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New guy trying to get car running asap!


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Hi everyone, Ive had this 78 280z with l28et for a bit and I've been trying to repair things to the point where i can now concentrate on getting it to run right finally.

 

so first off, it takes several tries to fire up. Its pretty bad, infact its worse than trying to start a carbed car in the winter as i need to press the gas for it to fire up.

 

As my first step i would like to see if my timing chain is off. Reading the manuals and such i find that unless the person had delt with this system before the proccess can be cloudy.

 

I removed my valve cover and took pics of the cam/chain while the engine was at TDC so that way you guys can shed some light on this. As i side note TDC was found by using a screw driver to feel when the #1 piston reached the top.

IMG_0001_3.jpg

 

and here's a pic of the dizzy and the TB.

 

it looks as if something was removed and JB welded on the top of the TB. could this be where the cold start injector should be?

 

IMG_0001_4.jpg

 

In order to set the ignition timing with this set up i need to position the crank angle sensor to its lowest position and and turn the dizzy counter clock wise yet im still at 22*. of course though with out a tach i cant tell if im setting it at the right rpm (doing it at idle once warmed up)

 

please help! i fear that if i dont get these issues solved i wont have the car on the road for months as my life just got very busy

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i bought the car with the swap completed and running poorly. PO thought the engine was toast and sold it to me. I fixed what was wrong with it and fabbed up a new rad sapport and basically revid the car to being operational.

 

81 ecu with 81 harness thats in pretty bad shape. I got an 83 harness and dizzy on stand by.

 

at first i thought it was the AFM so i swapped it out with the one from an 83 with no change.

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rotate your engine by hand, watch untill the 2 rockers of cyl-#6 start to rock oppisite, you should be at TDC #1cyl,make sure that your crank is dailed to zero on the damper pulley and there should be a radial mark on the face of the damper pulley. there should be two chrome links in that timing chain. the 1 2 and 3 marks on the cam gear are timing adjustment marks to make up in slack for stretched cains, anyways---- between those two chrome links is a specified amount of links. set one to the radial line and set the other to mark one on the cam. i think (not to sure) 14 links to mark one. and your rotor looks to be about a tooth off, to far clockwise. ( please dont quote my memory---- its not the best!)

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rotate your engine by hand, watch untill the 2 rockers of cyl-#6 start to rock oppisite, you should be at TDC #1cyl,

Done

make sure that your crank is dailed to zero on the damper pulley and there should be a radial mark on the face of the damper pulley.

looking through the haynes manual and the manual from carfiche.com i dont see those terms anywhere.

 

are you talking about this?

IMG_0001.jpg

 

this is with the #1 piston at tdc..something seems very off. Plus i dont know why there is a red mark there

 

 

there should be two chrome links in that timing chain. between those two chrome links is a specified amount of links. set one to the radial line and set the other to mark one on the cam. i think (not to sure) 14 links to mark one.

 

looking at the pics you can see that the PO did not lign up the chrome links. Ive been told that this wouldnt effect the timing and it was just simply a guide during assembly. Would there be any negative effects by not having them lined up?

 

and your rotor looks to be about a tooth off, to far clockwise. ( please dont quote my memory---- its not the best!)

 

so remove oil pump and adjust? or simply rotate the dizzy clock wise as its at the most counter clock wise position. pic!

IMG_0001_1.jpg

 

have you checked your crank angle sensor? its needs to be set to the correct specs with a feeler gauge on the '81

 

you do this once timing is set. then you use the feeler guage, tighten it down and re check timing

 

So is my cam timing ok or not??

 

Can anyone tell me what im missing on the TB body please? also i dont see the cold start injector anywhere.

 

 

 

this all would be much easier if i had another car in untampered form to reference off of.

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yep that's what my cam is set at. seems like my cam timing is good.

 

But doesnt the magnetic point on the crank pulley need to be pointing at '0' with the engine at TDC?

 

if so is there any way it wasn't installed properly? or is there a key which allows only one angle of direction?

 

if there is a key way, then how could be it off?

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yep that's what my cam is set at. seems like my cam timing is good.

 

But doesnt the magnetic point on the crank pulley need to be pointing at '0' with the engine at TDC?

 

if so is there any way it wasn't installed properly? or is there a key which allows only one angle of direction?

 

if there is a key way, then how could be it off?

 

If you are at TDC, the pointer should be on zero.

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got the timing set. There was so much gunk on the crank pulley that i didn't see the tdc marking on it and assumed the magnetic pointer was supposed to be set to zero.

 

car still does not like to start when cold at all. It still takes about 7 tries to finally fire it up. Once warm though it starts up right away.

 

http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/efisystem/280zfuelinjectionbook.pdf

 

according to that link above i need to check the cold start injector. I do not have one on my car and to varify that an 81 turbo engine never came with one i talked to a local Z shop owner. The answer was no.

 

so what would the next step be?

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  • 2 months later...

had some time today.

 

Yes the timing is now correct...it was wrong in the pictures above

 

secondly, im getting confused with the location and function of the water temp sensor.

According to my haynes manual it is located at the t stat housing

according to several people on this forum its in place of the head temp sensor.

 

the stock sensor(at t stat housing) was removed by PO and replaced with an after market unit that runs to a gauge and does not wire up to the factory electrical harness (harness was cut).

 

i hope that my manual is correct

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