midnight-z Posted April 29, 2008 Share Posted April 29, 2008 I got the car to run and work after the fuselinks problem I decided to change the potential problem chaped worn air/alter belts The car sat for 10 days with out runing Valuecrap battery went bad After arguing with my dad that a battery 1/3 the size of the Z batt. was a bad idea:icon56: I was sent to take my grandma to the store my dad checked the belts and put a Civic batt on I arrived home and my dad starts the car I told him to stop and 30sec later smoke came fromthe passenger foot well and a flash from the fuse blowing the all guages died I told him to wait one more day to get the new batt. I went to my bros for $40 and got a new Valuecrap battery the car & gauges ran smooth i replaced 10 Amp fuel gauge calb fuse the guage needles started working but the all guage lights fried to hell 3 days later the battery seems to get a 1 volt charge after driving& keeps getting lower to 8 volts it seems not to charge properly also fuel gauge calbarator fuse the 4th fuse left side going up^ every fuse I put in keeps blowing now so I tried a bigger amp and the gauge & all needles started moving 10 sec later it blew I think its the voltage regulator I heard its like a switch that flips over and has to be ajusted to allow proper flow of voltage or somthing. here are the facts Now my dad has to use his tax refund to replace the bad parts:twisted: The batt is good but does not get enough charge & is in the 9-11's volt Happend after runing with a battery 1/3 size of the Z battery The 10 Amp fuel gauge calb fuse keeps blowing I ran out of fuses only the speedo & dash map light function also secondary dome light in between sun roof works its wierd head & tail lights& signals work fuse links okay belts tight I say it 50/50 alternator or voltage I will get the alternator checked soon. Does anyone have an idea what it could be or have any experaiance with weird electrical issues I want to get this problem fixed before I install h4 light conversion/blakdragon light harness:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleaf Posted April 29, 2008 Share Posted April 29, 2008 Well thats hard to read but, sounds like you have a short to ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight-z Posted April 29, 2008 Author Share Posted April 29, 2008 can a short drain a battery it doesn't seem to charge more than 11.5 volts the batt. is a 10v right now won't start The looking at datsun trouble shoot for battery charging - alternator voltage regulator the blowing 10a fuse fuel gauge calbourator on my 76' 280z- I came up with- fualty ign.relay voltage regulator missing ground? My theroy is that the alternator got over worked and igniton wires by the fuse box harnesses burnt out I'm not good with electric stuff I don't mess with it I only change light bulbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight-z Posted May 1, 2008 Author Share Posted May 1, 2008 I will get a new volt reg. from napa for 15$ the batt. volt is at 10 the car won't start I wont try to start it anymore until i get the new regulator I think these are two seprate problems regulator and a short of a relay I just learned how to read diagrams and the horse shoes on volt meters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrism Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 Sorry, I had to laugh when I read this post. I’m not sure what the problem is but just hang in there. The Multi meter is a good tool to find shorts. Get a book on basic car electronics. That helped me alot. That horse shoe is the Ohm symbol. Omega. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight-z Posted May 2, 2008 Author Share Posted May 2, 2008 The voltage regulator was ordered for $17.00 The batt. is at 11v and hasn't dropped like it did last week It raining cant work on it until sunday I think in the engine harness their might be to naked wires touching beacues some where twisted together & not coverd I'm going to soder the harness & covers too also these tubular fuses are pissing me off , I'm use to hondas with one wire alternators and blade fuses & no tubes & regulators or forsaken fuse links. so I'm getiing a UNIVERSAL FUSE BOX 12 circut for the intterior Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSD Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 Ew, honda.. lol. There is one thing I love about tube fuses, I get them dirt cheap, and you can easily tell if they are blown without pulling them out, =]. How is your altenator holding up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrism Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 I’m going to the U-pull junk yard to get a Honda fuse box. The Civic has the perfect size for what I need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 I feel your pain, that's why I ripped every wire out of my 280Z and replaced the whole wiring with the Camaro harness when I did my LT1 swap. Not the easiest thing to do if you don't understand wiring but at least you'll know what you have when you're done. Datsun wiring is a nightmare, Datsun engineers didn't believe in color codes and change wiring color at connectors constantly making it very hard to track circuits. Take your time and trace every circuit until you find the short, you've got one somewhere. I'd start with disconnecting everything that will run without the key being on. If you're draining the battery overnight its got to be something in those circuits drawing too much current. Put your multimeter in current mode and connect it in series with the + side of your battery and see how much current the car is drawing with the key turned off, it should be very low or nothing at all. BTW NEVER EVER change a fuse to a larger