skiboatm Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 So to make a long story short... I'm in the process of stripping my 280zx to prepare it for the LT1 that will ultimately go in it. I took the hood hents off one day to put the new MSA NACA ducts in, but didn't have time to before dark, so I pulled it out of the garage and parked it on the street as I always do. The motor was running fine at the time. Overnight it rained like a mamba-jamba, and the next morning it sounded like someone had rearranged the spark plug wires. The belts were squeaky (as is to be expected at a rain storm and perpertual 90% humidity), and the motor was misfiring and hesitating pretty bad. I drove it to work though, thinking it would resolve itself, but the performance just got worse over the course of the day. This car is a non turbo, and I just installed new injectors in it a few weeks ago. Since then (until this issue) it was running like a dream. I figured it had to be either fuel, air, or spark, so I took the MAF out and cleaned it. I checked the spark plugs, and they looked golden brown, but a little bit of what looks like scoring on the OUTSIDE (aka where the wires attach) of the plug, which I thought was weird. I put a clear fram G3 filter in place of the standard filter to see if there was a ton of crap in the fuel, and it appears that (SURPRISE) I have a bit of a rusty tank, but it seems that the pressure and everything is running good. Any ideas what to check next? When I got the car 6-7 months ago I had to replace the ignition module, so that should be good I thought, but when I went to work on it yesterday, i got shocked touching the wire going to the ignition module on the the distributor. Could this be the issue, and if so, what is the ACTUAL issue? Thanks in advance... sorry, I tend to ramble Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skiboatm Posted July 27, 2011 Author Share Posted July 27, 2011 Sorry about the double post! Moderator, please delete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neotech84 Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Moisture under the dizzy? Very common problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhm Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Definitely check the distributor. Best technique I've found to dry it out is pop off the cover and blow out the insides w/ compressed air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigenOut-S30 Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 When I had the stock ECU in my Z and it rained. It would never fail that I had to re-seat the ECU. Just had to unplug and plug it back in. Somehow the moisture gave it a dead seat. Also check your grounds. The moisture in the Dizzy is also very common like the others said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Sounds like bad/leaky ignition wires. If the engine runs well now, take a windex type spray bottle, and spray the wires,cap, and plugs while the engine is running. Watch for/listen for the the sparking/arcing/misfiring/farting etc. Works everytime. The engine should not falter at all when sprayed with water,.....Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skiboatm Posted July 29, 2011 Author Share Posted July 29, 2011 I appreciate the feedback guys. I'll do this this afternoon and get back to you. I can't thank you enough. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skiboatm Posted August 6, 2011 Author Share Posted August 6, 2011 Sorry for the slow response, been super busy putting a lift kit on my Subaru So, I've done everything here. Plugs and wires look good, reseated the plug on the ECU, replaced the coolant temp sensor... idles and runs BETTER but still missing under power. Had trouble making it up the hill out of my neighborhood. Could the timing have gone off so bad it's only running on a few cylinders or something?? I can see the gas fumes pour out the back when I hit the gas... Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 (edited) Did you water test the ignition system ?? Edited August 7, 2011 by jasper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beermanpete Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Did you remove the distributor cap and look for water/moisture in the distributor? I got some water in the distributor of one my cars years ago while washing it. It ran fine for a few minutes until the water started condensing on the inside top of the distributor cap. The water caused the car to run badly, like the plug wires were in the wrong order. I left the cap off for while to let it dry. After a few hours it was fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt K Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Try taking off the TPS & cleaning it...that & the AFM are also prone to these issues when exposed to moisture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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