Guest Anonymous Posted April 23, 2001 Share Posted April 23, 2001 I'm driving a bone stock '77 280Z with the original I-6. The other day driving away from the BMV (new title, just bought it, ya!) the engine just died on me after turning a corner!! This is after 2400 miles of driving back from CA with no problems. I couldn't re-start the engine (cranked fine) and had to have it towed back to storage. No leaks or visible signs of wire damage. About a week later, I went out to see the car and made a few basic checks: fuel pump audible when key turned to crank (with s term. disconnected on starter). Next, I pulled a plug wire and checked for a spark - got it. So I tried to start the engine and it started right up!!! !@#$!%$# I have no clue as to what could have caused the engine to die, but I could not re-create the problem last night when I tried to duplicate the driving pattern to/from the BMV. I know this is kind of a wild question, but has anyone had this same experience with a stocker? Wondering if there is a "common" problem like this with Z's. I have the factory serv. manual and am planning to run the full gammet of tests if/when the problem re-occurs, but was wondering what you guys think. The car has 219,000 mi. Thanks, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted April 23, 2001 Share Posted April 23, 2001 Did the car hesitate before it stalled? I had a similar problem, clogged fuel filter it turned out to be. Very sporatic problem. If you have any type of hesitation when you floor it, I'd be looking at fuel first. ------------------ "Nothing is fool proof to a sufficiently talented fool." Richard Lewis - 1972 240z, Powered by a Nissan 2.8L Turbo Inline 6. Drax240's Turbo Site Beginners Turbo FAQ & Answers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tim78zt Posted April 23, 2001 Share Posted April 23, 2001 Boy, have I had this problem!! On my 78 it was the fuel injection relay (located right in front of the battery clipped to the side of that black cover. there are 2 sets of wires. To test this source, the next time it dies on you get out, pop the hood and wiggle those wires. Then try to restart it. It is a vibration problem and there is probably a short there at the link. In mine it was like you reached over and turned the ignition off. Very scary at 70mph on the highway!! The fix for me was replace the entire ignition/fuel system with Accel DFI. The problem mysteriously went away!! For you, the answer may be to replace those 2 fusible links. Good luck!! Tim78zt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fast Frog Posted April 23, 2001 Share Posted April 23, 2001 AHhhh: The FI relay for the 75-77Z is located under the driver's side dash right above the hood release handle. Thanks for informing us where the 78Z FI relay is located-I've got a 78 and knew that it wasn't located where the 75-77s have it, but I didn't know where it was located! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Shasteen Posted April 23, 2001 Share Posted April 23, 2001 My Z is a bone stock 78/2+2 w/4spd. My car did the exact same thing about two months ago. As I was pulling out of a store parking lot after the car had sat for about 15 minutes...it just died! Engine would crank extremely well/turned over strong but just wouldnt start. Had plenty of spark; however, on mine-the fuel pump was not running w/the key on. This forum gave me the idea of running a jumper wire to the pump from another battery, on the gournd by your side, after jacking it up/with jack stands, I did that & the pump began working immediately. After that I knew it had to be one of the relays. On a 78 & I'ld assume a 77 has the same three relays (obviously located in a different area); but, my 78 manual indicates 3 relays: 1)Fuel Pump Relay, Fuel Pump Controller Relay 3)Fuel Injection Harness Relay. My problem turned out to be the Fuel Pump Relay. If you have your Datsun Service Manual. Locate the section on how to test your relays. My Fuel Pump Relay wouldnt act up the first "THREE" times I tested it! I was about to start getting Frustrated! By accident-when I was testing the Fuel Pump Relay for the 4th time I accidently touched my jumper wires to the incorrect relay prongs creating a "Short" for a tenth of a second (I later figured this also acted like a 'load' on the relay) once that happened the relay went dead. and wouldnt indicate any life until it cooled off. Got another Fuel Pump Relay; installed it/turned the key & The Car Started Immediately! I guess my point to this long story is even while testing the fuel pump relay as the Datsun Manual indicated wont confirm your relay is bad until you put a load on it. As I tested the realy-simply putting Electricity "THRU" it-the relay operated fine. After putting a "LOAD" on it by accidently shorting (grounding) the realy-did it act up. Have fun/dont get too frustrated even tho wiring gremlins are frustrating as heck! BTW: when I had my 73Z back many years ago-I had fuel filter prob's w/it; however, the difference from the filter problem & the fuel pump relay problem were night/day. The filter problem didnt stall the car to the point the car wouldnt idle-it only created a hesitation/loss of severe power...but the car would always restart immediately and ran fine at low rpms upto 2nd gear. Unlike the relay problem-when the car died...it was dead & almost w/out warning. It wasnt until after the relay on my 78 went bad I began retracing my last months driving only to remember a few moments when the engine was cold that it noticeably hesitated upon acceleration from 2nd to 3rd gear; I just chalked it up to a cold engine. Later it made sense that the relay was on its way out & those cold eng/hesitations were indicative symptoms of the relay about to fail. Kevin, (Yes,Still an Inliner) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 23, 2001 Share Posted April 23, 2001 Well this is pretty awesome. I haven't even worked on the car yet and you guys have already diagnosed the problem! (I hope). I'll be sure to either grab another OEM relay, a cheaper relay, or some jumper wires, and possibly another fuel filter this weekend. Of course, my long term fix will be rebuilding and dropping in the LT1 I bought two years ago!!! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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