one thinking that's going to fix anything. Its blowing for a reason, allowing the circuit to draw more current will eventually end in fire. Fuse just don't go bad, at least very rarely. Check for corrosion in your fuse block. If you have some get some contact cleaner (Radio Shack), disconnect the battery, pull all the fuses, spray in the contact cleaner, let it sit for a while and try to brush it clean with a small brass brush. Let it dry well and put everything back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight-z Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 It was my moms birthday so I couldn't do much except BBQ Fajitas & winies with weekend. today the batt. was at 6volt. from just siting for 3 days mysterious drainage. so I got me a batt charger and its at 13v right now I'm geting the a modern blade fuse box in a couple days from painless. how hard can it be to follow one wire at a time the replace it with a colorcode and lables I will see if fuse holder is corroded it is a 10amp called fuel gauge calaberator on 76' 280z. after the incdeint I put a a new 10 amp it worked for 3days, now it blows every fuse i put in plus the battery keeps draining 2 seperate problems ??????? Also I forgot to ask about the second dome light. I thought it was burnt out like the rear dome light so I took it out to look at the Number then I put it back in and the thing lit up and wouldn't stop glowing I opend and shut trunk&doors so I took it out and the # faded 76 280z is thier a switch for this light its not in haynes book I wish one of my two cars worked I wouldn't have to drive the astro van everywhere Rip Integra 02/12/94 -10/17/07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrism Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 That's gotta suck. I would opt for a bike before using the minivan. I noticed the other day that my battery was dead and come to find out, the dome light decided to start working. It's not very bright so I didn't see it on in the daytime. The next morning the car would not run good. Charged the battery and the car was fine until the next day. Charged the battery again and noticed that evening that the light was on. Do like deja suggested and pull the fuses to the circuits that are not needed. Process of elimination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight-z Posted May 7, 2008 Author Share Posted May 7, 2008 I though it was a dead bulb the first time I set foot in it. on the second day I cleaned out the car and took it out & put it back in and it started glowing I could not make it stop it I took it out its now an empty slot what is it for ???? plus I have the normal dome light like every one else. today I took out the battery and all fuses and created a lable chart & cleaned inside fuse holder clips tomarow Ill finish it second I will diagnous the electrical harness and alternator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six_Shooter Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 Using a smaller battery will NOT, EVER, by ANY stretch of the imagination, cause the problems you are experiancing. What you need to do is a "current draw test". You need to make sure that your DMM (Digital Multi Meter), has current range (DCA) of 10A. Disconnect the positive side of the battery, and connect the negitive (black) test lead of your DMM to the positive battery cable you just removed, then attach the positive (red) lead of the DMM to the battery. You should notice that the display will be showing a value. This value on a properly working car should read 0.025 or less. If it does not, which it sounds like it won't, then start pulling fuses, one at a time, until the draw goes go down to where it should. Once it drops, then look at that circuit, components attached and the wiring of that circuit, to find the problem. Re-install the fuse of the suspect circuit, and disconnect one component at a time, until you find the specific component or components that is causing the problem. Remove and repair or replace. By the sounds of it, you have already identified the offending circuit, but you should still go through and check the current draw on all the circuits to make sure you don't have more than one problem. You also need to make sure that the battery is fully charged. If the battery is low, the current draw will be higher, to maintain the same power, this is part of Ohm's Law, but just realize that the battery has to have a full charge for this test to work easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight-z Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 All hell broke lose when that dinky battery was placed on to the Z I don't know if replacing belts could this damage, days before with correct battery it ran well. also after this happend I forgot to mention that I keep hearing a clicking noise from the harness area foot it clicks from start to finish. every 20 sec is that normal I don't remember hearing it when got the car. I finished cleaning the fuse holder it was that bad one that had a little rust was the air con fuse but thier was resadue on most I sanded the holders then wiped with alcahol I will intsall fuses and do the current draw test Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Did you pull the fuse holder out of the mount when you cleaned it and checked the back side too? If the contacts are corroded there's a good chance there will be some on the back where the wires hook up. When I pulled the whole harness out of my car I noticed many connector were corroded too. Glad I had decided to swap the whole chassis harness. My car blew fuses all the time in the first year I owned it. All hell broke lose when that dinky battery was placed on to the Z I don't know if