5thgenluder Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 Help me please, Let me start by saying my name is James and I just bought a 1971 240z. Ill make a post later with pics for now onto my issue. So when I bought this car it ran and was driven the 10 miles home. Then It sat for a few days while I got it titled. The 1st day I had plates on it I drove it about 5 miles to work. Heard a faint tap. Then I took it to lunch. .5 miles into my lunch break I heard a loud squeaking. I thought belt at 1st then driveshaft. It kept squeaking even with the clutch pushed in. I immediately pulled into a parking lot and the car died out. I let it sit for a few and then tried starting it. All I got was Kluck. So I thought starter. I knocked it around a bit and tried again. No love. I tried a jump from a friends car and a jump pack. No love. Then we tried push starting it. We pushed it as fast as we could run and dropped the clutch in 1st 2nd and 3rd gear. Everytime the rear wheels immediately lock up. So now we try pushing the car while in gear. We tried pushing it in 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th gear and it will not budge. At that point I had it towed home. Now its home and I check the oil and its dry. The guy I bought it from said he had just changed it and I didnt think to look. My thought are that the squeaking noise was the pistons in a bone dry motor and that now its seized up. Basically my questions to you are this. Does my assumption make sense? What can I try? When push starting it should the wheels have just locked up like that? Should I be able to move the car at least a little when in gear. I have searched and this was a very helpful thread although they never resolved the issue. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?/topic/76405-3rd-and-final-z-for-me/page__hl__engine%20seized . Any thoughts or suggestions please help Im very mechanically challenged but willing to try anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 Help me please, Let me start by saying my name is James and I just bought a 1971 240z. Ill make a post later with pics for now onto my issue. So when I bought this car it ran and was driven the 10 miles home. Then It sat for a few days while I got it titled. The 1st day I had plates on it I drove it about 5 miles to work. Heard a faint tap. Then I took it to lunch. .5 miles into my lunch break I heard a loud squeaking. I thought belt at 1st then driveshaft. It kept squeaking even with the clutch pushed in. I immediately pulled into a parking lot and the car died out. I let it sit for a few and then tried starting it. All I got was Kluck. So I thought starter. I knocked it around a bit and tried again. No love. I tried a jump from a friends car and a jump pack. No love. Then we tried push starting it. We pushed it as fast as we could run and dropped the clutch in 1st 2nd and 3rd gear. Everytime the rear wheels immediately lock up. So now we try pushing the car while in gear. We tried pushing it in 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th gear and it will not budge. At that point I had it towed home. Now its home and I check the oil and its dry. The guy I bought it from said he had just changed it and I didnt think to look. My thought are that the squeaking noise was the pistons in a bone dry motor and that now its seized up. Basically my questions to you are this. Does my assumption make sense? What can I try? When push starting it should the wheels have just locked up like that? Should I be able to move the car at least a little when in gear. I have searched and this was a very helpful thread although they never resolved the issue. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?/topic/76405-3rd-and-final-z-for-me/page__hl__engine%20seized . Any thoughts or suggestions please help Im very mechanically challenged but willing to try anything. Put the transmission in neutral, take the valve cover off the engine, remove the spark plugs, and (using a big adjustable wrench or the correct size 1/2" drive socket) try turning the camshaft clockwise using the bolt on the front of the cam gear. It should take no more then about 50 ft. lbs. to get the engine to turn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thgenluder Posted June 11, 2010 Author Share Posted June 11, 2010 this bolt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 this bolt? Yes - it should be a 19mm (3/4") bolt.You might also check the oil pan drain plug to see if it's there. If you lost all of the oil I would expect to either see a mess or a missing drain plug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thgenluder Posted June 12, 2010 Author Share Posted June 12, 2010 Update, Thanks for the replies guys. I tried turning that bolt clockwise as stated and was able to just barely budge it. As it I was just tightening the bolt. I also tried turning the crank pulley bolt clockwise with the exact same result. All this was with the spark plugs removed and the valve cover off. The oil plug is there it appears as if the oil all came out from the valve cover. I was suprised to find that there was no seal or gasket when I removed it. Is there supposed to be a gasket there? Anyway from my limited knowledge of cars and my extensive searching and reading as many motor seize posts as I could find Id say its locked up. Thanks again for the replies Ill gladly try any more suggestions you guys have. Ive read a bit about this murphys magic oil or something but I dont think that would apply to me cause The motors not locked up from rust or corrosion. What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thgenluder Posted June 12, 2010 Author Share Posted June 12, 2010 Well now that im done messing with this motor for a while Ill actually take the time to introduce myself. My name is James and im from the nw burbs of chicago. I have always been into cars and this is my 1st older vehicle. I started with a 91 civic hatch that I put a stereo into. Then in 99 I bought a 2000 civic and dumped all my money into it. Intake, header, exhaust, nos, rims, crazy stereo. I then realized that it would never be fast and moved on. In 2001 I bought a 2001 Honda prelude. I made all the same mistakes. I got one of the 1st 30 Greddy turbo kits in the country. Unfortunately it was an auto trans and it didnt last very long. I traded that in on a brand new 2003 nissan 350z. I went extra crazy on that car. 1 of the 1st 100 Greddy kits in the country and for a while I had the fastest 350z in the area. 411 rwhp. Between the twin turbo kit and the stereo and volk wheels I was building myself a large amount of debt. I sold the car to a guy who flew out from philly and drove it home. I then bought a 2004 infinti g35 coupe in 2006. Got bored quickly and traded it in on a 2005 mitsu evo 8 with only 8k miles on it. The 60 mile