Troubleshooting

[tfreer85]

Okay, some fun stuff.

CAR: 78 280Z Bone Stock

PROBLEM: Won't stay running

CONDITIONS: Car has sat for several years. Charged the battery (looks fairly new). The engine will turn over but will not start or even stay running if it does. I've just replaced the spark plugs, and the MAF sensor. When it does run it runs so rich it smells of pure gasoline while pumping tons of black smoke out of the exhaust. All of the vaccum ligns seem okay, going to do some reading in some books tonight see if its any help. Any suggestions on what you guys think. I've heard the FI on these very PMS-ee.

Thanks a lot,

Tyson

 

Moderators want to move to troubleshooting section??

[Guest bastaad525]

Though this probably wont solve the problem, it would be a VERY good idea to invest $10 and 20 minutes, get yourself a can of Brake Parts Cleaner spray, and a tube of dielectric grease (can be found in electronics parts supply store). Disconnect every connection on your wiring harness one by one, ECU, AFM, sensors, injectors. Clean them with the spray, and then after they dry, liberally apply the grease to the connector and reconnect.

 

With a Z that has sat a long time, you can almost be guaranteed to have some corrosion on your EFI connections. This corrosion can create all kinds of havoc causing the car to run like crap. Again, I don't THINK this will solve your specific problem, but it is a great place to start that will get you a 'clean slate' so to speak.

 

Unfortunately, lots of components in the system affect the fuel mixture... a bad AFM, dirty injectors, bad TPS, bad FPR, bad temp sensor... it might be a long process figuring out which component is the one causing your problem. Since it's SO severe, I'm inclined to suspect the AFM but you say you already replaced that.... most of the other components in the EFI system can't affect the fuel mixture THAT much to where the car is running so super rich.

 

 

And yes, Z EFI can be very buggy