WildmaN

Hey all you guys. I need to know what all hooks to the distributors vaccum advance. Like what wires and where they go. My books don't seem to tell me. If anybody could give me some info on this I would appreciate it. I think maybe I am missing a wire that needs to plug onto the vaccum advance?? Not sure anyway let me know, about it some more. I am still learning every day. And hopefully I will be runnning my Z real soon on the road. All depends on if I can get power back to him, and stop the stuttering on revving and acceleration!

The crazy thing is if I just let him idle, he runs pretty smooth, he starts stuttering when I rev him. Verry confusing! Also I am hoping I don't need a valve job or headwork. I don't think I do, because he is running great on idle!

jfairladyz

I'm not sure, but I think that is just a ground wire for the distributor. I don't have that wire either though and my car runs fine. Or atleast it did on my old distributor when the advances actually worked. That wire doesn't control anything though, the advances work off vacuum and centifugal force. Nothing electric. The only wires you need to worry about are the ones going to your ignition module.

For your stuttering problem, check and make sure you're firing STRONG on all 6 cylinders. Check the air gap in your distributor. It can run fine at low rpms like at idle, but when you raise the rpm's if the gap is too big the spark won't have time to collapse.

WildmaN

Hey thanks for the info. Well you see he sat for like 2 years or so. Before I got him, but he also has a missing or broken bolt on the back top corner of the exhaust manifold. He runs great at 1000 rpm! He won't really run good below or above that. Confusing, but anyway how do I check the air gap? I saw it described in my manuals. But I don't understand how to do it.

jfairladyz

Just get a feeler gauge set ( If you got a manual check that for gap specs, I can't remember) and you have to rotate your engine with the distributor cap and rotor off until the teeth on the reluctor(center) line up with the teeth on the stator magnet(outer). Pick the gauge with the correct thickness and insert it between the teeth. All should be within the manual specifications. If not, just loosen the 3 screws holding the stator down and move it until you get a proper gap. Don't overtighten the screws or you'll crack the magnet on the underside of the stator. If you can't get all the teeth to within specs, then your dist. bushing may be damaged or you may need a new stator and reluctor if the gap is way out of specs. It's real easy, the hardest part is getting those teeth to line up in the first place. You can rotate the engine by hand at the crank pulley, but it's hard to get to with the fan & shroud in place. If you do it by cranking the engine, be patient, eventually they will line up(it could take a while though)

If anything about that is still confusing, just let me know. Oh and does it stutter when it's cold? Warmed? or both?

jfairladyz

Oh, and have you checked your timing? That can cause your car to not idle any lower than 1000rpms, and stutter when you rev it. I checked my timing for the first time when I bought my car and it was set at like 32degrees.

WildmaN

No I haven't checked my timing yet. I just stabbed the distributor where I thought it would work. It is possible this one is not that great. I believe the vaccum advance does not work all that well. I am getting another one from Jabo, that works better. Thanks for the info, I appreciate it! I will let you know how it turns out. I will probably wait until I get the one from Jabo, and see if that makes him run better. And have my brother or dad time my Z correctly. Maybe this weekend, wish me luck!

WildmaN

Hey on the stuttering a little of both. Okay this is what is up. I will rev him and he will go pretty high. But as soon as I let off the throttle, he stutters for a little bit, and then continues to smooth out again. And by the way he stutters cold and warm. Also pops here and there. But as soon as he warms up, and I just let him run at idle, he sounds great! Also my Z has a 5-speed. I don't like sportscars with an automatic!

duckyz

Sounds like my car. I didn't really do anything to it this time. The sputtering kind of worked itself out.

Have you dropped the gas tank, cleaned it out, and put about 10 gallons of 97 octane in it? Also- When was the last time you replaced the fuel filter?

Just trying to cover the simple stuff first.

WildmaN

Yeah I was going to check the fuel filter too. And definately I am going the cheap route before I see lots of cash in front of me. I have less than 10 gallons of 91 Chevron premium. That is the highest I can get out here in Arizona. But I also thought about putting rubbing alcohol in the tank, or the same stuff I put in my Celica. The Chevron brand fuel system cleaner. But I have to use it on a full tank of fuel. And right now, I don't want to fill the tank until I know he is running better. But before I put the fuel tank cleaner in the there. It is called water treatment I think. Little by little I will figure it out. But I strongly believe the distributor is not that great.

By the way anybody got a cheap distributor wrench lying around? I don't have the cash to fork over almost $50 for one. My nut on the dizzy is 10mm. Should be the same as all yours.

jfairladyz

If he's stuttering cold, then I won't suggest your O2 sensor (exhaust leak with that missing bolt). You might have a vacuum leak which would cause it to stutter like that when you let off the throttle and your engine goes to state of vacuum, but can't find it right away because of a leak. But again, you're timing could play a part here too. I had the same kind of stuttering problem, but mine was only when cold, so it was an easy fix. Make sure your plug wires are in good shape too.

