NewZed

Trip odometer reset cable?

It sounds like your regulator is fine. The fact that it is about 36 without the vacuum line and in the high 20s with it indicates that it is working correctly. The vacuum line is designed to reduce fuel pressure at high manifold vacuum (low manifold pressure). That's why it is there. My car sits at about 26 psi, warmed up and at idle, with the vacuum hose connected. The procedure in the FSM has you test the FPR and pump with the engine not running. 36.3 psi means good pump and FPR. If the quick leak down bothers you, that's a different issue but shouldn't affect the engine's performance. It could also involve the fuel pump (the other end of the pressurized fuel line). It's not a big deal though. My car leaks down occasionally but not often. A couple of extra cranks to get it started is all it causes.

To be clear, the diagrams are in the manuals themselves. Usually there is a small diagram for each topic, plus the full car diagram in the back. Here is another link I just remembered, to a full color 1976 wiring diagram. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36494 . I am pretty sure that I have seen a similar 1977 diagram out there, but I'm not sure where. Maybe also at classiczcar.

The wiring diagrams for each year are here - http://www.xenons30.com/reference.html . Plus a list the engine components, a description of how they work, and how to test them. I have not changed any harnesses, but I have spent a lot of time looking at the manuals, and they are very detailed. Even if the harnesses are not the same, you can probably figure out a work-around. I would work with the 76 manual first, it is broken up in to folders by chapter, to make it easier to figure out what pages you need in the 77 manual. You might also post a question over at classiczcars.com, where the focus is more on working with original equipment. Hybridz is for those people modifying for higher performance.

It looks like you have two separate issues. Maybe the clicking, now unnecessary, fuel pump relay has nothing to do with your alternator not charging. If you disconnect the relay and you're still not charging, at least you can move on to other potential causes. Bad alternator, missing Lamp connection, etc. Of course, you're using the alternator that came with the L28et, not the one from the old engine. Just trying to give another perspective...

The size of the clutch/flywheel is not pertinent to the transmission used. You could leave your existing clutch on the car and just swap transmissions, if your current clutch is in good shape. The part that might (does, in your case I believe) change with the newer transmission is the throwout bearing collar, which determines the angle of the clutch fork. As I understand things, you should get the collar/throwout bearing that was used with the 81 tranny. By the way, there are probably over a thousand posts on transmission swaps on this and other forums. I'm sure you'll find many more detailed explanations of how to get this done. You should check your gear ratios too. You're getting a higher first gear ratio will make the car harder to get going from a stop. Could be an issue for a city car (lots of stop and go) or if you live in a hilly area.

I only dug in to this area once, when I switched my car to an internal regulator alternator, so my memory may be faulty. But I think that alternators with N and F terminals are externally regulated. Internally regulated alternators have L and S terminals. That might be why you're getting few responses. When you say N and F are you talking about the terminals on the alternator or the wires from the harness? If you have a new harness for an old car, you will probably need to use one of the conversion methods or a conversion kit from zsondabrain over at classiczcars.com or MSA. It sounds like your harness is designed for an external regulator, so will need to be converted. Maybe they should rename the kit the "Kind of EZ wire kit"....

My mistake, I was confusing shafts with half-shafts with axles with CV joints, etc...

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.