Crank angle sensor?

[andy280zxt]

Hey everybody, i am currently in the stages of fixing up my 83 280zxt and need some of your assistance. the car has been sputtering and dying since i got it (caused by bad gas according to previous owner) I since have dropped and cleaned the gas tank and ran some fuel line cleaner through it. she is running better than before although is still hesitating during acceleration. I am curious if the fact this car has no crank angle sensor could be part of the issue? i am new to working on Z's and would appreciate any help i could get.

 

Andy

[woldson]

Not all did. Check the dizzy.

[roger.svoboda]

The 81 turbo had a crank angle sensor on the front of the engine. The 82T-83T got that information from inside the dizzy. Look in your dizzy for broken parts. Several posts from people with broken insides on dizzy.

[andy280zxt]

Alright, thanks guys i'll check into that and let you know what i find.

thanks for the suggestions.

[roger.svoboda]

after rereading I take back the broke dizzy part. If you had no crank angle sensor input to the ecu you would never get a spark. (but still check the dizzy). have you done a timing light check on the ignition. it is quite likely the previous owner was a moron and put the oil pump in and then didn't check the timing. If pump is one tooth off she no run so good. Since you a newbie I might also suggest new plug wires, plugs, dizzy cap, dizzy rotor, fuel and air filter. Have the battery load tested and the charging circuit - FREE most places. If you have those one size fit all clamp on battery cable terminals scrap them NOW and get real cables. The ground strap should go first to a bolt in the body thence to the starter. Lazy PO just cut em off. Low battery voltage will cause a zx to do odd things. Bad battery cables and bad battery caused me a few days grief on an s130 and a z31. Wife still not happy about the trip we took and needed help getting off the ferry. Check your fuel pressure very important. It will tell you if fuel filter ok and fpr ok. If you are going to keep the car awhile the above money spent will not be in vain. picture is a rig you can use to check fuel pressure for under $15

[andy280zxt]

after rereading I take back the broke dizzy part. If you had no crank angle sensor input to the ecu you would never get a spark. (but still check the dizzy). have you done a timing light check on the ignition. it is quite likely the previous owner was a moron and put the oil pump in and then didn't check the timing. If pump is one tooth off she no run so good. Since you a newbie I might also suggest new plug wires, plugs, dizzy cap, dizzy rotor, fuel and air filter. Have the battery load tested and the charging circuit - FREE most places. If you have those one size fit all clamp on battery cable terminals scrap them NOW and get real cables. The ground strap should go first to a bolt in the body thence to the starter. Lazy PO just cut em off. Low battery voltage will cause a zx to do odd things. Bad battery cables and bad battery caused me a few days grief on an s130 and a z31. Wife still not happy about the trip we took and needed help getting off the ferry. Check your fuel pressure very important. It will tell you if fuel filter ok and fpr ok. If you are going to keep the car awhile the above money spent will not be in vain. picture is a rig you can use to check fuel pressure for under $15

 

Ok, so i checked the dizzy and it didnt seem to have any broken parts, metal, etc. in it besides some black grimy sh*t.. i have not done a timing light check yet because i do not have a timing light. also i already replaced the plugs, fuel filter, air filter, and 02 sensor(just because the other was shot) i will probably go make a fuel pressure rig today and check.. but also i noticed today while my car is sputtering during acceleration/holding a steady throttle it has black some coming from exhaust. thanks for your help it is greatly appreciated and i will test the battery and fuel pressure and keep you posted.

[jacob80]

I wouldn't suggest running a fuel line inside the cabin, not that it was your intention but just a heads up.

[roger.svoboda]

buy or borrow a timing light. some auto parts store will rent or let you use one. A little pricey but if you are going to be doing car stuff you will use it more than once. another possibility is the chts but long shot from what you describe. compression check might be in order. kinda shooting in the dark here need more data. if in fact the po had bad gas and didn't bother to put a fuel filter in line then you could have some blitzed injectors - but again twilight zone thinking. maybe a better description of sputtering and dying would tell us more. when you cleaned the tank did you clean the screen inside. again you need to get the fuel pressure

[andy280zxt]

buy or borrow a timing light. some auto parts store will rent or let you use one. A little pricey but if you are going to be doing car stuff you will use it more than once. another possibility is the chts but long shot from what you describe. compression check might be in order. kinda shooting in the dark here need more data. if in fact the po had bad gas and didn't bother to put a fuel filter in line then you could have some blitzed injectors - but again twilight zone thinking. maybe a better description of sputtering and dying would tell us more. when you cleaned the tank did you clean the screen inside. again you need to get the fuel pressure

Tomorrow i plan on going and borrowing a timing light. but today i replaced the chts and didn't notice any change, i also checked the fuel pressure and it was at around 30psi during idle- I'll try to explain the sputtering better - Usually in first gear i don't notice much sputtering or power loss, usually just little hiccups during idle and when i throttle up in first. I do not currently shift to second gear because my synchro rings are shot. but in third gear when i give it gas it usually only wants to go up to about 2.5 or 3 grand and loses all power and will just sputter/pop/backfire/etc. the same thing usually occurs in 4th and 5th gear. Most of the time the sputtering is so bad even when i am at full throttle i cannot get over 30-35mph. the reason i am assuming she is running rich is because when she sputters black smoke comes from the downpipe (i had to cut exhaust infront of the cat due to cloggage and rusted muffler and piping.) She is not dying as often as before, although when she does die and i turn the ignition i usually get a backfire so loud that anyone around me nearly sh*ts themselves lol. So hopefully that description can give you a little more idea of what is going wrong with my car?

 

I hope and pray we can figure this out, i bought this car about 2 weeks ago and still have yet to feel her true power it nearly breaks my heart.

[macambra]

Watch your boost gauge at first sign of sputtering, it's unusual but the factory manifold pressure relief might be bad, you might also check for vacuum leaks. It sounds like you are losing boost pressure. I had something similar.

[roger.svoboda]

loosing boost won't make it run bad just slooooow. you got a afm problem or a fuel pressure probllem. need to get the data to decide which it is. Timning and fuel pressure.