plate? If I understand things, the check ball and detent notch hold the rod which holds the sleeve.

You should study up a little bit (a lot) on your car's electrical system. You're missing a basic understanding of the system. No offense, but it shows, for example, wires melted due to "feedback". Wires melted because you shorted the battery directly to ground. Twice, and on purpose. If you don't have a multimeter, you should get one (after some reading). Anyone with a meter would have checked that white wire for battery voltage when they saw the sparks, probably before they tapped it to ground. You can test everything before connecting, to save yourself the burned wires. Now that you've burned some wires, you should use a meter to see if any of the neighboring wires have had had their insulation burned off and are now shorted to other wires or to ground. Plus there are some questions about why your fusible links didn't blow instead of burning the wiring. yours might be missing, shorted or replaced with the wrong wire. Good luck. Don't mess with it until you have a meter and know a little more, or find a friend that does. Cars have burned to the ground due to wiring mistakes.

I don't think that the 240s have the resistor since they don't have ECUs or use the same kind of tach. On the 280s the resistor is bundled in to the wiring up by the relays and fuse panel under the glove box. It's a 2.3 kOhm resistor, kind of odd looking with a male and female bullet connector on the same end. Hard plastic rectangular body, about 1 cm x 2 cm (it looks like the drawing in your wiring diagram). If you have the 280Z wiring you might be able to find it and wire it in. Or get one from Radio Shack. Note that I haven't seen a bunch written about this so I could be totally off base. I've had two cars that wouldn't run without it, or the tachometer, installed though, even though the wiring diagram shows the Pin 1 wire as a separate circuit. I'm thinking it might drop the voltage to the ECU or condition the signal so the transistors work right. I'm not an electronics expert, it could be an artifact of two old cars that I had.

The "signal" to the ECU runs on a wire from the negative post of the coil to Pin #1 at the ECU. Have you measured continuity from the coil to Pin #1? Also, some 280Z ECUs (the ones I've worked with anyway) need to have the the tachometer, with its in-line resistor, installed or the ECU won't work right. I'm not sure how that's handled with the L28E swap. I have an engine on a stand, with 1978 ECU, with the resistor installed, but no tachometer, on a branch off of the line to Pin #1. You might look at that as a possibility, if you're sure that Pin #1 is connected to coil (-).

You answered your own question "one of the power wires on the electric fan had been melted to the plastic wire cover. After separating it the fuel pump cut on". So, in your custom-wiring case, the answer is yes, the fan wiring has something to do with the pump. But it doesn't need to. Your wiring has all been installed by someone with their own ideas of what might be right. Melted insulation and hot wires indicate that they were wrong. The best thing to do is to tear it all out and start over, or have someone help you do the same. It's only two simple electrical devices, it's not complicated. You'll be surprised at how easy it is once you dig in to it. There's no simple one-wire solution for you.

Is that grinding or just the shift lever rattling? Looks like the lever bushings might be gone, they're plastic and known to disintegrate.

You said it was brand new. It should be shiny and look new and probably have stickers or painted on ID numbers. Do you think it might be a fake? Or is it a brand new aftermarket? For $15, it might be worth buying just for a long metal tube. Got pictures?

Injectors that don't squirt comes up about every week or two. Almost impossible not to find a thread describing solutions if you search "not getting fuel" or "injectors don't fire" or "engine starts then dies", etc. The Engine Fuel section in the 280Z and 280ZX FSMs all give a good description of what causes the injectors to squirt. Easy reading and worth doing at at least once. Not kidding.

That would be a great deal if it's real. Somewhere from the 240z to the 280Z they started staking in the u-joints, making them irreplaceable without some machining. And $15 is about the price of one cheap u-joint. It would be cheaper, easier, and most likely better, especially if they are Nissan factory u-joints.

Does the wire to L have 12.6 volts (battery voltage) with the key at Run? That wire powers the windings that create the internal magnets that are required for charging. The wire to S needs 12.6 volts also, to sense the voltage for the regulator to control the voltage. And, of course, the thick white wire should have 12.6 also, since it is the charging wire. And the case needs to be grounded, either directly or through the E terminal. You can measure all three with a voltmeter the key at Run, and the grounding with an ohm-meter or test light. If you don't have those, something's wrong with the wiring. If you do have those, you might have an alternator problem.

There might be an inline fuse in the wire to the pump that has blown. If the wires are getting hot, then the fuses are getting hot and that's how they function, they melt to save the wires. Overall, it sounds like someone did a poor job of wiring in your fan and fuel pump. 71 didn't come with an electric pump, I believe, so yours must be a custom installation. You should probably start from scratch, using the right wire gauge, relays and fuses, before something melts and/or catches on fire. You just got the car? Some details on what you're working with would be interesting.

One more perspective here, going back to the question in your first post - the ignitor is "triggered" by the ECU. So there is most likely (I've not seen an L28ET harness so can't say for sure) a wire from the ECU harness directly out to the ignitor. The other wires from the ignitor connect to the coil. The GM HEI module, if used, will also be controlled by the ECU and attached to the coil, in a similar fashion as the ignitor. A wiring diagram will probably make it clear which wires from the ECU control the ignitor. "skittle" over on zcar.com has a writeup on using the HEI module with the L28ET control system, it might also give you some clues. Seems to work, although I do notice his diagram says "ground wire from ECU" for the power wire. http://www.zcar.com/70-83_tech_discussion_forum/hei_ignition_control_module_swap_info_%20turbos_only%20_876981.0.html

