newbie who needs help and advice on manual TT 2+2 with new wire harness/not starting

Discussion in 'Technical' started by danai89, Oct 23, 2011.

  1. danai89

    danai89 Member

    Hi everyone,

    first of all sorry for the long post.

    I am new to this forum and always wanted to own a 300zx myself.
    well the last two weeks i was going through a purchase process for a
    1990 manual twin turbo four seater. all was good till yesterday when i was supposed to pick the vehicle up from tweed heads and drive it back to brisbane. then the guy who sold the car rushed it and installed a new battery due that the old one was flat due to standing in the garage for 3 weeks. he accidentally connected the battery cables on to the wrong poles and therefore the wire harness burnt. :eek:
    this was a real disappointment for both the seller and me. he managed to buy a new wire harness and tried to install it.
    he connected it but the engine does not want to kick/run.
    according to him, the ecu seems fine, and also the ignition and fuel pump etc runs.
    this was a really shitty mistake of him, but it happened, and now the engine does not want to run, maybe he just connected something wrong or who knows. car was running fine the last time he started it 3 weeks ago.

    well, i managed to get it off him for a far cheaper price. now i am in the process of getting it transported on this coming week from tweed heads to brisbane and then directly to my shed in warwick, were the car will be stored and where i can start working on it.

    Question:
    is there anyone here who has an idea what the issue could be, or what i should check?

    or is there anyone that lives close to warwick and would like to help me out or try to get the car running again for some beers or for an agreed price?

    will be highly appreciated if someone could help a newbie out :)

    really love 300s' and enjoy reading all the awesome posts and tips that everyone offers here.

    looking forward in receiving some suggestions.

    cheers
     
  2. Chrispy

    Chrispy Pretentious Upstart

    Which harness did he change? There is the one off the battery to the main body loom and starter, then there is the engine harness.

    Check all the fuseable links and fuses with a multimeter.

    If it cranks but won't start, check the earths that normally attach to the plenum. If you leave these off it will fry a S1 (and sometimes a S2 I believe) PTU. Check the error codes too, might point you in the right direction.

    I'd image that the ECU has some sort of reverse polarity protection, so wouldn't be too worried about that. If conzult can connect then I would be happy with it.
     
  3. AndyZ32

    AndyZ32 Member

  4. danai89

    danai89 Member

    @Chrispy, i assume he changed the complete harness, as he showed me which ones go to the coils etc, and apparently there are seven of them and not just six on the new loom. to be honest i didnt have a proper look, as i came to the conclusion that i wont buy it, as it aint running anymore, but then when i left he offered me a lower price. so now i aggreed and have to see what it can be.

    will have a deeper look into it when i get it to the shed on wednesday.

    you reckon if i can not source or correct the problem, a normal auto electrician would be sufficient, or do i need to source up a z-expert?

    thanks a lot for the input so far,
    cheers
     
  5. danai89

    danai89 Member

    @AndyZ32,

    thanks for your reply and for the link. will have a deep look into the thread that you linked me to, once i have the car in the shed. if i can not correct the problem by myself i will definately ring up an autoelectrician.
    do you guys have any ideas what an average price would be to get this sorted out by an autoelectrician? somewhere between $500-1000 or a bit more or less?

    cheers
     
  6. Chrispy

    Chrispy Pretentious Upstart

    Wouldn't be too hard to work out for a seasoned zed fiddler. Afraid I really haven't got the time to get out to Warwick though :(

    Show us a lot of pictures and we can help you though.
     
  7. danai89

    danai89 Member

    thanks guys, will try to get some pictures once i get the car and will then post them here hopefully by the end of the coming week. would be great if those pics would do the trick ;)
    no worries Chrispy, much appreciated but totally understandable that there aint enough time for a drive down to warwick. your tips above are already of great help and i will see what i can do.
    cheers
     
  8. p5yk3r

    p5yk3r el8 haqur

    Quite a lot of things under the bonnet have the same/similar looking connectors and can be easily messed up, its likely this has happened.
     
  9. danai89

    danai89 Member

    first attempt of posting a picture, here goes.
    picked the car up yesterday and towed it back home where it is now stored in a shed. will only be able to get down there to have a proper look and to take better pics once i am down there again on sunday. for now, this is all i could take in the rush of getting the trailer away from obstructing the road :D

    PS: apparently the guy replaced the whole engine loom, all the way up to where it clips into the ecu....?

    hope this helps at least a bit. cheers

    ANOTHER PROBLEM: i received a message yesterday that when they tried to off load it, the steering wheel didnt do anything, one can spin it round and round now, without any resistance and the tires arent moving :eek:.... this wasnt before we loaded the car onto the trailer.... could something have snapped etc????


    [​IMG]
    the actual car upon pick up, needs heaps of work, but starting with trying to get the engine running


    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

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  10. danai89

    danai89 Member

  11. MoulaZX

    MoulaZX #TEAMROB

    Get under the car from the Driver's side and look up at the Steering Rack and Shaft that comes out of the Firewall from the Steering Wheel, get a mate to move that around, see if you can give us some more clues.

    MoulaZX
     
  12. mholt

    mholt Member

    mate sounds like a "story " to me I reckon he is trying to cover up something else IMO
    seriously you need to pay a forum member to help youll do more damage if you get it wrong I assure you
     
  13. Chilledpain

    Chilledpain Z Reaper

    [​IMG]
    the actual car upon pick up, needs heaps of work, but starting with trying to get the engine running


    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG][/QUOTE]

    Can tell you right now that the coilpack connectors and injector connectors are not plugged into their correct places. They are waaaaay out.

    Maybe host a tech day and get some more knowledgeable people around to help with the re-wire.

    Was the car running and had u inspected it while running?

    Sorry to say, but this guy had no idea what he was doing in the first place and I highly doubt he replaced the harness considering how much work is actually involved in doing so.

    Does the car still turn over but just not start?
     
  14. danai89

    danai89 Member

    thanks guys for the replies so far.

    i will be driving down tonight to where the car is stored.
    will have more intense look at it tomorrow and will have a underneath in order to give some more clues for the steering issue.

    will also try to take some better pictures.

    concerning the wiring, is there a proper thread here that explains step by step how to do it and how the coil packs etc have to be aligned/fitted?

    will check tomorrow what all is working and what not, whether i get some error codes or not and whether it is just not starting etc.

    thanks all for their comments so far.
    cheers
     
  15. lurker_nz

    lurker_nz New Member

    Your best et, if you want to continue to do it yourself, is to head over to www.twinturbo.net, go to the FAQ section and read the engine removal/replacement documents. They cover removing and replacing all the connections to the engine. I VERY much doubt he replaced the loom to the ECU as the loom is in two parts and getting the engine bay loom through the firewall requires a HUGE amount of work. And looking at those pics again that loom has just been wrapped in black tape. You can see parts missing off the injector plugs ( the black sections on the top) and the state of the other connectors to me clearly indicate that that is not a brand new loom
     
  16. ryzan

    ryzan Moderator Staff Member

    Why does it have an na front bar on it if it's a tt? Does it have an fmic?
     
  17. OZX_320

    OZX_320 Detachable Member

    would be a bit dubious about your purchase. Based on the condition of the loom, its definitely not new. Even if installed rough, explaining all the broken coilpack connectors, the insulation tape should be grey in colour, not black.

    Pull the timing covers, check your cam belt alignment firstly. Can save you a lot of time and $$$ going through the process just to find the belt has slipped and you have a fudged motor........ been there once or thrice
     

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