Guest xbangu Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 This is what happen, my car only get around 10mpg.. therefore to try to improve the milage.. I add a bottle of "zMAX" http://www.zmax.com/ ( as seen on TV) to my full tank. After driving for about 1 miles, my car die and I can't start it back up again. Before it die, I made a hard turn at 30 m/h and when the turn is finished the car start dying. I open the hood and found that one side of the knock sensor is broke off, and to my suprise one of the spark plug wire was not connected. I plug the spark plug wire back, and the knock sensor.. but still doesn't start. I check my fuel line and it getting fuel. The car cracks but won't start!! Please help, I'll try anything to get it running again or else I will be stranded in O.C and I don't live here I am from S.D. THANKS A MILLION!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my car is a '73 with L28ET Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas hammer Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 does the car have spark? how about air? last on list timing? knock senser means to me it fuel injected how about fuel pressure it there enough? these are the basics its a good start Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 To the best of my memory the ZXTs did not have a knock sensor. BTW, you need fuel, compression and spark....check all those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tony78_280z Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 I had this mysterious hard turn die syndrome once before. Is you battery fastend tightly? And are both cables secure? I wipped around a corner and grounded out the battery killing the motor. It kept happening for a few weeks before I found the cause. The lack of a spark plug wire was costing you gas millage. And, thinking about your poor milage situation I have to ask - Are you out of gas? What does "the car cracks" mean? Requrie more info to diagnose further. I got The $2.00 I got from TheNeedForZ's post Here on the fuel pump being fried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xbangu Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 Tony, I just refill my gas tank before it die on me, I try to start it again with a batt jumper. Instead of just cranking before, this time with the batt jumper it sputter a bit.. but still doesn't start. I guess you are right tony about my MPG.. due to the lacking of spark wire. I'll work on it some more tomorrow, maybe like you guys said.. it's not getting sparks.. my tankis full and it run before so I must have compression.. spark??? crack=crank thansk guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tony78_280z Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 I just refill my gas tank before it die on me, I Ok, let me rephrase that. "Did you run it out of gas?" If so you might have damaged a fragile part of the EFI, or the FUEL PUMP. try to start it again with a batt jumper. Instead of just cranking before, this time with the batt jumper it sputter a bit.. but still doesn't start. Sputter = spark, right? Sounds like not enough fuel to me! I'll work on it some more tomorrow, maybe like you guys said.. it's not getting sparks.. my tankis full and it run before so I must have compression.. spark???If it ran before, and then you blew a headgasket gunning it around a sharp turn then you may not have compression. crack=crankCrack? Crank? What exactly are you on? Just kidding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xbangu Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 Tony, I did ran out of gas a week ago and my car just die a few hour ago. I don't know if it spark or not, but it sputter for (1) second for every 3-4 second that it cranking.. sound light it trying to ignite the gas. (guessing) Blew a headgasket.. when the head gasket blew.. does it make any sound, becuase I din't hear anythign when it die out... quiet death for my for my car thansk Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tony78_280z Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 I did ran out of gas a week ago and my car just die a few hour ago. That is what I though! I don't know if it spark or not, but it sputter for (1) second for every 3-4 second that it cranking.. sound light it trying to ignite the gas. (guessing)It's got some spark then. Blew a headgasket.. when the head gasket blew.. does it make any sound, becuase I din't hear anythign when it die out... quiet death for my for my carIt is a quiet death, but relax.. I'm still betting on the fuel pump. Hopefully some more knowledgable guy will jump in here with a way to test the pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xbangu Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Ok, so this morning I got my car towed to the shop, 2 blocks for $45 ahhh...and let the shop run an engine check. Luck they didn't charge me $65 for the engine check, becuase they doesn't know what engine my car is. Instead they charged me about $33... and told me that the injectors are not getting power to open the injectors to spray the gas into the engine?? what a relieve! Now I can try to trouble shoot the injectors power.. Anyone know which particular wires to check for the injectors/ voltage??? I don't have any manual or wiring diagram for a 280ZX turbo engine. thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tony78_280z Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 I don't know much about fuel injection or turbos, so I'm gonna have to step down on this thread. I THINK the injectors are powered by the ECU. So I'd start there. Do yourself a favor and buy a haynes book. Your gonna need it. And they got wiring diagrams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savageskaterkid Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 this sounds like a problem i had once, turned out that the dizzy cap and rotor were bad, its a few dollar fix, plus-theres no harm done in getting a new one anyway, its cheap. If the mechanic didn't know wht kind of engine it was, then i wouldn't really put 100% of wht they said into consideration. First they say bad injector wires, wich is 90 bux to buy, then they do all this other stuff, then it turns out u have bad injectors, 220 to buy, then 1600 dollars later your car is out of the shop and it still runs like crap becuz ur FPR crapped out.........been there done that, i've gone threw a few FPRs. Wich brings me to my next thought-they said ur injectors rn't firing? well, reconnect all of the wiring to ur injectors, then take a screwdriver(flathead) and put it between the injector body and the wiring connecter on it, get a frend to crank the engine, put ur ear on the handle of the screwdriver, if u hear a clicking when the engine is cranked-then it works, move onto the next injector. I highly doubt that most of ur injector wiring crapped out at once, not