My 280zx had its battery just die.. that was at a mates place so i figured id push start it and get it home and worry about that tomorrow. As im driving down a backroad of the main street I start loosing all power, my dash lights are fading and i can smell the engine. the revs start dropping and i cant get em back up and now its just sitting there dead.

I got my dad to come and we tried jump starting it and when i started it up then it sounded fine. but as we disconnected and waiting a couple of mins again the revs started dropping then as we revved it a little it smelt bad.. and then i heard a 'pop' kind of noise from the engine often when revving (backfiring? i dno) and the engine died away...

Ok im certain the battery is ruined but is the other problems a symptom of this? i didnt tink it should be. Could it be running too lean? (my air filter is awful and im trying to replace now) is a cylindar dying?!?!?! im panicaing as i bet someone touches my car tonight :S:S

 

What kind of smell? Was it electric or fuel based? Any wierd color smoke comming out the back?

Details, man...details!!!

 

Your alternator is dead. That's all that's wrong with it... it's just a dead alternator (Actually, to be more precise... it's the internal voltage regulator which is part of the alternator that usually goes out). Go get a new alternator and put it in... hopefully it didn't completely ruin your battery or you're going to need one of those also. One other thing... if you smelled something funny, it could also be that the bearing on the alternator went out (which is another common failure) and was dragging the belt (which would smell really bad. Either way though, you need a new alternator.... ... ... ... ... Rod.

 

Yup had the same thing happen to me while driving the car to NE from CO. Bearing in the alternator froze up (I didnt know that was the problem) but I was only an hour from home when I noticed the voltage going down. I had just filled up on gas an hour ago so I figured I'd see how close I could get it to home before it died then I'd just charge the battery and finish the trip. Nope, I made a few more miles and the car died going up a hill. Alternatro siezed on me. I pulled over and steam was pooring out of the hood. The water pump shaft had been ripped out by the belt getting jarred in the jammed up alternator. Ended up replaceing the alt. and the water pump right there on the side of the highway. Good thing it happened like that though cause I didn't have a temp gauge and never wouldv'e known the car was overheating and could've done some serious damage I picked up an aftermarket temp gauge and put that in with the other parts.

 

i was able to start it by replacing the battery with my honda jazz's.... strange because i tried jump starting it again today with the commodore s and it wouldnt do anything... so i was able to get it to the mechanic.... maybe my alternator jammed up or something? the battery is giving me about 6 volts on the metre. could just run the windows. didnt run very smoothly but it got there.... so ill keep you guys updated

 

Funny, I just had to do a google search to figure out what in the Hell a Honda Jazz was... They don't sell them to us American types... Rod.

 

it's an amazing car... im so impressed with it.. its mummies. runs 6.2 litres per 100k with the 81kw engine. has CVT too which since you all seem to be mechanics i wont bother explaining :P

 

ha! it happened again This time i got a real mechanic to look at it (dodgy itis in my town :@) and we found out that the coolant was leaking somewhere onto the alternator which ruined it.... I had to get the alternator reconditioned and now i need to find out where my coolant is leaking and how to fix it (cheaply :P)

 

u know what somthing like that did happen to me when i had my very first 280zx that car was 1983 280zx non turbo 2 seater i installed a ( high performence ) coil from auto zone and it acted just fine for a week but then wam !!! the car lost power and died on me out in the bonneys !!! about 40 miles from my home i had to walk all the way in the snow that was the worst ! cold walk i haev ever been through , p.s. check youir alternator vlotage... check your coil most of all check to see if your battery is dead ... p.s. its really easy to change out the alternator i do belvie its a 14mm on top and 2 12mm bolts on the bottem !!! eazy money !!

 

Check the heater hose coming from the firewall. It might be leaking at the connection near the front of the engine. No cheap way to fix except to replace the faulty hose. May as well replace all of them at once to get it over with.

 

That is my motto..

 

Where is the fun in that??

 

Well when I dropped a socket into my car, and it messed up that fan blade that goes around the alternator, and caused it to catch on the belt. After running for a few seconds, you could smell a good burning smell. It was that blade shredding the belt apart and the friction was causing the rubber to burn.

 

That is probably one of the funiest things I have read today. well Rod is right your alternator is what suplies the voltage for your ignition system, and your exsesorys, your battery is just a kind of back up almost if you will.

 

The battery serves 2 basic purposes in a car.
1) It supplies voltage to accesories while the engine is not running.
2) It supplies the amount of amperage neccesary to the starter to crank the engine.

When the engine is running you dont even really need the battery there

 

You do need it to complete the circuit.

 

This is true as long as the alternator and voltage regulator are working correctly. If the alternator and voltage regulator go bad then the car's systems are running soley on the battery power, when the battery drains then the car won't run.

My battery went dead within 4 hrs while sitting. Jumped it then took it off the jumpers, within a few minutes it started running poorly and finally died. I took the battery home to charge it. The next day it started right up, but when I started revving it up on the drive home all the dash warning lights came on. I had the alternator tested. At idle it was charging 13-14v, but when revved up it was charging at over 19v.

On a generator charging system then you do need the battery hooked up.