replacing belts could this damage, days before with correct battery it ran well. also after this happend I forgot to mention that I keep hearing a clicking noise from the harness area foot it clicks from start to finish. every 20 sec is that normal I don't remember hearing it when got the car. I finished cleaning the fuse holder it was that bad one that had a little rust was the air con fuse but thier was resadue on most I sanded the holders then wiped with alcahol I will intsall fuses and do the current draw test Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 All hell broke lose when that dinky battery was placed on to the Z Chances are that the dinky battery had more juice in it than your previous one. The light on the roof that you are having issues with is not a stock light. No 280Z ever came with a sunroof like that, and they all came with the same dinky dome light behind your headrest in the ceiling. If that light that you showed is powered by the stock dome light wires, then nevermind... BUT if that thing has its own wiring (which seems like a reasonable possibility) then your entire problem may lay with that. http://s170049317.onlinehome.us/V8-240z/Files/Datsun/Wiring/Common%20Electrical%20Testing.pdf read that page, it should help you understand how to use a multimeter, and with any luck reading that and solving your problem will make alot more about automotive electrical systems "click" in your mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight-z Posted May 19, 2008 Author Share Posted May 19, 2008 I took out the holder and cleaned front to back. But I have not been able to use any electric testing devices beacuse my brother took them all to his house , Until next sunday. When I need them the most! I mostly cleaned the wheels and washed the car & sanded & primered rust past few days Here is more pics of the wierd bulb I been having trubole finding sunroof pieces on the web, I wonder how much it is for the oem plastic cover that goes over that gap A british dude said he had sunroof datsun pieces they seem to be rare I'll have to wait for my stimlator tax to arive and my fuse box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 None of the cars came from the factory with a sunroof. I imagine some dealers may have added them as options, but the "common wisdom" that I grew up with says that any aftermarket sunroof in a Z roof will eventually leak (something to do with both the flex from a unibody car, and the fact that the roof curves both from front-to-back and side to side.) For that reason to my old man (and therefore, to me until proven wrong) a car with a sunroof is not the greatest option... I would suggest trying to find a way to disconnect that light and any associated wiring from the power source. Since it IS non-factory, the closer you can get to where they tapped into the factory wiring, the better. Another reason I brought up the non-OEM aspect of the sunroof is to point out that they are NOT all the same; any tim you may find someone with the cover pieces, make sure you get accurate measurements on what you buy and what you need before exchanging money. Size, shape, screw location, anything that may be of importance. There is no "standard;" even though one thinks there can't be too many different brands out there, it is just an aftermarket sunroof. You can buy one from JC Whitney and put one on any car, in theory. Also, if you can find a Harbor Freight store near you, cheap digital multimeters can be had.. ie, under $10. Even at home depot they sell some for as little as $15. If you have access (ie, can borrow) to a GOOD meter, then a five dollar cheapie is a VERY valuable tool to have in your own pocket; I've only personally owned one decent meter, because my dad and my uncle have a few good ones around.. so when I need reliable numbers, I use my uncle's Fluke. 99% of my testing, ballpark figures are good enough, and the series of $5 multimeters from harbor freight have been more than sufficient. Hope I'm helping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight-z Posted May 20, 2008 Author Share Posted May 20, 2008 I thought they were special order from the Yokohama factory as a optoin or something. Because saw about 5 sun roof Z's online one hade a all metal moon roof that would go up an back like a Prelude the others had one gaint window that opens up it looks like a pro job & it doesn't leak I thought the wiring was exposed by the owner that tryed restore the cars interior. I'm missing alot of plastic rivets for panels I'll try using honda ones The meter my brother took was a bad ass digital multimeter I'll wait until saturday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight-z Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 I did a current draw test with 12 volt batt. and came up with .5000 the probe got super hot I also changed the prime suspect Volt Reg. with a new volt reg. because I don't know much about testing the magnets the thing looked 10.y.o My alter tested poor output I will take the alter. to the Master electrtiuon I don't want to open my alter and jack around with it he will test it for free If needs replacment I will most likeley do a 1 wire upgrade myself if its a little $20 brushes diode ect. I'll keep the alter But the fuse for the gauges keeps blowing I will have to get a civic fuse box wich I will get this weekend for $10 Those skanks at summit sent me the wrong one. I'll save like $50 doing it myself. After I get the alter fixed I will do the the fuse box upgrade I put 3gall of gas and pretend I have 3 gall even tho there was a quater tank before the gauges went out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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