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LS1 / T56 Update #47


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Coolant leaks are fixed.

OBDII connector and engine warning light wired in.

HID headlights installed and working but passenger side high beam quit.  Told the mechanic to cycle the high/low beam switch about 15 times.  I've had issues there in the past that multiple cycling of the switch cured.

Voltmeter still erratic but alternator working fine so am going to run a while as is to see if it self heals.  It wouldn't be the first time I had an electrical gremlin in this car fix itself.

DRL's are on hold because of the work involved to do them at this point.

Adjustable proportioning valve is on hold at this point unless they can guarantee me to be done by close of business Tuesday.

I have some brake work that will need to be done in the near future so I'll get it then.

LED lights are fabulous.  They are bright and work great except the turn signals that will need a new flasher.  Interestingly the hazard flasher works fine with them.

Clock works and new dash lights combined with the white faced gauges give excellent visibility at night now.

Looking forward to getting the car back and taking it to the Datsuns NW swap meeting Canby, OR next weekend.

 

If the engine isn't running and voltage is a little low, quite often ONE side of the HIDs will not work.

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Turns out it was the high/low switch.  Cycled it a bunch of times and everything is good with the HID's now.  

Still trying to track down an electronic flasher switch for the car as the original 38 year old one has evidently given up.

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Turns out it was the high/low switch.  Cycled it a bunch of times and everything is good with the HID's now.  

Still trying to track down an electronic flasher switch for the car as the original 38 year old one has evidently given up.

That sucks. I've run into a few bad headlight/ts switch assemblies. Theres a guy that rebuilds them for a reasonable price I'm pretty sure. I recently got lucky and picked up a mint 78 280z steering assembly and swapped the entire ignition/HL/Tss switch over from it. But before that, I went through 2 factory 240z HL switches.

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Because of where I've lived and that 95% of my driving was daytime driving I VERY seldom use high beams.  As a result my high beam contacts tend to oxidize from lack of use.  I figured that out 15-20 years ago when the high beams didn't come on and I got frustrated and did a "Take that!" and cycled them a bunch of times only to find out that they started working when I did that - every time.  It really sucks though, if I'm bombing along a dark country road at night and go for high beams only to get total darkness.  Heart in throat moment, back to low beams, and then a multi-cycle to get them going again. :-)

I've driven this car for so long that I've learned to not get concerned about electrical gremlins right away.  Over half the time if I just ignore them and use the systems normally they'll go away. That's why I'm not overly concerned about the intermittent voltmeter gauge at this point.  I had an oil pressure gauge that did the same thing for about 2 years before the sender, which was causing the problem, finally failed.  Same thing with the gas gauge but that time it was the gauge and not the sender.  

So - anyone know where to get an electronic flasher unit for LED lights that plugs into a 7/77 production date 280Z?  A Mfg & model # would be great too.

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Well crap. I had no idea that the turn signal flasher would turn into such an issue.  Basically my stock one is toast.  It just gave up after 38 years and 240,000 miles of driving.  I would really like an electronic one to ensure compatibility with me LED turn signals but it's turning into a nightmare and I'd settle for a new stock one if I could find one.  They told me that my flasher is a 3-prong  and the ones I've seen out there that are supposedly for my car are either 2-prong or 2-prong with a grounding wire.    Once I went to the shop I find out it's actually a 2-prong flasher so maybe there's hope but neither Motorsport Auto or Zsource have them in stock. Can't even go with resistors in the lighting circuit because of the bad flasher.

One thread recommended using the Ef-32 electronic flasher but iI'm a little leary at this point. 

I checked the EF32 out and it clearly stated that it was not for use with LED lights which I now have.  HOWEVER - the EF32RL which also has a ground wire is compatible with LED lights and I found a couple spots that indicate that it will work with the 280Z.

Any one with experience here? Suggestions?

Edited by Phantom
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So, I brought the car home yesterday and almost freaked on the way home.  Voltmeter was jumping all over the place, oil pressure was almost 0, temp gauge was a bit high, and the tach quit working. Then, on top of the fact that I knew I had an issue with my turn signal flasher the passenger side HID light doesn't work on high beam, the front sequential turn signals flasher from outboard to inboard instead of inside to outside, and all my side markers were on backwards.

Calmed down a bit this morning as the oil pressure gauge was back to normal operating and  the tach was work working fine.  The car had been left out in the sun on a 105 degree day with the windows rolled up so I think my electronics were just plain too hot.  The turn signal sequential direction and the side marker lights are easy fixes and a turn signal flasher is supposed to be here Thursday that should have them operating. Still have the issue with the voltmeter jumping around and the high beams.  I noticed the voltmeter like to jump each time I hit a bump (other times to) so I may have a connector contact issue which would be an easy fix.  Otherwise, I've contacted APT to see if it is something they can repair.

