78 stock L28 has issues while running

[gearmiester]

Alright, been a while since I have been here so I took some time to review the last 25 pages of posts for an idea before posting.

 

I have a 78 280Z with the L28. the only mods that have been done are removing the sock air intake for a Cold Air intake with open air filter. Replaced the exhaust from the manifold back, no cat, high flow muffler.

 

Issue: every so often the car just dies wile driving down the road. when it does this i smell fuel as if the car was flooded. It will not start again without sitting for about 10 - 15 min.

 

Issue: when issue 1 is not bothering me then then this one pops up. It does not matter how much I drive the car, once it is warmed up and shut off it has a problem starting up again. ie the engine runs very rough, idle wont kick up, but if i rev the engine up intermittently for a few minutes it will smooth out and be fine.

 

Issue: sometimes issue two repeats itself from a cold start.

 

with all issues there is always that strong fuel smell.

 

I have read the service manual and the only thing I can think of would be a bad EGR valve. I have a new one but have not replaced it yet. (this weekend) but I wanted to share if there are some other things I should be checking as well.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

BTW these issues have been with me since I purchased the car and before I did the few mods listed above.

Edited June 7, 2013 by gearmiester

[stravi757]

First You need to download the FSM and read through it to understand each sensor on your car and how they function. DO NOT SKIP THIS PART ITS EASY

 

Your first problem with the car randomly dying on the road sounds like either you have a bad coil or ignitor. Next time it happens, pop your hood and pull the wire going to the distributor from the coil. Place the wire going from the coil next to metal and crank the engine and see if its getting spark.

 

Your problem on startups when hot could be from heat soak in the fuel rail.

 

your issue from cold starts could be many things, starting with the FSM would be the way to go.

[zohanisback]

We had a post not too long ago on either here or classic z about a guy with a similar problem. I second Stravi's idea about heat soak. You can get vapor lock in fuel lines from too much heat. It deals a pretty big blow to engine performance when this happens.

 

HOWEVER, I actually would suspect a problem with the fuel pressure regulator. It's one of the few parts on the car that can cause every symptom you are having if it goes out. Are your tail pipes pretty black inside? A bad regulator sends excess fuel into the car's engine, which makes it run richer. Also makes starting hard sometimes, too (both hot and cold).