Ok, I'm looking for someone to help me out here. I've gone through and tested both of my air regulators, I take them from cold, not warmed at all, and then hook them up to just voltage to watch and see how long it takes for these things to close.

From what I hear is that these things through voltage should close within under a minute, yet both of the air regulators I have, which are supposed to be new take far longer to close, one of them doesn't even completely seal. It comes close, but it doesn't completely close, so if anyone can help me out here, take off a hose or two from your air regulator so you can see inside or if need be disconnect it from the car. Then connect the two terminals on the air regulator directly to the battery. ie: one prong to positive battery post and the other to negative battery post. I used little alligator clips.

EDIT: Found this pic over on Zcar.com

He said that it was closed simply after 1 minute of 12v was applied to the heater, so maybe my air regulator isn't working as correctly as it should.

 

are you sure your getting 12volts to it?

if they are new and you dont think they are working right take em back, odds are though if they are new and not new old stock then theyre going to be ****. any of my cars that have issues with these i wack with the handle withe the screw driver while the car is running and if it changes all of a sudden then i pull em, hose em out with brake clean and let em dry and then hose em with WD or white lithium grease and take a pokey and wiggle the shutter thing back and fourth to make sure its good and lubed.

so far its worked every time for me. i havent tried it on a new one because i dont ever buy new ones

 

It's not getting a direct 12 volts, it's getting just under, but I also tested another one I had with another car battery which is brand new and unused. The thing was getting 12 volts, it took probably over 10 minutes to close, and it didn't even seal all the way. I could still blow through it.

 

So have you tried clamping off the air reg hose & running the car to make sure that this is the prob?

 

Actually I haven't yet, but I will do that. Although I won't be surprised if it's part of it, I have two "new" air regulators. One is on the car, one is not on. The one that's not on the car I've been using for testing and like I said it was taking over 10 minutes to close with 12v to it, and even then it didn't seal all the way, but I'll clamp off the hose and try it out.

 

it just seems like a strange way to test it, i mean from the pics aboe the guy hacked it open, he might have screwed it up when he did.

basicly i dont see this as an accurate way of testing for your problem

 

Isn't that the way they test it in the Haynes manual???

 

since when is that horribly accurate with this type of thing?

 

since nismo dubbed the haynes the manual of gods with Z's

 

Haynes + FSM = manual of the Z gods. Use them both... with wisdom.

Chilton = manual of the evil spirits.

 

Actually as far as Haynes goes, I don't remember any way to test the valve other than pinching off the hose lines.

 

arent haynes and chilton one and the same now?

 

maybe, but back in '82, they were not the same...

 

Chiltons sucks

 

I think there are two problems:
1st is Time to close Air regulator by the internal heater, and 2) the ThermoTime Switch heater time to turn OFF the Cold Start Fuel injector
Both should be about the same amount of time. I got to admit the FSM is not to specific as it say's "Air Regulator should close in a few minutes". I found No Time reference in FSM,
Only temp testing and temperture specs for Pass/Fail.

I would try to match the Thermotime time with which-ever
Air Reg Valve is chosest match. Check the time for the Thermotime Switch to OPEN and compare.

 

Alright maybe these things do not completely seal? I took apart one of them, and manually closed it as much as possible. I could blow through it, it was very little, but you could still blow through it. Unlike as if you were to put your finger on one end and completely seal off the whole thing.

 

Did you ever figure out of these things are meant to completely close or not...I just pulled mine to check it out, and the spring only almost closes it...there is still a significant crack for air to get through.

Is this normal?

Thanks