WildmaN

Yeah my wires are not verry old. They are the Bosch lifetime wires. But they are in great shape. And my '81 stutters when cold, but is fine after he warms up. And I can rev him nice, and he responds good. The '82 on the other hand hesitates and stutters when I mess with the throttle after warmup.

jfairladyz

Check the air regulator on your 81. That's what was wrong with mine. It was stuck shut, which isn't a problem when warm, but causes some ruffness when cold. Sometimes it would just stall if I got on the gas when it was cold. I had to give it a little gas to keep it running when I first started it sometimes too. Replaced the air regulator and the problem was gone. Now it runs great when it's cold, has a nice raised cold-temp rpm which dies back down once it starts to warm up. Before it could barely hold an idle when it was cold.

Does the 82 have any trouble or special procedure when starting?

WildmaN

Yeah he cranks rough, and takes a bit to get going. Nothing my Diehard battery can't handle.

jfairladyz

Do you get smoke once he finally starts? If there's no smoke (not just cold weather smoke), then I would lean toward a fuel delivery problem. If you get smoke then I'm going to say you got a weak spot in your ignition somewhere. That's not written in stone but a nonfire or weak fire issue usually results in fuel saturation in the cylinder which doesn't burn completely when she finally fires causeing smoke. No fuel=no smoke unless you're burning oil, but we won't go there. I'd definitely listen for a vacuum leak, check all your hoses, replace your fuel filter (it's a good idea anyway and it's only a few bucks), and check for spark from your plugs. Pull them out individually and ground them while someone cranks the engine to see how much spark you get. It should be a bright powerful spark, and you should be able to hold the plug(not with your hand) atleast a few mm's from your source of ground and still get an arc. If all that checks out, you can go from there with help from the rest of us. Good luck.

juggalo280ZX

good advice... made that mistake before! cousin played a little trick on me when I was 13, just getting into more than the looks of cars. he told me to hold it and tell him if I saw a spark, that hurt like a son of a *****!

WildmaN

I only get smoke when I rev him. He burns pretty clean as far as I can tell. And no he doesn't burn a drop of oil. Pretty good for an original engine with 192000! He just got neglected and abused. The previous owner ran him through the ground. Suspension shot in the back, it rides real rough. But I don't care about that I just want to drive him with all the stock power he came with! I am going to toy with him some more this weekend. Little by little, I will get him running the way he is supposed to. And by the way fairladyZ, duckyZ. Thank you for all the info, I really appreciate it. I will let you know what happens. H#ll or high water, I will get him running right if it kills me! I am dying to drive him! I may take him out for another run this weekend. But I have to be careful, because I have no insurance or registration on him. I don't want to put it on, until I know for a fact that he will be good enough for emissions.

DynamicJ

there is some AWESOME advice in this thread...

DuckyZ wrote about taking the fuel tank off... I did that, and it was very beneficial. I'd say 20% of the tank was filled with this brown....Sludge. I can't describe it. Just awful.

and the all knowing JfairladyZ spoke about vacuum leaks. THAT is definately a problem. I had the same thing going on when I had my L28E. Ended up having to reclamp EVERY vacuum line on the engine. Some of them weren't even connected to anything at one end. It was a mess... Got everything going smoothly, but crossed over to the darkside and went V8 on your asses

Still have a few bugs in my Z i am trying to work out... Electrical. My windshield wiper fuse pops once a day (and it RAINS constantly here... not cool.)

jfairladyz

I love that feeling of gettin shocked Juggalo. It hurts when it happens, but the rush you get afterwards is awesome. What's really fun is home based electrocution. If it last's long enough your whole body goes numb. I'm pretty sure that I have been electrocuted more times than any other two people combined. The worst one I ever had was when I jambed a screwdriver into a power line. There's a reason they say that the handles aren't used for insulation. The plastic melted in my hand.

jfairladyz

Oh, and kids, don't try any of that at home! Safety comes first. And the power line incident was back in the day, that's not something I just go around doing as an adult.

WildmaN

He he When I was about 5 or so. I took a pair of scissors and cut an iron cord, when it was plugged in. It just sparked, and I jumped back! And the next time I saw it, it had electrical tape on it! For the longest time they didn't know how it happened! I told them a while ago, when I knew I wouldn't get in trouble for it! They were like "we were trying to figure out what happened to it!" And I started laughing, might well joke about it, it is in the past!

jfairladyz

hey jabo, check for a short. If you got a short to ground, that thing'll pop everytime you switch it on! The wiper assembly itself could have a short inside of it too.

juggalo280ZX

Yeah, sure, that's what they all say.