Here are a couple short preliminary videos of the lights.

 

 

IMG_4982.MOV

IMG_4981.MOV

Edited by Phantom
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Got a couple things resolved today. First got all the leftover parts out of the car and somewhat properly stored.

Reversed all the side marker lights so they are properly set now.

Checked the front turn signals and the one marked L is on the drivers side and the one marked R is on the passenger side. Since I verified they were installed correctly I emailed Samuel at ZLEDslights and asked for suggestions as to how to reverse the direction of the sequencing.

Also contacted Dapper Lighting about the passenger side high beam issue. They think it's the diode. I'll check it out tomorrow.

At this point still waiting to hear back fromSamuel and also APT about the voltmeter.

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Pretty good day today.  Disassembled the front turn signals and flipped the LED panels.  They now sequence flash from inside out.  Learning curve for Samuel at ZLEDslights. :-)

The EF-32RL electronic flasher with ground wire arrived via UPS today.  Once installed the turn signals now work fine AND sequence from inside out. :-)

Tried reversing the diode on the passenger side and then had neither high nor low beam.  Removed the diode and had low beam but no high beam.  Contacted Dapper Lighting and they are sending me several diodes to confirm if that is the problem or not.  In the meantime the low beams are great for around town and general highway driving.

Attached are several photos and a couple videos of the lights.

HID Headlights

post-263-0-54957100-1434059245_thumb.jpg

 

LED Taillights

post-263-0-13330200-1434059320_thumb.jpg

 

RearLED side marker light

post-263-0-14302800-1434059392_thumb.jpg

 

Front LED side marker light

post-263-0-90106500-1434059640_thumb.jpg

 

White faced gauges with new, higher wattage, dash bulbs - and a working clock.

post-263-0-29437100-1434059473_thumb.jpg

 

LED turn signals in action

http://vid321.photobucket.com/albums/nn390/BuckskinRanch/280Z28/IMG_4993.mp4

 

http://vid321.photobucket.com/albums/nn390/BuckskinRanch/280Z28/IMG_4992.mp4

Edited by Phantom
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My biggest concern about the LED conversion was that it be brighter than the stock lights.  I was having visibility issues with them during the day.  Actually had a state trooper pull me over because he didn't see the turn signal working.  That is definitely fixed.

The other issue was visibility at night.  The headlights were also week and the dash lights were so dim I could barely see the speedo and tach.  The white faced gages and higher wattage bulbs fixed the dash and it looks like the HID's are the answer for the headlights.

Still have a lot of work to dot get the car back to it's 2005 glory.  Don't even want to think about how much that is going to cost me.  Anyone need any plastic manufacturing equipment? :-) I need some more commissions!

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Well, turns out it wasn't the hi/low switch after all with the passenger side hi beam not working. When hi beam is selected there is a "click" on the drivers side but not on the passenger side.  Basically that means that the power to actuate the hi beam solenoid is not getting there.  Now it's time to remove the wheel, remove the fender liner, remove all the electrical tape that is on the wiring and check each connection and check voltage at each connection.

Some partially good news is that I need to pull a wheel anyway to get the model/serial number off the Willwood calipers so that I can order new pads when I get new rotors. I'm trying to determine if I can use a Spec 37 rotor in place of the Ultralight rotor.  It is more expensive but also is much more durable and comes machined true where the Ultralights don't.  Last time I put the Ultralights on I had to have both of them turned on the car to true them up and eliminate a lot of vibration whenever I used them.

I think while I'm in there I'll also extend the wiring for the DRL's so that they can be easily hooked up in the future.

Found out on the front turn signals that it has white LED's and Amber LED's.  The white LED's are basically the parking light function and the amber LED's are the sequential turn signal part.  That also would allow someone to use a clear turn signal sense if they were so inclined.

Samuel has been really good about the one non-working LED.  I was able to confirm that it worked in his Youtube video of the lights but then it wasn't when it got to me.  He is actually bugging me to get them back to him ASAP so he can fix it.  It's driving season, though, so he's going to have to wait a bit.

Edited by Phantom
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  • 2 months later...

Turns out it was the differences between the way 240Z headlights are wired and 280Z headlights.  Once I redid the wiring to the headlight plugs to conform to the FSM and replaced both headlight fuses that I blew in the process of figuring things out the headlights now work fine.

At the same time I upgraded the front brakes from Wilwood Ultralight rotors to Wilwood Spec 37 GT rotors and some new BP-20 pads.  Front brakes are much better now.

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