all of them are bad-becuz, ur engine sputters, wich means it is getting gas to alteast one cylinder. Try this, this is a simple fix-it fixed my car once. Take a vice-grip plier, and clamp the return line, prime the fuel system, then turn the key, if it works, ur FPR is crapped out, there not that expensive to fix. This actually makes the most sence to me for ur problem, becuz if u crank it over and over, it will just drip gas into the cylinder(it won't spray)-wich could b y that it sputters for every few cranks-those few drops is enough to make it sputter? Does any of this make sence to anyone else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xbangu Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 This is what I heard from the shop this morning when I talkt o him.. I ask him how does he know my injectors are not getting power..and he said he have a tester and unplug the injectors wires and checking the his testing while cranking the engine. I don't have experience of knowledge of the injectors and hoping that someone i n here can help me out. The shop will NOT work on my car because it have a diff engine ( '82 L28ET) for my '73 Z. So I am out of luck... I know that the injectors in control/power by the ECU...but after the ECU does it go anywhere else before it get to the injectors? if so please tell me where to check at step-bystep... I appreciates very much I'll try your trick SSK to confirm that the injectors are not getting power later this afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifegrddude Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Check your plugs for fouling too, if they are soaked from too much gas they will have a hard time firing. Do they smell like gas or have a bunch of deposits on them? Try what is posted above though, it could be a fpr going out on you. Check your coil, just a thought, but it might not be providing enough power, and just in case, replace your fuel filter it could be clogged as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zguy95135 Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 You could have flooded it, if the spark plug wasnt attached then the fuel wouldn't burn and build up. Then the car might not start, so you would crank more which would make it flood more. Also could the timing be off? Maybe the distributor moved some and threw off the timing or the timing assembly on the cam could have somehow gotten loose and moved ??: . BTW I thought Z-Max wasn't sold in stores anymore, they were charging $40 for some colored mineral water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xbangu Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 I just tested all the injectors.. with a volt meter ( don't know if that consider a real test) There are (2) wire to the injector, red & green. Red is always hot (+12V) and green beleieve to be control by the ECU. This is what/how I did the test, I connect on side of the VM to +12 and the other to the green wire of the injector and try to start the car..out of 6 injectors (5) of them show respond with a reading on the VM of .25V->.35V (during cranking the engine) the other one doesn't show any reading on the VM. Now it lead me to believe that only (1) injector or should I say the one (green)wire to the injector is bad or open. The shoip tested only one ( and that the bad one) For power tot he spark, I haven't test taht yet.. cause can't do it by myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xbangu Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 Well, I try working on my car today.. with very little success. Test the sparks and there are sparks going it the engine...and gas too.. continuty test on all injectors and it good reading 2.7 ohm.. power going to the injectors (5) are good, except for one. Replaced known working ECU & AFM and re-do Knock wire. I took all my spark plugs out and the tips are all black with smell of gas.. therefore I clean them all out. Then I put them back on and try to start the car.. it sputter for 2-3 second the first time then only 1 second for every 3-4 second after that. I took out the spark plugs again and they smell gas and all wet at the tip.. dry them up again and install them back in. This time I unplugs all the injectors connectors and the car run( actually running and the sound of no more gas) for 2-3 second.. I try starting the car a few more time to make sure there are no more gas in there and again it (RUN) for 5-6 second until there is no more gas to burn. Now I feels comfortable and know the car is fine, it's just got too much gas inside. This time with the injectors plug back in.. it's just sputter for 1-2 second every 3-4 second... ( didn't not run) until it just plain cracking the engine without any sputter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savageskaterkid Posted April 3, 2005 Share Posted April 3, 2005 well, ur car is flooded, sounds like the old head-temp sensor....theres a really cheap way to fix it-i can't remember the method, u use a resistor of sum sort....anybody else know? Well, good thing u didn't get the mechanics to fix ur car, u would have brand new fuel injectors-$550 plus $200 to install....and your car would still have a wierd flooding problem, then they'd make u get a new head temp sensor-$75(?), i say u just rig it up with that resistor, search the forums-its on here sumwhere. If sumone has there FSM on hand, could u say wht the correct reading is.........then u buy that resistor, its a few cents, thats about it-put that in there instead of your cold start, and u'll b good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xbangu Posted April 7, 2005 Share Posted April 7, 2005 got me a fuel pressure test kit and did a test on my car.. while cranking the car it read between 35-40 psi which is what it suppose to be. Connected between the fuel filter and the line into the injectors. But still won't start.. checking the FPR and notice there an airline coming in.. so uplugs the airline and the car want to start and give you that sound that it's doesn't have enought air. I try it like 3 time tryign to start..and everytimes it give youthat same feeling liek there's no air and die. Plug the airline back it... having a bit trouble to start.. and then it started and RUN normally... right now just to make sure I let the car running for about 15 minutes now.. I'll take it for a test drive later. Does anyone have anyh good explaination why it die in the first place??? I run after I unplug and then plug in the airline that go into the fuel pressure regulator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savageskaterkid Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 hmmmm, idk y it did that, but i know for a fact, that most of the time when i unplug that line it runs much smoother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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