Help with 280ZX

Discussion in 'Non Technical' started by Blipman, Jan 23, 2003.

  1. Blipman

    Blipman Beer hooves totally work

    My rolling rust chassis with an L28 up front which some people call a 280ZX seems to be dying. On hot days it overheats and starts dropping cylinders, but the more annoying trait it's developed is that sometimes it will just die. At light throttle, cruising at around 80kph it will simply stop. No funny noises, just zero rpm (glad it's an auto). Sometimes it will happen for a second or two and will restart itself, sometimes I have to put it in N and turn the key.
    Can anyone think of what the cause might be..... I'd hate for it to happen at a moment when I need the brakes. Dan, Bob, tassiezed, Xeno, any other 280 owners.... is it a common known problem?Ben
     
  2. JEDI-77

    JEDI-77 Jedi Master

    Is it a loan car?????

    while you get your Z complianced???? Take it back and say "hey, give me some other rusty piece of junk that doesnt die on me, and doesnt have a spring in the driver seat that punctures my back". If its not a loan car, then I have no idea. Bring it to the tech day..:) Helpful as always I am..:)How is the compliance stuff going???CheersJEDI-77
     
  3. White Ant

    White Ant New Member

    280ZX PTU failure!!??

    I don't know anything about them I'm afraid, but if it was a Z32 and had the same problem - where would you start looking? Perhaps that approach is wise, even if the bits are different...
    Good Luck...
     
    Very cool car to cruise around in!
     
  4. Dan

    Dan New Member

    Memories from the corner of my mind...

    (sigh)Good ol days.On a serious Note. The 280zx, like anything with a Z badge, runs bloody hot. Some likely causes may include:- Vapour lock. Never personally had this problem but apparently its common due to the heat.
    - Vacuum problems. Mine had some serious vacuum leaks/problems which were the cause of a variety of probs from hesitaion off idle to faulty vents in my climate control.
    - Fuel pressure regulator. Similar to yours where I was driving down the street and the thing just died. It started however on any throttle application in would bog and stall. New FPR fixed it. Maybe yours is on the way out.
    - Cooling system. Radiator, Thermostat, Fan, pump, belts...To solve my hesitation problems (after going through a variety of mechanics) I sold it and bought a Z32.And no the 280zx does not have a PTU but a distributer with 'electronic points' and a built in Crank angle sensor controlled by Bosch L-Jetronics.To solve the over heating try opening the rust hole in the bonnet a bit more!! :)Cheers,Danny
     
  5. TTZED

    TTZED Member

    A common problem on the 6 cyl "L" series -->

    engines is fuel vapourisation.
    I used to get it all the time in my '78 Skyline.
    Did it with the original L24 and the replacement L28 (280ZX engine).
    Was most common after a drive on a hot day, after stopping the car to fuel up etc the car would be extremely difficult to restart.
    This may be the problem you're having!?!?
    You will see a lot of 240K through to 280ZX's with thermal wrap over the fuel line.
    This sometimes fixes the problem, but a negative is that once the heat does penetrate the wrap it is kept inside the wrap and the problem compounds (if that makes sense).
    This was a known problem by Nissan back when I owned the car.
    May be worth a call/email to Z shop as they still deal with these engines.
    Cheers
    Brett
     
  6. Dan

    Dan New Member

    I think it was due to the design

    of the engine having the intake manafold and fuel rail directly over the exhuast manafold. Hate to see what the 280zx turbo's were like!!
     
  7. TTZED

    TTZED Member

    That's exactly what caused it Dan. (n/m)

    N/M
     
  8. Blipman

    Blipman Beer hooves totally work

    Like I could ever get a hold of Spencer (n/m)

    N/M
     
  9. Blipman

    Blipman Beer hooves totally work

    Yes, fuel vaporization

    seems certainly to be happenning on hot days. It's a competition to see what will die first really, the engine or the auto, which sometimes won't engage the gear and then will finally slam into it with a nice bang. Ben
     
  10. JEDI-77

    JEDI-77 Jedi Master

    hehehehe, too true..:) (n/m)

    N/M
     
  11. White Ant

    White Ant New Member

    LOL, yeah I was sort of joking 'bout a PTU

    And trying to think of a logical way to approach tracking down the problem...
     
  12. Dan

    Dan New Member

    :D (n/m)

    N/M
     
  13. tassiezed

    tassiezed Senior Member

    Don't think I can help any more than Dan...

    But the 280zx turbo did have a cooling fan over the injectors to attempt to reduce them overheating - after you switch the engine off - it runs for a few minutes. Try the zcar.com tech forums - may be something more there. The vac lines for the heating controls and a few other things are very small diameter and get very brittle with age. Also you might try the fuel evaporation recycling canister. The diaphragm on the top of that fails through brittleness and the tank venting is affected and/or you get a major vac leak through the diaphragm and canister. Nissan sells the diaphragm and spring as a kit. Only about $11 from (recent) memory. I think the FPR is well worth a look though. AS for heat problems, I never had any with my 2 280zx's, but have had a few occasionally with the (carbed) 4 260z's I've owned. I think the very high FP in an EFI car would tend to keep the petrol liquid better, and it doesn't sit around in a float bowl getting hot like it's on a stove. The last few 260z's sold here had extensive asbestos blanketing around the fuel supply pipes. I don't seem to remember any in the 280zx. You may even have a fuel pump problem. 280zx's in the states seem to be getting them now. Another possibility is that the fuel cutoff relay is operating for no good reason.
     

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