Guest comeandzpa Posted July 17, 2002 Share Posted July 17, 2002 My 1981 280ZX N/A has been running poorly lately...... My gas milage is WAY down (maybe around 12/gal). There has always been a hint of an odor to the car, but nothing unnatural for a 21 year old car; lately, however, the smell has been so strong that I can smell my car for about 3 minutes after it has been shut off. It has also been giving me a bit of trouble starting; it starts on the 1st turn, but it now takes a long time to start whereas it used to start right up. I've been thinking about replacing spark plugs/wires, and I need a new exhaust system soon....does anybody know anything about the MSA 4 tip system? So, is my car just running to much fuel in the air:fuel ratio? If not, what might be wrong? Is there an easy fix, or am I going to need to find a better job? Thanks for your help. Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0N Posted July 17, 2002 Share Posted July 17, 2002 Defiantly running rich. Usually a bad o2 sensor. Do a major tune up and make sure your timing is set correctly. Make sure to change the o2 sensor I'm sure it's bad but test it first. This will be a good starting point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockjaw Posted July 17, 2002 Share Posted July 17, 2002 Make sure the head temp sensor on the drivers side is connected. You may need to disconnect it and clean with brake clean and reconnect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greimann Posted July 17, 2002 Share Posted July 17, 2002 Check the throttle position sensor. When I had the L6, I had the same mileage problem. The TPS was malfunctioning and was esentially telling the computer that it was at WOT all of the time. There is a procedure for checking it in the Haynes manual. You sometimes can fix them by opening it up and cleaning / adjusting the contacts. You mention an odor. What kind of odor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest comeandzpa Posted July 17, 2002 Share Posted July 17, 2002 The odor is just an exhaust odor, but it seems to have gotten stronger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 I gotta second the advice about the head temperature sensor. That is a MAJOR feedback component on the 81's. I think it actually has more to do with the A/F mixture than the O2 sensor. If there is too much resistance in the contacts, or they come off altogether, the motor thinks it's trying to cold start in antarctica or something, even when you're running down the freeway at 80 in the summertime in Texas. Or at least that's what happened to me. Fouled out a set of spark plugs in about 5 minutes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAW Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 I think the O2 sensor gets into the circuit after warm up but check the temp sensor and TPS and the fuel pressure regulator diaphram. You may just be smelling SO2 from the convertor if the above sensors are bad and its dumping raw gas into the exhaust system. Is your convertor plugged up? DAW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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