a day commute at the time was wearing on me so I got rid of it. Then all that was left is my daily driver a 2009 nissan Altima. I thought for a long time what I wanted to do and all I could think of was how much I missed my 350z. I decided tho that I wouldnt put myself in debt this time and that I would own the car free and clear and buy parts when I had the cash. I then remembered the coolest orange 240z at the nissan dealer I worked at. It was the one of the owners many projects. I began researching and several months later I ended up with a 1971 240z. I just picked it up last Friday. Got it titled on Monday and it broke down on its maiden voyage on Tuesday. Guess im gonna have to go into mega saving mode to afford that rb25 swap a little sooner than expected. Sorry this is really long and if your still reading this thanks. Its nice to see such an amazing community and I only hope that I can contribute to it in the future. Thanks James S Heres a pic of the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleaf Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 Where in the NW burbs are you located. I got a couple spare engines if your interested. If your close I can come take a look to see whats up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thgenluder Posted June 12, 2010 Author Share Posted June 12, 2010 Im in wheeling. Right off Elmhurst and Hintz. Id love to meet up and any help with the car would be awesome. Are the motors complete? Replacing this motor sure would help me buy some time to save up for the rb swap. Plus I really wanted to upgrade the suspension 1st for safety but dont have the cash to do both. Let me know what your asking for the motors $$. If you want to meet up im off on fridays and get out at 6 on weekends and 4 on monday. Let me know what would work for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thgenluder Posted June 18, 2010 Author Share Posted June 18, 2010 update: Motor was locked up and I have already started to dissasemble things. I have all the components out of the engine bay except the engine cause Im waiting for my friend to put his motor into his mustang and free up the engine hoist. I also removed the entire dash and center console from the car to further investigate what appeared to be some pretty wacky wiring. It was very messy and will be completely redone. I will post up some pics tommorow of the progress. I do have one question for you guys. I am in the process of cleaning up the interior and looking to refresh it a little. I am sanding down the floor pans and want to recoat them. What would be a better option. Just some fresh primer? Or a rhino liner type of thing. Thanks in advance James S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
az240z Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 most people here use por-15 or Eastwood rust converter and rust encapsulator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaohabq Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Hey Sucks about the engine. No oil will do that. the squeaking you heard was likely the bearings scaring the hell out of your crank. YEah there's supposed to be a thin gasket on the valve cover. look at it this way though, you'll have an upgrade opportunity. Meaning you can now put in the 5speed, and L28 engine for more power than the L24 your 71 came with. You can spend a lot of $ on early Z's too, so watch yourself. Get in mind where you want to be eventually, then everything you buy for the car, Ask yourself, is this going to get me to my goal? Yes, then go ahead, No, then look at it again and ask if you really need it. As for the RB swap. You might consider the SR20, A really good argument was made for favor of that engine over the older heavier RB See this thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?/topic/74214-full-on-resto-mod-of-a-240z/ Granted we're not going to spend that kind of $ on it, but Blakt out really makes a good point about the SR's advantages. In the meantime, You should be able to get running again relatively cheap. EFI conversion w/ the L28 could be setup towards getting the SR or RB. Get the bigger Fuel pump & regulator, mount them back by the tank, and run a 5/16 or 7/16 line to the front. hook up the L28 on the stock L28 electrics since you have the dash out, and you'll be ready. Later you can get the replacement and not have to worry about the fuel system, aside from perhaps turning up the pressure a little for the larger injectors. This is all up to you of course, but be positive about it. Phar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thgenluder Posted June 18, 2010 Author Share Posted June 18, 2010 az240z thanks for the advice. I ordered the eastwood rust encapsulator and some pre. Phar. That what im thinking. Im trying to be optimistic about it. Even my girl said "well you wanted to swap the motor anyway and its not like its your only car" The nicest, most supportive thing shes ever said to me about a car. So Im saving for the motor swap and just gonna do it right. I debated getting a l24 or l28 but why waste that money for something I didnt plan to use for more than one season. Ive removed almost everything from my car and for now Im just gonna do the cheap/free stuff till I have the money for the RB. I will read your link on the sr debate soon also but Ive gotta run to work. Oh and pics hopefully later today. Thanks Guys for the advice once again. So far even with the problems I love this car and the community here is amazing. One complaint the search function is kinda blah. Please make it so we can search for an exact phrase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thgenluder Posted June 28, 2010 Author Share Posted June 28, 2010 update, spent some time getting the engine out of the car. I plan to clean up the engine bay. Power wash it scrub it good. Then I plan to use the rust encapsulator on the engine bay. Primer it. Paint it the color I want the car to end up and then get on with putting in the rb25det. Then next year I will paint the rest of the car when I have more funds and a running car. Anyone know where I can get rid of a motor? Does anyone need anything from this motor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thgenluder Posted July 1, 2010 Author Share Posted July 1, 2010 What's the general concensus? Are you guys finding that a good wire brushing, power washing and applying pre is good enough to put this rust encapsulator over or should I strip down the entire engine bay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thgenluder Posted July 6, 2010 Author Share Posted July 6, 2010 oops when prepping the engine bay I stepped on this grease fitting. Is this going to cause any issues in the future? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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