NewZed

For a 77 with an R200? I am new to the Z game but I thought the u-joint half-shafts would swap so thought the CV mod would to. I have seen the early thoughts that the u-joint half-shafts were of different lengths but then I have also seen some work where someone actually measured both sides and found that they were the same. If the 77 280Z R200 is centered, the shafts should be swappable. Is this not correct?

Since you already have one shaft out, maybe you could take the other out and swap them. If it's the shaft, the noise will now come from the right side.

That's right, the 76 has a contact in the AFM to run the fuel pump relay, for safety. It is bypassed at Start. So you can either put the key at On and prop the AFM flap open to run the pump or pull the small wire on the starter and hit Start. Zcardiesel, I didn't see your sig because I wasn't logged in when I read the post. Sigs only show when you're logged in apparently. And they don't show when you're on the Reply page. Sorry about that. Good luck. Don't start any fires...

Here at this site - http://www.xenons30.com/reference.html - are free downloadable manuals that some Z enthusiasts have made available to anyone with the time to download. They all have extensive sections on fuel, with diagrams and testing procedures. Most are indexed in to folders except the 77 year. Definitely worth the effort. 12 volts direct to the correct terminals would tell you if the pump is bad. Or a voltmeter at the terminals would tell you if you're getting 12 volts when the key is on Start. I would do the second, voltmeter route, first, you'll either get 12 volts and know the pump is bad or won't get 12 and you can focus on the relay, wiring, etc. Plus there's less risk of an inadvertent short, playing with hot wires. What year car?

I didn't realize that the wait was different for logged in vs. not logged in. Thanks for the clarification. I don't log in unless I have something to say. So I don't log in much.

Which method did you choose and how did it work for you? (Unwritten general forum rule...).

That's too easy. Almost not fair. I think that you should take it off and put it back on just to feel like you earned it.

What engine? "Idle adjust" implies an EFI motor. Your fuel pressure regulator might be bad. The original fuel pump has a bypass that kicks in at about 43 psi, which is close to the regulator target of 36 +/-. I think that the Airtex will pump up to 90 or 100 psi. Your new pump might be exposing a bad regulator.

Love this site. Hate the 60 second Flood Control. If you get no hits on a query you have to wait 60 seconds to try another. 60 seconds is eternity in today's internet world. Any way to shorten it 15 or even 10 seconds? I don't have the patience to even do a search to help someone else out.

For the record - most people use the burn and cut method. I hope I'm not leading you down a messy, more complex path. I have lots of odds and ends to use for fixturing in the vise, which helps avoid (or solve) problems. The socket was a Truecraft 27 mm, but it's the outer diameter that matters. You might take the new urethane bushing to the hardware store and pick the appropriate socket or whatever to match it's outer diameter. Don't get it too close or you may get the bushing out and have the socket stuck in its place. The socket I used actually had to be pressed back out from the other side, but it was easy to do with a bolt because it had a solid center to push on, unlike the bushing shell. Better yet, just take the whole control arm to the hardware store and see what looks right. It's not that big.

I used a vice, a socket the same diameter as the bushing's outer shell, some liquid wrench, and a torch to push mine out. It wouldn't budge without the heat of the torch but once I got the control arm warm it slid out pretty easily. Just another option...

If things are that loose you should check your moustache bar bushings and the nuts holding the housing to the bar also. To get that much movement from just a bad front diff mount would be unusual, I believe. I have an essentially stock 76 and with a pretty bad diff mount all I got was a bad clunk. Not even a hint of grinding under hard acceleration. And you should consider the RTz style diff mount. It is an improvement over stock, for about the same or less money.

I am not a transmission expert but there are a few things you could do to separate whether it's transmission or clutch. If you can start the car while in neutral, pressing the clutch pedal in will push the throwout bearing against the diaphragm spring on the pressure plate. If the throwout bearing is bad it will grind then, whether you are in gear or not (assuming the clutch linkage and hydraulics are working correctly). If it stays quiet then try to put it in to gear. If it goes in to gear, especially reverse, without grinding then the clutch is disengaging sufficiently to take the load off of the transmission main shaft. You should be able to sit there with the clutch pedal in, car in gear, and hear no strange noises. If so then clutch is disengaging correctly. Put it in first gear and slowly release the clutch pedal. This will engage the clutch and put engine load on the mainshaft. If the problems are in the transmission or differential, this is (most likely) when you will start to hear the bad noises, as you start moving. Just putt around in first gear and listen. Just a few ideas on isolating the noise to one component. Before you start changing parts out.