Still can't really understand what you're writing. Your last post implies that fuel pump turns on as soon as the AFM is installed and does not turn off until the key is at Run. That would mean the pump runs constantly with the key Off, draining your battery to death, and the car won't run because the pump turns off when you trun the key to Run. If that's the case, the problem is not your AFM, it's probably a shorted relay. "Prime" is the word ZX people use to describe the 3-5 seconds that the pump gets power when the key is turned to Run. The word "prime" confuses things. The 75-77 AFMs use a switch inside that makes contact when the AFM vane opens, sending power to the fuel pump relay. Some of the 78 AFMs still have the switch but it's not used at the connector. It's easy to adjust with a pair of pliers. Pop the black cover off of the side of the AFM, it's just glued on. Move the counterweight and you'll see how the switch is supposed to open and close. Tweak the metal rod until the switch opens, (fuel pump stops) just as the counterweight and vane are about to hit the stops. You can do the adjustment on the car or use an ohm-meter and do it on the bench. If you do it on the car, the pump should be off with the key at Run, then on when you barely move the counterweight.

What is the FSM spec. for distance fuel should shoot from the fuel line? Black plugs = "lean I suppose"? Doesn't make sense. This looks like a well-crafted troll message. If not, then the first thing you should do is measure fuel pressure with a gauge. It could be the source of all of your problems. Good luck.

From the threads I've seen, especially Heroez's recent poll, only the ZXes had a "priming" feature, and it didn't appear to be tied to the AFM. It seemed to be controlled by a relay or the ECU, depending on which electronic control system you had. Heroez never did tie up the loose ends on his priming problem, and I've only worked with 280Zs so can't be positive, but that's the way things look. Are you saying that you're searching for an AFM that powers the fuel pump for five seconds (which your 76 shouldn't do anyway), and you're going to return one because it doesn't? 5 seconds of pump operation doesn't seem worth it, and you'll probably never get it with a 76, unless I've misunderstood something.

Can't help you with that. That's a basic for automotive work. A skill well worth learning. I'm positive that there are many youtube videos on how to use one. And videos on how to check a coil, check for spark, etc. No offense. Good luck. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=using+a+multimeter&oq=using+a+multimeter&aq=f&aqi=g7g-m1&aql=&gs_l=youtube.3..0l7j0i5.402.4845.0.5919.18.17.0.1.1.0.208.2189.5j11j1.17.0...0.0.2mgq8y_QcIc http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=checking+spark&oq=checking+spark&aq=f&aqi=g4&aql=&gs_l=youtube.3..0l4.20377.26531.0.26898.20.16.2.2.2.1.208.2173.3j12j1.16.0...0.0.Nz2pV8A2lu0 http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=testing+a+coil&oq=testing+a+coil&aq=f&aqi=g2&aql=&gs_l=youtube.3..0l2.12178.14763.0.16115.14.14.0.0.0.0.171.1344.8j6.14.0...0.0.BN1_7HX2Fwk

There's a possibility that the AFM won't come with a fuel pump relay cutoff switch since 78 didn't use it, although my 78 AFM still had the switch. If you get it and it doesn't have it, you'll have to short the contacts in the connector, at the relay, or rig up a fuel pump switch. Motor Sport Auto sells AFMs, although their core charge is huge, $400. The one I got ran rich though, but it did work fine otherwise. Cheaper too. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/11-3040 Are you sure you need a new AFM? Its a part that's often replaced with no effect on the real problem. Knowing what I know now, if I needed one, I'd take an ohm-meter to the salvage yard and test and inspect, before buying new. If the yards had them.

You know, by the crinkling, that sticker looks like it's been removed and replaced. Maybe someone ran a scam using that engine. Look through a plug hole and see if it has flat tops or dished pistons. That will give you a clue on if it's a turbo or NA engine. Assuming, of course, it's not just a mish-mash of parts.

I derived the conclusion from the 1978 vintage on an L28, wasn't projecting from your post. That's why I threw a "probably" in. How about "So it shouldn't have a P79 or P90 head, correct?" Just providing clues for the OP so he can calculate the probability that the engine hasn't been remanned again since 1978. In a general kind of way, eh?

That's some good information. So it should probably have an N42 or N47 head, correct? At least he can get an idea of if it might be still whole from when it was remanned.

Did it work before the HEI swap (probably not, I assume)? How did you do the HEI swap, if you're working with an 81 turbo ECU in a 76 car? Did you use skittle's instructions from zcar.com? Have you used a volt/ohm meter on anything yet? That's what you want to start doing. Then you'll know. A couple of simple measurements will tell you a lot. You can get a cheap meter for $6 at Harbor Freight, if you don't have one.

Are you just trying to make use of a spare 7 pin Bosch module? Not clear why you would keep it. The ignition module mounted on the distributor works like a 4 pin HEI module. You might already have a VR triggered module that should work on the NA distributor, if it's not broken. You could also remove the ZX module and just use the pickup coil wires to an HEI module. I'm no Megasquirt expert. Here's the HEI page, under Ignition on the left hand menu - http://www.megamanual.com/ms2/

If the coil is getting power at the terminals, you can test for spark with a ground wire on the negative post. If it sparks, then figure out why the ignitor is not igniting, either it's not getting a signal from the ECU or it's broken. The 81 FSM has test procedures for the 81 turbo components also if you're not really sure how the spark is created.

Another puzzle. I'm just working from the sources available. Definitely something for the OP to consider.

Quoting myself for reference... Realized that the big old PCV tube plumbed in to the side of the crankcase might be a reasonable oil return port. It's big and easy to work with, and the pipe can be removed, drilled, plumbed and replaced with no metal chips. I don't know how easy it would be to get in and out with the engine in the car, but it seems like you might be able to do it from under the car without too much trouble.