FlatBlack Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 This will be a long post - I am heading into finals so I havent spent too much time troubleshooting this, just wonderd if anyone could suggest some causes. Thanks! I have a 78 280, stock EFI, alternator from a ZX, internally regulated. Abstract: New battery, new starter, two working alternators, Z won't stay running. Goes really lean then dies, runs really bad when the headlights are on, but it will run with them off. Tach is going crazy. The car has been running great since I put the new motor in and I have been enjoying the tocikos. I parked the car for a week or two because it got cold up here, but then decided to drive it to work one morning. Everythign ran fine, but the red light on the volt gauge started lighting up. I had to jump the car before I left for work that morning, but I thought it was because I left my radar detector on. I unplugged the battery anyways to be safe, but when I went out to the car after work, it had to be jumped again with no drain on it. I fugured it might be the starter, so I put a spare gear reduction ZX starter on it. Still nothing. Jumped the car, fired right up. Figured it was the alternator after that, even though It was brand new from the spring of this year. Let the car warm up outside while I cleaned up the shop, came outside and it had died [after running for abotu 5 minutes]. Tried to jump it again, finally got it running, and the RPM gauge was being wacky [reading 0, or it would jump to about half of the actual revs] and the voltmeter light came on again. It would not idle without gas, and it was running really lean [my fuel press. gauge was at ~ 35 regulated]. I unhooked the alternator, and the car ran fine, so I pulled it back into the shop. Threw on another 77 alternator off of a running car, and the car cranked right up. I let it idle for a little bit, and it ran fine, but still had 16v with the light on. At first it got brighter when I revved, but after a few minutes it stopped getting brighter when I hit the gas. I figured it was charging the battery, so I took it for a spin. Got on the road, rode for a little bit, heard it start to go lean [same problem as before] and turned into a car park as it died. It would not even click the starter when I tried to start it again. I unplugged the alternator again, and jumped it with my daily, then drove it back on the battery. Had to turn the headlights off though otherwise it would die. limped back to the shop with a misfire. Im wondering if I've fried two good alternators. Sorry for the long read! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naviathan Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Couple things come to mind: 1. Battery died after being disconnected - sounds like a bad battery. 2. You're swapping between an internally regulated and an externally regulated alternator - Are you swapping the external voltage regulator for the appropriate jumper plug for the ZX alt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatBlack Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 Its a brand new battery, and I drove it back to the shop on just the battery. The alternator was not hooked up [it was in the long version] That could be the case if the car is a 77... I will look into that, but this was happening with my 280zx internally regulated alternator - and I thought late 280s had internal regulators. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naviathan Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 78+ had the internally regulated alts. 77 Does not, I have one and have thought long an hard about converting it, but I decided just to hold off on that whole car till I get some other projects out of the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatBlack Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 I was told the car was a 77, but it could either be a 78 or have the internally regulated alternator. It looked just like mine, and it was doing the same thing to the internally regulated ZX alternator that was previously on the car... So I don't think that is the issue. Could an ignition module do this? Just putting it out there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatBlack Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 My fusible links were causing this issue, it went away for a while then came back. TrumpetRhapsody and I took our fusible links out and put in the Scoche audio block fuses. http://forums.hybridz.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=11414&d=1231805047 It took about ten minutes to do it, I would strongly recommend everyone do this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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