Poor clutch action should only cause grinding during shifting. One grind per shift, then no abnormal sounds. You described constant grinding while in gear which sounds more like a bad bearing or something rubbing somewhere.

I had something but changed my mind and edited it out. Can't just delete. Good luck with your project.

I don't know how different 77 is from 76, but this link might help. I would skip down to Post #4. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36480

I also had this happen, just this weekend. All of the leaking fluid, quite a bit, from the slave was contained in the rubber boot, just a light film on the outside to give a clue that there was a leak. Mine had the same symptoms, the clutch engaged right off the floor, but the clutch fork moved as soon as the pedal was moved, making it hard to figure out what was wrong. My cylinder was only 9 months old though. But I put it on a car that had sat for a while and there was, apparently, lots of old crud in the lines (the fluid had turned almost black since I put it on). I think that after a few fast runs through the gears in the days before, some of the debris had lodged under the rubber seal, letting it leak. It had been working fine up until then. I took mine apart, buffed the inside of the cylinder with some Scothbrite (the rubber seal on the piston looked in good shape but there were some corrosion marks in the cylinder), put it back together and it worked fine again. Took it for a long drive Sunday and it still works. It may leak out again, but I know the symptoms now. Pop the rubber boot off and see what's in there. Watch your eyes though, it will spray.

I saw an article in one of the hot rod mags a few months or more ago where they blocked the ends of a dented header with a wood plate, heated the dented area up red hot, then pressurized the tubes to push out the dent. As I recall, it worked fairly well. It took a little bit of fabrication for the air supply and the blocking plates. They had to closely control pressure and heat of course, but it didn't sound too difficult. The idea might work on your dent. I was just browsing the racks so don't remember which magazine it was.

Are the bleed valves on the top of the calipers, where they should be? On the front discs, it is possible to switch the calipers from side to side and end up with the bleed valves on the bottom. If the bleed valves are on the bottom you can never get all of the air out, there will be an air pocket above the bleed valve. A big one. I know this because my car came this way, and had your symptoms, and it took me quite a while to figure out. I don't know how the back calipers fit but it would be worth your while to make sure you got them on the proper sides.

What car and engine are you working with? AFMs control fuel pump power only in certain years. Your pump-tapping solution suggests that is not the problem though. Plus the fact that it turns over but doesn't fire now. When you hit Start, the fuel pump cutoff is bypassed, whether it is AFM or oil pressure controlled. If it was the AFM switch it would start, run for a few seconds, then die.

That is the half-shaft and what remains of a u-joint. Yes, there is a clip on the inside that holds the bearing cup in. Hard to see, it's probably covered in grease and grime. Yours must have popped off probably because someone previous did not get it all the way on. They can be tough to get in the groove. The bearing cup can't come out if the clip is in. Here is a link I found in the past with pictures, and more advice on changing them. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27855&highlight=u-joint

You are trying to sell parts in the Parts Wanted area....

Sounds like you don't have the boot hooked up yet, re ComicArtists' suggestion. So you're running the motor's exhaust through the turbo but without the inlet hooked up so no boost, just spinning things to see if everything works? If the AFM boot is not connected to the turbo inlet, what is it connected to? And what is the turbo intake connected to, both sides? Is it just blowing air? Are you basically running an N/A motor through a turbo exhaust? I'm not a turbo guy (could be eventually) but this sounds interesting...

No offense intended, but you should really browse through the Engine Fuel section of the Service Manual. It is easy reading and very informative. The AFM is just one input of many to the ECU that determines how long to leave the injectors open, to supply the proper amount of fuel to the engine. The AFM flap is suppoed to be "moved" by the air that flows by it, not vice versa. When you moved the AFM flap by hand, the ECU supplied more fuel to the motor, because the AFM signal was showing that the throttle was opening.

5 years is a long time. You didn't mention anything about using new gas or cleaning out the old in your first post. Old gas does not burn like new gas, plus old gas in the carbs can cause problems, gumming things up over time and as it evaporates away.