280zx and i are going through harsh times. help

[Guest Jiggy_g]

First of all i love my Z, its just recently everything is getting screwed up on it... It was running pristine until i took a roadtrip to arizona from new mexico in it. It was late at night and dark while i was traveling the highway when i hit a tire off of a semi going 80 mph. needless to say it did some pretty harsh damage. Right after i hit it i could here a loud tapping grinding noise. We immediately pulled over. We thought we were going to be stranded in Arizona, but my Z is a trooper and somehow managed to get us all the way back to new mexico right before my alternator went out. On the journey back the tapping horrible noise contenued. I think it bent the driveshaft, because the noise is coming from under the drivers seat. At least thats what my cousin told me. Because for it to make the noise the car has to be moving. and the faster i go the faster it will make the tapping grinding noise. i think its a pretty serious problem, and i know i need to get it fixed. anybody have any idea what got messed up? appreciate it

[Guest Mike]

U-joint?

[tannji]

Have you actually gotten under the car to take a look? Dont want to get your hopes up, but perhaps something got bent and is rubbing against the drive shaft or other spinning part.

[Pop N Wood]

Have you actually gotten under the car to take a look? Dont want to get your hopes up, but perhaps something got bent and is rubbing against the drive shaft or other spinning part.

 

second that

[Warren]

On a ZX, there is a shield mounted between the exhaust system (catalytic converter heat shield) and the driveshaft. Perhaps you just bent that up into the u-joint, or there is part of the alligator stuck on top of it. It removes with 6 10mm bolts (they have phillips heads cut into them too). I have to go with everybody else on this one, debris stuck somewhere. It's pretty hard to mess up a U-joint in the driveshaft considering where they are in relation to everything else under there. Jack it up and check it out.

 

Warren

[v8wannabe2]

My 76 280z has a bell shaped piece of metal at the end of the driveshaft that slips into the transmission. It got "out of round" and my car made a clanging noise till I got it fixed. You really need to get under the car and look around.

[Guest Jiggy_g]

i also have my mind set that my driveshaft is just bent and rubbing on something, i have gotten under it but didn't see anything wrong. Mainly because for it to make the noise it has to be rolling. and i dont want to be under the car while its rolling lol... Also, something funny that happened to me recently- When my alternator finally gave out thank god i was close to my grandmas house. I bearly got it in the driveway when it died, but i had parked it on the opposite side than where we usually park our cars. We have a sorta long driveway, being able to fit about 8-10 cars. Well my grandma was leaving the house and i she ramrodded my 280zx with her ford taurus in reverse. lol. it pushed my bumper back to where i couldnt even open the hood anymore. you can see that she hit it pretty hard as the right fender had barely started to buckle. it made me laugh so hard because she was trying to say she barely even tapped it. but she had a big blue streak on the back of her car, and my hood was no longer functional. haha. we just ended up taking the big ugly front bumper off and mounting the turn signals in the grill, so it looks pretty good i think. anyways i appreciate the help with my z. Thanks

[Guest Jiggy_g]

alright, i finally had the car running perfectly. I had the electrical problem all worked out and performing as it should. I got under the car and founf that my driveshaft was infact rubbing on a metal guard plate between the shaft and the exhaust. The tire from the blowout must of just crammed it up in there. Anyways, so i was finally happy with my car and i decided to wash it. I washed the engine compartment also. But after i detailed it, i went to move it out of the driveway and it starts with another problem. It wouldn't rev over 2,500 rpms. It will run fine with perfect power till i hit that specific rpm then it feels like it loses complete power and throws me forward in my seat. after this happenes the rpms lower. and then it kicks back in after a 1-2 second break. i replaced my fuel filter, which was a no go because its still happening. O and also, it doesn't do it ALL the time. like when i go out maybe in the morning it will rev smoothly to 4,000 rpms. Ill start heading to work and it will start choking up at a certain rpm and doing its thing. I'm getting extremely pissed at this car, because it seems like i fix something and something else will go wrong. ♥♥♥♥! I might just take it to a mechanic and have him check it out and deal with it, cuz im tired of it

[Warren]

Awe, come on Jiggy, all you need to do is dry out the electrical connectors on the engines accessories, like the AFM, the injectors, the throttle posistion sensor, etc. Do this one at a time and make sure they are clean and dry. A little squirt with some contact cleaner, then a dab of dielectric grease on each connector, removed and replaced individually, and your problem will be solved. Next time, DON'T WASH THE MOTOR!!! 45 minutes and you're done.

 

Warren

 

(Hey, I was right about the catalytic converter shield, give it a try, save a bundle)

[COZY Z COLE]

As Warren said water gets in around the throttle position switch and causes the same problem that you have.

 

http://www.automedic.org/smzcc/tech_tips.htm#switch

 

 

 

LARRY

[Cody 82 ZXT]

I third the notion of the throttle position switch. You must cover the TPS and dist. before washing the motor.

[Guest Jiggy_g]

man you guys are good. every problem ive had has been answered by you guys. turns out it was the throttle position switch (good job guys) and it had gotten water in it like all of us had suspected. the water ruined it so i couldn't blow the water out or anything but i ended up just replacing the whole unit. car is running awesome